﴿1–7﴾ “In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on earth glorifies Allah, and He is the Almighty, the All-Wise. He is the One Who expelled from their homes at the first gathering those among the People of the Scripture who disbelieved. You did not think they would leave, while they thought their fortresses would protect them from Allah. But Allah came upon them from where they did not expect and cast terror into their hearts. They demolished their homes with their own hands and the hands of the believers. So take heed, O people of insight.”
And so on to the end of the account. This surah is called “Sūrat Banī al-Nadīr.” They were a large Jewish community living in the vicinity of Medina at the time of the Prophet’s mission. When the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—was sent and emigrated to Medina, they disbelieved in him along with the other Jews who disbelieved. After the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—emigrated to Medina, he concluded a truce with all the Jewish communities who were his neighbors there.
About six months after the [Battle of] Badr, the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—went to them and asked them to assist him in paying the blood money for the two men of Banū Kilāb whom Amr ibn Umayya al-Damrī had killed. They said, “We will do so, Abū al-Qāsim. Sit here until we attend to your need.” They then conferred privately among themselves. ⦗849⦘ Satan made the wretchedness decreed for them seem appealing, and they conspired to kill him—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. They said, “Which of you will take this millstone, climb up, and cast it upon his head, crushing it?” The most wretched among them, Amr ibn Jihāsh, said, “I will.” Sallām ibn Mishkam told them, “Do not do it! By Allah, he will certainly be informed of what you intend, and this would violate the covenant between us and him.” Revelation immediately came to him from his Lord concerning what they intended, so he rose quickly and headed for Medina. His Companions caught up with him and said, “You rose and left without our noticing.” He then informed them of what the Jews had intended.
The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—sent them this message: “Leave Medina and do not reside there alongside me. I have granted you ten days; whoever I find there after that will be beheaded.”
They spent several days preparing to depart. The hypocrite Abd Allah ibn Ubayy [ibn Salūl] sent them this message: “Do not leave your homes. I have two thousand men who will enter your fortress with you and die in your defense. Qurayza and your allies from Ghatafān will also support you.”
Their leader, Huyayy ibn Akhtab, placed his hopes in what he had said and sent word to the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—saying, “We will not leave our homes, so do as you see fit.”
The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and his Companions proclaimed Allah’s greatness and marched against them, with Ali ibn Abī Tālib carrying the standard.
They remained in their fortresses, shooting arrows and stones. Qurayza withdrew from them, while Ibn Ubayy and their allies from Ghatafān abandoned them. The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—therefore besieged them, cut down their date palms, and burned them. They sent word to him saying, “We will leave Medina.” He accepted their surrender on condition that they depart with their lives and their children and take whatever their camels could carry, except weapons. The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—took possession of the property and weapons.
The property of Banū al-Nadīr was reserved exclusively for the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—to meet emergencies and serve the interests of the Muslims. He did not divide it into fifths, because Allah had granted it to him as spoils obtained without battle: the Muslims had spurred neither horses nor camels against them. He expelled them to Khaybar, including their chief, Huyayy ibn Akhtab, and took possession of their land and homes. Among the weapons, he found fifty coats of armor, fifty helmets, and three hundred and forty swords. This is the essence of their account as related by the historians of the Prophet’s life.
The Exalted opened this surah by declaring that all who are in the heavens and on earth glorify their Lord with praise, declare Him far above everything unbefitting His majesty, worship Him, and submit to His majesty (1). This is because He is the Almighty Who has subdued everything: nothing can escape Him, and no defiant one can resist Him (2). He is All-Wise in His creation and command. He creates nothing in vain, prescribes nothing devoid of benefit, and does only what His wisdom requires.
One manifestation of this was Allah’s granting His Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—victory over the disbelievers among the People of the Scripture, namely Banū al-Nadīr. When they betrayed His Messenger, He expelled them from the homes and homeland to which they had grown accustomed and which they loved.
Their expulsion was the first gathering and banishment Allah decreed for them at the hands of His Messenger Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and they departed for Khaybar. The noble verse indicates that another gathering and banishment awaited them. It later took place when the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—expelled them from Khaybar, after which Umar—may Allah be pleased with him—[expelled those who remained from it].
“You did not think,” O Muslims, “that they would leave” their homes because of their fortifications, impregnability, and might within them.
“And they thought their fortresses would protect them from Allah.” They admired their fortresses and were deluded by them, believing that they could not be reached while sheltered inside them and that no one could overcome them. Yet Allah’s decree lay beyond all of that. Fortresses and citadels cannot avail against it, nor can strength and resistance be of any benefit.
He therefore said: “But Allah came upon them from where they did not expect”—that is, through a means and from a direction which had never (3) occurred to them as one from which they might be attacked: He “cast terror into their hearts.” This is intense fear, the greatest of Allah’s hosts, against which neither numbers nor equipment, neither power nor might, can avail.
They expected that, if any breach were to come upon them, it would be through the fortresses in which they had taken refuge and in which they felt secure. Yet whoever places his trust in anything besides Allah will be forsaken, and whoever relies upon anything besides Allah will find it a source of ruin for him (4). A heavenly command therefore came upon them and descended into their hearts—the seat of steadfastness and patience, or of frailty and weakness. Allah stripped their hearts of their strength and resolve and filled them with weakness, frailty, and cowardice, in the face of which no stratagem or resistance could avail them (5). This became a force working against them. Hence He said: “They demolished their homes with their own hands and the hands of the believers.” This was because they had reached an agreement with the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—that they could take whatever their camels could carry.
They therefore dismantled many of the roofs they prized. Through their transgression, they also empowered the believers to destroy their homes and demolish their fortresses. Thus, they brought ruin upon themselves and became some of the greatest agents of their own destruction.
“So take heed, O people of insight”—that is, those of penetrating perception and sound intellect. In this is a lesson demonstrating how Allah deals with those who stubbornly resist the truth and follow their desires. ⦗850⦘ Neither their might benefited them, nor did their power protect them or their fortresses keep them safe when Allah’s command came upon them and punishment reached them because of their sins.
The lesson lies in the generality of the wording (6), not the particularity of the occasion. This verse therefore commands people to take heed: to consider one case in light of its parallel, draw an analogy between a thing and its counterpart, and reflect upon the meanings and wisdom contained in the rulings, which are the objects of reason and thought. Through this, reason increases (7), insight is illuminated, faith grows, and true understanding is attained.
The Exalted then states that these Jews did not suffer the full punishment they deserved and that Allah lessened it for them. Had He not decreed for them the banishment that befell them—having ordained and determined it by His decree, which can neither be replaced nor altered—they would have faced a different measure of worldly punishment and chastisement. Yet even though they escaped severe punishment in this world, they will have the punishment of the Fire in the Hereafter, the severity of which none but Allah the Exalted can know. Let them not imagine that their punishment is over and finished, with none of it remaining. The punishment Allah has prepared for them in the Hereafter is far greater and more overwhelming.