In al-Maghāzī of Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah it is related from al-Zuhrī that he said: “When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ first arrived in Medina, there were idols in the city that certain men continued to worship (1) and would not abandon. Their own clans then turned upon them and upon those idols and demolished them.

Abū Yāsir ibn Akhṭab—brother of Ḥuyayy ibn Akhṭab and father of Ṣafiyyah, the Prophet’s wife ﷺ—thereafter came, sat with the Prophet ﷺ, listened to him and spoke with him, and then went back to his people. This occurred before the direction of prayer was changed toward the Sacred Mosque. Abū Yāsir said, ‘O my people (2), obey me! Allah has now brought you that for which you were waiting (3); follow him and do not oppose him (4).’

When his brother Ḥuyayy—who was then the chief of the Jews, both brothers belonging to Banū al-Naḍīr—heard this, he went to the Prophet ﷺ, sat with him, listened to him, and returned to his people, over whom he was obeyed, saying, ‘I have come from a man—by Allah—I shall remain his enemy forever.’ Abū Yāsir pleaded with him: ‘O son of my mother, obey me in this matter, and afterwards disobey me in whatever you wish; do not destroy yourself!’ He replied, ‘No, by Allah, I will not obey you.’ Satan overpowered him, and his people followed his opinion (5).

Ibn Isḥāq reports—through ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Bakr, from someone who narrated on the authority of Ṣafiyyah bint Ḥuyayy—that she said: ‘Of all my father’s and my uncle’s children, none was dearer to them than I. Whenever they were among the children, they would always single me out. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ reached Qubāʾ, he dismounted and stayed there…’