he did in Medina, and the same applies to the adjudication between Qurayzah and al-Nadīr, for he expelled Banū al-Nadīr before the Battle of the Trench and put Banū Qurayzah to death immediately after it.
It is universally agreed that the Battle of the Trench took place before al-Hudaybiyah and before the conquest of Khaybar. All of this preceded the conquest of Mecca and the campaign of Hunayn; all of it preceded the Farewell Pilgrimage, and the Farewell Pilgrimage preceded the Ghadīr sermon.
Thus, whoever claims that any part of Surah al-Mā’idah was revealed at Ghadīr Khumm (1) is, by the unanimous agreement of the scholars, a liar and fabricator.
Furthermore, Allah Most High says in His Book:
“O Messenger! Convey what has been revealed to you from your Lord. If you do not, then you have not conveyed His message. And Allah will protect you from the people.”
(Surah al-Mā’idah: 67) (2)
Thus He—glorified is He—guaranteed that He would protect him from the people if he conveyed the message, thereby assuring him safety from his enemies. For this reason, it has been related that before this verse was revealed, the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—used to be guarded (3). When the verse was revealed, he discontinued that practice (4).
(1) S and B read: “after Ghadīr Khumm.”
(2) N and M read: “then you have not conveyed His messages.”
(3) N, S, and B read: “used to take precautions for his own safety.”
(4) The hadith is narrated from Aisha—may Allah be pleased with her—in *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, 4/317 (Book of Quranic Exegesis, Chapter on Surah al-Māidah). Its wording is: “The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—used to be guarded until this verse was revealed: ‘And Allah will protect you from the people.’ The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—then put his head out of the tent and said to them, ‘O people, you may leave, for Allah has protected me.’”
Al-Tirmidhī said: “This is a *gharīb* hadith.” Some transmitters narrated this hadith from al-Jurayrī, from Abd Allah ibn Shaqīq, who said: “The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—used to be guarded.” They did not mention Aisha in its chain.
Ibn Kathīr cited the hadith in his *Tafsīr* and stated that Ibn Abī Hātim had narrated it from Aisha. After giving al-Tirmidhī’s narration, he said: “Ibn Jarīr likewise narrated it, as did al-Hākim in his *Mustadrak*, through Muslim ibn Ibrāhīm with the same chain. Al-Hākim then said: ‘Its chain is sound, although al-Bukhārī and Muslim did not record it.’ Saīd ibn Mansūr likewise narrated it from al-Hārith ibn Abī al-Hārith ibn Abī Qudāma al-Iyādī, from al-Jurayrī, from Abd Allah ibn Shaqīq, from Aisha, with the same report.”
Shaykh Ahmad Shākir—may Allah have mercy on him—said in *Umdat al-Tafsīr an Ibn Kathīr*, 4/193: “Its chain is sound. It is found in al-Tirmidhī, 4:96; al-Tabarī, 76:122; and al-Hākim, 2:313. Al-Dhahabī concurred in declaring it sound. Some transmitters narrated it in *mursal* form, with the Companion omitted, as recorded by al-Tabarī and others; al-Tirmidhī alluded to this. That does not constitute a defect impugning the soundness of the fully connected version.”