Battle of Khaybar
| Battle of Khaybar | |||||||||
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| Part of the military campaigns of Muhammad | |||||||||
Hazrat Ali slays Marhab (1910) | |||||||||
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| First Islamic State |
Khaybar Jews Supported by: Banu Nadir (Jews) Banu Ghatafan (Arabians) Banu Fazara (Arabians) | ||||||||
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Location within present-day Saudi Arabia | |||||||||
The Battle of Khaybar (Arabic: غَزْوَة خَيْبَر) was an armed confrontation between the early Muslims and the Jewish community of Khaybar in 628 CE. Khaybar, which is located approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) to the northwest of Medina, was home to a sizable community of Jewish tribes.
As Muhammad's army began to march on Khaybar, the Banu Ghatafan and other Jewish-allied Arabian tribes did not, or could not, send the reinforcements that had been expected to arrive to defend the settlement, further endangering the Jewish army's poor fortifications. After a brief period of fighting, Khaybar fell to the Muslims and the Jewish commander Marhab ibn al-Harith was killed, reportedly by Ali ibn Abi Talib.
The terms of surrender presented to the oasis after the Muslim conquest stipulated the seizure of the Jews' wealth and also called for every non-muslim to pay tribute (jizya) to the Muslims in exchange for universal conflict neutrality with protection or emigrate from Khaybar, bolstering the Muslim army in a significant development for Muhammad's military career. In exchange for their acceptance of the terms, the Muslims agreed to cease their campaign against Banu Qurayza and other local tribes. Despite forces consisting of 10–20,000 Jews vs 1,400 Muslims, deaths were remarkably low at 93 Jews and 18 Muslims, with 50 injured between parties.
Since the late 20th century, Muhammad's conquest of Khaybar's Jewish community has become notable as the subject of an Arabic-language rallying slogan ("Khaybar, Khaybar, ya Yahud!"), in the context of the Arab–Israeli conflict.