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Khaybar is a green oasis north of Medina, with forts and palm groves where a Jewish community lived long ago. The Muslims took it in 628 CE, and its people kept farming the land until they were moved away later. Old fort ruins still stand among its fields today.

Khaybar is a water-rich oasis about 150 km north of Medina, where Jewish communities lived in forts scattered among the palm groves — the best known were Nata, al-Shiqq and al-Katiba. The Prophet conquered it in 7 AH (628 CE), soon after the Hudaybiyya truce, taking the forts one by one; the hardest fighting was at the Qamus fort, taken by Ali. The Prophet let the people stay and farm their land in return for half the harvest, until Umar ibn al-Khattab (may God be pleased with him) later removed the Jews of Khaybar for reasons the sources describe differently. Some families remained into the twentieth century, and the fort ruins still stand among the palms today.

Storytellers (10–12) read the Explorers text, then cross to the Scholars text.

Khaybar is a cluster of oases on volcanic soil some 150 km north of Medina — the richest farmland in the Hijaz — whose seventh-century inhabitants were Jewish communities spread across villages and forts including Nata, al-Shiqq, al-Katiba, al-Watih and al-Sulalim. The Prophet took it in Safar 7 AH (628 CE) on returning from al-Hudaybiyya, capturing the forts in turn; the most famous, the Qamus, fell to Ali ibn Abi Talib (may God be pleased with him), and Marhab was killed in the duel of the well-known account. The inhabitants were not expelled: the Prophet ﷺ confirmed them on their land for half the produce 'of what God brings forth', and divided the spoil among the combatants with shares for his household. The Jews of Khaybar stayed until Umar ibn al-Khattab (may God be pleased with him) removed them during his caliphate — the sources say in fulfilment of the Prophet's wish that two religions not share the Arabian peninsula, and they differ on the date and reasons. In fiqh Khaybar became the model sharecropping contract (muzara'a), and in history the early example of an agricultural treaty.

Summary

An oasis north of Medina, which was home to Jewish communities and the target of the Islamic campaign of 628 CE.

Location

Its approximate coordinates are 25.7 north and 39.29 east. ¹

In the museum

The museum's material on this place includes events that took place there: 6, people born there: 1, and communities that lived there: 2.

Events that took place here

The killing of Abu Rafi Sallam ibn Abi al-Huqayq (627 CE)
The return of the emigrants to Abyssinia with Jafar ibn Abi Talib (628 CE)
The battle of Khaybar (628 CE)
The Negus carries the emigrants from Abyssinia to the Prophet in two ships (628 CE)
The arrival of Jafar ibn Abi Talib to the Prophet at Khaybar (628 CE)
The incident of the poisoned sheep at Khaybar (628 CE)

People born here

Marhab the Jew

Communities that lived here

What this page covers

This page gathers what the museum links to the place: events, people and buildings. It is not a full historical description of the place. The description and history of the place, from the original sources, will be added in the next batches.

In the introduction to "The Sealed Nectar"

Many Jewish tribes settled in Yathrib, Khaybar and Tayma after the Romans occupied Palestine in 70 CE, and built villages, towers and fortresses there. Khaybar was one of the well-known Jewish tribes when Islam came ² ³. The Banu Sulaym lived from the Wadi al-Qura to Khaybar and east of Medina ⁴. See Judaism in the Arabian Peninsula.

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Khaybar

At a glance

Summary

Location

In the museum

Events that took place here

People born here

Communities that lived here

What this page covers

In the introduction to "The Sealed Nectar"

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

Place

Muhammad