Battle of Khyber:
(Muharram 7 Hijri) 629 AD
Khyber literally means strong fortress. Khair is located about 20 miles from Medina towards Syria. When the Jews were ordered to leave Medina due to the continuous violation of the Covenant of Medina, these people went and settled in Khyber. In this way, Khyber became the center of forces hostile to Islam, which had to be eradicated, so the Holy Prophet himself led this full-scale Islamic campaign. This raid took place at the end of 6 and the beginning of 7 AH.
Means:
- The Jews settled in Khyber were inciting all the Arabs to be anti-Islamic.
- Khyber has become the center of forces hostile to Islam.
- Various delegations of Jews from Khyber used to visit the whole of Arabia and create an atmosphere of large-scale confrontation against Islam.
- All the Jews who started the war of parties had now settled in Khyber and the tribe of Banu Ghatfan, the worst enemy of Islam, had also joined them in anti-Islam. In the forts of Khyber, 20,000 organized troops and countless weapons had been gathered for anti-Islam.
Events of Ghazwa Khyber:
All these conditions and reasons required that this blind enemy of Islam should be eliminated with full force, so according to the Peace of Hudaybiyah, there was an agreement between Muslims and Quraysh not to fight for 10 years, then Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa (PBUH) He engaged all his strength and attention towards Khyber.
- On Muharram 7 Hijri, Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) appointed Saba’ bin Arafat as his deputy in Madinah and along with an army of 1200 Muslims, Hazrat Umm Salama left with him.
- For the first time in this battle, instead of small flags, he prepared a full flag.
- Many Muslim women also joined the Islamic army on this occasion.
- First, Hazrat Mahmud bin Muslimah conquered Qila Naim.
- Among the six forts, the Qamoos fort, which was the fort of Marhab, faced many difficulties for the Muslims. Finally, there was a fierce fight between Hazrat Ali and Marhab, thus this fort was conquered.
- Khyber was a very fertile region; the land here was divided into two parts. One part was kept for treasury and hospitality and the rest was distributed among the Mujahideen.
- On the same occasion, the eating of donkeys, mules, beasts and clawed animals was declared haram.
Results:
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- The conquest of Khyber proved to be the source of Islamic conquests and the dominance of Islam within Arabia.
- After the defeat of the Jews, the conditions were favorable for the conquest of Mecca.
- All the anti-Islamic conspiracies of the Jews died and the organized group of the anti-Islamic forces was crushed by a crushing defeat.
- As a minority, the Jews apparently accepted the dominance and power of the Muslims and became dhimmis.
- This battle is mentioned in Surah Fatah. This was a source of great help to the Muslims from Allah, which proves that the so-called monopoly of the pagan Arabs and Jews has no place in the sight of Allah. Allah’s help is with the mujahid deen of Islam.