The exiled **Banu Nadir** Jews, now settled in Khaybar, did not forget their defeat. Representatives traveled to Makkah to actively goad the Quraysh into a final, decisive confrontation. They successfully contacted numerous tribes across central Arabia, cobbling together a massive **Grand Alliance** with the explicit purpose of invading Madinah and wiping out Islam once and for all.

The Great Siege

In **627 CE**, the largest army of Arabs ever fielded—some **ten thousand men**—assembled. The total Muslim fighting force, including all men, women, and children, numbered no more than two or three thousand. When news of the impending assault reached Madinah, the Hypocrites attempted to spread panic.

Muhammad (pbuh) held a council for suggestions. A convert from Persia, **Salman al-Farsi**, proposed a brilliant and unknown stratagem in Arabia: fortifying the rear of the city while digging a large, defensive **trench** (Khandaq) across the open plain where the Alliance would have to attack. The idea was immediately adopted. The entire Muslim community, including Muhammad (pbuh)—a man in his late fifties—set to work frantically, singing as they dug.

The defenses were completed just in time. The fearsome Alliance arrived with grim determination but were immediately confused by the wide, deep trench. Their attempts at infantry assault failed, as men struggling to climb were easily picked off by Muslim archers. Cavalry was all but useless. After days of fruitless attempts, the Alliance decided to lay **siege** to the city, hoping to starve the Muslims into submission.

The Treachery and Diplomatic Triumph

After more than two weeks, the tribal leaders began to grow restless. **Ḥuyayy**, the chief of the Banu Nadir, broke the stalemate by secretly entering the fortress of the Jewish tribe of **Banu Qurayzah**, whose fortified area composed part of Madinah’s rear defense. He convinced the Banu Qurayzah to betray the Muslims and join a coordinated attack. Emboldened, the pagans prepared for the combined assault.

Upon discovering the treachery, Muhammad (pbuh) engaged a double agent in a desperate attempt to sow discord within the Alliance. The agent successfully made the Makkans doubt the sincerity of the Jews, causing them to hesitate. Muhammad (pbuh) then sent an offer to the powerful Ghatafan tribe, effectively **buying them off**. Finally, the agent entered among the Banu Qurayzah and made them doubt the loyalty of the Makkans.

The bold gambit soon paid off. The Banu Qurayzah cut off all food supplies to the Muslims, and their warriors began encroaching into parts of the city where Muslim women and children were quartered. However, due to the mutual mistrust sown by the double agent, the Arab forces outside were paralyzed with inaction, each faction suspecting the other of secretly siding with Muhammad (pbuh).

The End of the Alliance and the Banu Qurayzah

That night, a fierce **sandstorm** erupted out of the desert, scattering the Bedouins, blowing away tents, and breaking the will of the invaders. The Alliance crumbled, and all sides returned to their home territories. The Muslims were overjoyed at their nearly bloodless victory, seeing divine intervention in the sudden disintegration of their massive foe.

The question of the Banu Qurayzah, now barricaded behind their walls, remained. Muhammad (pbuh) ordered an immediate siege of their fortresses. The Banu Qurayzah, knowing they could not win and fearing the Muslims they had betrayed, agreed to surrender, but only if they could choose the man who was to decide their fate. They selected the chief of the Auws tribe, **Sa‘d ibn Mu‘ādh**, with whom they had been friendly in the past.

Sa‘d ibn Mu‘ādh, unexpectedly for the Jews, asked them what the punishment for betrayal was according to their own scripture. The answer was death. Sa‘d then decreed that the leaders and chief instigators of the treachery were to be executed, while the remaining men, women, and children were to be taken as bonded servants.

Muhammad (pbuh) acceded to the chief’s decision but added a merciful condition: **no mothers were to be separated from their children**. Only two condemned men escaped their harsh judgment by converting to Islam, thus being freed. Although organized Jewish political power ended in Madinah, individual Jewish families would continue to live freely in the city for centuries. Even the Hypocrites stood down and no longer troubled the Muslims during the Prophet’s lifetime.

Punishment of Khaybar

To punish the people of **Khaybar**, the center from which the Alliance plot was hatched, Muhammad (pbuh) marched a force there and, after a series of pitched battles, compelled the residents to agree to a peace treaty and the payment of an annual tribute. Khaybar remained a semi-autonomous Jewish settlement until the time of the second Caliph, **‘Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb**, who ordered the remaining Jewish residents to resettle in Syria.