Ma‘una Well tragedy, which was even more horrible than that of Ar-Raji‘, took place in the same month.

Abu Bara’ — ‘Amir bin Malik — nicknamed ‘Spear Player’ came to the Messenger of Allâh in Madinah. The Messenger of Allâh called him to embrace Islam but he neither agreed nor refused. He said: "O Messenger of Allâh, if you dispatch some of your Companions to the people of Najd to call them to Islam, I expect them to accept." "I am afraid the people of Najd will kill them." Said the Messenger. But he replied, "I will protect them." Ibn Ishaq confirms that forty men were sent to them; but As-Sahih states that they were seventy — Al-Mundhir bin ‘Amr, one of Bani Sa‘ida, nicknamed ‘Freed to die’ — commanded that group, who were the best and most learned in the Qur’ân and jurisprudence.

On their way to Najd they used to gather firewood to buy food for the people of ‘Ahl As-Suffah’ as charity by day and study, meditate on the meanings of the Qur’ân by night. They kept on doing that till they arrived at Ma‘una Well — which was a well in between Bani ‘Amir, Harrah and Bani Saleem. They stayed there and sent the Message of the Prophet with Haram bin Milhan, the brother of Umm Sulaim to the enemy of Allâh ‘Amir bin At-Tufail. ‘Amir did not heed the Message but rather ordered a man to spear Haram in the back. When the spear penetrated Haram’s body, he saw the blood and said: "Allâhu Akbar! (i.e. Allâh is the Greatest) By Lord of Al-Ka‘bah I have won!"

Then the enemy of Allâh, promptly, called out Bani ‘Amir to fight the rest. Bani ‘Amir refused because they were under the protection of Abu Bara’. Therefore he turned to Bani Saleem for help. The people of ‘Usaiyah, Ri‘al and Dhakwan, who were folks of Bani Saleem, responded to his call. The Companions of the Prophet , who were encompassed by idolaters, kept on fighting till they were all killed. The only survivor was Ka‘b bin Zaid bin An-Najjar who was carried wounded from among the dead. It was in Al-Khandaq (the trench) Battle that he was killed.

‘Amr bin Omaiyah Ad-Damari and Al-Mundhir bin ‘Uqbah bin ‘Amir, who were entrusted with the Muslims’ animals far from them, saw the birds circling in the air over the battleground. Al-Mundhir rushed to share in the fight till he was killed. But ‘Amr bin Omaiyah was captured. ‘Amir set him free when he knew that he was of Mudar tribe but that was after he had cut his hair. He did that to fulfil a pledge of his mother’s to set a slave free.

Returning to the Prophet ‘Amr bin Omaiyah conveyed the news of the painful disaster, which resulted in the murder of seventy of the best believers, and recalled the tragedy of Uhud but with the difference that those of Uhud were killed in a clear war but those of Ma‘una were killed in a disgraceful treachery. On his way back to Qarqara, ‘Amr bin Omaiyah rested in the shade of a tree, and there two men of Bani Kilab joined him. When they slept, ‘Amr killed them both, thinking that by doing that he would avenge some of his killed companions. Then he found out that they had been given a pledge of protection by the Prophet . He told the Messenger of Allâh what he had done. The Messenger of Allâh said to ‘Amr: "You have killed two people; their blood-money shall be a debt I have to discharge." He then engaged himself collecting their blood-money from the Muslims and their allies, the Jews. This very act was later to trigger the invasion of Bani An-Nadeer.

The Prophet was so deeply moved by this tragedy and that of Ar-Raji‘ that he used to invoke Allâh’s wrath against those people and tribes who killed his Companions. Anas reported that for thirty days the Prophet supplicated Allâh against those who killed his Companions at Ma‘una Well. Every dawn prayer he would invoke Allâh’s wrath against Ri‘l, Dhakwan, Lihyan and ‘Usaiyah. He would say, " ‘Usaiyah disobeyed Allâh and His Messenger." Therefore Allâh (AZ), sent down unto His Messenger a Qur’ânic verse that we kept on reciting till it was abrogated later on: ‘Inform our folk that we have encountered our Lord and He is satisfied with us and we are satisfied with Him.’ So the Messenger of Allâh stopped his invocation.

We have already spoken about the disgraceful behaviour of the Jews and how they were always thirsting to shed the blood of the Muslims and undermine the cause of Islam despite all the covenants and pledges they had given to the Prophet . Their behaviour fluctuated between resignation and slackness after the Banu Qainuqa‘ event and the murder of Ka‘b bin Al-Ashraf, and rebellion coupled with treacherous clandestine contacts with Quraish and the hypocrites in order to establish an alliance against the Muslims after the battle of Uhud[]. Being inexperienced in war tactics, they resorted to conspiracy and intrigue hatching. They first of all declared open hatred and enmity, and chose to play all sorts of tricks that might harm the Muslims, but were very careful not to initiate any sort of hostilities that might involve them in open war.

The Prophet , on his part, exercised the highest degree of patience with them but they went too far in their provocative deeds, especially after Ar-Raji‘ and Ma‘una Well events; they even made an attempt on his life.

Once the Prophet with some of his Companions set out to see Banu Nadeer and seek their help in raising the blood-money he had to pay to Bani Kalb for the two men that ‘Amr bin Omaiyah Ad-Damari had killed by mistake. All of that was in accordance with the clauses of the treaty that both parties had already signed. On hearing his story they said they would share in paying the blood-money and asked him and his Companions Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Ali and others to sit under a wall of their houses and wait. The Jews held a short private meeting and conspired to kill the Prophet . The most wicked among them, ‘Amr bin Jahsh, volunteered to climb up the wall and drop a large millstone on his head. One of them, Salam bin Mashkam, cautioned them against perpetrating such a crime, predicting that Allâh would divulge their plot to him, and added that such an act would constitute a manifest violation of the pact concluded with the Muslims.

In fact, Gabriel did come down to reveal to the Prophet their wicked criminal intention, so he, with his Companions, hurried off back to Madinah. On their way, he told his Companions of the Divine Revelation.

Soon after, the Prophet delegated Muhammad bin Maslamah to communicate an ultimatum to Bani Nadeer to the effect that they should evacuate Madinah within ten days, otherwise, their heads would be cut off. The chief of the hypocrites, ‘Abdullah bin Ubai, urged the Jews not to pay heed to the Prophet ’s words and to stay in their habitations, offering to run to their support with two thousands of his followers, and assuring them of help to come from Quraizah tribe and former allies Banu Ghatfan. In this regards, Allâh says: "If you are expelled, we (too) indeed will go out with you, and we shall never obey anyone against you, and if you are attacked (in fight), we shall indeed help you." [59:11]

The Jews regained their confidence and were determined to fight. Their chief Huyai bin Akhtab relied hopefully on what the chief of the hypocrites said. So he sent to the Messenger of Allâh saying: "We will not leave our houses. Do whatever you like to do."

Undoubtedly the situation was awkward for the Muslims. Launching a war against their opponents at this critical stage could entail terrible far reaching ramifications in the light of the unfavourable conditions they were passing through, besides the hostile environment growing in power and hatred around them, the harbinger of which assumed the form of killing the Muslim missions, as it has been already introduced.

The Jews of Bani Nadeer were also a power to count for, and the prospects of inflicting a military defeat on them was precarious; consequently forcing them into war engagement would be attended with unpredictable risks. On the other hand, the continual state of repeated assassinations and acts of treachery carried out against the Muslims individually and collectively brought about unbearable headache to Muhammad ’s followers. Having judged all the prevalent status quo in this perspective, and in the light of the disgraceful attempt on the life of the Prophet , the Muslims made the decisive decisions of taking up arms whatever turn the consequences could assume.

When the Messenger of Allâh received the reply of Huyai bin Akhtab he said: "Allâhu Akbar, Allâhu Akbar." (Allâh is the Greatest of all) and his Companions repeated after him. Then he set out to fight them after appointing Ibn Umm Maktum to dispose the affairs of Madinah during his absence. The standard was entrusted to ‘Ali bin Abi Talib. He laid siege to their forts for six nights — in another version, fifteen.

Banu Nadeer resorted to their castles, mounted them and started shooting arrows and pelting stones at the Muslims enjoying the strategic advantage that their thick fields of palm trees provided. The Muslims were therefore ordered to fell and burn those trees. In this respect, Allâh, the All-Mighty, states in the Qur’ân: "What you (O Muslims) cut down of the palm-trees (of the enemy), or you left them standing on their stems, it was by leave of Allâh." [59:5]

Quraizah tribe remained neutral, and the hypocrite ‘Abdullah bin Ubai as well as Ghatfan failed to keep their promises of support. In this regard Allâh says: "(Their allies deceived them) like Satan, when he says to man: ‘Disbelieve in Allâh.’ But when (man) disbelieves in Allâh, Satan says: ‘I am free of you.’" [59:16]

The siege did not last long for Allâh, the All-Mighty, cast horror into the hearts of the Jews, and they willingly offered to comply with the Prophet ’s order and leave Madinah. The Prophet accepted their request and allowed them to carry as much luggage as their camels could lift, arms were excepted. Of course, they had no choice but to carry out the orders, so they took with them everything they could carry even the pegs and beams of ceilings. Their caravan counted 600 loaded camels including their chiefs, Huyai bin Akhtab and Salam bin Abi Al-Huqaiq, who left for Khaibar whereas another party shifted to Syria. Two of them embraced Islam, Yameen bin ‘Amr and Abu Sa‘d bin Wahab, and so they retained their personal wealth.

The Messenger of Allâh seized their weapons, land, houses, and wealth. Amongst the other booty he managed to capture, there were 50 armours, 50 helmets, and 340 swords.

This booty was exclusively the Prophet ’s because no fighting was involved in capturing it. He divided the booty at his own discretion among the early Emigrants and two poor Helpers, Abu Dujana and Suhail bin Haneef. Anyway the Messenger of Allâh spent a portion of this wealth on his family to sustain their living the year around. The rest was expended to provide the Muslim army with equipment for further wars in the way of Allâh.

The invasion of Bani An-Nadeer took place in Rabi‘ Al-Awwal, 4 A.H. i.e. in August 625 A.D. Almost all the verses of Sûrah Al-Hashr (Chapter 59 - The Gathering) describe the banishment of the Jews and reveal the disgraceful manners of the hypocrites. The verses manifest the rules relevant to the booty. In this Chapter, Allâh, the All-Mighty, praises the Emigrants and Helpers. This Chapter also shows the legitimacy of cutting down and burning the enemy’s land and trees for military purposes. Such acts cannot be regarded as phenomena of corruption so long that they are in the way of Allâh.

In this very Chapter, Allâh recommends the believers to be pious and prepare themselves for the world to come and He ends it with a compliment upon Himself and a manifestation of His Holy Names and Attributes.

As this Chapter concentrates on Bani An-Nadeer and their banishment, Ibn ‘Abbas used to describe it as ‘An-Nadeer Chapter’.