the second Fijār — ʿAmr ibn al-Nuʿmān slaughters the Qurayẓa–Naḍīr hostages

الفجار الثاني للأنصار — قتل عمرو بن النعمان رهن قريظة والنضير

c. 615 CE

In the second account — the one Ibn al-Athīr finds worthier of the name — ʿAmr ibn al-Nuʿmān of Banū Bayāḍa swore not to touch water to his head until his people had the lands of Qurayẓa and al-Naḍīr, or their hostages dead. Kaʿb ibn Asad al-Quraẓī counseled defiance («in one night each of you begets their like»); the hostages were slaughtered. ʿAbdallāh ibn Ubayy broke with him — «this is wrongdoing; I can see you borne a corpse in a cloak by four men» — and his party freed their captives, Sulaym ibn Asad, grandfather of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb, among them. Qurayẓa and al-Naḍīr now allied with the Aws ¹.

Depth

At a glance

Review: Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

In time

Pre-Islamic Arabia · The Prophetic Era

In space

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Sides

Aws with Qurayẓa & al-Naḍīr

Khazraj

Summary

In the version that Ibn al-Athir finds most likely, the Second Fijar of the Ansar began when Amr ibn al-Nu'man al-Bayadi swore that he would not let water touch his head until his people had camped at the dwellings of Qurayza and al-Nadir, or had killed their hostages. The Jews refused to leave, on the advice of Ka'b ibn Asad, and the hostages were attacked and killed. Abd Allah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul opposed this. He and his companions freed those who were with them, among them Sulaym ibn Asad, grandfather of Muhammad ibn Ka'b al-Qurazi. Qurayza and al-Nadir then allied with the Aws against the Khazraj. ¹

Connections

Explore the connections

Occurred at: Medina
Had participant: Amr ibn al-Nu'man al-Bayadi· Ka'b ibn Asad al-Qurazi· Abdullah ibn Ubayy

People and things also explored

Medina's society at the Hijra· The Battle of Uhud· The death of Abdullah ibn Ubayy and the Prophet's prayer over him· The Siege and Expulsion of Banu al-Nadir· the first Fijār of the Anṣār — the murdered hostages at the gardens· The Incident of the Slander (Hadith al-Ifk)· Quraysh's letter to Abdullah ibn Ubayy after the Hijra· Siege of Banu Qaynuqa

Sources

al-Kamil fi'l-Tarikh of Ibn al-Athir , p. 509

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “the second Fijār — ʿAmr ibn al-Nuʿmān slaughters the Qurayẓa–Naḍīr hostages”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/fijar-al-ansar-2/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

Improve this page on GitHub · Report an error · JSON

Medina's society at the Hijra

The picture al-Raheeq al-Makhtum draws of Medina at the Hijra: three phases of the Medinan period and three groups facing the Prophet, namely the Companions among the Emigrants and Helpers, the pagans of Medina's tribes led by Abdullah ibn Ubayy, and the Jews who lived by usury and by stirring enmity between tribes; and Quraysh from outside.