The campaign
Khaybar, a fortified oasis some 150 kilometres north of Madinah, had sheltered the Jewish clans expelled from Madinah and had helped to raise the confederacy that besieged the city in the Battle of the Trench. In the seventh year after the Hijrah the Prophet (s) marched against it; the fortresses fell one by one over several weeks, and the campaign, begun in Muharram, ended in Safar. Shia almanacs commemorate the decisive day on 24 Rajab.
The standard
The strongest fortress, al-Qamus, held out. The Prophet (s) announced that the next day he would give the standard to a man who loved God and His Messenger and was loved by them, through whom God would grant victory — and gave it to Ali (a), whose eyes he had healed of an inflammation with his own hand. Ali (a) slew the Jewish warrior Marhab in single combat and, in the famous account, tore the gate of the fortress from its hinges and used it as a shield. The hadith of the standard is among the merits of Ali (a) accepted by both schools.
Terms
The people of Khaybar agreed to leave with their families, then asked to remain and farm the land, paying half of its yield to the Muslims; the Prophet (s) accepted, and the arrangement lasted until the caliphate of Umar.
Written for Shia Online Community. Dates and facts are checked against the references listed below; where the tradition records more than one date, all are given.
