SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE STORY OF BANU QURAYZAH: A RE-EVALUATION OF IBN ISHAQ’S ACCOUNT

Abstract

One of the universally accepted stories in Islamic jus in Bello is that the Prophet Peace be Upon Him ordered the killing of all the combatants of Banu Qurayzah (Qurayza) for their treachery. It seems that this story is blindly accepted by Muslims themselves without knowing that this is perhaps the greatest fabrication in Islamic jus in Bello. This article attempts to elaborate the inner contradictions in the Banu Qurayza episode. It is concluded that the killing of all the combatants of Banu Qurayza never took place.