Banu Qaynuqa

Banu Qaynuqa
بنو قينقاع
Arabized Israelites
EthnicityJewish, Arabian
Nisbaal-Qaynuqa'i
LocationMedina, Saudi Arabia
Descended fromKainuka ben Amshel
ReligionJudaism

The Banu Qaynuqa (Arabic: بنو قينقاع; also spelled Banu Kainuka, Banu Kaynuka, Banu Qainuqa, Banu Qaynuqa) was one of the three main Jewish tribes that originally lived in Medina (now part of Saudi Arabia) before being expelled by the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. They were merchants and were known to be wealthy. They resided in the south-west part of the city and were previously allied with the Banu Khazraj.[1]

Islamic tradition says that in the year 624, when a Muslim woman came to the shop of a Banu Qaynuqa goldsmith, the goldsmith played a prank on her, pinning her dress so that when she stood up, the lower part of her legs was revealed. She screamed, and in the ensuing conflict a Muslim man killed him. His fellows took revenge and killed the Muslim man. Muhammad regarded this as a casus belli.[2][3] The tribe was then accused by the Muslims of breaking the Constitution of Medina.[4] Muhammad then besieged the tribe for fourteen or fifteen days, after which they surrendered unconditionally.[5][6][7] The Muslims also took the tribe's property as their booty.[8]

  1. ^ (Bosworth et al. 1998, p. 824)
  2. ^ Guillaume 363, Stillman 122, ibn Kathir 2.
  3. ^ Watt (1956), p. 207–9.
  4. ^ Peters, Francis E. (1994-01-01). Muhammad and the Origins of Islam. SUNY Press. p. 218. ISBN 978-0-7914-1875-8.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference BanuKaynuka2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Swarup, Ram (2011-04-29). Understanding the Hadith: The Sacred Traditions of Islam. Prometheus Books. p. 239. ISBN 978-1-61592-243-7.
  8. ^ Michael V. McDonald (trans.), William Montgomery Watt (annot.) (1987). The history of al-Tabari (PDF). Vol. 7. New York. p. 87. ISBN 0-88706-345-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)