131their mutual assistance agreement. tvluhammad knew that since the Banu
Q aynuqa's forced exile, the Banu Nadir had become suspicious, if not
hostile to him, and that they had established ties with tribes hostile to the
Muslims. He was therefore extremely cautious.
He visited them with his closest Companions, including Abu 13akr,
Umar, and Ali. The S anu N adir's behavior was strange and their chiefs,
among th em Huyay, suggested no concrete steps to help pay the blood
debt; they suddenly d isappeared under the pretext of preparing a meal
and ga thering the sum needed. The Prophet had the inruition that the
Banu Nadir leaders were planning some mischief, so he rose and left dis-
cree u)" his Companions th in king h e was going to come back. \'\Ihcn he
did nOt, they also left and followed him to his home, where he told them
of his intuitiom and disclosed to them that Gabriel had informed him
that the Banu Nadir wanted to kill him, which indeed their strange behav-
ior in the delegation's presence confirmed. A betrayal by the Banu Nadir,
who lived inside :Medina irself, mad e it impossible for the Muslims to set
up a defense strategy. The Prophet had to act fast. He sent Muhammad
ibn Maslaman to the Banu Nadir to inform them that they had betrayed
the mutual assistance agreement and that they had ten days to leave the
place .~th their women and children and thei r belongings, or else they
would be put to dea th. T he Banu Nadir were afraid and began to prepare
to leave, but Abdullah ibn Ubayy, the hypocrite, came to them and advised
thcm not to leave the city, pledging to give them his unfailing support from
within. The Banu Nad ir chiefs listened to him and informed Muhammad
that they would not leave. In effect, this was a declaration of war.
The Prophet immediately decided to besiege the fo rtress where the
Banu Nadir had sought refuge. They were at first surprised at such a rapid
response, but they hoped that Ibn U bayy or their own allies, especially the
J ewish tribe of Banu Qurayzah, would come to their rescue. They did not,
and after tc n days the situation had become quite unbearable for them.
This was when th e Prophet decid ed to cut the tallest palm trees, those that
were visible from inside, beyo nd the fo rti fications; the palm trees werc the
city's most valuable resource, and in Cutting them down J\'luhammad was
trying to convince the Banu Nadir that if they kept up their r esistance,
nothing o f value would be left in the city. Only that o nce did M uhammad
ever dam age trees or another part of nature , whether in war o r in peace.