The Spoils of Khaybar, and the Gift of Fadak

Shaykh Yasir Qadhi explains:

❧THE PROMISE OF SŪRAT AL-FATḤ

Every Muslim who had been at al-Hudaybiyyah received extra shares of Khaybar, for Allah had promised exactly this in Sūrat al-Fatḥ: Allah has promised you abundant spoils that you will take, and He has hastened this for you (وَعَدَكُمُ اللَّهُ مَغَانِمَ كَثِيرَةً تَأْخُذُونَهَا فَعَجَّلَ لَكُمْ هَذِهِ), a portion of the reward for their patience and īmān at Hudaybiyyah, advanced to them in this world.

❧THE LARGEST CONQUEST

In land, Khaybar was the largest conquest of the Prophet's ﷺ lifetime, perhaps Ḥunayn brought more movable wealth, but nothing rivaled Khaybar's priceless acres, and with them came grain, armor, weapons, and animals. It generated more wealth than the community had ever seen, and its loss was a huge demoralization for the Quraysh: the most fertile, most fortified, most lucrative region of the Peninsula was now in the Prophet's ﷺ hands. The surrounding settlements, such as Wādī al-Qurā, accepted the same fifty-percent terms.

❧FADAK, THE UNFOUGHT GIFT

The people of Fadak, a smaller settlement nearby, grew afraid and sent a letter offering the identical terms, though no army had marched on them and none intended to. Because no Muslim fought for it, Fadak became a gift from Allah directly to His Prophet ﷺ, and he used its proceeds to support his family.

❧DEBTS REPAID

It was now that the Muhājirūn returned to the Anṣār the lands and orchards gifted to them in the first year of the Hijrah, they had always felt it was not truly theirs. Ibn ʿUmar said: we never ate to our fill until after Khaybar. After twenty years of sacrifice for some, every Muhājir now had a lifelong yearly income, Allah's reward in this dunyā before the ākhirah.