Were There Female Relatives of the Prophet Muḥammad among the Besieged Qurayẓa?

Abstract

Three members of the Jewish tribe Qurayẓa, two brothers and their relative, left the tribe’s besieged fortress hours before Qurayẓa’s unconditional surrender to the Prophet Muḥammad, thereby saving their lives, their families, and their orchards. According to a rather widespread account, the three had become convinced of the veracity of Muḥammad’s mission. But there is a more cogent explanation for their survival: according to Ibn al-Kalbī’s Kitāb al-Mathālib, the two brothers were married to two sisters who were Muḥammad’s third cousins.