The Conversion and the Offer
During the siege of Medina by the Confederate forces (10,000 strong, 627 CE), Nuaym ibn Masud secretly came to the Prophet and declared his Islam. He asked: “What can I do?” The Prophet told him he could be of service — and the Prophet is reported to have said: “Indeed, war is deception (al-harbu khud’a).”
Nuaym’s asset: he had relationships with all three parties — he was known to the Quraysh, he was from the Ghatafan (another confederate tribe), and he had connections with the Banu Qurayza (a Jewish tribe of Medina whose neutrality was critical).
The Three-Part Operation
Step 1 — Banu Qurayza: Nuaym went to the Banu Qurayza and told them (falsely) that the Quraysh and Ghatafan, if the siege failed, would abandon the Banu Qurayza to face Muslim retaliation alone. He advised them to demand hostages from the confederates before committing themselves.
Step 2 — Quraysh leadership: Nuaym went to Abu Sufyan and (falsely) warned him that the Banu Qurayza were now intending to demand Quraysh hostages as a precondition — and intended to hand those hostages to the Muslims as a gesture of reconciliation.
Step 3 — Ghatafan: Nuaym gave the same warning to the Ghatafan leadership.
Result: When the confederates approached the Banu Qurayza, the Banu Qurayza asked for hostages — exactly as Nuaym had predicted. The confederates, suspecting a trap, refused. The coordination broke down. The siege dragged; morale fell; the confederates withdrew.
The Ethics of Intelligence Operations
The Seerah’s treatment of this episode is unusually clear: the Prophet authorized the operation, and the tradition preserved it without embarrassment. The principle: deception of enemy forces in warfare is permitted; it is specifically distinguished from breaking faith with parties you have made agreements with.
See also: Seerah Abu Sufyan, Seerah Umar Ibn Khattab, Seerah Ali, Fiqh Al Jihad, Hijra, Seerah Sad Ibn Abi Waqqas