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The invasion of Banu Nadir took place in August 625 AD (Rabi' al-awwal, 4 AH) The account is related in Surah Al-Hashr (Chapter 59 - The Gathering) which describes the banishment of the Jewish tribe Banu Nadir who were expelled from Medina after being accused of plotting to assassinate the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Reason for attack
According to the author Saif ur-Rahman Mubarakpuri, Muhammad, with some of his Companions, set out to see the Banu Nadir tribe and seek their help in raising the blood-money he had to pay to the Banu Kilab for the two men that ‘Amr bin Omaiyah Ad-Damari had killed by mistake in the Expedition of Bir Maona. On hearing his story they said they would share in paying the blood-money and asked him and his Companions Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Ali and others to sit under a wall of their houses and wait. Mubrakpuri says that the angel Gabriel came down to reveal the plot by the Banu Nadir to assassinate Muhammad, so he, with his Companions, hurried off back to Medina. On their way, he told his Companions of the Divine Revelation, that the Banu Nadir Jews held a short private meeting and they conspired to kill him.

According to Norman Stillman, professor of Judaic History, Muhammad found a casus belli by claiming to have received a divine revelation that the Banu Nadir were plotting to assassinate him. The Encyclopaedia of Islam, states that Muhammad ibn Maslama, instructed by Muhammad, ordered them to leave Medina within ten days. The tribe at first decided to comply, but Abdullah ibn Ubayy, the chief of the Khazraj, persuaded them to resist in their fortresses, promising to send men to their aid. Huyayy ibn Akhtab decided to put up resistance, hoping also for help from Banu Qurayza, despite opposition within the tribe.

William Montgomery Watt, former professor of Arabic and Islamic studies, states the underlying reason for the expulsion of the Banu Nadir was same as that of the Banu Qaynuqa. Namely, that Jewish criticism of Muhammad endangered the ordinary Muslims belief in Muhammad and the Quran. The clan of Nadir had an alliance with the Banu Amir, but it is not clear how this affected the seeking of blood money that Muslims were after. He also doubts whether the Banu Nadir wanted to drop a stone on Muhammad, and that the "allegation was no more than an excuse to justify the attack".