Who Was Huyayy ibn Akhtab? Who gathered the Confederates in Islamic History

Before the worldBefore Adam

The first nationsAdam to Shuayb

Egypt and Bani Israilc. 1300–1000 BCE

Bani Israil and Romec. 1000 BCE – 250 CE

Arabia before IslamUp to 570 CE

Enemies of the Prophet ﷺ610–632 CE

After the Prophet ﷺ632–1000 CE

Crusades and conquests1090–1502 CE

The end of timeStill to come

Ten signs before the Hour

Isa ibn Maryam descends
A landslide in the east
A landslide in the west
A landslide in Arabia
The smoke
The sun rises from the west
The Beast of the earth
A fire from Yemen drives people to their gathering

Sahih Muslim lists ten major signs before the Hour without fixing their order. This follows a common order given by the scholars. Sahih Muslim 2901a ↗

Villains of history49 / 76

حيي بن أخطب

Huyayy ibn Akhtab

Who gathered the Confederates625–627 CE

Relied onAlliances and fortresses

Undone byThe Trench

Chief of Banu Nadir in Madinah. After his tribe was exiled for plotting against the Prophet ﷺ, he went to Makkah and the tribes to raise the army of the Confederates, then persuaded Banu Qurayzah to break their treaty.

How it ended

When the siege failed, he joined Qurayzah in their fortress and was executed with their fighters. His daughter Safiyyah later became a Mother of the Believers.

It is He who expelled the ones who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture from their homes at the first gathering. You did not think they would leave, and they thought that their fortresses would protect them from Allah; but [the decree of] Allah came upon them from where they had not expected, and He cast terror into their hearts [so] they destroyed their houses by their [own] hands and the hands of the believers. So take warning, O people of vision.
Quran 59:2

The lessonThey thought their fortresses would protect them from Allah (59:2).

In the Quran

59:2-4 33:9-27

Stood against
Source: Recorded by historiansFrom Ibn Ishaq and al-Waqidi. The commentators say 59:2-4 is about the exile of Banu Nadir.

Every villain in Islamic history, from Iblis to the Dajjal

Each entry is drawn from the Quran, authentic hadith (with links to sunnah.com), the classical commentators and the historians. Companions who fought Islam and later became Muslim are not included, nor are figures Muslims disagree about.