Ar-Rawan, the viewpoint and the village

History

The place. The RCU opened visits to Khaybar on 24 November 2022. Ar-Rawan brings together a visitor centre on the civilizations of Khaybar, a viewpoint, a restaurant and the starting point of the guided tours. In 2022, a show of 1,450 drones took place here. A camp on the lava, the Khaybar Volcano Camp, opened in December 2022. There is no separate Khaybar museum: the visitor centre serves as one. Visits take place in season, from November to March. Saudipedia also mentions a fort called al-Bazza in the ar-Rawan area.

The oasis. Khaybar is the main town of a governorate of 45,532 inhabitants (2022 census). The oasis was born where several wadis meet, including Wadi al-Ghars, at the edge of the lava field. The lava holds a water table that fed, according to the Saudi press, more than 300 springs. Saudipedia names several: al-Lujayja, al-Baraka, ʿAyn ʿAli, al-Hama, al-Buhayr. The oasis stream is home to a fish species found only in the region. The marked trail of ʿAyn al-Jamma and that of Hisat ad-Dabl start from ar-Rawan.

The view over the oasis. Abu Musa reports that on the way to Khaybar, the people came above a valley and called out the takbir loudly. The Prophet ﷺ said:
« ارْبَعُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِكُمْ، إِنَّكُمْ لَا تَدْعُونَ أَصَمَّ وَلَا غَائِبًا، إِنَّكُمْ تَدْعُونَ سَمِيعًا قَرِيبًا وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ »
“Be gentle with yourselves. You are not calling upon one who is deaf or absent. You are calling upon One who hears all and is near, and He is with you.” (Bukhari 4205)
He then taught him the words « لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللهِ », which he called one of the treasures of Paradise (Bukhari 4205).

The palm groves. After the conquest, the inhabitants stayed to cultivate the palm trees in return for half of the harvest (Bukhari 2338, 4248). Ibn Ishaq reports that ʿAbd Allah ibn Rawaha came to estimate the harvest. He divided it in two and let them choose their share, and they would say: “It is by this that the heavens and the earth stand.”

A spring and a trial. After the conquest, ʿAbd Allah ibn Sahl was killed among the palm trees of Khaybar. His relatives came to the Prophet ﷺ. The youngest spoke first; the Prophet ﷺ said to him: « كَبِّرِ الْكُبْرَ » (“Let the eldest speak”). No one had seen the killing. The Prophet ﷺ paid the blood money himself (Bukhari 6142). This hadith is the basis of the qasama procedure. Ibn Ishaq says the body was found in a spring, which has not been identified.

The fever. Early geographers describe Khaybar as a land of fever, and Yaqut says that the spring of an-Natat was unhealthy. Al-Waqidi reports that the Companions caught fever after eating unripe dates. In the 20th century, the oasis was still known for malaria; modern sanitation put an end to it.

The ramparts. The Khaybar Longue Durée project (CNRS, RCU, AFALULA) showed in 2020-2023 that the oasis was surrounded by a stone wall of about 14.5 km, with 180 bastions. 5.9 km and 74 bastions remain. It dates from about 2250 to 1950 BC. Sections can be seen at the edge of the oasis; they have not been developed for visitors.

What is certain and what is not

• Certain: the words « ارْبَعُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِكُمْ » on the way to Khaybar (Bukhari 4205); sharecropping (Bukhari 2338, 4248); the killing of ʿAbd Allah ibn Sahl and the blood money paid by the Prophet ﷺ (Bukhari 6142).
• Historians' account: the estimate of the harvest by Ibn Rawaha (Ibn Ishaq); the Companions' fever (al-Waqidi). Ibn Ishaq also reports a supplication said by the Prophet ﷺ on seeing Khaybar; its chain contains an unnamed man, and some scholars judge it weak.
• Tradition: the name “ʿAyn ʿAli”. It is a modern name: no early source links a spring of Khaybar to ʿAli ibn Abi Talib. The fort of al-Bazza does not appear in the sira.
• Uncertain: the spring where ʿAbd Allah ibn Sahl was found.

Narrations with a weak or disputed chain

• The supplication on seeing Khaybar. Ibn Ishaq reports that on arriving above Khaybar, the Prophet ﷺ told his companions to stop, then said: « اللَّهُمَّ رَبَّ السَّمَوَاتِ وَمَا أَظْلَلْنَ، وَرَبَّ الْأَرَضِينَ وَمَا أَقْلَلْنَ، وَرَبَّ الشَّيَاطِينِ وَمَا أَضْلَلْنَ، وَرَبَّ الرِّيَاحِ وَمَا أَذْرَيْنَ، فَإِنَّا نَسْأَلُكَ خَيْرَ هَذِهِ الْقَرْيَةِ وَخَيْرَ أَهْلِهَا وَخَيْرَ مَا فِيهَا، وَنَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّهَا وَشَرِّ أَهْلِهَا وَشَرِّ مَا فِيهَا، أَقْدِمُوا بِسْمِ اللهِ » (“O Allah, Lord of the heavens and what they shade, Lord of the earths and what they carry, Lord of the devils and those they lead astray, Lord of the winds and what they scatter: we ask You for the good of this town, the good of its people and the good of what is in it, and we seek refuge with You from its evil, the evil of its people and the evil of what is in it. Advance, in the name of Allah”). He adds that the Prophet ﷺ said it on entering every town. Grade: disputed. The chain contains an unnamed man (« حدثني من لا أتهم »); some contemporary specialists judge it good through its other routes (hasan li-ghayrihi), others weak. It is therefore presented as a supplication reported by Ibn Ishaq.

Sources

1. Bukhari 2338, 4205, 4248, 6142 (sunnah.com).
2. Ibn Hisham, as-Sira an-nabawiyya, vol. 2 p. 337, 353-355.
3. Al-Waqidi, al-Maghazi, vol. 2 p. 645-646.
4. Yaqut al-Hamawi, Muʿjam al-buldan, vol. 2 p. 409; vol. 5 p. 290.
5. Saudipedia, « محافظة خيبر ».
6. Okaz, 26 November 2022; SPA, November 2022; Arab News, December 2022 (Khaybar Volcano Camp).
7. Asharq al-Awsat (en), 11 November 2020; Hegra Conservation, 1 March 2024.
8. Charloux G. et al., “The ramparts of Khaybar”, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, doi 10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.104355.