Hisn al-Qamus (“Qalʿat Marhab”)

History

Ibn Saʿd divides Khaybar into three quarters: an-Natat, ash-Shiqq and al-Katiba. Al-Qamus is part of al-Katiba. Ibn Ishaq calls it “the fort of the Banu Abi al-Huqayq”.

Musa ibn ʿUqba speaks of a siege of nearly twenty nights before this fort. Ibn Hajar writes that the fort taken by ʿAli was al-Qamus, one of their great forts, and that Safiyya bint Huyayy was taken captive there (Fath al-Bari, vol. 7 p. 477). Al-Waqidi places this event at the fort of Naʿim instead. Ibn Ishaq only says “one of the forts of Khaybar”.

The episode of the banner is authentic. On the day of Khaybar, the Prophet ﷺ said:
« لَأُعْطِيَنَّ هَذِهِ الرَّايَةَ غَدًا رَجُلًا يَفْتَحُ اللهُ عَلَى يَدَيْهِ، يُحِبُّ اللهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَيُحِبُّهُ اللهُ وَرَسُولُهُ »
“Tomorrow I will give this banner to a man at whose hands Allah will grant victory. He loves Allah and His Messenger, and Allah and His Messenger love him.” (Bukhari 4210)

The people spent the night wondering who would receive it. In the morning, the Prophet ﷺ asked for ʿAli. He was told that ʿAli had sore eyes. He sent for him, put some of his saliva in his eyes and prayed for him. ʿAli was healed and received the banner. The Prophet ﷺ told him to advance without haste and to call the people to Islam, and he added:
« فَوَاللهِ لَأَنْ يَهْدِيَ اللهُ بِكَ رَجُلًا وَاحِدًا خَيْرٌ لَكَ مِنْ أَنْ يَكُونَ لَكَ حُمْرُ النَّعَمِ »
“By Allah, that Allah guides a single man through you is better for you than owning red camels.” (Bukhari 4210)

Muslim then reports the duel (Muslim 1807, narration of Salama ibn al-Akwaʿ). Marhab comes out saying: « قَدْ عَلِمَتْ خَيْبَرُ أَنِّي مَرْحَبُ ». ʿAli answers him: « أَنَا الَّذِي سَمَّتْنِي أُمِّي حَيْدَرَهْ » (“I am the one whom my mother named Haydara”, that is, the lion). Salama says: « فَضَرَبَ رَأْسَ مَرْحَبٍ فَقَتَلَهُ، ثُمَّ كَانَ الْفَتْحُ عَلَى يَدَيْهِ » (“He struck Marhab on the head and killed him, then the victory came at his hands”).

The historians of the sira (Ibn Ishaq, Musa ibn ʿUqba, al-Waqidi) say that it was Muhammad ibn Maslama who killed Marhab. Al-Waqidi offers a reconciliation: Muhammad ibn Maslama wounded him and ʿAli finished him off. Ibn Hajar settles the matter: what is in the Sahih takes precedence over the rest.

The building we see is a fort of stone and mud. It has a maze-like plan: corridors, dozens of rooms, palm planks in the walls, and a small mosque inside. The roof has fallen, the walls still stand. Specialists date it to a late Islamic period, with repairs in the 20th century. After Khaybar joined King ʿAbd al-ʿAziz in 1341 AH (1923), the fort served as the seat of the local emirate.

In March 2024, the fort was closed to the public. The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) announced a conservation study. It can be seen from everywhere in the oasis. Guided tours stop at the ash-Shurayf souk, just below.

What is certain and what is not

• Certain: the banner given to ʿAli, his healing and his victory (Bukhari 4209, 4210); ʿAli kills Marhab (Muslim 1807).
• Historians' account: al-Qamus as the fort of the Banu Abi al-Huqayq (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Saʿd); the siege of about twenty nights (Musa ibn ʿUqba); the link between this fort and the banner (Ibn Hajar; al-Waqidi places it at Naʿim); Marhab killed by Muhammad ibn Maslama (Ibn Ishaq, al-Waqidi).
• Tradition: the identification of the present fort with the 7th-century one. No archaeological evidence establishes it. The name “Qalʿat Marhab” is a local nickname.
• Weak: it is also said that ʿAli lifted the gate of a fort and used it as a shield, and that several men could not turn it over afterwards. This narration has a weak chain: Ibn Ishaq reports it with an incomplete chain, al-Hakim and al-Bayhaqi with a weak chain. It is not in Bukhari or Muslim. Ibn Kathir judges it weak.

Narrations with a weak or disputed chain

• The gate of Khaybar. Ibn Ishaq reports, from Abu Rafiʿ, that ʿAli lost his shield during the fight. He took a gate that was near the fort and used it as a shield until the victory: « فَلَقَدْ رَأَيْتُنِي فِي نَفَرٍ سَبْعَةٍ مَعِي، أَنَا ثَامِنُهُمْ، نَجْهَدُ عَلَى أَنْ نَقْلِبَ ذَلِكَ الْبَابَ فَمَا نَقْلِبُهُ » (“I saw myself with seven men, I being the eighth, straining to turn that gate over, and we could not turn it”). Grade: weak. The chain contains an unnamed man (« عن بعض أهله »); Ibn Kathir writes: « وفي هذا الخبر جهالة وانقطاع ظاهر » (“this report contains an unknown narrator and an obvious break”).


• The same story, another version. Al-Hakim and al-Bayhaqi report, from Jabir, that forty men could not lift the gate afterwards. Grade: weak (the chain passes through Layth ibn Abi Sulaym); Ibn Kathir: « وفيه ضعف أيضا ». A version with seventy men is also judged weak. Ibn Hajar tries to reconcile them: seven men tried to turn it over, forty to carry it.


• These narrations are not in Bukhari or Muslim. The bravery of ʿAli at Khaybar, however, is authentic: Bukhari 4209-4210 (the banner) and Muslim 1807 (Marhab).

Sources

1. Bukhari 4209, 4210 (sunnah.com).
2. Muslim 1807 (narration of Salama ibn al-Akwaʿ).
3. Ibn Hajar, Fath al-Bari, vol. 7 p. 476-477.
4. Ibn Hisham, as-Sira an-nabawiyya, vol. 2 p. 330-335.
5. Al-Waqidi, al-Maghazi, vol. 2 p. 652-656.
6. Ibn Saʿd, at-Tabaqat al-kubra, vol. 2 p. 81.
7. Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa n-nihaya, vol. 6 p. 272 (Hajar ed.).
8. Samhudi, Wafaʾ al-wafa, vol. 4 p. 143.
9. Hegra Conservation, 1 March 2024; Al Majalla, 30 March 2023; Madain Project, “al-Qamus Fort”.