[9][10] In the 7th century, the Banu Qaynuqa were living in two fortresses in the south-western part of the city of Yathrib, now Medina, having settled there at an unknown date.
[5][12] In May 622, Muhammad arrived at Yathrib (now called Medina) with a group of his followers, who were given shelter by members of all indigenous tribes of the city who came to be known as the Ansar.
He proceeded to set about the establishment of a pact, known as the Constitution of Medina, between the Muslims, the Ansar, and the various Jewish tribes of Yathrib to regulate the matters of governance of the city, as well as the extent and nature of inter-community relations.
Ibn Ishaq writes that a dispute broke out between the Muslims and the Banu Qaynuqa (the allies of the Khazraj tribe) soon afterward.
When a Muslim woman visited a jeweler's shop in the Qaynuqa marketplace, one of the goldsmiths and the men present began pestering her to uncover her face.
She refused, but the goldsmith, who was a Jew, played a trick on her by attaching the hem of her dress to her back, causing some of her legs to be visible when she stood up.
He writes that the Jews had assumed a contentious attitude towards Muhammad and as a group possessing substantial independent power, they posed a great danger.
[20] Muhammad then approached the Banu Qaynuqa, gathering them in the marketplace and addressing them as follows, O Jews, beware lest God brings on you the like of the retribution which he brought on Quraysh.
[2] Muhammad then besieged the Banu Qaynuqa for fourteen[5] or fifteen days, according to ibn Hisham,[6] after which the tribe surrendered unconditionally.
[25] After the surrender of Banu Qaynuqa, Abd Allah ibn Ubayy, the chief of a section of the clan of Khazraj̲ urged him to spare them and drive them away.
"[8] According to William Montgomery Watt, Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy was attempting to stop the expulsion, and Muhammad's insistence was that the Qaynuqa must leave the city, but was prepared to be lenient about other conditions; Ibn Ubayy argument was that presence of Qaynuqa with 700 fighting men can be helpful in the view of the expected Meccan onslaught.
[26] Because of this interference and other episodes of his discord with Muhammad, Abdullah ibn Ubayy earned for himself the title of the leader of hypocrites (munafiqun) in the Muslim tradition.
[27] The Banu Qaynuqa left first for the Jewish colonies in the Wadi al-Kura, north of Medina, and from there to Der'a in Syria,[5] west of Salkhad.
[28] Muhammad divided the property of the Banu Qaynuqa, including their arms and tools, among his followers, taking for the Islamic state a fifth share of the spoils for the first time.