The Siege of Banu Qurayza
After the Battle of Khandaq (the Trench, 5 AH), the Prophet besieged Banu Qurayza, the last Jewish tribe in Medina, who were accused of violating their treaty by aiding the Meccan coalition during the battle. The siege lasted several weeks.
Banu Qurayza asked to negotiate. Among those they requested to consult was Abu Lubaba ibn Abd al-Mundhir — he was connected to some of their families through pre-Islamic ties, and they trusted him to give honest information. They asked: if we surrender on the Prophet’s terms, will we be safe?
Abu Lubaba answered “yes” — but simultaneously drew his finger across his throat, indicating: no, you will be killed.
The Immediate Recognition
The tradition reports that Abu Lubaba immediately recognized what he had done as a sin: he had disclosed information about the Prophet’s intended judgment without authorization, in a way that undermined the negotiation. Before he even left, he felt the weight of the betrayal.
He did not go back to the Prophet. He went directly to the mosque in Medina, tied himself to a pillar, and declared that he would not move from that spot until God accepted his repentance or he died there.
The Release
He remained there for several days — fasting, weeping, refusing food and water. The Prophet reportedly stated that God had accepted his repentance, and that Abu Lubaba could be untied. But Abu Lubaba refused to let the Prophet himself untie him — insisting that only the Prophet’s daughter (or, in some accounts, only a woman he had made the vow before) should do so, as an expression of his self-imposed humiliation.
The pillar to which he tied himself is traditionally identified in Masjid al-Nabawi and is known as ustuwanat al-tawba (the Pillar of Repentance).
See also: Seerah Sad Ibn Muadh, Seerah Zaid Ibn Arqam, Abu Bakr Al Siddiq, Seerah Al Ahnaf Ibn Qays, Fiqh Al Iman Wa Kufr