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Concept
Unconditional surrender
Summary
An unconditional surrender is a surrender in which no guarantees are given to the surrendering party. It is often demanded with the threat of complete destruction, extermination or annihilation.
Announcing that only unconditional surrender is acceptable puts psychological pressure on a weaker adversary, but it may also prolong hostilities. A party typically only demands unconditional surrender when it has a significant advantage over their adversaries, when victory is thought to be inevitable.
In modern times, unconditional surrenders most often include guarantees provided by international law. In some cases, surrender is truly accepted unconditionally; while in other cases terms are offered and accepted, but forces are declared to be subject to “unconditional surrender” for symbolic purposes. This type of surrender may also be accepted by the surrendering party under the expectation of guarantees agreed to informally.
Banu Qurayza
After the Battle of the Trench, in which the Muslims tactically overcame their opponents while suffering very few casualties, efforts to defeat the Muslims failed, and Islam became influential in the region. As a consequence, the Muslim army besieged the neighbourhood of the Banu Qurayza tribe, leading to their unconditional surrender.Watt, Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman, pp. 167–174. All the men, apart from a few who converted to Islam, were executed, while the women and children were enslaved.Peterson, Muhammad: the prophet of God, p. 125-127.Ramadan, In the Footsteps of the Prophet, p. 140f.Hodgson, The Venture of Islam, vol. 1, p. 191.Brown, A New Introduction to Islam, p. 81.Lings, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, p. 229-233. The historicity of the incident has been questioned. For details and references see discussion in main article.
Official source
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