Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf
Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf (Arabic: كعب بن الاشرف) (died 624) was a chief of the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir and a poet, who critisized and mocked the Islamic prophet Muhammad.[1] He was assassinated by Muslims on the order of Muhammad. Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf was born to a Jewish-Arab mother from the Nadir tribe, Aqilah bint Abi'l-Huqayq, and an Arab father from the Tayy tribe, and he followed his mother's religion.[2][3]
According to several ahadith in Sahih al-Bukhari, Muhammed asked his companions who would kill Ashraf for humiliating the muslims, and the muslim Muhammad bin Maslama said he was ready to kill him if prophet Muhammed desired it. Maslama asked Muhammed if he could lie to accomplish the assasination, and the prophet allowed this [4] .
[edit] Interactions with Muhammad
Ka'b was infuriated at Muhammad's execution of a number of Meccan notables of the Quraysh tribe who had been captured after the Muslim victory in the Battle of Badr in March 624.[2] The traditional Muslim biography of Muhammad reports Ka'b as saying "...if Muhammad has indeed struck down those people, then it were better to be buried in the earth than to walk upon it!"[5]
Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf rode to the Quraish at Mecca, in order to lament the loss at Badr and to incite them to take up arms to regain lost honour, noting the statement of Muhammad: "He (Ka'b) has openly assumed enmity to us and speaks evil of us and he has gone over to the polytheists (whom the muslims were at war with) and has made them gather against us for fighting". Some weak sources suggest that during his visit to Mecca, Ka'b concluded a treaty with Abu Sufyan, stipulating cooperation between the Quraysh and Jews against Muhammad.[1] This however is not reported in any trusted ahadith.
Upon returning to Medina, Ka'b also wrote erotic poetry about Muslim women, which Muhammad and his followers found offensive.[2][5]
Muhammad called upon his followers to kill Ka'b, and Muhammad ibn Maslama offered his services, collecting four others, including a foster-brother of Ka'b. By pretending to have turned against Muhammad, they decieved Ka'b out of his house on a moonlight night[2] for what was supposed to be negotiations of Ka'b's sale of food to them. After Ka'b walked out of his house to meet Muhammad ibn Maslama and his companions, they asked to smell the perfume on his head, and when he bowed his head to let them smell the scent, they cut him open from his stomack to his genitals. Ibn Ishaq reported that they cut off Ashrafs head and threw it before the prophets feet, and Muhammed was pleased by the killing of Allahs enemy.[6]
A number of reasons are given for the assassination. One reason is that al-Ashraf had tried to provoke the Quraysh against Muhammad, and later composed verses insulting Muslim women. Another reason is his attempt to assassinate Muhammad.[1] According to Norman Stillman, Muhammad was acting in accordance with the norms of the Arab society of that period which demanded retaliation for a slight to a group's honor.[3] Others have pointed out the consequences of a prophet that allowed his critics to be assasinated and allowed his followers to lie to achieve this. Some critics of islam like to point out that moral relativity is a weak defence for a prophet who claimed moral superiority and whom Allah set as a perfect example for any muslim who hopes for paradise[7]
The Jews were terrified at the assassination of Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, and as a Muslim biographer of Muhammad put it "...there was not a Jew who did not fear for his life".[8] After defeat by the Quraish at the Mount Uhud in March, 625, the Banu Nadir challenged Muhammad as the leader of Medina.[9] In the same year, Huyayy ibn Akhtab of Banu Nadir tribe refused to pay blood money for the murder of two Muslims and Ibn Ubayy planned along with allied nomads to attack Muhammad.[10] The Nadir, then postponed the contribution until later that day. Muhammad besieged the Banu Nadir and ordered the tribe to leave Medina within 10 days. The tribe at first decided to comply, but certain people from Medina who were not Believers offered to help Banu al-Nadir fight the Muslims.[11] Huyayy ibn Akhtab, despite opposition from within the tribe, decided to fight, a fight which ended with their surrender although they were allowed to leave and take what possessions they could carry on their camels, with the exception of their weapons which they had to leave behind.[12]
The French enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher Voltaire wrote a play with Muhammeds murder of his critics as a main theme. The name of the play was "Le fanatisme, ou Mahomet le Prophete", meaning "Fanaticism, or Mahomet the Prophet" [13]
[edit] See also
- Non-Muslim interactants with Muslims during Muhammad's era
- Asma bint Marwan
- Abu 'Afak
- Huyayy ibn Akhtab
- Ka'b ibn Asad
- Al-Kawthar
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Rubin, Uri. The Assassination of Kaʿb b. al-Ashraf. Oriens, Vol. 32. (1990), pp. 65-71.
- ^ a b c d Montgomery Watt, W.. "Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf". In P.J. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Encyclopaedia of Islam Online. Brill Academic Publishers. ISSN 1573-3912.
- ^ a b Stillman, Norman (1979). The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America. p. 13. ISBN 0827601166.
- ^ Sahih Bukhari [1]
- ^ a b Ibn Hisham. Al-Sira al-Nabawiyya (The Life of The Prophet). English translation in Stillman (1979), p. 124
- ^ Sahih Bukhari [2]
- ^ quran [3]
- ^ Ibn Hisham. Al-Sira al-Nabawiyya (The Life of The Prophet). English translation in Stillman (1979), p. 127
- ^ Stillman (1979), p. 14.
- ^ Watt (1956), p. 211-2.[clarification needed]
- ^ The earliest biography of Muhammad, by ibn Ishaq Some sources sources[who?] identify these persons with Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy, who however was a Muslim, of the Banu Qurayza.
- ^ Vacca, V.. "Nadir, Banu 'l". In P.J. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Encyclopaedia of Islam Online. Brill Academic Publishers. ISSN 1573-3912.
- ^ Mahomet by Voltaire [4]
