Kenana ibn al-Rabi
Kenana ibn al-Rabi' (Arabic: كِنَانَة ٱبْن ٱلرَّبِيع) also known as Kenana ibn al-Rabi'a and Kenana ibn al-Rabi ibn Abu al-Huqayq, was a Jewish Arab tribal leader of seventh-century Arabia and an opponent of Muhammad. He was from the Arab tribe Banu Nadir. He was a son of the poet al-Rabi ibn Abu al-Huqayq. Ibn al-Rabi' was killed during early Muslim clashes with the Banu Nadir.
Biography
He had two brothers — al-Rabi ibn al-Rabi and Sallam.
Kenana is said to have urged Muhammad to give up the custom during prayer of turning his face toward Mecca ("Qiblah") in favor of Jerusalem, as had been the custom in Islam at first.
After the expulsion of the Banu al-Nadir, he and his family retired to Khaybar, where they possessed a castle called Qamus.[1]
Death
According to one account, after Muhammad and his men took the last fort of the Jewish settlement called Khaybar, the chief of the Jews, Kenana ibn al-Rabi, had custody of the treasure of Banu al-Nadir. When he was asked about it, he denied knowing its whereabouts. A Jew reported to Muhammad, claiming to have seen Kinana frequenting a certain ruin early every morning. Consequently, Muhammad ordered the ruin to be excavated, and some of the treasure was found. When Kinana was asked about the remainder, he refused to divulge its location. As a result, Muhammad ordered Zubayr ibn al-Awwam to torture him in order to extract the treasure that was entrusted to him. Zubayr "kindled a fire with flint and steel on his chest until he was nearly dead." Subsequently, Kenana was handed over to Muhammad ibn Maslama, who beheaded him in revenge for his brother Mahmud. Muhammad took Kenana's young wife Safiyya as a concubine. Muhammad later married Safiyya, who was thus considered the "Mother of the Believers."[2]
Al-Mubarakpuri maintains that Kenana ibn al-Rabi was bound by agreements between Muhammad and Khaybar to not conceal anything from the Muslims. He was executed, al-Mubarakpuri concludes, for breaching the agreement.[3] Montgomery Watt supports the view that he was executed for concealing the treasure.[4] Shibli Nomani, however, argues that Kenana was put to death because he had killed Mahmud, the brother of Muhammad bin Maslama. Nomani also casts doubt on the accuracy of the story due to its sources.[5]
See also
Notes
- ^ s.v. «Khaybar», The Encyclopedia of Islam (L. Veccia Vaglieri).
- ^ ibn Ishaq, Abu Abd Allah Muhammad (1989) [1955]. The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah. Translated by Guillaume, Alfred. Oxford University Press Pakistan. pp. 510–17. ISBN 0196360331.
- ^ Mubarakpuri, Safiur Rahman (1996). The Sealed Nectar: Biography of Prophet Muhammad. p. 372.
- ^ Watt, William Montgomery (1956). Muhammad at Medina. Oxford University Press. p. 218.
- ^ Nomani, Shibli (1979). The Life of the Prophet. Vol. II. p. 173.
Sources
- Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari. Sahih Bukhari.
- the story does not appear in this source Gottheil, Richard et al. "Kenana". Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906.
- Ibn Ishaq. The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah. A. Guillaume, trans. Oxford Univ. Press, 1955. The story Does not appear in this source.
- Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj al-Qushayri. Sahih Muslim. Abdul Hamid Siddiqi, et al., transl's. revised ed. 2000.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)