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ʿAbd Allāh ibn 'Ubayy ibn Salūl ( ar, عبد الله بن أبي بن سلول), died 631, was a chieftain of the
Khazraj The Banu Khazraj ( ar, بنو خزرج) is a large Arab tribe based in Medina. They were also in Medina during Muhammad's era. The Banu Khazraj are a South Arabian tribe that were pressured out of South Arabia in the Karib'il Watar 7th century ...
tribe of
Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
. Upon the arrival of the Islamic prophet
Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
, Ibn Ubayy seemingly became a
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
, but Muslim tradition says that he remained treacherous to Islam until his death. Because of repeated conflicts with Muhammad, Islamic tradition has labelled him a ''
Munafiq In Islam, the ''munafiqun'' ('hypocrites', ar, منافقون, singular ''munāfiq'') or false Muslims or false believers are a group decried in the Quran as outward Muslims who were inwardly concealing disbelief (“ kufr”) and actively ...
'' (hypocrite) and "leader of the Munafiqun".William Montgomery Watt, "`Abd Allah b. Ubayy", ''
Encyclopaedia of Islam The ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (''EI'') is an encyclopaedia of the academic discipline of Islamic studies published by Brill. It is considered to be the standard reference work in the field of Islamic studies. The first edition was published in ...
''


Origins and early life

Abd-Allah was the son of Ubayy ibn Salul and Uzza bint Ka'ab, also from
Banu Khazraj The Banu Khazraj ( ar, بنو خزرج) is a large Arab tribe based in Medina. They were also in Medina during Muhammad's era. The Banu Khazraj are a South Arabian tribe that were pressured out of South Arabia in the Karib'il Watar 7th century ...
. His father's mother was called Salul. Ibn Ubayy was one of the chiefs of the Khazraj, who then were in conflict with the other major Arab tribe of the city, the
Banu Aws The Banū Aws ( ar, بنو أوس  , "Sons of Aws") or simply Aws ( ar, أوس, also romanised as Aus) was one of the main Arab tribes of Medina. The other was Khazraj, and the two, constituted the Ansar ("helpers f Muhammad) after the Hijra. ...
. During the ''fidjar'', the so-called "sacrilegious war", Ibn Ubayy had led parts of the Khazraj tribe on the first day of fighting but held aloof on the second day. Also, he did not participate in the
Battle of Bu'ath A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
because of a quarrel with another leader over the execution of
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
hostages.John Bagot Glubb, ''The Life and Times of Muhammad'' (2002), p. 142 It appears that at one point during the conflict, his life was saved by his Jewish allies from the tribe of
Banu Qaynuqa The Banu Qaynuqa ( ar, بنو قينقاع; he, בני קינוקאע; also spelled Banu Kainuka, Banu Kaynuka, Banu Qainuqa, Banu Qaynuqa) was one of the three main Jewish tribes living in the 7th century of Medina, now in Saudi Arabia. The grea ...
, as he would later exclaim: "300 soldiers armed in mail, and 400 unequipped, -- they defended me on the fields of Hadaick and Boath from every foe."Glubb (2002), p. 197f. Ibn Ubayy "used every effort to end the fratricidal strife" and achieved a partial reconciliation between the two factions, which both recognized the leadership of Ibn Ubayy.Glubb (2002), p. 161, 164f. He occupied a high status in pre-Islamic Medinan society, and his supporters aimed for him to become "king". The aim was not realised, however, because of the arrival of Muhammad in 622:Maxime Rodinson, ''Muhammad: Prophet of Islam'' (2002), p. 156 since the tribal conflict had not been completely resolved, some citizens looked towards another arbitrator and called in Muhammad, whose preaching had made him famous beyond his home town of
Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
. The arrival of a man who claimed to speak in the name of God eclipsed Ibn Ubayy's influence. That provoked his jealousy, which he was careful to conceal, but was mitigated by his moderation and peacefulness. Ibn Ubayy nonetheless remained a well-respected man. According to
Ibn Ishaq Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq ibn Yasār ibn Khiyār (; according to some sources, ibn Khabbār, or Kūmān, or Kūtān, ar, محمد بن إسحاق بن يسار بن خيار, or simply ibn Isḥaq, , meaning "the son of Isaac"; died 767) was an 8 ...
, Ibn Ubayy was "a man of great authority in Medina before the advent of the apostle" and "remained a continuing thorn in the flesh of his success".Ibn Ishaq,
The earliest biography of Muhammad
''


Conversion

After the entry of Muhammad in Medina, many of the Arabs converted to
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
. Ibn Ubayy followed suit, according to
Maxime Rodinson Maxime Rodinson (26 January 1915 – 23 May 2004) was a French Marxist historian, sociologist and orientalist. He was the son of a Russian-Polish clothing trader and his wife, who both were murdered in Auschwitz concentration camp. After study ...
, as "he thought it wiser to join than to stand out against it". However,
Rudi Paret Rudi, born Albert Rudolph (January 24, 1928 – February 21, 1973), also known as Swami Rudrananda, was born in Brooklyn, New York. Rudi was a spiritual teacher and an antiquities entrepreneur in New York City.Swami Rudrananda udi ''Spirit ...
thinks it probable that he converted very soon after the
Hijra Hijra, Hijrah, Hegira, Hejira, Hijrat or Hijri may refer to: Islam * Hijrah (often written as ''Hejira'' in older texts), the migration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE * Migration to Abyssinia or First Hegira, of Muhammad's followers ...
, at the same time as
Sa'd ibn Mua'dh Saʿd ibn Muʿādh ( ar, سعد ابن معاذ) () was the chief of the Aws tribe in Medina and one of the prominent companions of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him). He died shortly after the Battle of the Trench. Family Sa'd w ...
. Islamic tradition, which views Ibn Ubayy's conversion as insincere, labelled him "leader of the hypocrites" (''munafiqun'').Saif-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, ''
Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum ''Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum'' ( ar, الرحيق المختوم; ), is a seerah book, or biography of the Prophet, which was written by Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri. This book was awarded first prize by the Muslim World League in a worldwide competition ...
'' (2002), p. 285
Sayed Ali Asgher Razwy,
Restatement of History of Islam
'
However, according to Rodinson, Ibn Ubayy may have converted out of a "genuine sympathy with monotheist ideas fostered by his friendly relations with the Jews". Being second only to Muhammad, Ibn Ubayy became a "figurehead for those Arabs of Medina who, openly or secretly, sneered at the Prophet's teaching and complained of the confusion and the danger which the coming of the Muslims had brought to Medina". Ibn Ishaq writes that some of the Ansar "were not altogether convinced of the political wisdom of supporting the apostle: these came to be regarded as paying lip-service to Islam, but hiding treachery in their hearts, and they were known and reviled as 'the Hypocrites'".
William Muir Sir William Muir (27 April 1819 – 11 July 1905) was a Scottish Orientalist, and colonial administrator, Principal of the University of Edinburgh and Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Provinces of British India. Life He was born at Gl ...
opines that tradition "makes a scapegoat of Abdallah" standing for "a great number, who had incurred Muhammad's anger, and some of them much more than Abdallah".William Muir, ''The Life of Muhammad'', vol. 3, chapter 14


Military campaigns


Banu Qaynuqa

In 624, the Muslims moved against the Jewish tribe of the
Banu Qaynuqa The Banu Qaynuqa ( ar, بنو قينقاع; he, בני קינוקאע; also spelled Banu Kainuka, Banu Kaynuka, Banu Qainuqa, Banu Qaynuqa) was one of the three main Jewish tribes living in the 7th century of Medina, now in Saudi Arabia. The grea ...
. According to
Ibn Hisham Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Hishām ibn Ayyūb al-Ḥimyarī al-Muʿāfirī al-Baṣrī ( ar, أبو محمد عبدالملك بن هشام ابن أيوب الحميري المعافري البصري; died 7 May 833), or Ibn Hisham, e ...
, a dispute had broken out between the Muslims and the Banu Qaynuqa, the allies of the
Khazraj The Banu Khazraj ( ar, بنو خزرج) is a large Arab tribe based in Medina. They were also in Medina during Muhammad's era. The Banu Khazraj are a South Arabian tribe that were pressured out of South Arabia in the Karib'il Watar 7th century ...
tribe. When a Muslim woman visited a jeweller's shop in the Qaynuqa marketplace, she was pestered to uncover her face. The goldsmith, a Jew, pinned her clothing such that upon getting up, she was unveiled. A Muslim man, coming upon the resulting commotion, killed the shopkeeper in retaliation and was in turn killed by Jews. As a result of the revenge killings, enmity grew between Muslims and the Banu Qaynuqa..Guillaume 363, ibn Kathir 2 The Muslims besieged the Banu Qaynuqa, and after 15 days, forced them to surrender. Now, Ibn Ubayy was allied to the Qaynuqa and according to Muslim historians, appealed to Muhammad for leniency. He grabbed hold of the top of Muhammad's breast plate as he turned away, provoking his anger.Rodinson (2002), p. 173 "Let me go," Muhammad said. Ibn Ubayy replied:William Muir, ''The Life of Mohammad'', vol. 3, chapter 13 Then, Muhammad acceded to his request and gave the Banu Qaynuqa three days to leave the city. Ibn Ubayy's last sentence has been interpreted in various ways. Rodinson considered it as threat against Muhammad,
Watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...
that Ibn Ubayy "urged their importance as a fighting unit in view of the expected Meccan onslaught". Muslims have traditionally seen the episode as another piece of evidence for Ibn Ubayy's hypocrisy since he insisted that adherence to Islam had not completely severed the old obligations of tribal and personal loyalty. However, Ibn Ubayy had not defended the Qaynuqa but merely pleaded for mercy. His plea implies that Muhammad intended to put the Qaynuqa to death, as he later did with the
Banu Qurayza The Banu Qurayza ( ar, بنو قريظة, he, בני קוריט'ה; alternate spellings include Quraiza, Qurayzah, Quraytha, and the archaic Koreiza) were a Jewish tribe which lived in northern Arabia, at the oasis of Yathrib (now known as M ...
, but after Ibn Ubayy's intercession, they were merely expelled from Medina, their property falling to Muhammad and the
Muhajirun The ''Muhajirun'' ( ar, المهاجرون, al-muhājirūn, singular , ) were the first converts to Islam and the Islamic prophet Muhammad's advisors and relatives, who emigrated with him from Mecca to Medina, the event known in Islam as the ''Hijr ...
.


Battle of Uhud

In the consultations preceding the approaching
Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
n attack on Medina in 625, Ibn Ubayy had favoured Muhammad's original plan to defend from the strongholds inside Medina itself:
...our city is a virgin, inviolate. We have never gone forth to our enemies, but we have suffered loss: remaining within our walls, we have beaten them off with slaughter. Leave the Coreish alone. If they remain, it will be in evil case; when they retire, it will be disappointed and frustrated in their designs.William Muir, ''The Life of Mohammad'', vol. 3, chapter 14
Some young Muslims, however, argued that the Meccans should be fought outside the city. Persuaded by the latter, Muhammad adopted an offensive strategy. According to Islamic tradition, Ibn Ubayy expressed his anger about his advice being rejected: "We do not know why we shall kill ourselves". When Muhammad marched out to fight the Meccans, Ibn Ubayy also marched out with 300 of his own men and his remaining Jewish allies, according to
al-Waqidi Abu `Abdullah Muhammad Ibn ‘Omar Ibn Waqid al-Aslami (Arabic ) (c. 130 – 207 AH; c. 747 – 823 AD) was a historian commonly referred to as al-Waqidi (Arabic: ). His surname is derived from his grandfather's name Waqid and thus he became fa ...
; however, Muhammad ordered him to send the Jews back into the town, calling them "idolaters". Ibn Ubayy then led his men back to Medina, retiring to the strongholds, while Muhammad resumed his advance. Islamic tradition presumes that Ibn Ubayy turned back to protect the town or his own possessions.Glubb (2002), p. 202-205. According to Watt, Surah interprets Ibn Ubayy's withdrawal as showing "cowardice and lack of belief in God and the Prophet" Muhammad's 700 men met the 3000 of the Quraish in the
Battle of Uhud The Battle of Uhud ( ar, غَزْوَة أُحُد, ) was fought on Saturday, 23 March 625 AD (7 Shawwal, 3 AH), in the valley north of Mount Uhud.Watt (1974) p. 136. The Qurayshi Meccans, led by Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, commanded an army of 3,000 m ...
and were defeated. The Quraish, however, did not succeed in killing Muhammad, and did not attempt to occupy the town of Medina, possibly because they knew it was guarded by Ibn Ubayy.Glubb (2002), p. 215f. Rodinson suggests that the Meccans did not want to reforge the very unity of the population, which had been jeopardised by Muhammad's defeat.


Banu Nadir

Ibn Ubay was also involved in Muhammad's conflict with another Jewish tribe, the
Banu Nadir The Banu Nadir ( ar, بَنُو ٱلنَّضِير, he, בני נצ'יר) were a Jewish Arab tribe which lived in northern Arabia at the oasis of Medina until the 7th century. The tribe refused to convert to Islam as Muhammad had ordered it to d ...
. Ibn Ishaq writes that when Muhammad ordered the tribe to leave the city within ten days, "certain persons of Medina who were not Believers sent a message to the Banu al-Nadir: 'Hold out, and defend yourselves; we shall not surrender you to Muhammad. If you are attacked we shall fight with you and if you are sent away we shall go with you'". Other sources include or even identify the persons with the Muslim Ibn Ubayy. Waqidi reports that Ibn Ubayy, at first, strove to bring about a reconciliation, and
Tabari ( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari i ...
relates that Abd-Allah accused Muhammad of treachery and urged the Nadir to resist by promising aid.William Muir, ''The Life of Muhammad'', vol. 3, chapter 15. However, as the promised help failed to materialise, the Nadir surrendered and Muhammad expelled them from the city.
Hartwig Hirschfeld Hartwig Hirschfeld (; 18 December 1854 – 10 January 1934) was a Prussian-born British Orientalist, bibliographer, and educator. His particular scholarly interest lay in Arabic Jewish literature and in the relationship between Jewish and Ara ...
,
Abdallah ibn Ubaiy
, ''
Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on th ...
''.
Watt considered this to be the first instance in which Ibn Ubayy went beyond verbally criticising Muhammad to intriguing against him, a practice Watt saw as continuing for the next two years.


Controversy during Mustaliq campaign

In 627, Ibn Ubayy participated in a raid against the
Banu Mustaliq The Banu Mustaliq ( ar, بنو المصطلق) is an Arab tribe. The tribe is a sub-clan of the Banu Khuza'a, descended from Azdi Qahtani. They occupied the territory of Qadid on the Red Sea shore between Jeddah and Rabigh. History The Banu a ...
. On the march home, conflict arose between the
Muhajirun The ''Muhajirun'' ( ar, المهاجرون, al-muhājirūn, singular , ) were the first converts to Islam and the Islamic prophet Muhammad's advisors and relatives, who emigrated with him from Mecca to Medina, the event known in Islam as the ''Hijr ...
and the Ansar when a
Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...
servant of
Umar ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate o ...
pushed an ally of the Khazraj. Hearing of this, Ibn Ubayy reportedly voiced his discontent:William Muir, ''The Life of Mohammad'', vol. 3, chapter 16 Watt described the phrase as an attempt by Ibn Ubayy "to undermine Muhammad's authority and make men think of expelling him". Muhammad forestalled any fighting by immediately continuing the march. Ibn Ubayy denied having said so and Muhammad accepted the excuse, but after their return to Medina, the "Munafiqun" would be reprimanded in Surah . Reportedly, Muhammad rejected the advice of Umar, who counselled to have Ibn Ubayy killed and the offer of Ibn Ubayy's own son, a fervent Muslim, to kill his own father.Glubb (2002), p. 262f. Later during the march, Muhammad's wife
Aisha Aisha ( ar, , translit=ʿĀʾisha bint Abī Bakr; , also , ; ) was Muhammad's third and youngest wife. In Islamic writings, her name is thus often prefixed by the title "Mother of the Believers" ( ar, links=no, , ʾumm al-mu'min, muʾminīn), ...
was rumoured to have committed adultery, and Ibn Ubay was among those spreading the rumour.William Montgomery Watt, "Aisha bint Abi Bakr", ''
Encyclopaedia of Islam The ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (''EI'') is an encyclopaedia of the academic discipline of Islamic studies published by Brill. It is considered to be the standard reference work in the field of Islamic studies. The first edition was published in ...
''
Glubb (2002), p. 264f. One of the chiefs of the Aws asked for the permission to punish the slanderers without incurring a feud, but the Khazraj opposed that. After Muhammad had announced that he had received a revelation confirming Aisha's innocence, he had her three of her accusers, who had come forward, punished by eighty lashes. He did not venture to enforce the sentence against Ibn Ubayy, who had not come forward.


Last years

According to Watt, after 627, there is no record of Ibn Ubayy "actively opposing Muhammad or intriguing against him". In 628, Ibn Ubayy participated in the march to Hudaybiyya. According to Rudi Paret, Muhammad's "most dangerous rival" was now on Muhammad's side.Rudi Paret, ''Mohammed und der Koran'', Stuttgart: Kohlhammer (1957), p. 126. In 630, when Muhammad launched a
campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...
against the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
during a time of drought and food shortage created serious discontent in Medina, Ibn Ubayy expressed his sympathy for those criticizing the expedition as untimely. As the army assembled, Ibn Ubayy's troops formed a separate camp and turned back to Medina when Muhammad's forces set out.Glubb (2002), p. 333f. That possibly happened with Muhammad's consent because of Ibn Ubayy's ill health. After Muhammad's return, those criticizing the campaign and had remained behind were chided in Surah . Ibn Ubayy died two months after Muhammad's return, in 631. Despite the various conflicts between the two men, Muhammad did not show signs of vindictiveness towards Ibn Ubayy and attended his funeral and prayed above his grave, after which Allah revealed a verse in Surah at-Tawbah,
Whether you (O Muhammad ﷺ) ask forgiveness for them (hypocrites) or ask not forgiveness for them – (and even) if you ask seventy times for their forgiveness – Allah will not forgive them because they have disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger. And Allah guides not those people who are rebellious (80).
Ibn Ubayy's death signalled the end of the so-called Munafiqun faction, as "there was no one left ... possessed of power or influence". Ibn Ubayy married three times and left behind nine children, all of whom became devout Muslims.


See also

*
List of expeditions of Muhammad __NOTOC__ The list of expeditions of Muhammad includes the expeditions undertaken by the Muslim community during the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Some sources use the word ''ghazwa'' and a related plural ''maghazi'' in a narrow techn ...


References


Sources

* * * *
Rodney J. Phillips, The Muslim Empire and the Land of Gold, 2008, Eloquent Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy 631 deaths 7th-century Arabs Year of birth unknown Khazrajite people Opponents of Muhammad