Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf (; died ) was, according to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic texts, a pre-Islamic Arabic poet and contemporary of Muhammad in

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

. Scholars identify him as a Jewish leader.

Biography

Ka'b was born to a father from the

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

Tayy The Tayy (/ALA-LC: ''Ṭayyi’''; Musnad: 𐩷𐩺), also known as Ṭayyi, Tayyaye, or Taiyaye, are a large and ancient Arab tribe, among whose descendants today are the tribes of Bani Sakher and Shammar. The '' nisba'' (patronymic) of Tayy i ...

tribe and a mother from the

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

Banu Nadir The Banu Nadir (, ) were a Jewish Arab tribe that lived in northern Arabia at the oasis of Medina until the 7th century. They were probably a part of the Constitution of Medina, which was formed after Muhammad's Hijrah. Tensions rose between th ...

tribe. His father having died early, Ka'b was brought up in his mother's family and in her faith. He was recognized as belonging to his mother's tribe, in which he was one of the leading men. The order to kill Ka'b is mentioned in numerous

hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

s. Muhammad made it clear to his companions that he wished Ka'b dealt with, saying, "Who is willing to deal with Ka’b bin Al-Ashraf who has irritated Allah and His Messenger?" Muhammad bin Maslama volunteered and was aided by several others, including Ka‘b’s foster brother, Abu Na'ila. Ibn Maslamah was troubled that this assassination would involve lying to Ka'b, but Muhammad gave him a dispensation to do so. They took Ka'b out for a walk late at night and killed him.

Interpretation

Many authors have ascribed harmful acts (i.e. mocking

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

) deeds to Ka'b. According to the

Encyclopaedia of Islam The ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (''EI'') is a reference work that facilitates the Islamic studies, academic study of Islam. It is published by Brill Publishers, Brill and provides information on various aspects of Islam and the Muslim world, Isl ...

, following the victory of the Muslims over the

Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...

in the

Battle of Badr The Battle of Badr or sometimes called The Raid of Badr ( ; ''Ghazwahu Badr''), also referred to as The Day of the Criterion (, ; ''Yawm al-Furqan'') in the Qur'an and by Muslims, was fought on 13 March 624 CE (17 Ramadan, 2 AH), near the pre ...

, in March 624, Ka'b was angry at the execution of a number of

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

n notables who had been captured after that battle, the Meccan notables who caused a lot of damage against the Muslims. According to some Islamic commentators, Muhammad called upon his followers to deal with Ka'b because the latter had "provoked heQuraysh against Muhammad" by bewailing Quraysh victims of the Battle in a poem.

Ibn Hisham Abu Muhammad Abd al-Malik ibn Hisham ibn Ayyub al-Himyari (; died 7 May 833), known simply as Ibn Hisham, was a 9th-century Abbasid historian and scholar. He grew up in Basra, in modern-day Iraq and later moved to Egypt. Life Ibn Hisham has ...

's biography of Muhammad reports Ka'b as saying "By Allah, if Muhammad has indeed struck down those people, then it were better to be buried in the earth than to walk upon it!" Other sources state that the reason for killing of Ka'b was that he had plotted with a group of Jews to kill Muhammad. The writings of the later commentators such as al-Zamakhshari, al-Tabarsi, al-Razi,

al-Baydawi Qadi Baydawi (also known as Naṣir ad-Din al-Bayḍawi, also spelled Baidawi, Bayzawi and Beyzavi; d. June 1319, Tabriz) was a jurist, theologian, and Quran commentator. He lived during the post-Seljuk Empire, Seljuk and early Mongol Empire, Mon ...

, and al-Asqalani provide another distinct report according to which Ka'b was killed because

Gabriel In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...

had informed Muhammad about a treaty signed by himself and

Abu Sufyan Sakhr ibn Harb ibn Umayya (; ), commonly known by his ' Abu Sufiyan (), was a prominent opponent-turned companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was the father of the first Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I () and namesake of the S ...

creating an alliance between the Quraysh and forty Jews against Muhammad during Ka'b's visit to Mecca. According to

Uri Rubin Uri Rubin (; 1944 – 26 October 2021) was an Israeli academic who was a professor in the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Tel Aviv University. His areas of research were early Islam (with special emphasis on the ''Qur'an''), ''Qur'an ...

, some allusions to the existence of an anti-Muslim treaty between Quraysh and Ibn al-Ashraf may be found in the earlier sources.. Many people also consider that Muhammad had no evidence that Ka'b was plotting to murder Muhammad or even tried to assassinate Muhammad. Muhammad conducted no trial and had got him assassinated. On some accounts, Huyayy bin Akhtab of

tribe had earlier refused to pay blood money for the murder of two Muslims and

Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy (, died 631), also called Ibn Salul in reference to his grandmother, was a chief of the Arab tribe Banu Khazraj and one of the leading men of Medina (then known as Yathrib). Upon the arrival of Muhammad, Ibn Ubayy became a Musl ...

had planned along with allied nomads to attack Muhammad. Muhammad besieged the Banu Nadir and ordered the tribe to leave Medina within ten 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. 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.

Biography

Interpretation

See also

References

Further reading