Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt () (died 624) was one of the principal adversaries of Islam. He was a Quraysh leader and a member of the Banu 'Abdu Shams clan of
Quraish tribe.
Family
Family lineage
He was 'Uqba, son of Abi Mu'ayt, son of Abi 'Amru, son of
Umayya ibn Abd Shams, son of
Abd Shams, son of
Abd Manaf, son of
Qusayy, son of
Kilab, son of
Murrah, son of
Ka'b, son of
Lu'ayy, son of
Ghalib, son of
Fihr, son of
Malik
Malik (; ; ; variously Romanized ''Mallik'', ''Melik'', ''Malka'', ''Malek'', ''Maleek'', ''Malick'', ''Mallick'', ''Melekh'') is the Semitic term translating to "king", recorded in East Semitic and Arabic, and as mlk in Northwest Semitic d ...
, son of
Al-Nadr, son of Kinanah, son of Khuzaymah, son of
Mudrikah, son of Ilyas, son of
Mudar
The Mudar () was a principal grouping of the northern Arab tribes.
History
The Mudar and Rabi'a are recorded in central Arabia in the Arabic histories of the pre-Islamic period; the kings of the Kindah bore the title of "king of the Ma'add ( ...
, son of
Nizar, son of
Ma'ad ibn Adnan, son of
Adnan
Adnan () is traditionally regarded as the patriarch of the Adnanite Arabs, a major Arab lineage that historically inhabited Northern, Western, Eastern, and Central Arabia. The Adnanites are distinct from the Qahtanite Arabs of Southern Arabia ...
.
‘Uqbah was the son of Abu Mu‘ayṭ ibn Abu ‘Amr ibn Umayyah ibn ‘Abd Shams and of Shayma bint Abd-al-Uzza from the Banu Amir. Abu Mu'ayt's mother was Kabsha bint Abd al-Manat from Banu Amir. Uqbah's aunt, Safiyya bint Abi ‘Amr, married Abu Sufyan.
Family marriage
He married
Arwa bint Kurayz, a member of the
Banu Abd-Shams and the widow of ‘Affān ibn Abu al-‘Āṣ, making Uqba the stepfather of the future Caliph
Uthman, Abd-Allah and Amina. Uqba and Arwa had six children:
Walid,
Umara, Khalid,
Umm Kulthum
Umm Kulthum (; 31 December 1898 – 3 February 1975) was an Egyptians, Egyptian singer and film actress active from the 1920s to the 1970s. She was given the honorific title (). Immensely popular throughout the Middle East and beyond, Umm Kul ...
, Umm Hakim and Hind.
[Muhammad ibn Saad. ''Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir Volume 8''. Translated by Bewley, A. (1995). ''The Women of Madina''. London: Ta-Ha Publishers.]
Role of 'Uqbah in opposing Muhammad
Uqbah was one of the neighbors of Muhammad. Yet he assaulted Muhammad verbally and physically as he was preaching monotheism
He also constantly ridiculed Muhammad when the latter was preaching in
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 ...
. On one occasion, when Muhammad was praying in the courtyard of the Ka'ba, Uqba brought the waste of a slaughtered camel (intestines, blood, dung, etc.) upon the suggestion of other Quraysh leaders who were gathered there, and placed it upon Muhammad's back while he was in prostration. They laughed so much so that they fell on each other. He remained in that position due to the weight, unable to lift his head from prostration until his daughter came and removed it.
[ Sahih Bukhari: Volume 1, Book 9, Number 499]
On another occasion, Uqba spat on Muhammad's face at the incitement of his friend Ubay ibn Khalaf and so, a
Quran
The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
ic verse was revealed at that moment to Muhammad regarding Uqba and Ubay. Uqbah was also one of those enemies of Muhammad who rejoiced at the news of the death of Muhammad's second son 'Abdullah.
Ubayy ibn Khalaf ibn Safwan was a close friend of ‘Uqbah. When Ubayy learned that ‘Uqba had sat and listened to the apostle, he told ‘Uqbah, ‘Do I hear that you have sat with Muhammad and listened to him? I swear I will never see you or speak to you again if you do the same again, or if you do not go and spit in his face.’ ‘Uqba indeed did this so that Allah sent down concerning the pair of them:
“On the day that the sinner bites his hands, saying, would that I had chosen a path with the apostle.” (Sura 25: 27)
Death
According to numerous authentic and trustworthy sources such as a number of narrations in
Sahih Bukhari, and
Ibn Sa'd
Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Sa‘d ibn Manī‘ al-Baṣrī al-Hāshimī or simply Ibn Sa'd () and nicknamed ''Scribe of Waqidi'' (''Katib al-Waqidi''), was a scholar and Arabian biographer. Ibn Sa'd was born in 784/785 CE (168 AH) and di ...
's biographical compendium, the ''Tabaqat Al-Kubra'', Uqba was killed in the field during the
Battle of Badr and was among those Quraysh leaders whose corpses were buried in a pit.
According to Muslim scholar Safiur Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, after the Battle of Badr two captives – Nadr bin Harith and ‘Uqbah ibn Abū Mu‘ayṭ were beheaded by
Ali. Mubarakpuri mentions that this incident about the beheading is also mentioned in the
Sunan Abu Dawud no 2686 and Anwal Ma'bud 3/12.
[Mubarakpuri]
The Sealed Nectar (Free Version)
p. 129
See also
*
Non-Muslims who interacted with Muslims during Muhammad's era
*
Persons related to Qur'anic verses
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uqba Ibn Abu Muayt
Sahabah ancestors
624 deaths
7th-century executions
Banu Umayya
Year of birth unknown
Opponents of Muhammad