THE STORY OF KA`B B. AL-ASHRAF

By

Omar Mohammed

SĪRA

Ka`b b. al-Ashraf was a Jew that belonged to the subsection of Nabhān but his mother belonged to B. al-Naḍīr.1 The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) established a political treaty with the Jews of Medina after fleeing the city of Mecca due to the torture, persecution, abuse and killing of the Muslims by the pagans. The treaty established by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) with Jews entailed that they should boycott Quraysh commercially, they shall also abstain form extending any support to them and that they shall defend the city of Medina together with the Muslims in case of a foreign attack.2 Ka`b b. al-Ashraf was known to have been killed because after the battle of Badr he had went out to the city of Mecca and inveighed and provoked the pagans to attack the Prophet (pbuh) and the Muslims. He also bewailed the dead of Quraysh who were killed at the battle of Badr by composing poetry verses. Later on he returned to Medina and started to produce poetry verses with an insulting nature aimed at the Muslims women.3 It is also recorded in the historiographical sources that an additional reason for the killing of Ka`b b. al-Ashraf was that he plotted with a group of people to assassinate the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).4

TAFSĪR

What has mentioned here above is only what is recorded in the sīra compilations that are available but additional insight to the story are to be found in the tafsīr material. In a passage recorded in al-Baghawī’s commentary on the sūra of al-Hashr it is said that after the loss of the Muslims at the battle of Uḥud the B. al-Naḍīr manifested the hatred and enmity towards the Prophet (pbuh) despite the political treaty the agreed to. Following this event, Ka`b b. al-Ashraf rode with forty Jews to Mecca and established a treaty with Abū Sufyān who was the leader of the pagans in which the treaty stipulated that Quraysh and the Jews should cooperate against the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Both parties went behind the cloth of the Ka`ba and and swore to observe the treaty. Upon hearing this news the Prophet Muhammad ordered the assassination of Ka`b b. al-Ashraf.5

This particular event is also recorded in works of commentators like al-Zamakhsharī, al- Tabarsī, al-Rāzī, al-Bayḍāwī and others. The key difference between the reports of the sīra and the reports of tafsīr is that they differ in regards to if Ka`b b. al-Ashraf was killed after the battle of Badr of after the battle of Uḥud and if he played a role in the expulsion of B. al-Naḍīr due to their treason. In Fatḥ al-Bārī, Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalanī narrates a report from al-Kalbī which states that a treaty was ratified under the cloth of the Ka`ba between Ka`b b. al-Ashraf

1 Ibn Hisham 2 Safi ar Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, Ar Raheeq al-Makhtum 3 Ibn Hisham4 Kister, “Market,” 181. 5 Baghawī, VII, 46 ff..

and the Quraysh against the Muslims.6 Ibn Hajar al-Asqalanī also stated that; ‘Ka`b used to incite people to murder the Muslims.’7 Al-Tabarī records a tradition from al-Suddī that when the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) went to B. al-Naḍīr to assist him in collecting the blood money for B. `Āmir, the Jews tried to kill the Prophet (pbuh) by putting a rock on the wall where he was sitting underneath and then push the rock on him resulting in his death. This plot was however was exposed and the Prophet (pbuh) was not hurt, after this Ka`b b. al-Ashraf fled to Mecca and established a treaty with the pagans against the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).8 After the Prophet (pbuh) found about the assassination attempt of B. al-Naḍīr on his life he expelled them out of Medina due their treason. In further sources we find that yet another reason for the killing of Ibn al-Ashraf is given. `Ikrima said that that the Jews of B. al-Naḍīr had plotted to kill the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and that they as justification for their plan consulted Ka`b b. al-Ashraf and he justified them, though `Ikrima does not mention any treaty between Ibn al-Ashraf and Quraysh. The Prophet (pbuh) found about this plot of assassinations and ordered that Ibn al-Ashraf be killed.9 `Ikrima didn’t only report one tradition but also relates another tradition where Ibn al-Ashraf and some other Jews invited the Prophet (pbuh) to meal and plotted to kill him on that occasion: the Prophet (pbuh) found about their plot and ordered the killing of Ka`b.10 Mughultāy quoted from Abū Nu`aym a quiet similar tradition. It says that the Prophet (pbuh) before going to B. al-Naḍīr for the blood money he went to B. Qurayza but they said that he should consult B. al-Naḍīr and then come back, when he came, they where awaiting the arrival of Ibn al-Ashraf in order to attack the Prophet (pbuh).11 Al-Zuhrī narrates a report via Ma`mar b. Rāshid which is recorded by `Abd al-Razzāq. Al-Zuhrī states that Quraysh sent a message to the munāfiqūn that if they did not expel the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) they would attack the city of Medina with all their allies and the same message was sent to the Jews. Upon receiving the message B. al-Naḍīr attempted to kill the Prophet (pbuh) during a theological debate. Ka`b b. Malik narrated that Ibn al-Ashraf used to satire the Prophet (pbuh) and incited the polytheists of Quraysh against him. Ka`b b. Malik goes on to explain that the city of Medina had mixed population that consisted of Muslims, polytheists and Jews. They used to hurt the Prophet (pbuh) and his Companions.12

The Prophet said that: ‘He (Ka`b) has openly assumed enmity to us and speaks evil of us and he has gone over to the polytheists (who were at war with Muslims) and has made them gather against us for fighting’13

This all lead to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) ordering the killing of Ka`b b. al-Ashraf. Muhammad b. Maslamah volunteered for the task and along with some Companions they killed Ka`b b. al-Ashraf.14

CONCLUSION

6 VII, 259.7 Ibn Hajar al-Asqalanī, Fatḥ al-Bārī.8 Tafsīr, V, 85.9 Suyūti, Durr, V1, 190, Tafsīr of `Abd b. Hamīd.10 Ibn Hajar al-Asqalanī, Fatḥ al-Bārī, VII, 259-26011 Mughultā, Zahr, 270.12 Abū Dāwūd, al-Sunan, Book 20, Nr. 73. 13 Zuraqānī, II, p. 11.14 Bukhārī, Sahīh, Nr. 4037.

One can see based on the evidence provided that the common notion that Ka`b b. al-Ashraf was an innocent man and was killed with no sufficient reason except for engaging in ‘free speech’ is false. All the evidence point to the fact that he was a traitor and was killed by the by order of the Prophet (pbuh) because he was a danger to his life and the life of the Muslims population.