10. Events Between Badr and uhud

10.1 Muslims Are Not Anti-Semitic

We talked about the consequences of the Battle of Badr, we said that now we have a serious problem of

Hypocrisy. There was also another group in Madīnah which posed a threat to the newly formed Islāmic State and the new Muslim community which was headed by the Messenger of Allāh Muhammadﷺ, and that group was the Jewish tribes, [or] the Jews. Now, we will be talking about them in this session [and] probably for the entire session, so I want to state from the outstart that when we are talking about the history of the Muslim and Jewish relations, when we talk about the Āyāt of Qur’ān and the Ahādīth of Rasūlullāhﷺ that talk about the Jews, we are not being anti -Semitic, in fact a good portion of the Muslim Ummah are Semitic people to start with – the Arabs, and we are not racists, and we do not claim the ethnic superiority of any particular ethnic group; these are things that Muslims do not do or should not do.

However, we speak about historical truths, and if these historical truths do not abide by the modern rules of political correctness, that is not an issue with us Muslims. We Muslims are not going to subject Qur’ān and Sunnah to rules of political correctness, but we will subject political correctness to the rules of Qur’ān and Sunnah.

So what we are stating here are actual events that happened and the consequences of these events, and these events occurred after Rasūlullāh had made an agreement, and we talked about that agreement – Al-Wafīqah,the Covenant, which was to govern the relationship of the Muslims and the Jews and the Non-Muslim Arabs who were in Madīnah. So in the beginning Rasūlullāhﷺ was dealing with the Yahūd as citizens of Madīnah, citizens of the Islāmic State; this was how he approached them. He did not approach them with any hidden agenda, he did not approach the relationship with them with prejudgement and hatred, Rasūlullāhﷺ started his relationship with them as People of the Book who are supposed to be closer to the Muslims than the Polytheists. However, it was the Jews who started plotting against the Islāmic State, it was them who were breaking their agreement with Rasūlullāhﷺ, and it was them who stood against Rasūlullāhﷺ by word and deed.

10.2 Response of Jews to Rasūlullāhﷺ and Muslims

10.2.1 Jews Reject Rasūlullāh Despite Knowing he is the Prophet:

So what was their response to Rasūlullāhﷺ and to the Muslims? There are Āyāt in Qur’ān that were revealed talking specifically about the Yahūd. They were upset from the outstart of the arrival of Rasūlullāhﷺ to Madīnah, and we can sense that from the conversation that occurred with two of the leaders of Al-Yahūd in Madīnah, Huyaÿ Ibn Akhtab and his brother Abū Yāsir. Safiyyah, the wife of Rasūlullāhﷺ , says, “None of the children of my father or my uncle were more popular with them both than I was.” She is referring to her popularity with her father and her uncle Abū Yāsir. “Whatever child of theirs wanted their attention, it was always me they put first.

“When the Messenger of Allāh came to Qubā’, the village of the Banū ‘Amr Bin ‘Awf, my father and my uncle Abū Yāsir went to him early in the morning and only returned at sunset, so tired out that they could scarcely walk, staggering from exhaustion.” So here we are dealing with an event that occurred on the first day of the arrival of Rasūlullāhﷺ to Madīnah; he was still in the outskirts of Madīnah, in Qubā’, [and] Safiyyah says they came back that day tired and worn out. She continues, “I raced over to greet them as was my custom, but I swear, neither so much as looked at me. I heard my uncle Abū Yāsir ask my father, ‘Is that he then?’” So first of all, she is saying that they neglected her; obviously they were preoccupied with something else, none of them picked her up. And then she started hearing their conversation; Abū Yāsir was asking Huyaÿ, ‘Is that he then?’ He was talking about Muhammadﷺ , asking is he the Prophet? Is he the one mentioned in our books? Is he the one prophesied by their Rabis? Huyaÿ said, “Yes, I swear by Allāh.” Abū Yāsir said, “You recognise him from his character and description then?” Huyaÿ said, “I certainly do, in the name of Allāh.” Abū Yāsir said, “So how will you relate to him?” If he is the Prophet, what does that mean? How will you respond to him? Look at what Huyaÿ Ibn Akhtab said, he said, “By Allāh, I will be his enemy for as long as I live.” Subhān’Allāh Al-Azīm! So first you recognise that he is the Prophet of Allāh, and you know for sure that he is the Prophet of Allāh, [and] rather than saying I am going to follow him, you say you will be his enemy for the rest of his life? Why? Well, the reason is clear; it is because of envy, and Huyaÿ is jealous that the Prophet ended up being an Arab rather than a Jew, and this envy caused him to disbelieve in Rasūlullāhﷺ, and here we are dealing with the worst type of Kufr and that is disbelieving in the truth when you know that it is the truth. You see, some people disbelieve because they do not think that this is the truth, they think that the Prophet is a liar, they think that this is a fake religion, they think that this was made up, but then you have some people who know, certainly know, that it is the truth, nevertheless they still reject it, and this was the case with Huyaÿ Ibn Akhtab.

10.2.2 Jews Attempt to Disunite Muslims

They would attempt to disunite the Muslims. Ibn Is’hāq says, “Wa Marra Shās Bin Qais Wa Kāna Shaikhan Qad ‘Asā, ‘Azīmul Kufri, Shadīdud Dughni ‘Alal Muslimīn, Shadīdul Hasadi Lahum.” [There was]an old Jewish man, his name is Shās Bin Qais , and this man was as Ibn Is’hāq says, ‘Azīmul Kufr –deep in Kufr, Shadīdud Dughni ‘Alal Muslimīn –and he had so much hatred of the Muslims; he saw that Al-Aws and Al-Khazraj are united, he saw that they are now sitting together in the same gathering, and these were people who were at each other’s throats before Islām, these were people who were enemies of each other; now, because of Islām, they were united, they were one. So this Jewish man was not very happy, and he said, “The Aws and Khazraj are united in this land, and in the name of Allāh we have no place here as long as they are united.” Our survival as Jews in Madīnah is based on the disunity of the Arabs, and as long as they are united, we are at risk.

So he tells a young Jewish man who was sitting with Al -Aws Wal-Khazraj in the same gathering to start reminding them about their days of war; bring up the day of Bu‘āth, bring up the battle of so and so, bring up the battle of so and so, now read some of that poetry and instigate a fight among them. So this young man sits between them and he starts bringing up some lines of poetry that talk about the heroic acts of one tribe against the other, and slowly he was able to cause a shouting match between the two parties, and after that they stood up and challenged each other to combat, and they agreed that we will meet in Al- Harrah Fiz Zāhirah, we will meet in such and such place, let us go and arm ourselves. So war was about to start all over again. See how words can cause so much evil; a war could start because of one word, and that is why Allāh says: And say to My servants (that) they speak that which is best; surely the Shaitān sows dissensions among them; surely the Shaitān is an open enemy to man. Al-Isrā’: 53

Soa Muslim should be very careful about what they say.

The news was delivered to Rasūlullāhﷺ and Rasūlullāhﷺ rushed forward while they were making an appointment on where to meet to start the war all over again, and Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “O Muslims! Fear Allāh. Are you to resume the enmity of ignorance when I am still among you – ([meaning] are you going to bring back Jāhiliyyah after I am still alive and living among you) – after Allāh has guided you to believe in Islām and submit to Him? Do you forget Allāh’s blessing as He has saved you from ignorance and Disbelief and planted love and friendliness in your hearts instead of hostility?” Rasūlullāhﷺ is reminding them that this unity was a favour from Allāh; do not to throw it behind your backs. Allāh has brought you together, Allāh has sent to you His Messenger, Allāh has made you love each other; the love that now exists among the Sahābah is unsurpassed! How can you throw that behind your back and go back to the time of Jāhiliyyah? You know how bad Jāhiliyyah was. Now since you have tasted Īmān, you will know how evil and bad Kufr was. Rasūlullāhﷺ says [in a Hadīth] that you will only taste the sweetness of Faith if three things happen, and one of them Rasūlullāhﷺ said is that you would hate to go back to Kufr like you would hate to be thrown in the Fire. So a person who tastes Īmān and knows how beautiful Īmān is knows how bad and depressing Kufr is. And Subhān’Allāh, these words of Rasūlullāhﷺ had so much effect on them that they started hugging each other. These men who were just thinking about going to war are now hugging each other and asking each other for forgiveness.

Allāh says: Say, “O People of the Scripture, why do you disbelieve in the verses of Allāh while Allāh is Witness over what you do?” Say, “O People of the Scripture, why do you avert from the way of Allāh those who believe, seeking to make it [seem] deviant, while you are witnesses [to the truth]? And Allāh is not unaware of what you do.” Āl ‘Imrān: 98-99

And Allāh says: O you who have believed, if you obey a party of those who were given the Scripture, they would turn you back, after your Belief, [to being] Unbelievers. Āl ‘Imrān: 100

SoAllāh says that there is only one result of following the People of the Book, and that is that it will make you revert back to Disbelief. So this is a warning to the Muslims from following Ahl Al-Kitāb –the People of the Book.

And then Allāh says: And how could you Disbelieve while to you are being recited the verses of Allāh and among you is His Messenger? And whoever holds firmly to Allāh has [indeed] been guided to a straight path. Āl ‘Imrān: 101

Sofollowing the People of the Book is a one way road that ends in Disbelief.

And then Allāh says: O you who have Believed, fear Allāh as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims [in submission to Him]. And hold firmly to the rope of Allāh all together and do not become divided… Yousee, because Shās Bin Qais wanted to cause division among them Allāh is warning them. And remember the favour of Allāh upon you – when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favour, brothers. And you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does Allāh make clear to you His verses that you may be guided. And let there be [arising] from you a nation inviting to [all that is] good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and those will be the successful. And do not be like the ones who became divided and differed after the clear proofs had come to them. And those will have a great punishment. Āl ‘Imrān: 102-105

These are some of the verses revealed talking about Al-Yahūd.

10.2.3 Jews Blaspheme and Speak Ill of Rasūlullāhﷺ and Muslims

And Allāh says in another Āyah that is referring to another disease that the Yahūd suffered from, and that was blasphemy; they would speak ill of Rasūlullāhﷺ, they would speak ill of the Muslims, they would speak ill of Islām, and they would speak ill of Allāh . Allāh says, and this Āyah was revealed after a conversation happened between Abū Bakr and Fanhās. Fanhās was one of the Jewish Rabis in Madīnah, and Abū Bakr As-Siddīq  was giving him Da’wah, s o Fanhās responded by saying, “Your God is poor and we are rich. How can He ask you to give charity? If your God is rich He would not be asking you to give Him money. That proves that He is in need and we are rich, and He needs us.” So Abū Bakr As-Siddīq was quite upset with those words; even though he was giving him Da’wah before but [now] he started punching him in the face. So Fanhās rushes back to Rasūlullāhﷺ complaining, saying this is what Abū Bakr did to me. Rasūlullāhﷺ asked Abū Bakr, “Why did you hit him?” Abū Bakr told Rasūlullāhﷺ because he said this and that. Fanhās denied that he said those words, so Allāh reveals the Āyah saying: Allāh has certainly heard the statement of those [Jews] who said, “Indeed, Allāh is poor, while we are rich.” We will record what they said and their killing of the Prophets without right and will say, “Taste the punishment of the Burning Fire. That is for what your hands have put forth and because Allāh is not ever unjust to [His] servants.” Āl ‘Imrān: 181-182

And they would speak ill about the Muslims so Allāh said: You will surely be tested in your possessions and in yourselves. And you will surely hear from those who were given the Scripture before you and from those who associate others with Allāh much abuse… Allāh is telling the Muslims [that] this is expected; they will make negative statements about you, their newspapers will write blasphemous things about you, their media will accuse you of things that are not true, this is only to be expected. And then Allāh says: …But if you are patient and fear Allāh indeed, that is of the matters [worthy] of determination. Āl ‘Imrān: 186

Their propaganda will not affect Islām or the Muslims as long as the Muslims are patient and have Taqwā, because the truth remains and lies vanish.

And they were disrespectful of Rasūlullāhﷺ; they came to him once and they were saying, “As-Sāmu ‘Alaika Yā Rasūlullāh.” Now, this sounds very close to Assalāmu ‘Alaika Yā Rasūlullāh, so they would take out the Lām [or] the letter L; instead of Salām they would say Sām, and As-Sāmu ‘Alaika Yā Rasūlullāh could mean ‘May death befall you.’ So ‘Ā’ishah was very upset when they said this and she said, “As-Sāmu ‘Alaikum you sons of monkeys and pigs…” and she was cursing them. So Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Do not say that O ‘Ā’ishah because Allāh does not like foul language.” And then Allāh revealed the Āyah: Have you not considered those who were forbidden from private conversation (i.e. ridicule and conspiracy), then they return to that which they were forbidden and converse among themselves about sin and aggression and disobedience to the Messenger? And when they come to you, they greet you with that [word] by which Allāh does not greet you and say among themselves, “Why does Allāh not punish us for what we say?”… Sothey would say, ‘We are speaking these ill words about Rasūlullāhﷺ and nothing is happening to us, so this is evidence that he is not really the Messenger of Allāh.’ Allāh said: …Sufficient for them is Hell, which they will [enter to] burn, and wretched is the destination. Al-Mujādilah: 8

The Yahūd would also support the Hypocrites and they were the spiritual advisors to the Hypocrites. Allāh says: And when they meet those who believe, they say, “We believe”; but when they are alone with their evil ones (Al-Yahūd), they say, “Indeed, we are with you; we were only mockers.”  Al-Baqarah: 14

And Allāh also says about the Munāfiqīn: Indeed, those who reverted back [to Disbelief] after guidance had become clear to them – Satan enticed them and prolonged hope for them. That is because they said to those who disliked what Allāh sent down (referring to Al-Yahūd), “We will obey you in part of the matter.” And Allāh knows what they conceal. Muhammad: 25-26

SoAllāh is saying that if you only obey them in part of the matter – not all of it, if you only obey them in a small thing – that is sufficient to classify a person as somebody who has left the folds of Islām, somebody who is a Munāfiq. So as Muslims we need to be very careful about this issue [and] not fall prey to being seduced by Al-Yahūd and An-Nasārā.

And Allāh says: Have you not considered those who make allies of a people with whom Allāh has become angry? And the People with whom Allāh has become angry, as it is in Sūrah Al-Fātihah, is Al- Yahūd. They are neither of you nor of them, and they swear to untruth while they know [they are lying]. Allāh has prepared for them a severe punishment. Indeed, it was evil that they were doing. They took their [false] oaths as a cover, so they averted [people] from the way of Allāh, and for them is a humiliating punishment. Al-Mujādilah: 14-16

And another thing that Al-Yahūd were doing in Madīnah was that they were trying to block the path of people becoming Muslim. So for example with ‘Abdullāh Ibn As-Salām, as soon as he became Muslim they started accusing him of being a liar and accusing him of being unfaithful to his people and his religion and all of that as we have already talked about in his story. And they would not only do that with ‘Abdullāh Ibn As-Salām, they would even do it with the Arabs who had become Muslim; they would tell them that your religion is better than their religion and all of that, when it would be expected that the Yahūd would consider the Muslims to be closer to them than the Pagan [Idol-] Worshippers, but that was not the case.

10.3 Confrontation with Jews (Al-Yahūd)

10.3.1 Rasūlullāhﷺ Warns the Yahūd of Banū Qaynuqā’

Obviously all of this would lead the Muslims and the Yahūd to confrontation; you know, you cannot have all of this happening without Rasūlullāhﷺ responding to it, so they were on a collision course. After the Battle of Badr, Rasūlullāhﷺ went to the Yahūd of Banū Qaynuqā’ who were the closest to the Muslims in terms of location – they were living in Madīnah itself unlike Banū Qurayzah and Banū An-Nadīr who were living on the outskirts of Madīnah – so Rasūlullāhﷺ goes to the Yahūd of Banū Qaynuqā’ and he speaks to them and he said, “O Jews! Beware of Allāh afflicting you as He did Quraish.” So Rasūlullāhﷺ was telling them [to] take heed at what happened. “You have seen how Allāh humiliated Quraish and how He has given his Prophet victory, do not let the same thing happen to you.” So Rasūlullāhﷺ here is delivering a warning to them; because of all of their plotting and planning against him and all of the Fitnah that they were causing among the Muslims, Rasūlullāhﷺ went to warn them, he is giving them Nasīhah [saying], “O Jews! Beware of Allāh afflicting you as He did Quraish, and so accept Islām. You well know that I am a Prophet sent with a mission, you find that to be so in your Book and in Allāh’s pact with you.” What was their response? They said, “Muhammad, do you think we are your people? Do not delude yourself. Just because you did battle with those who lack knowledge of warfare and so you could take advantage of them, if you fight against us you will find us to be the real men.” So the Yahūd are saying [that] you have fought against people who have no experience with war, people who do not know the tactics of war, they do not have the experience, but if you fight against us you will know that we are real men. Allāh said: Say to those who disbelieve, “You will be overcome and gathered together to Hell, and wretched is the resting place.” Already there has been for you a sign in the two armies which met – one fighting in the cause of Allāh and another of Disbelievers. They saw them [to be] twice their [own] number by [their] eyesight. But Allāh supports with His victory whom He wills. Indeed in that is a lesson for those of vision. Āl ‘Imrān: 12-13

If you have vision you will learn a lesson from that, but the Yahūd were so stubborn they refused to accept the advice of Rasūlullāhﷺ.

10.3.2 Siege of Banū Qaynuqā’

One day, and we are talking about right after the Battle of Badr, a Muslim woman goes to the marketplace – and as we said, the jewellery market was controlled by the Jews – so this Muslim woman went to sell or trade some jewellery that she had. She sits next to this store, she is sitting on the floor and she gives her jewellery to the Jewish owner at this shop. Some Jews were gathering and they asked her to uncover her face, [but] she refused. So the owner of the store goes behind her without her knowing and he pins the bottom of her dress to her back. Now, when she was sitting on the floor obviously her dress would be dragging on the floor, so when he pinned it to her back she did not feel that, she was unaware of what he was doing, but when she stood up what happened was she was exposed because of the dress being pinned to her back; when she stood up her legs or part of her ‘Awrah was exposed, so she screamed. A Muslim who was there and saw what happened attacked the Yahūdī and killed him, and then the Jews ganged up against the Muslim and killed him. The news was delivered to Rasūlullāh immediately. He called the army and went to Banū Qaynuqā’ and laid siege to their forts; immediately; no questions asked. A Muslim woman was violated – this is an invitation to war.

Rasūlullāhﷺ laid siege to their forts for 15 days, and these Yahūd were [just moments ago] bragging about their skills as fighters and their training. The weakness of Quraish was now shaking in their forts and they were willing to surrender. So ‘Abdullāh Ibn Ubaÿ who was their ally in Jāhiliyyah goes to Rasūlullāhﷺ and tries to appeal for his allies. ‘Ubādah Ibn As-Sāmit who was also their ally – both ‘Abdullāh Ibn Ubaÿ and ‘Ubādah Ibn As-Sāmit were equally the allies of Banū Qaynuqā’230 – they both went to Rasūlullāhﷺ but look at the difference in the position of these two men; ‘Ubādah Ibn As-Sāmit was now a good Muslim, so he goes to Rasūlullāh and says, “Messenger of Allāh, my only loyalty is to Allāh; He, His Messenger and the Believers. I renounce the alliance with those Unbelievers and I will give them no support whatsoever.” So he does this on his own initiative, it was not Rasūlullāhﷺ who invited him; he goes to Rasūlullāh and makes it known that ‘O Rasūlullāh, yes I was their ally in the time of Jāhiliyyah, and this alliance is old, and we have fought together in many occasions, but right now I am announcing that my loyalty goes to Allāh, Rasūlullāh, and the Believers, and I renounce my ties with the people of Banū Qaynuqā’.’ While ‘Abdullāh Ibn Ubaÿ goes to Rasūlullāhﷺ and says, “Be good to my allies.” Be good to my allies. Rasūlullāhﷺ does not answer back. So then ‘Abdullāh Ibn Ubaÿ goes to Rasūlullāhﷺ another time and says, “Be good to my allies.” Rasūlullāhﷺ does not respond back. So ‘Abdullāh Ibn Ubaÿ puts his hand in the pocket of Rasūlullāhﷺ and pulls him and refuses to let him go and then said, “Be good to my allies.” Rasūlullāhﷺ told him, “Let me go!” And the narrator of this Hadīth said the face of Rasūlullāhﷺ became angry, you could see anger on the face of Rasūlullāhﷺ, and he is telling ‘Abdullāh Bin Ubaÿ, “Wayhaka Arsilnī! – Woe to you! Let me go.” And ‘Abdullāh Ibn Ubaÿ was holding tight to Rasūlullāhﷺ and said, “I will not let you go until you are good to my allies. They are 700 fighters who protected me against all my enemies and now you want to mow them down in one morning? I am a man who fears the turns of fortune.” I am not going to let you go until you let them free; they have helped me in numerous occasions and now you just want to execute all of these men in one day? Rasūlullāhﷺ told him, “They are yours.” They are yours. Rasūlullāhﷺ let them free.

So the people of Banū Qaynuqā’ were set free, they were allowed to leave, and the one who would administer their travelling was ‘Ubādah Ibn As-Sāmit, and they travelled to Ash-Shām, Syria. Their money was taken as Ghanīmah –Booty of war, and was distributed among the Muslims. Some Āyāt were revealed regarding ‘Abdullāh Ibn Ubaÿ and ‘Ubādah Ibn As-Sāmit, because this showed the position of both men regarding their loyalty and their alliance to Al- Yahūd. Allāh says in Sūrah Al-Mā’idah, verses 51-52: O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you – then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allāh guides not the wrongdoing people. So you see those in whose hearts is disease hastening into [association with] them, saying, “We are afraid a misfortune may strike us.”… Yousee, this is talking about ‘Abdullāh Bin Ubaÿ. So he is worried that a disaster might befall him if his alliance with the Yahūd is revoked, somehow he thinks that his protection lies with them; if I do not keep this alliance, evil will befall me, something will happen. So he does not have Tawakkul on Allāh, he is afraid. …But perhaps Allāh will bring conquest or a decision from Him, and they will become, over what they have been concealing within themselves, regretful. Al-Mā’idah: 51-52

Meaning Allāh will give Believers victory, and they will win against these people whom you consider allies and think that they are the ones who will protect you.

And then Allāh says: And those who believe will say, “Are these the ones who swore by Allāh their strongest oaths that indeed they were with you?” Their deeds have become worthless, and they have become losers. O you who have believed, whoever of you should revert from his religion – Allāh will bring forth [in place of them] a people He will love and who will love Him [who are] humble toward the Believers, powerful against the Disbelievers; they strive in the cause of Allāh and do not fear the blame of a critic. That is the favour of Allāh; He bestows it upon whom He wills. And Allāh is all-Encompassing and Knowing. Al-Mā’idah: 53-54

Sothis Āyah has the attributes of At- Tā’ifah Al-Mansūrah – The Victorious Party. Again, Allāh will bring forth [in place of them] a people He will love and who will love Him. So [the attributes of At-Tā’ifah Al-Mansūrah are as follows]:

Number One: Allāh will bring forth [in place of them] a people He will love –Allāh loves them.

Number Two: And who will love Him – They love Allāh.

Number Three: [Who are] humble toward the Believers

Number Four: Powerful against the Disbelievers

Number Five: They strive in the cause of Allāh – They fight Jihād in the cause of Allāh.

Number Six: And do not fear the blame of a critic – They do not care about what the media will say about them, they do not care about what so and so will say about them, they do not care about what the Disbelievers say about them; as long as it pleases Allāh, that is enough.

[And Allāh continues:] Your ally is none but Allāh and [therefore] His Messenger and those who have believed – those who establish Prayer and give Zakāh, and they bow [in worship]. And whoever is an ally of Allāh and His Messenger and those who have believed – indeed, the party of Allāh – they will be the predominant. Al-Mā’idah: 55-56

Yousee, ‘Ubādah Ibn As-Sāmit was approached by ‘Abdullāh Ibn Ubaÿ, and ‘Abdullāh Ibn Ubaÿ told him, “How are you going to revoke your alliance with these people who have helped you on such and such day and so and so…” and he would go on. ‘Ubādah said, “Taghaiyyaratil Qulūb Wa Mahal Islāmul ‘Uhūd. Amā Wallāhi Innaka Lamu’simun Bi’amrin Satarā Ghaiyyahū Ghadan – Nowhearts are different and Islām has erased all of the former alliances, and you are holding on to something which you will realise is wrong tomorrow.” So ‘Ubādah is saying [to] give up these thoughts that we have, because you will realise that you have taken the wrong course of action. So Allāh here is confirming what ‘Ubādah said, that if your loyalty goes to Allāh, His Messenger and the Believers, they are the ones who will be victorious in the end. So in other words, ‘Abdullāh Ibn Ubaÿ was betting on the losing horse.

10.3.3 Lesson from Banū Qaynuqā’

There are no Men Left:The Messenger of Allāhﷺ waged war against Banū Qaynuqā’ for the sake of one Muslim woman, to defend her; this tells you how important it is to protect the rights of Muslim women. And now when we hear the calls of Muslim women from all over the Muslim world and nobody responds back, that shows that there are no men left, because a Muslim man would jump to the defence of his sister; this is what Rasūlullāhﷺ did and this was the Sunnah that was followed by the Khulafā’ after him, like Al-Mu’tasim, the Khalīfah of Banū ‘Abbās, when one woman said, “Wā Mu’tasimā!” He responded by sending an army to fight with the superpower of his time, the Roman Empire. And part of the reason why Ka’b Ibn Al-Ashraf was assassinated was because he was speaking about Muslim women.

10.4  Jews who Faced Consequences for their Evil

Asmā’ Bint Marwān :

There was a woman called Asmā’ Bint Marwān, this woman was gathering people to fight against the Muslims and she would spread lies about the Muslims, so a man called ‘Umair Al-Khatmī killed her. So he goes to Rasūlullāhﷺ and asked, “Is what I did wrong?” Rasūlullāhﷺ told him, “Nasartallāha Wa Rasūlahū Yā ‘Umair – You have assisted Allāh and His Messenger O ‘Umair.” And then Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Lā Yantatihu Fīhā ‘Anzān –This thing that you did, no two rams will butt heads over.” Meaning that this is an issue that there should be no dispute about; what you did was right.

Abū ‘Afk Al-Yahūdī :

Abū ‘Afk Al -Yahūdī was a Jewish man and he was also inspiring others to fight against the Muslims, so Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Who will rid us of Abū ‘Afk?” And he was also assassinated by the Muslims because of his evil.

10.4.1 Ka’b Ibn Al-Ashraf

But the most famous assassination of all was that of Ka’b Ibn Al-Ashraf, and his story is famous, it is in Bukhārī, it is also narrated by Ibn Is’hāq and other scholars. Ka’b Ibn Al-Ashraf’s father was an Arab from the tribe of Taÿ, he got married to a Jewish woman from Banū Nadīr, so Ka’b became a Jew. So Ka’b Ibn Al -Ashraf, even though his father was Arab, he was a Jew; he followed the religion of his mother. And he was a wealthy man, he was very eloquent, he was a good poet, and he was respected among the Arabs, he had good position; wealthy, well-connected, famous. Ka’b Ibn Al-Ashraf was leading a media campaign against the Muslims, he was very active in his animosity towards Islām. After the Battle of Badr, he lamented the battle in some words of poetry in which he expresses his sorrow at what happened to the people of Quraish and saying that if these noble men of Quraish were killed then it was better to die. What happened was so bad to him he said that dying is better than living! And then he started making all of these lines of poetry against Rasūlullāhﷺ, against the Muslims; all over, it was travelling from one place to another, for example, after the Battle of Badr he goes to Makkah and spends time with the people of Quraish inspiring them to fight back, and it is reported that he did not leave [Makkah] until he got a commitment that they are going to set up an army to go and fight Rasūlullāhﷺ. They probably did not need Ka’b Ibn Al-Ashraf to do that, they would do that on their own initiative, but this is something that was mentioned in the book, but what is a fact is that he did go to Makkah after the Battle of Badr to give condolences to the people of Quraish, that is something that is reported in various Seerah sources.

Ka’b Ibn Al-Ashraf was getting into no-go areas, for example, he started describing Muslim women in his poetry, talking about the beauty of so, and he would mention names. And we all know how much respect Muslims have to the honour of their women, and how evil they consider violating the sanctity and the privacy of a Muslim woman; that is a great crime in Islām. So Ka’b Ibn Al-Ashraf was getting into that area. Rasūlullāh said, “Man Lī Bi Ka’b Ibn Al-Ashraf, Fa’innahū Ādhallāha Wa Rasūlah? –Who will rid us of Ka’b Ibn Al-Ashraf, because he has harmed Allāh and His Messenger?” It was so bad that Rasūlullāhﷺ wanted this man to be assassinated.

Ibn Is’hāq said, “He then returned to Madīnah where he composed verses that were suggestive about the Muslim woman, and criticised he Prophet of Allāh and his followers.” Mūsā Ibn ‘Uqbah said, “He harmed the Messenger of Allāh by ridiculing him in verses.” So his war was a war of words, and Hassān Ibn Thābit, the poet of Rasūlullāhﷺ, was fighting back. Now, you might wonder what is the big deal about poetry? Well, poetry was the media of the day, poetry for the Arabs was how the news was conveyed, how history was written, it was done through poetry. They would not write books about history, their history was narrated through poetry, and this poetry would be handed down from one generation to another, it was an oral tradition. The Arabs were not literate, so their history, their pride, the criticising of a tribe was all done through poetry, and one line of poetry could honour a man or a tribe and one line of poetry could dishonour a man or a tribe. For example, there was this tribe called Numair; one line of poetry wrecked it and destroyed its reputation for good. Ghuddat Tarfa Fa’innaka Min Numair, Falā Ka’ban Balaghta Walā Kulābā –this one line of poetry was it; it destroyed [and] tarnished the reputation of this tribe Numair. Now, the poetry could mention fact or fiction, but it does not really make a difference if the people do not know whether the information mentioned in the poetry is true or false. And that is the case with media today, people go by what the media says regardless of whether it is true or false; it does leave an effect on the people. So this was what Ka’b Ibn Al-Ashraf was doing; it was a media war against Rasūlullāhﷺ.

So Rasūlullāhﷺ asked, “Man Lī Bi Ka’b Ibn Al -Ashraf, Fa’innahū Ādhallāha Wa Rasūlah? –Who will rid us of Ka’b Ibn Al-Ashraf, because he has harmed Allāh and His Messenger?” Muhammad Ibn Maslamah, one of Al-Ansār, volunteers, he said, “I will, O Messenger of Allāh,” so Rasūlullāhﷺ assigns to him this mission. Muhammad Ibn Maslamah, in the narration of Al-Bukhārī, or234 Abū Nā’ilah in the narration of Ibn Is’hāq, goes to Ka’b Ibn Al-Ashraf, visits him alone, and he says [to him], “This man’s arrival among us was a disaster.” He was talking about Muhammadﷺ. He said, “This man’s arrival among us was a disaster. The Arabs became hostile to us and united against us. They have cut off our roots so that our young are deprived and scared. We and our families are suffering greatly.” This was how Muhammad Ibn Maslamah was trying to win over the trust of Ka’b Ibn Al-Ashraf. He said Muhammad came to us and it was a disaster; what have we done, all of the Arabs are now united against us, we are in a state of fear, our children are in a state of fear [and so on]. Ka’b Ibn Al-Ashraf said, “I am Al-Ashraf’s son, did I not tell you that things would turn out this way?” So Abū Nā’ilah said, “What I wanted was for you to sell us some food for which we would give you security (a pledge) because we are in need.” Ka’b Ibn Al-Ashraf said, “You pledge your women as a security, a pledge that you would pay me back.” They said [that] no way, we cannot hand over our women to you and you are such a handsome man and all of that stuff. So Abū Nā’ilah asked what else they could pledge, he said, “Pledge your sons.” He said, “No, we cannot pledge and keep our kids with you, because after that it will be a stigma on them for the rest of their lives that they were left as hostages for some small amount of food.” So Ka’b Ibn Al-Ashraf asked, “Then what do you want to pledge? What security will you give me to ensure that you will pay me back?” They said, “We will bring our weapons.” Weapons were expensive, so that was a good deal. Muhammad Ibn Maslamah and Abū Nā’ilah said that they were going to pledge their weapons because they did not want Ka’b Ibn Al-Ashraf to be suspicious when they brought their weapons; this was all part of the plot.

So they go back and they arrange a team of five men and they visit Ka’b Ibn Al-Ashraf at night at the appointed time to deliver their weapons and receive the food. Ka’b heard the calling of Abū Nā’ilah and Abū Nā’ilah was the brother of Ka’b Ibn Al- Ashraf from Radā‘ah – Nursing. You see, in Islām, when a woman nurses two children, they are considered as brothers in Radā‘ah – brothers because of breastfeeding, so this was the relationship of Abū Nā’ilah to Ka’b. So he calls Ka’b at night. Apparently Ka’b just got married, so he stood up to respond to the call and his wife asked him, “Where are you going at this time of late hour in the night?” He said, “This is my brother Abū Nā’ilah calling me.” She said, “I can hear blood dripping from his voice.” He said, “This is my brother Abū Nā’ilah, and if a man is called to a stabbing, he should respond.” Meaning even if there is some evil intention, a man should respond to that. But Ka’b was not suspicious, Ka’b trusted Abū Nā’ilah because of the blood relationship that they had and also because he thought that they were allied with him against Muhammadﷺ. So he goes down and they talked to him for some time, and then they said, “Ka’b, how about we go and take a walk in Shi’bal ‘Ajooz?” He said, “Alright, fine.” They wanted to take him away from his fortress because he was living in a fort, and he was in a state of war with the Muslims so he had guards and protection, so they wanted to take him away, so they started walking away from his fort at that late hour in the night.

Abū Nā’ilah – or Muhammad Ibn Maslamah, depending on the narration – puts his hand in the hair of Ka’b. Why did he do that? He asked Ka’b, “What is this beautiful smell that is coming from you?” Ka’b said, “I was with this woman who is the most beautiful woman and I had this scent on.” Abū Nā’ilah asked, “Would you allow me to smell it?” He said, “Go ahead.” So he grabbed his hair to smell this perfume, and he had already agreed with his men that he would give them a signal on when to attack, so after they walked for a while he said, “Can I smell it again?” Ka’b said, “Go ahead.” This time he grabbed his head and said, “Attack him!” And they started stabbing him with their swords but apparently he had armour on, so they were not able to kill him and he was screaming very loud and now suddenly all of the lights were going on, going up in the fortresses. Then Muhammad Ibn Maslamah said, “I had a knife with me and I stabbed him in his lower abdomen and I cut his abdomen open until he fell down, and when we realised that the man would die, then we left.” However, one of them was stabbed by mistake by one of their swords, and while they were rushing away – because as we said, he screamed and now all of the forts were going to respond to the call of Ka’b, so they had to run – but this man who was injured was losing a lot of blood and he was becoming weaker, so they had to carry him. Then Rasūlullāhﷺ met them at the outskirts of Madīnah and he immediately placed his hand on the injury and it was healed.

10.4.2 Lessons from the Assassination of Ka’b Ibn Al-Ashraf

The Sahābah Took their Words Seriously: The Sahābah took their words seriously. When Muhammad Ibn Maslamah volunteered to kill Ka’b Ibn Al-Ashraf, for three days after that he lost [his] appetite and was barely eating what was keeping him alive. That news was delivered to Rasūlullāhﷺ so Rasūlullāhﷺ calls him and asks, “Muhammad Ibn Maslamah, what happened?” Muhammad said, “O Messenger of Allāh, I have given my word and I am worried that I would not be able to fulfil it.” Since he pledged to fulfil this mission, Muhammad Ibn Maslamah was worried that probably he could fail, he was worried whether he would succeed or not, he was worried whether his plan is good enough or not, and he could not eat for three days not because he was afraid of dying, but because he wanted to make sure that he fulfils his pledge to Rasūlullāhﷺ. This shows you how seriously the Sahābah took their word; if they gave their word they had to fulfil it. Now we throw our words right and left and we do not worry whether we will fulfil them; let alone worrying, we even forget about them. You know, making promises is taken so lightly now [that] we throw promises right and left without caring whether we would fulfil them or not. Muhammad Ibn Maslamah said I will do it, and he took that very seriously and he could not eat or drink or sleep. Rasūlullāhﷺ told him, “Innamā ‘Alaikal Jahd – You do your best.” That is what Allāh will hold you accountable for, whether you did your best or not, and then if the mission succeeds or not, as long as you have done your best, Allāh will accept that from you. You are not responsible for the outcome of the mission, you are responsible to do your best, and this is a lesson for us; we should do our best, we should try to achieve perfection in anything that we do. This is very important for Muslims today because as I said, we take our words lightly, and it is a sign of a Munāfiq to make a promise that he does not fulfil.

Muhammad Ibn Maslamah was Allowed to Speak Words of Kufr : Muhammad Ibn Maslamah after that said, “Then allow me to speak about you.” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Go ahead.” Muhammad Ibn Maslamah felt that in order for his mission to succeed he would have to speak against Rasūlullāhﷺ, and that was sanctioned by Rasūlullāhﷺ. So this shows us that if Muhammad Ibn Maslamah was allowed to say things that are Kufr in order for his mission to succeed, then a Muslim is allowed to do things that are less than Kufr. For example, if a Muslim spy is among the enemy’s army, how would he pray? Such a person, as the scholars said, if he cannot pray standing then he can pray sitting, if he cannot pray sitting then he can pray by moving his finger, if he cannot even do that then he can pray by moving his eyes if he is afraid that his mission might be compromised. So Muhammad Ibn Maslamah spoke words that are Kufr, he went to Ka’b Ibn Al-Ashraf and said, “This man was a disaster on us!” But that was allowed. So this tells you that there are some special rulings for military operations if the mission depends on a person hiding their Islāmic identity; [in that case] it is allowed.

Our Problem with the Jews is with their Mind-set: The next lesson: Ka’b was a Jew, but ethnically he was an Arab. So that shows that our negative attitude toward the Jews is not based on racism, it is not because of their ethnicity, so we say the truth, we are not anti-Semitic. Our problem is not with the ethnicity, our problem is with the mind-set. This has to be clear that Muslims do not have anything against the Jews because of their genetic make-up, that is not the case, or because they belong to a certain culture or a certain race, that is not the issue. For example, with the Nazis, their problem was racism, they considered that their race was superior to the race of Al-Yahūd, and when some Muslims are accused of being racist or similar to the Nazis, that is the furthest from the truth; the issue with the Muslims is not a problem with the ethnicity of Al-Yahūd, it is with the mind-set that leads such a people to become blasphemous against Allāh , to speak against Rasūlullāhﷺ, to reject his Message, to plot against Muslims, to cause disunity; it is against the evil actions themselves.

Not All Battles are Played Out on Battlefields : Finally, not all battles are played out on the battlefields, sometimes clandestine special operations are needed to inflict harm on the enemies of Allāh, and this was the case with Ka’b Ibn Al-Ashraf.

10.5 Ghazawāt and Sarāyās

10.5.1 Ghazawāt and Sarāyā before the Battle of Uhud

Before we start with the Battle of Uhud, [we will talk about] a few scattered Ghazawāt and Sarāyā that occurred after Badr and before Uhud.

Ghazwat Nā Qadr : One of them is Ghazwat Nā Qadr, and Subhān’Allāh, seven days after the Battle of Badr, the Muslims were already on the road; this was a pre-emptive attack on the tribe of Banū Sulaim. Rasūlullāhﷺ caught word that Banū Sulaim were gathering to attack Madīnah, so Rasūlullāhﷺ attacked them first. This is something that repeats throughout the Gazawāt of Rasūlullāhﷺ; he hears that people are plotting to attack Madīnah so he starts first and takes the initiative and takes advantage of the surprise attack. The Muslims surprised Banū Sulaim and Banū Sulaim fled the scene and they left behind 500 camels which ended up being a good booty for the Muslims, each soldier ended up getting about two camels, and they went back to Madīnah.

Ghazwat As-Suwaiq: There was another Ghazwah called Ghazwat As-Suwaiq. Abū Sufyān, trying to wash away the shame of Badr, goes to the Jewish tribe of Banū Nadīr, they stay as guests of Salām Bin Miksham, the head of Banū Nadīr, and they get some valuable information from him, some insider information, and they attack in the outskirts of Madīnah, they find over there two Muslims [and] they kill them, [then] they destroyed the area [and just] took some stuff with them and left. So it was not much of a revenge for Badr. Rasūlullāhﷺ heard about this and he immediately pursued them with 200 soldiers, and Abū Sufyān had 200 soldiers with him too, but he was running away, and they were so terrified [that] they were throwing their foodstuff; this was a particular kind of food that they would take with them, it was a kind of food that does not spoil, it is called Suwaiq, [and] apparently it [consists of] some grains mixed with butter or honey. They would carry it with them, and since its expiration date was very late, it was pretty good food for fighters. So they were throwing away this food to lighten the load and they ran away, so no fighting occurred in Ghazwat As-Suwaiq.

Ghazwat Dhū ‘Imr : Another Ghazwah was Ghazwat Dhū ‘Imr. [It consisted of] 450 Muslims, and this was against a tribe in Najd, and Rasūlullāhﷺ attacked them because he heard that they were planning to attack him, so he goes to meet them in their own territory. On the way, he arrests one of their men called Jubbār Bin Tha’labah who becomes a Muslim. And then when they reached to the enemy’s land it was rainy and the clothes of Rasūlullāhﷺ got wet, so Rasūlullāhﷺ took off his armour and hung it on a tree so that his clothes could dry and then he laid down under a tree. So Du’thūr, the head of the enemy’s army, sneaked in, and he stood right above Rasūlullāhﷺ with his sword in hand. And while Rasūlullāhﷺ was sleeping he woke him up and said. “O Muhammad, Man Yamna‘uka Minnil Ān? – Who can save you from me now?” Rasūlullāhﷺ with all confidence said, “Allāh.” Suddenly Du’thūr falls back and his sword fell [too], and then Rasūlullāhﷺ picks up the sword and stands on top of Du’thūr and says, “Yā Du’thūr, who can protect you from me now?” So he pleads to Rasūlullāhﷺ to spare his life! And he became Muslim. He goes back to his people and his people blame him and they asked, “What is your problem? What happened to you?” He said, “A tall man stood in front of me and pushed me in my chest,” and that was Jibrīl. So Du’thūr, who wanted to kill Rasūlullāhﷺ, becomes Muslim, he goes back [and] gives his people Da’wah [and] many of them become Muslim – a miracle of the miracles of Rasūlullāhﷺ. This was a one month long journey; they were absent for an entire month.

Sariyyat Zayd Bin Hārithah : Then there was Sariyyat Zayd Bin Hārithah. So this was a Sariyyah – Rasūlullāhﷺ did not go with them – to Qirdah. The people of Quraish were now suffering economically because of the continuous raids; the Muslims were putting some serious pressure on Quraish by raiding their caravans, [and] now the route from Makkah to Syria was jeopardised, the Muslims were all over the place; either their armies or tribes loyal to them, because Rasūlullāhﷺ was sending out these Sarāyā to engage with the tribes surrounding Madīnah, to invite them to Islām or to at least make some alliances with them to guarantee that they would stand on the Muslims’ side. Now Quraish’s line to Syria was threatened, so Quraish were consulting with some guides who told them that if the routes of Hijāz are not safe then why do we not go through Najd? So they were going to take this long turn through Najd, getting close to ‘Irāq, and then from there they were going to enter into Syria which obviously costs more and takes longer, but they had to do what they had to do. So they sent this caravan to go through Najd! And from ‘Irāq and then into Syria, and Rasūlullāhﷺ sends out a Sariyyah led by Zayd Ibn Hārithah and a hundred Muslims to raid it. This just drove them crazy, and it was a successful attack. The guards of the caravan ran away and the Muslims took over the caravan; it says it had so much silver in it.

10.5.2 Objectives of Ghazawāt and Sarāyā

Now, these skirmishes or small battles and Ghazawāt served few objectives of Rasūlullāhﷺ:

Hands-on Military Training:  First of all, there was hands-on military training, and this issue of military training is ‘Ibādah in itself, Allāh says: Wa A‘iddū Lahum Mastata’tum Min Quwwah – And prepare against them whatever you are able of power. Al-Anfāl: 60

Soany training that could help the Muslim in Jihād Fee Sabeelillāh is an ‘Ibādah, it is just like praying, fasting, paying Zakāh; it is an ‘Ibādah, and if Jihād is Fard then the preparation becomes Fard too, so they were worshipping Allāh through this training. It was hand-on military training; it was not in a military school, it was in the field, actual training.

Tarbiyah: Number Two: It is Tarbiyah, because the Sahābah would spend long times with Rasūlullāhﷺ. For example, in the Ghazwah that we just talked about, they were absent for an entire month, so they were spending this time with Rasūlullāhﷺ; travelling with him, eating with him, walking with him, [etc.], and you get exposed to some aspects of a person’s personality in travel that you might not be exposed to if a person is residing in their home, because the mixing and the mingling when you are travelling with somebody is more. So the Sahābah got to see the personality of Rasūlullāh in front of their eyes, and this was how they learnt the Sunnah of Rasūlullāhﷺ, so they would learn about his ‘Ibādah.

Teaches Muslims How to Be Member of a Group:  The third benefit of these Ghazawāt is that it teaches a Muslim how to be a member of a group, of a Jamā‘ah, because there is Sam‘a and Tā‘ah, there is obedience, there is discipline, there is sacrifice because you are now a part of a group, you are not just an individual doing your own thing. So these are habits that they got to learn by travelling for such long extended periods with Rasūlullāhﷺ. So it was also a Tarbiyah for them on how to be part of the Ummah, because Islām is not an individualistic religion, it is a collective religion. A lot of the ‘Ibādāt in Islām are done collectively; Salāh is done collectively, Hajj is done collectively, ‘Umrah is done collectively, Jihād most of the time is done collectively. So all of these were ‘Ibādāt that they got to learn from Rasūlullāhﷺ in the field.