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Black, tall and sturdy,
Muhammad ibn Maslamah towered above his
contemporaries. He was a giant among the
companions of the Prophet, a giant in
body and a giant in deeds.
Significantly he was
called Muhammad even before he became a
Muslim. It would seem that his name was
itself a pointer to the fact that he was
among the first of the Yathribites to
become a Muslim and to follow the
teachings of the great Prophet. (The
name Muhammad was practically unknown at
the time but since the Prophet
encouraged Muslims to name themselves
after him, it has become one of the most
widely used names in the world.)
Muhammad ibn Maslamah
was a halif or an ally of the Aws tribe
in Madinah indicating that he himself
was not an Arab. He became a Muslim at
the hands of Musab ibn Umayr, the first
missionary sent out by the Prophet from
Makkah to Madinah. He accepted Islam
even before men like Usayd ibn Hudayr
and Sad ibn Muadh who were influential
men in the city.
When the Prophet,
peace be on him, came to Madinah, he
adopted the unique method of
strengthening the bonds of brotherhood
between the Muhajirin and the Ansar. He
paired off each Muhajir with one of the
Ansar. This arrangement also helped to
relieve the immediate needs of the
Muhajirin for shelter and food and
created an integrated community of
believers.
The Prophet was a keen
observer of character and temperament
and was concerned to join in brotherhood
persons of similar attitudes and tastes.
He joined in brotherhood Muhammad ibn
Maslamah and Abu Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah.
Like Abu Ubaydah, Muhammad ibn Maslamah
was quiet and pensive and had a strong
sense of trust and devotion. He was also
brave and resolute in action. He was a
distinguished horseman who performed
feats of heroism and sacrifice in the
service of Islam.
Muhammad ibn Maslamah
took part in all the military
engagements of the Prophet except the
expedition to Tabuk. On that occasion,
he and Ali were put in charge of an army
which was left behind to protect Madinah.
Later in life, he would often relate
scenes of these battles to his ten
children.
There are many
instances in the life of Muhammad ibn
Maslamah which showed what a dependable
and trustworthy person he was. Before
the start of hostilities at the Battle
of Uhud, the Prophet and the Muslim
force numbering some seven hundred
persons spent a night in an open camp.
He put fifty men under the command of
Muhammad ibn Maslamah and entrusted him
with the task of patrolling the camp the
whole night. During the battle itself,
after the disastrous rout of the Muslims
by the Quraysh during which about
seventy Muslims lost their lives and
many fled in every possible direction, a
small band of the faithful bravely
defended the Prophet till the tide of
battle turned. Muhammad ibn Maslamah was
among them.
Muhammad ibn Maslamah
was quick to respond to the call of
action. He once stood listening to the
Prophet as he spoke to the Muslims about
the designs of some of the Jewish
leaders in the region.
At the beginning of
his stay in Madinah, the Prophet had
concluded an agreement with the Jews of
the city which said in part:
"The Jews who
attach themselves to our commonwealth
shall be protected from all insults and
harassment. They shall have equal rights
as our own people to our
assistance...They shall join the Muslims
in defending Madinah against all
enemies...They shall not declare war nor
enter in treaty or agreement against the
Muslims."
Jewish leaders had
violated this agreement by encouraging
the Quraysh and tribes around Madinah in
their designs against the state. They
were also bent on creating discord among
the people of Madinah in order to weaken
the influence of Islam.
After the resounding
victory of the Muslims over the Quraysh
at the Battle of Badr, one of the three
main Jewish groups in Madinah, the Banu
Qaynuqa was especially furious and
issued a petulant challenge to the
Prophet. They said:
"O Muhammad! You
really think that we are like your
people (the Quraysh)? Don't be deceived.
You confronted a people who have no
knowledge of war and you took the chance
to rout them. If you were to fight
against us you would indeed know that we
arc men."
They thus spurned
their agreement with the Prophet and
issued an open challenge to fight. The
Qaynuqa however were goldsmiths who
dominated the market in Madinah. They
were depending on their allies, the
Khazraj, to help them in their declared
war. The Khazraj refused. The Prophet
placed the Banu Qaynuqa's quarters under
a siege which lasted for fifteen nights.
The fainthearted Qaynuqa finally decided
to surrender and ask the Prophet for a
free passage out of Madinah.
The Prophet allowed
them to leave and the tribe - men, women
and children - left unharmed. They had
to leave behind them their arms and
their goldsmith's equipment. They
settled down at Adhraat in Syria.
The departure of the
Qaynuqa did not end Jewish feelings of
animosity towards the Prophet although
the nonaggression agreement was still in
force. One of those who was consumed
with hatred against the Prophet and the
Muslims and who openly gave vent to his
rage was Kab ibn al-Ashraf.
Kab's father was in
fact an Arab who had fled to Madinah
after committing a crime. He became an
ally of the Banu Nadir, another
important Jewish group, and married a
Jewish lady name Aqilah bint Abu-l Haqiq.
She was Kab's mother.
Kab was a tall and
impressive looking person. He was a
well-known poet and was one of the
richest men among the Jews. He lived in
a castle on the outskirts of Madinah
where he had extensive palm groves. He
was regarded as a Jewish leader of
importance throughout the Hijaz. He
provided means of support and
sponsorship to many Jewish rabbis.
Kab was openly hostile
to Islam. He lampooned the Prophet,
besmirched in verse the reputation of
Muslim women, and incited the tribes in
and around Madinah against the Prophet
and Islam. He was particularly
distressed when he heard the news of the
Muslim victory at Badr. When he saw the
returning army with the Quraysh
prisoners of war, he was bitter and
furious. He took it upon himself then to
make the long journey to Makkah to
express his grief and to incite the
Quraysh to take further revenge. He also
went to other areas, from tribe to
tribe, urging people to take up arms
against the Prophet. News of his
activities reached the Prophet, peace be
on him, who prayed: "O Lord, rid me
of the son of Ashfar, however You
wish."
Kab had become a real
danger to the state of peace and mutual
trust which the Prophet was struggling
to achieve in Madinah.
Kab returned to
Madinah and continued his verbal attacks
on the Prophet and his abuse of Muslim
women. He refused, after warnings from
the Prophet, to stop his dirty campaign
and sinister intrigues. He was bent on
fomenting a revolt against the Prophet
and the Muslims in Madinah. By all these
actions, Kab had openly declared war
against the Prophet. He was dangerous
and a public enemy to the nascent Muslim
state. The Prophet was quite exasperated
with him and said to the Muslims:
"Who will deal with Kab ibn al-Ashraf?
He has offended God and His
Apostle."
"I shall deal
with him for you, O Messenger of
God," volunteered Muhammad ibn
Maslamah.
This, however, was no
easy undertaking. Muhammad ibn Maslamah,
according to one report, went home and
stayed for three days without either
eating or drinking, just thinking about
what he had to do. The Prophet heard of
this, called him and asked him why he
had not been eating or drinking. He
replied: "O Messenger of God, I
gave an undertaking to you but I do not
know whether I can accomplish it or
not." "Your duty is only to
try your utmost," replied the
Prophet.
Muhammad ibn Maslamah
then went to some other companions of
the Prophet and told them what he had
undertaken to do. They included Abu
Nailah, a foster brother of Kab ibn al-Ahsraf.
They agreed to help him and he devised a
plan to accomplish the mission. They
went back to the Prophet to seek his
approval since the plan involved
enticing Kab from his fortress residence
through some deception. The Prophet gave
his consent on the principle that war
involved deceit.
Both Muhammad ibn
Maslamah who was in fact a nephew of Kab
by fosterage and Abu Nailah then went to
Kab's residence. Muhammad ibn Maslamah
was the first to speak: "This man
(meaning the Prophet, peace be on him)
has asked us for sadaqah (charitable
tax) and we cannot even find food to
eat. He is oppressing us with his laws
and prohibitions and I thought I could
come to you to ask for a loan."
"By God, I am
much more dissatisfied with him,"
confessed Kab. "We have followed
him but we do not want to leave him
until we see how this whole business
will end. We would like you to lend us a
wasaq or two of gold," continued
Muhammad ibn Maslamah.
"Isn't it about
time that you realize what falsehood you
are tolerating from him? asked Kab as he
promised to give them the loan.
"However," he said, "you
must provide security (for the
loan)."
"What security do
you want?" they asked. "Give
me your wives as security," he
suggested. "How can we give you our
wives as security ," they
protested, "when you are the most
handsome of Arabs?"
"Then give me
your children as security," Kab
suggested. "How can we give you our
children as security when any one of
them would thereafter be ridiculed by
being called a hostage for one or two
wasaqs of gold. This would be a disgrace
to us. But we could give you our (means
of) protection (meaning weapons) since
you know that we need them."
Kab agreed to this
suggestion which they had made to
disabuse his mind of any notion that
they had come armed. They promised to
come back to him again to bring the
weapons.
Meanwhile, Abu Nailah
also came up to Kab and said: "Woe
to you, Ibn Ashraf. I have come to you
intending to mention something to you
and you do not encourage me." Kab
asked him to go on and Abu Nailah said:
"The coming of this man to us has
been a source of affliction to our Arab
customs. With one shot he has severed
our ways and left families hungry and in
difficulties. We and our families are
struggling." Kab replied: "I,
Ibn al-Ashraf, by God, I had told you,
son of Salamah, that the matter would
end up as I predicted." Abu Nailah
replied: "I wish you could sell us
some food and we would give you whatever
form of security and trust required. Be
good to us. I have friends who share my
views on this and I want to bring them
to you so that you could sell them some
food and deal well towards them. We will
come to you and pledge our shields and
weapons to you as security."
"There is loyalty and good faith in
weapons," agreed Kab.
With this they left
promising to return and bring the
required security for the loan. They
went back to the Prophet and reported to
him what had happened. That night,
Muhammad ibn Maslamah, Abu Nailah, Abbad
ibn Bisnr, Al-Harith ibn Aws and Abu
Abasah ibn Jabr all set off for Kabs
house. The Prophet went with them for a
short distance and parted with the
words:
"Go forth in the
name of God." And he prayed:
"O Lord, help them." The
Prophet returned home. It was a moonlit
night in the month of Rabi al-Awwal in
the third year of the hijrah.
Muhammad ibn Maslamah
and the four with him reached Kab's
house. They called out to him. As he got
out of bed, his wife held him and
warned: "You are a man at war.
People at war do not go down at such an
hour." "It is only my nephew
Muhammad ibn Maslamah and my foster
brother, Abu Nailah..." Kab came
down with his sword drawn. He was
heavily scented with the perfume of
musk.
"I have not smelt
such a pleasant scent as today,"
greeted Muhammad ibn Maslamah. "Let
me smell your head." Kab agreed and
as Muhammad bent over, he grasped Kab's
head firmly and called on the others to
strike down the enemy of God.
(Details of this
incident vary somewhat. Some reports
state that it was Abu Nailah who gave
the command to strike down Kab and this
was done after Kab had emerged from his
house and walked with them for some
time. )
The elimination of Kab
ibn al-Ashraf struck terror into the
hearts of those, and there were many of
them in Madinah, who plotted and
intrigued against the Prophet. Such open
hostility as Kab's diminished for a time
but certainly did not cease.
At the beginning of
the fourth year of the hijrah, the
Prophet went to the Jewish tribe of Banu
Nadir on the outskirts of Madinah to
seek their help on a certain matter.
While among them, he found out that they
were planning to kill him then and
there. He had to take decisive action.
The Banu Nadir had gone too far.
Straight away, the Prophet went back to
the center of the city. He summoned
Muhammad ibn Maslamah and sent him to
inform the Banu Nadir that they had to
leave Madinah within ten days because of
their treacherous behavior and that any
one of them seen after that in the city
would forfeit his life.
One can just imagine
Muhammad ibn Maslamah addressing the
Banu Nadir. His towering stature and his
loud and clear voice combined to let the
Banu Nadir know that the Prophet meant
every word he said and that they had to
stand the consequences of their
treacherous acts. The fact that the
Prophet chose Muhammad ibn Maslamah for
the task is a tribute to his loyalty,
courage and firmness.
Further details of the
expulsion of the Banu Nadir from Madinah
do not concern us here: their plan to
resist the Prophet with outside help;
the Prophet's siege of their district
and their eventual surrender and
evacuation mainly to Khaybar in the
north. Two of the Banu Nadir though
became MusIims - Yamin ibn Umayr and Abu
Sad ibn Wahb. Ali this happened exactly
one year after the elimination of Kab
ibn al-Ashraf.
Both during the time
of the Prophet and after, Muhammad ibn
Maslamah was known for carrying out any
assignment he accepted exactly as he was
ordered, neither doing more nor less
than he was asked to do. It was these
qualities which made Umar choose him as
one of his ministers and as a trusted
friend and guide.
When Amr ibn al-Aas
requested reinforcements during his
expedition to Egypt, Umar sent him four
detachments of one thousand men each.
Leading these detachments were Muhammad
ibn Maslamah, az-Zubayr ibn aI-Awwam,
Ubadah ibn as-Samit and al-Miqdad ibn
al-Aswad. To Amr, Umar sent a message
saying, "Let me remind you that I
am sending Muhammad ibn Maslamah to you
to help you distribute your wealth.
Accommodate him and forgive any
harshness of his towards you."
Ibn Maslamah went to
Amr in Fustat (near present-day Cairo)..
He sat at his table but did not touch
the food. Amr asked him: "Did Umar
prevent you from tasting my food?"
"No," replied ibn Maslamah,
"he did not prevent me from having
your food but neither did he command me
to eat of it." He then placed a
flat loaf of bread on the table and ate
it with salt. Amr became upset and said:
"May God bring to an end the time
in which we work for Umar ibn al-Khattab!
I have witnessed a time when al-Khattab
and his son Umar were wandering around
wearing clothes which could not even
cover them properly while Al-Aas ibn
Wail (Amr's father) sported brocade
lined with gold..."
"As for your
father and the father of Umar, they are
in hell," retorted Muhammad ibn
Maslamah, because they did not accept
Islam. "As for you, if Umar did not
give you an appointment, you would have
been pleased with what you got from
their udders," continued Ibn
Maslamah obviously disabusing Amr's mind
of any ideas he might have of appearing
superior because he was the governor of
Egypt.
"Assemblies must
be conducted as a form of trust,"
said Amr in an attempt to diffuse the
situation and Muhammad ibn Maslamah
replied: "Oh yes, so long as Umar
is alive." He wanted to impress
upon people the justice of Umar and the
egalitarian teachings of Islam. Muhammad
ibn Maslamah was a veritable scourge
against all arrogant and haughty
behavior.
On another occasion
and at another end of the Muslim state
under his caliphate, Umar heard that the
famous Sad ibn Abi Waqqas was building a
palace at Kufa. Umar sent Muhammad ibn
Maslamah to deal with the situation. On
reaching Kufa, Muhammad promptly burnt
the palace down. One does not know
whether people were more surprised by
the instructions of Umar or by the
humiliation of Sad ibn Abi Waqqas, the
famed fighter, conqueror at Qadisiyyah,
and the one praised by the Prophet
himself for his sacrifices at Uhud.
Sad did not say a
word. This was all part of the great
process of self-criticism and
rectification which helped to make Islam
spread and establish it on foundations
of justice and piety.
Muhammad ibn Maslamah
served Umar's successor, Uthman ibn
Allan, faithfully. When, however, the
latter was killed and civil war broke
out among the Muslims, Muhammad ibn
Maslamah did not participate. The sword
which he always used and which was given
to him by the Prophet himself he
deliberately broke. During the time of
the Prophet, he was known as the
"Knight of the Prophet". By
refusing to use the sword against
Muslims he preserved this reputation
undiminished.
Subsequently, he made
a sword from wood and fashioned it well.
He placed it in a scabbard and hung it
inside his house. When he was asked
about it he said: "I simply hang it
there to terrify people." Muhammad
ibn Maslamah died in Madinah in the
month of Safar in the year 46 AH. He was
seventy seven years old.
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