General overview

During Muhammad's time in Medina, quite a few people lost their lives in assassinations. Here is an overview of the most spectacular.

Killing of Ka'b b. al-Ashraf

Ka'b, when he heard the news [of Badr] said: "Is this true? Did Muhammad actually kill these whom these two men mention? [Zayd and Abdullah] These are the nobles of the Arabs and kingly men; by Allah, if Muhammad has slain these people 'twere better to be dead than alive." Here's an obviously uncensored reaction to Muhammad and the battle of Badr. Ka'b considered these to be the best of the Arabs. Their deaths is a severe blow to his joy of living. When the enemy of Allah [Ka'b] became certain that the news was true, he left Medina and went to mecca to stay with al-Muttalib. [...] He began to inweigh against Muhammad and to recite verses in which he bewailed the Quraysh who were thrown into the pit after having been slain at Badr. He said: Badr's mill ground out the blood of its poeple. At events like Badr you should weep and cry. The best of the people were slain round their cisterns, Don't think it strange that the princes were left lying. How many noble, handsome men, The refuge fo the homeless were slain, Liberal when the stars gave no rain, Who bore others' burdens, ruling and taking their due fourth. Some people whose anger pleases me say: "Ka'b b. Al-Ashraf is utterly dejected". They are right. O that the earth when they were killed Had split asunder and engulfed its people, That he who spread the report had been thurst through Or lived cowering blind and deaf. I was told that all the Banu'l-Mughaira were humiliated and brought low by the death of Abul-Hakim And the two sons of Rabia with him, And Munabbih and the others did not attain (such honour) as those who were slain. I was told that al-Harith ibn Hisham Is doing well and gathering troops To visit Yatrib with armies For only the noble, handsome man protects the loftiest reputation. The expedition to protect the Quraysh caravan had turned into a distaster. No house in Mecca was free of loss, the prophectic dream of [] having come true in the worst imaginable way. Many of the most valiant men of the clan of Muhammad were no more. The grief of Ka'b was natural. Hassan b. Thabit answered him thus: Does Ka'b weep for him again and again And live in humiliation hearing nothing? In the vale of Badr I saw some of them, the slain, Eyes pouring with tears for them. Weep, for you have made a mean slave weep Like a pup folloiwng a little bitch. Allah has given satisfaction to our leader And put to shame and prostrated those who fought him. Those whose hearts were torn with fear Escaped and fled away. First, Ka'b and his sorrow is ridiculed somewhat. Then Allah gets credited for the victory. Amazing that so many fine men had to die to provide satisfaction of Muhammad. The prostration theme is brought in again. It is a sign of submission. Poetry, which is easier to remember than prose, was used to propagate news and opinion in ancient Arabia. One might also call these poets 'journalists', for they had that function. More verses follow. Eventually, Ka'b makes his fatal mistake: Then he composed amatory verses of an insulting nature about the Muslim women. Muhammad said: "Who will rid me of Ibnul-Ashraf [Ka'b]? Muhammad b. Maslama said: "I will deal with him for you, Oh messenger of Allah, I will kill him." He said: "Do so if you can." It's interesting that what triggers the assassination ploy is not the verses critical of Muhammad's behaviour, but some (presumably somewhat pornographic) verses about Muslim women. A volunteer is at hand. So Muhammad b. Maslama returned and waited for three days without food or drink, apart from what was absolutely necessary. Although when it comes down to the actual killing, Muhammad b. Maslama is not so coy. He stalls for three days. When Muhammad was told of this he summoned him and asked him why he had given up eating and drinking. He replied that he had given him an undertaking and he did not know whether he could fulfill it. Muhammad said: "All that is incumbent on you is that you try." He said: "Oh messenger of Allah, we shall have to tell lies." Muhammad answered: "Say what you like, for you are free in the matter." Muhammad (messenger of Allah) induces some courage in the would-be assassin. Interestingly, he's more as concerned about lying than about the killing himself. Muhammad gives him a free pass to lie, because it is for the benefit of Islam. This is an example we see today in the concept of 'Taqiya'. A group of Muslims sent Silkan to the enemy of Allah, Kab b. Ashraf, before they came to him. He talked to him some time and they recited poetry to one anothter, for Silkan was fond of poetry. Then he said: "Oh Ibn Ashraf, I have come to you about a matter which I want to tell you of and wish you to keep secret." "Very well," he replied. After a bit of relaxation, we come to the real deceit: He went on: "The coming of this man is a great trial to us. It has provoked the hostility of the Arabs, and they are all in league against us. The roads have become impassable so that our families are in want and privation, and we and our families are in great distress." This is one of he most concise descriptions of what trouble the activities of Muhammad had caused the Arabs. Kab answered: "By Allah, I kept telling you, Oh Ibn Salama, that the things I warned you of would happen." Silkan said to him: "I want you to sell us food, and we will give you a pledge of security and your deal generously in the matter." He replied: "Will you give me your sons as a pledge?" Unthinkable today to give humans in security for a business deal... He said: "You want to insult us. I have friends who share my opinion and I want to bring them to you so that you may sell to them and act generously, and we will give you enough weapons for a good pledge." A masterpiece of deception. The hadith agrees: Silkan's object was that he should not take alarm at the sight of weapons when they brought them. Kab answered: "Weapons are a good pledge." Thereupon Silkan returned to his companions, told them what had happened, and ordered them to take their arms. Then they went away and assembled with him and met Muhammad. Muhammad walked with them as far as Baqiul-Gharqad. Then he sent them off, saying: "Go in Allah's name; Oh Allah help them." So saying, he returned to his house. Muhammad certainly gave his full endorsement of the assassination. Now it was a moonlight night and they journeyed on until they came to his castle, and Abu Naila called out to him. He had only recently married, and he jumped up in the bedsheet, and his wife took hold of the end of it and siad: "You are at war, and those who are at war do not get up at this hour." He replied: "It is Abu Naila [his foster-brother]. Had he found me sleeping he would not have woken me." She answered: "By Allah, I can feel evil in his voice." As we have seen in other contexts, the women can be quite perceptive. Kab answered: "Even if the call were for a stab, a brave man must answer it." Some may say 'foolhearted' instead of brave. But he surely didn't expect an ambush from his friend. So he went down and talked to them for some time, while they conversed with him. Then Abu Naila said: "Would you like to walk with us to Shib al-Ajuz, so that we can talk for the rest of the night?" Getting out of the house and the other people is obviously clever. "If you like," he answered, so they went off walking together; and after a time Abu Naila ran his hand through his hair. Then he smelt his hand, and said: "I have never smelt a finer scent like this." They walked on farther and he did the same so that Kab suspected no evil. These guys are masters of their art. Kab has absolutely no idea what is going to happen. Then after a space he did it for the third time, and cried: "Smite the enemy of Allah!" Defining your opponent as the enemy of the main deity of the Arabs is obviously clever. It is a deep motivator. So they smote him, and their swords clashed over him with no effect. Muhammad b. Maslama said: "I remembeed my dagger when I saw that our swords were useless, and I seized it." They were standing too close to their victim. Their swords all tangled up, Muhammad grabs for his dagger to fix the problem. Meanwhile the enemy of Allah had made such a noise that every fort around us was showing a light. I trust it into the lower part of his body, then I bore down upon it until I reached his genitals, and the enemy of Allah fell to the ground. Amazing what people will do in the name of religion. This doesn't look good. Al-Harith had been hurt, being wounded either in his head or his foot, one of our swords having struck him. We went away, passing by the B. Umayya b. Zayd and then the B. Qurayza and then Buath until we went up the Harra [a black volcanic stone] of al-Urayd. No remorse over the murder. Just a walk down the street to get home. Things are better with real police and courts. Our friend al-Harith had lagged behind, weakened by loss of blood, so we waited for him for some time until he came up, following our tracks. We carried him and brought him to Muhammad at the end of the night. One may wonder why they didn't carry him all the way. He might have fainted and died. We saluted him as he stood praying, and he came out to us, and we told him that we had killed Allah's enemy. He spat upon our comrade's wounds, and both he and we returned to our families. Our attack upon Allah's enemy cast terror among the Jews, and there was no Jew in Medina who did not fear for his life. Here's the real purpose of the attack. The one man just stabbed to death was not as significant as the fear induced into his community. By terrorizing the Jews, Muhammad prevented them from taking couragious action against him. We have seen this in other contexts: The Muslims have an affinity for death, the Jews and non-Muslims Arabs cling to their lives so much that they refrain from stopping Muhammad. Assassination of key people, like journalists, serve a dual purpose. First, it rids one of difficult persons. Second, it is terrifying to those who might be the next target. It is an ancient tactic to silence not only one person, but a multitude. Kab b. Malik said: Of them Kab was left prostrate there (After his fall al-Nadir were brought low). Sword in hand we cut him down By Muhammad's order when he sent secretly by night Kab's brother to go to Kab. He beguiled him and brought him down with guile Mahmud wast trustworthy, bold. That's clear enough. This was done on the explicit order of Muhammad, by means of the foster-brother of Kab. While Muhammad could not make Kab prostate while alive, he at least prostrated when he was dead. 'Guile' and 'beguile' are unusual words. They mean 'distract' or 'deceive', the manner in which the assassination team diverted him from any idea of danger in the situation. Here's also a reference to the coming expulsion of the Jewish tribe of Banu al-Nadir. Hassan b. Thabit, mentioning the killing of Kab and of Sallam b. Abul-Huqayq, said: What a fine band you met, Oh, Ibnul-Huqayq, And you too, Ibnul-Ashraf, Travelling by night with their light swords Bold as lions in their jungle lair Until they came to you in your quarter And made you taste death with their deadly swords, Seeking victory for the religion of their prophet Counting their wealth and lives as nothing. It seems that Emperor Manual II Paleologos was right when he mentioned that Muhammad wanted the Muslims to propagate Islam by the sword. Not much space left to contradict that concept.

Muhayyisa and Huwayyisa

Muhammad said: Kill any Jew that falls into your power." Thereupon Muhayyisa leapt upon Ibn Sunayna, a Jewish merchant with whom they had social and business relations, and killed him. Muhammad is quick to use the terror induced by the assassination. The command 'kill every Jew' is remarkable - as is the unquestioning obedience of the early Muslims. Islam completely supercedes business or social relations of the past. Huwayyisa was not a Muslim at the time, though he was his elder brother. When Muhayyisa killed him, Huwayyisa began to beat him, saying: "You enemy of Allah, did you kill him when so mjch of the fat on your belly comes from his wealth?" Huwayyisa, not yet a Muslim, is of the opinion that killing is inherently wrong. Not least of those one has relations with. Muhayyisa answered: "Had the one who ordered me to kill him ordered me to kill you, I would have cut your head off." In this case, Islam (or is it straight obedience to Muhammad?) supercedes family relations, too. He said that this was the beginning of Huwayyisa's acceptance of Islam. The other replied: "By Allah, if Muhammad had ordered you to kill me, would you have killed med?" He said: "Yes, by Allah, had he ordered me to cut off your head, I would have done so." Interestingly, both were swearing by Allah. Apparently, obedience to Muhammad is the core of their difference. He exclaimed: "By Allah, a religion which can bring you to this is marvellous!" and he became a Muslim. While some intimidation might have been edited out of this story, it hardly makes it less amazing. The fact that the mere admiration of violence and murder can bring about conversion is a novelty rarely seen in other relions.

Killing of Sallam Ibn Abul-Huqayq

When the fight of the Trench and the affair of the B. Qurayza were over, the matter of Sallam b. Abul-Huqayq (known as Abu Rafi) came up in connection with those who had collected the mixed tribes together against Muhammad. The civil war of the Arabs continues unabated. The background for this is that the Meccans had formed an alliance against Muhammad, and had besieged Medina in the Battle of the Trench. The alliance had fallen apart, after which the Muslim took revenge by besieging the Banu Qurayza, seizing their property, killing the men, enslaving the women and children. Then we read: Now Aus had killed kab b. Al-Ashraf before Uhud because of his emnity towards Muhammad and because he instigated men against him, so Khazraj asked and obtained Muhammads' permission to kill Sallam who was in Khaybar. Khaybar was a Jewish settlement somewhat outside Medina. One of the things which Allah did for Muhammad was that these two tribes of the Ansar, Aus and Khazraj, competed the one with the other like two stallions. Competition is good. Motivates people. And this is a competition in religion: If Aus did anything to Muhammads advantage, Khazraj would say: "They shall not have this superiority over us in Muhammads eye and in Islam," and they would not rest until they do something similar. If Khazraj did something, Aus would say the same. There is no doubt that they both wanted to be the best in Islam: When Aus had killed Kab for his enmity towards Muhammad, Khazraj used these words and asked themselves what man was as hostile to Muhammad as Kab? And then they remembered Sallam, who was in Khaybar and asked and obtained Muhammads permission to kill him. The objective of the competition is murder. Yikes. Five men of B. Salima of Khazraj went to him. As they left, Muhammad appointed Abdullah b. Atik as their leader, and he forbade them to kill women and children. At least it's not indiscriminate murder. When they got to Khaybar, they went to Sallams house by night, having locked every door in the settlement on the inhabitants. Now he was in an upper chamber of his to which a ladder led up. They mounted this until they came to the door and asked to be allowed to come in. His wife came out and asked who they were and they told her that they were Arabs in search of supplies. As Muhammad said: "War is deceit". She told them that their man was here and that they could come in. When we entered, we bolted the door of the room on her and ourselves, fearing lest something should come between us and him. Working peace secured, it is time for the kill: His wife shrieked and warned him of us, so we ran at him iwth our swords as he was on his bed. The only thing that guided us in the darkness of the night was his whiteness like an Egyptian blanket. The lack of remorse by the assassination team is amazing. Everything is related without any sense of shame. When his wife shrieked, one of our number would lift his sword against her; then he would remember Muhammads ban on killing women, and withdrew his hand; but for that we would have made an end of her that night. At least the murder is not indiscriminate. When we had smitten him with our swords, Abdullah b. Unays bore down with his sword into his belly until it went right through him, as he was saying "Qatni, qatni", i.e. "It's enough." That was graphic, not much to comment on that. After a somewhat complicated exit, the assassin team returns to Muhammad: We went to Muhammad and told him that we had killed Allah's enemy. We disputed before him as to who had killed him, each of us laying claim to the deed. Muhammad demanded to see our swords, and when he looked at them he siad: "It is the sword of Abdullah B. Unays that killed him; I can see traces of food on it." One is reminded of the 5th (or 6th) Commandment: You shall not murder. Obviously, this does not apply in Islam. Hassan b. Thabit, mentioning the killing of Kab and Sallam said: God, what a fine band you met, Oh Ibnul-Huqayq and Ibnul-Ashraf! They went to you with sharp swords, Brisk as lions in a tangled ticket, Until they came on you in your dwelling And made you drink death with their swift-slaying swords, Looking for victory of their prophet's religion Despising every risk of hurt. Nope, no remorse whatsoever.

Killing of al-Yusayr

Abdullah b. Rawaba raided Khaybar twice; on one occasion he killed al-Yusayr b. Rizam. Now al-Yusayr (a Jew) was in Khaybar collecting Ghatafan to attack Muhammad. The latter sent Abdullah b. Rawaha with a number of his companions, among whom were Abdullah b. Unays. When they came to him, they spoke to him and treated him well, saying that if he would come to Muhammad, he would give him an appointment and honour him. They kept on at him until he went with them with a number of Jews. A bit of diplomacy here. They rode until al-Qarqara, when al-Yusayr changed his mind about going to Muhammad. Abdullah percieved his intention as he was preparing to draw his sword, so he rushed at him with his sword, cutting off his leg. Al-Yusayr hit him with a stick of shauhat wood which he had in his hand and wounded his head. All Muhammads companions fell upon their Jewish companions and killed them except one man who escaped on his feet. Unfortunately, the diplomatic effort didn't work out too well. All Jews but one got chopped down by the Muslims. On the second occassion Abdullah b. Atik raided Khaybar and killed Rafi b. Abul-Huqayq. One more raid, one more assassination.

Killing of Khalid b. Sufyan

Muhammad sent Abdullah b. Unays against Khalid, who was in Nakhla or Urana collecting men to attack Muhammad, and he killed him. What we are seeing here is actually a full-scale civil war. Muhammad and the Muslims have raided and plundered lots of cities and settlements around Medina, and the Arabs are scrambling to gather an army to stop him. Muhammad, in turn, uses assassinations to prevent the attempts from materializing. That works quite well. Muhammad called Abdullah b. Unays and said that he had heard that Ibn Sufyan was collecting a force to attack him, and that the was in Nakhla or Urana and that I was to go and kill him. No attempt to negotiate, nor to convert him to Islam. I asked him to describe him so that I might know him, and he said: "If you see him, he will remind you of Satan. A sure sign is that when you see him, you will feel a shudder." Not much of a description. Funny that, as a matter of course, Abdullah is expected to be able to identify Satan. I went out girding on my sword until I came on him with a number of women in a howdah [traveling tent] seeking a halting-place for them. It was the time for afternoon prayer, and when I saw him, I felt a shuddering as Muhammad said. I advanced towards him fearing that something would prevent my praying, so I prayed as I walked towards him, bowing my head. Since the messenger of Allah had ordered the assassination, it makes sense to invoke Allah right before the murder. When I came to him, he asked who I was, and I answered: "An Arab who has heard of you and your gathering a force against this fellow and has come to you." He said: "Yes, I am doing so." This is interesting. Muhammad didn't respect the 10 Commandmends, and here's an example. We have seen Muhammad on other occassions approve the use of lies. A Bukhari hadith illuminates: Bukhari:V4B52N267 “The Prophet said, ‘Khosrau will be ruined. There won’t be a Persian King after him. Caesar will be ruined. There will be no Caesar after him. You will spend their treasures in Allah’s Cause.’ He proclaimed, ‘War is deceit.’” There we have it: "War is deceit". The deceit of Abdullah is justified from the highest place. We also see Muhammad's intention for Islam to conquor the classical world, defeating Croesus and Caesar, and to spend their wealth in Allah's cause (Jihad). Back to Ibn Ishaq: I walked a short distance with him, and when my chance came, I struck him with my sword and killed him, and went off leaving his women bending over him. Another victory for Islam and the messenger of Allah. When I came to Muhammad, he saw me and said: "The aim is accomplished." I said: "I have killed him, Oh messenger," and he said: "You are right." Victory in house, Abdullah is rewarded with a stick, which Muhammad explains will be a sign on the resurrection day. After the assassination we move on to: The raid of Zayd b. Haritha and Jafar b. Abu Talib and Abdullah b. Rawaha to Muta in Syria, in which all were killed; and the raid of Ka'b b. Umayr to Dhatu Atlah in Syria in which he and all his companions were killed; and the raid of Uyayna b. Hisn on B. al-Anbar of B. Tamim. Three raids in one paragraph. Two of them are against the Syrians, at that time part of the Byzantine Empire. Encountering the Greek, and thereby real armies, is a complete disaster for the raiding parties. Allah must have decided that he wanted more martyrs. No reason is recounted for these raids, religous or mundane. We should assume that these are normal raids, motivated by booty, according to Quran Sura 8.

Killing of Abu 'Afak

Abu Afak was one of B. Amr of the B. Ubayda clan. He showed his disaffection when Muhammad killed al-Harith and said: Long have I lived but never have I seen An assembly or collection of people More faithful to their undertaking And their allies when called upon Than the sons of Qayla when they assembled, Men who overthrew mountains and never submitted. A rider who came to them split them in two (saying) 'Permitted', 'Forbidden' of all sorts of things. [a reference to Muhammad's revelations] Had you believed in glory or kingship You would have followed Tubba [a king] This is an ode to the free spirit of the ancient Arabs, who never submitted to any ruler. Ruling Arabs used to be like herding cats: You could pretend to rule, but they would do what they pleased anyway. Muhammad divides them into two, some submitting to his revelations, some maintaining the free-spirited traditional lifestyle. Nothing particular harsh about Muhammad here. Muhammad said: "Who will deal with this rascal for me?", whereupon Salim b. Umayr went forth and killed him. The retribution, though, for the call to stay independent, is swift and brutal. The hadith spends but one line describing the killing itself. Umama b. Muzayriya said concerning that: You gave the lie to Allah's religion and the man Ahmad! By him who was your father, evil is the son he produced! A hanif gave you a thrust in the night saying "Take that Abu Afak in spite of your age!" Though I knew whether it was man or jinn Who slew you in the dead of the night (I would say naught) Abu Afak was an old man, and hardly a physical threat to Muhammad and Islam. But critizising Islam or Muhammad was itself a dangerous act. It still is on this day. It is peculiar how frequently references to the Hanif religion appear in the hadith. The Hanif religion was that of the Yemenites, who worshipped a god by the name of Ar-Rahman, and Ar-Rahim as well. We saw some of the early Muslims named in his honour (rather than Allah), and an entire chapter of revelation (Sura 55, commonly (and errorniously) considered Medinan) dedicated to his honour. The reason this particular Sura has to be Meccan is simple: it was recited by one of the early Muslims in Mecca, Ibn Ishaq, p. 141-142.

Killing of Asma bint Marwan

She was of Ab. Umayya b. Zayd. When Abu Afak had been killed, she displayed disaffection. No wonder... She was married to Yazid b. Zayd. Blaming Islam and its followers, she said: I despise B. Malik and al-Nabit And Auf and B. al-Khazraj. You obey a stranger who is none of yours, One not of Murad or Madhhij [Yemeni tribes]. Do you expect good from him after the killing of your chiefs [probably Badr] Like a hungry man waiting for a cook's broth? Is there no man of pride who would attack him by surprise And cut off the hopes of those who expect aught from him? She's more direct. After seeing what Muhammad had brought to them, she calls out for someone to assassinate Muhammad, and put and end to the mayhem. When Muhammad heard what she had said, he said: "Who will rid me of Marwan's daughter?" Umayr, who was with him, heard him, and that very night he went to her house and killed her. At this point in time, Muhammad has more able assassins in his company. No waiting three days in doubt, immediate action. In the morning he came to Muhammad and told him what he had done and he said: "You have helped Allah and His messenger, Oh Umayr!" When he asked if he would have to bear any evil consequences, Muhammad said: "Two goats won't butt their heads about her," so Umayr went back to his people. Muhammad is obviously happy about the assassination, and immediately absolves the assassin of any blame therefrom. From the next sentence, one might think that she was too insignificant to deserve death in her sleep. But there is more to follow after the counter-poetry. Hassan b. Thabit answered her: Banu Wail and B. Waqif and Khatma Are inferior to B. al-Khazraj When she called for folly woe to her in her weeping, For death is coming. She stirred up a man of glorious origin, Noble in his going out and his coming in. Before midnight he dyed her in her blood And incurred no guilt thereby. This pretty much sums it up. The assassination isn't described closely in Ibn Ishaq. Other sources have the details. Now there was a great commotion among B. Khatma that day about the affair of Bint Marwan. She had five sons, and when Umayr went to them from Muhammad, he said: "I have killed Bint Marwan, Oh sons of Khatma. Withstand me if you can; don't keep me waiting." Ibn Ishaq refers to this verse: Quran 11:58: And when Our Commandment came, We saved Hûd and those who believed with him by a mercy from Us, and We saved them from a severe torment. The torment mentioned and the threat therein had been made abundantly clear to the tribe of Bint Marwan. The expected result follows: That was the first day that Islam became powerful among B. Khatma; before that those who were Muslims concealed the fact. The first of them to accept Islam was Umayr b. Adiy, who was called 'the Reader', and Abdullah b. Aus and Khuzayma b. Thabit. The day after Bint Marwan was killed, the men of B. Khatma became Muslims because they saw the power of Islam. Intimidation works. The religious nature of these events is probably best explained by more learned Muslims.

Back in Mecca

Tabari has the most complete account of the assassinations carried out on the command of Muhammad. The list at the conquest of Mecca was the most dramatic, requesting the offenders to be slain even if they were hiding in te (supposedly sacred) Ka'aba. First on the list was the only man during the life of Muhammad who worked on turning the Quran into a book, Abdallah bin Sa’d: Tabari VIII:178 / Ishaq p. 550: When the Messenger entered Mecca he ordered that the following men should be killed even if they were under the Ka’aba. First among them was Abdallah bin Sa’d. The reason that Allah’s Messenger ordered that he should be slain was because he had become a Muslim and used to write down Qur’an Revelation. Then he apostatized, reverted to being a polytheist, and returned to Mecca.” The story is that Abdallah had suggested editing the somewhat imperfect prose of the Quran. When Muhammad accepted his changes, Abdallah (whose name means 'Slave to Allah') decided that something that could be changed at will could hardly be eternal and divine, and ceased to believe in Muhammad. Tabari VIII:179: “Abdallah bin Sa’d fled to Uthman, his brother, who after hiding him, finally surrendered him to the Prophet. Uthman asked for clemency. Muhammad did not respond, remaining silent for a long time. Muhammad explained, ‘By Allah, I kept silent so that one of you might go up to him and cut off his head!’ One of the Ansar said, ‘Why didn’t you give me a sign?’ Allah’s messenger replied, ‘A prophet does not kill by pointing.’” Well, he had sufficient other means. At least Abdallah got off the hit list. Tabari VIII:179: Also among them was Abdallah b. Khatal, a member of the Banu Thaym b. Ghalib. The messenger of Allah ordered that he should be killed only for the following reason: He was a Muslim, and the messenger of Allah had sent him to collect tax. With him went a servant of his, also a Muslim, to serve him. He halted at a resting place and commanded the servant to slaughter him a goat and make him a meal; and he went to sleep. When he woke up, the servant had done nothing for him; so he attacked him and killed him. Then he reverted to being a polytheist. One may wonder which of the two reasons is the actual cause for Abdallah (another 'Slave to Allah', BTW) having to be killed. Since a murder of a slave-become-servant is but a minor issue at this time, and could certainly be settled with a monetary compensation, the apostasy is probably the real reason that he has forfeit his life. Also among them was al-Huwayrith b. Nuqaydh b. Wahb b. Abd b. Qusayy. He was one of the men who used to molest the messenger of Allah in Mecca. This man has common ancestry with Muhammad, Qusayy who institutionalized the worship of Allah. He gets killed for refusing to recognize Muhammad as the messenger of Allah, possibly calling Muhammad a liar, possessed or other mocking words. While it's a decade ago, it is not easily forgotten. Also among them was Miqyas b. Subabah. The messenger of Allah commanded that he should be killed only because he had killed a member of the Ansar who had killed his brother by mistake and had then returned to Quraysh as a renegade. Another case of apostasy. Interestingly, the term 'renegade' is used. This is more commonly seen in a pure military context, in cases of mutiny etc. Probably the similarity is no coincidence. Also among them were Ikrimah b. Abi Jahl and Sarah, a servant of one of the sons of Abd al-Muttalib. She was one of those who used to molest the messenger of Allah in Mecca. Another decade-old score to be settled. Somehow, it seems inconcievable to imagine Jesus solving his gripes in a similar fashion. Ikrimah fled to Yemen. His wife, Umm Hakim, became a Muslim. She asked the messenger of Allah to grant Ikrimah a promise of safety, and he did so. Another life saved. As usual, at the price of submitting to Muhammad. Tabari VIII:180: Abdallah b. Khatal was killed by Said b. Hurayth and Abu Barzah al-Aslami; the two shared in his blood. Miqyas b. Subabah was killed by Numaylah b. Abdallah, a man of his own clan. Now we are down to killings so insignificant that one line serves each and they share a paragraph. Many seem to carry the name Abdallah (Slave to Allah) in Mecca. The sister of Miqyas said: By my life, Numaylah shamed his clan and distressed winter guests by [killling] Miqyas. How excellent it was for one to see a man like Miqyas in times when no food was prepared even for women in childbirth. A footnote in Tabari explains the 'no food prepared' comment as an expression of the unusually unselfish generosity of this man. As for Khatal's two singing girls, one was killed and the other fled.