.svg)
Abd Allah ibn Ubayy
  Thank you for being part of the Bharatpedia family! 0% transparency: ₹0 raised out of ₹100,000 (0 supporter) |
Abd Allah ibn Ubayy | |
|---|---|
| Other name(s) | al-Munafiq ('the Hypocrite') |
| Born | Yathrib, Hejaz, Arabia |
| Died | 631 Medina, Hejaz, Arabia |
| Tribe | Khazraj |
| Years of service | 617–629 |
| Battles/wars |
|
| Spouse(s) | Khawla bint al-Mundhir al-Najjari Lubna bint Ubada al-Qauqali Rayta bint Amir ibn Qays al-Saidi |
| Children | |
| Relations |
|
ʿAbd Allāh ibn 'Ubayy ibn Salūl (Arabic: عبد الله بن أبي بن سلول), died 631, was a chieftain of the Khazraj tribe of Medina during the time of Muhammad. Despite seemingly converting to Islam, Ibn Ubayy actively conspired against the Muslims and led a group of saboteurs to cripple them from within.
His relentless antagonistic attitudes against Muhammad earned him the infamous title of "Leader of the Hypocrites".
Origins and early life[edit]
Ibn Ubayy was the son of Ubayy ibn Salul and Uzza bint Ka'ab, both hailing from Banu Khazraj, one of the most influential tribes in pre-Islamic Medina. He was appointed as one of the elites of the tribe and led battles against rival tribes in the area. The famous of which was the decades-old protracted conflict against the Banu Aws.
He occupied a high status in Medina society. Due to popular support, he was set to become chief. This was put on hold when Muhammad arrived.[1][2] Muhammad taught a new faith and constructed a peaceful, united Medina.[3] The residents of Medina wholeheartedly embraced Islam, becoming The Helpers.
Muhammad, being a resident of Makkah, has gained a huge following in Medina in a short while. This sparked lethal jealousy from some of Medina's old elites. Ibn Ubayy began seeing his influence disappear but remained a well-respected man.[3][4]
Conversion[edit]
Ibn Ubayy converted to Islam as many others were converting as well. Maxime Rodinson noted that "He thought it wiser to join than to stand out against it".[2] However it probable that he converted very soon after the Hijra, at the same time as Sa'd ibn Mua'dh.[5] It is generally accepted that he chose to become Muslim out of personal honor rather than sincere belief.[1][6][7] However according to Maxime Rodinson, he may have converted out of a "genuine sympathy with monotheist ideas fostered by his friendly relations with the Jews".[8]
Ibn Ubayy became a "figurehead for those Arabs of Medina who, openly or secretly, sneered at the Prophet's teaching and complained of the confusion and the danger which the coming of the Muslims had brought to Medina".[3] Ibn Ishaq writes that some of the Ansar "were not altogether convinced of the political wisdom of supporting the apostle: these came to be regarded as paying lip-service to Islam, but hiding treachery in their hearts, and they were known and reviled as 'the Hypocrites'".[4]
Military campaigns[edit]
Template:Campaignbox Campaigns of Muhammad
Banu Qaynuqa[edit]
A Muslim woman visited a jewellery shop in the Banu Qaynuqa marketplace and she was pestered to uncover her face. The goldsmith, a Jew, pinned her clothing such that she was unveiled upon getting up. A Muslim man coming upon the resulting commotion, killed the goldsmith in retaliation and was in turn killed by the Jews. Enmity grew between Muslims and the Banu Qaynuqa.[9][10][11]
The Muslims besieged the Banu Qaynuqa and forced them to surrender after two weeks. Ibn Ubayy appealed to Muhammad for leniency for the Banu Qaynuqa as they were allies for years.[1] He grabbed hold of the top of Muhammad's breast plate as he turned away, provoking his anger.[12] "Let me go," Muhammad said. Ibn Ubayy replied:[13]
Nay [...] I will not let thee go, until thou hast compassion on my friends; 300 soldiers armed in mail, and 400 unequipped, - they defended me on the fields of Hadaick and Boath from every foe. Wilt thou cut them down in one day, O Mohammad? As for me, I am one verily that feareth the vicissitudes of fortune.
Then, Muhammad acceded to his request and gave the Banu Qaynuqa three days to leave the city.[12]
Ibn Ubayy's last sentence has been interpreted in various ways. Rodinson considered it as threat against Muhammad,[12] William Montgomery Watt said that Ibn Ubayy "urged their importance as a fighting unit in view of the expected Meccan onslaught".[1]
Muslims have seen the episode as another evidence for Ibn Ubayy's double-standards since he insisted that adherence to Islam had not completely severed the old obligations of tribal and personal loyalty.[14] However, Ibn Ubayy had not defended the Banu Qaynuqa but merely pleaded for mercy. His plea implies that Muhammad intended to put the Banu Qaynuqa to death, as he later did with the Banu Qurayza, but after Ibn Ubayy's intercession, they were merely expelled from Medina, their property to Muhammad and The Migrants.[15]
Battle of Uhud[edit]
In the consultations preceding the approaching Meccan attack on Medina in 625, Ibn Ubayy had favoured Muhammad's original plan to defend from the strongholds inside Medina itself:
...our city is a virgin, inviolate. We have never gone forth to our enemies, but we have suffered loss: remaining within our walls, we have beaten them off with slaughter. Leave the Coreish alone. If they remain, it will be in evil case; when they retire, it will be disappointed and frustrated in their designs.[16]
Some young Muslims, however, argued that the Meccans should be fought outside the city. Persuaded by the latter, Muhammad adopted an offensive strategy. According to Islamic tradition,[which?] Ibn Ubayy expressed his anger about his advice being rejected: "We do not know why we shall kill ourselves".[17]
When Muhammad marched out to fight the Meccans, Ibn Ubayy also marched out with 300 of his own men and his remaining Jewish allies, according to al-Waqidi; however, Muhammad ordered him to send the Jews back into the town, calling them "idolaters". Ibn Ubayy then led his men back to Medina, retiring to the strongholds, while Muhammad resumed his advance.[1][16] Islamic tradition presumes that Ibn Ubayy turned back to protect the town or his own possessions.[16][18] According to Watt, Surah 3:166 interprets Ibn Ubayy's withdrawal as showing "cowardice and lack of belief in God and the Prophet"[1][19]
Muhammad's 700 men met the 3000 of the Quraish in the Battle of Uhud and were defeated. The Quraish, however, did not succeed in killing Muhammad, and did not attempt to occupy the town of Medina, possibly because they knew it was guarded by Ibn Ubayy.[1][20] Rodinson suggests that the Meccans did not want to reforge the very unity of the population, which had been jeopardised by Muhammad's defeat.[21]
Banu Nadir[edit]
Ibn Ubay was also involved in Muhammad's conflict with another Jewish tribe, the Banu Nadir. Ibn Ishaq writes that when Muhammad ordered the tribe to leave the city within ten days, "certain persons of Medina who were not Believers sent a message to the Banu al-Nadir: 'Hold out, and defend yourselves; we shall not surrender you to Muhammad. If you are attacked we shall fight with you and if you are sent away we shall go with you'".[4] Other sources include or even identify the persons with the Muslim Ibn Ubayy. Waqidi reports that Ibn Ubayy, at first, strove to bring about a reconciliation, and Tabari relates that Abd-Allah accused Muhammad of treachery and urged the Nadir to resist by promising aid.[22] However, as the promised help failed to materialise, the Nadir surrendered and Muhammad expelled them from the city.[23][24]
Watt considered this to be the first instance in which Ibn Ubayy went beyond verbally criticising Muhammad to intriguing against him, a practice Watt saw as continuing for the next two years.[1]
Controversy during Mustaliq campaign[edit]
In 627, Ibn Ubayy participated in a raid against the Banu Mustaliq. On the march home, conflict arose between the Muhajirun and the Ansar when a Bedouin servant of Umar pushed an ally of the Khazraj. Hearing of this, Ibn Ubayy reportedly voiced his discontent:[25]
This... ye have brought upon yourselves, by inviting these strangers to dwell amongst us. When we return to Medina, the Mightier shall surely expel the Meaner!
Watt described the phrase as an attempt by Ibn Ubayy "to undermine Muhammad's authority and make men think of expelling him".[1] Muhammad forestalled any fighting by immediately continuing the march. Ibn Ubayy denied having said so and Muhammad accepted the excuse, but after their return to Medina, the "Munafiqun" would be reprimanded in Surah 63:8. Reportedly, Muhammad rejected the advice of Umar, who counselled to have Ibn Ubayy killed and the offer of Ibn Ubayy's own son, a fervent Muslim, to kill his own father.[25][26][27]
Later during the march, Muhammad's wife Aisha was rumoured to have committed adultery, and Ibn Ubay was among those spreading the rumour.[25][28][29]
One of the chiefs of the Aws asked for the permission to punish the slanderers without incurring a feud, but the Khazraj opposed that. After Muhammad had announced that he had received a revelation confirming Aisha's innocence, he had her three of her accusers, who had come forward, punished by eighty lashes. He did not venture to enforce the sentence against Ibn Ubayy, who had not come forward.[25]
Death[edit]
According to Watt, after 627, there is no record of Ibn Ubayy "actively opposing Muhammad or intriguing against him". In 628, Ibn Ubayy participated in the march to Hudaybiyya.[1] According to Rudi Paret, Muhammad's "most dangerous rival" was now on Muhammad's side.[30]
In 630, when Muhammad launched a campaign against the Byzantine Empire during a time of drought and food shortage created serious discontent in Medina, Ibn Ubayy expressed his sympathy for those criticizing the expedition as untimely. As the army assembled, Ibn Ubayy's troops formed a separate camp and turned back to Medina when Muhammad's forces set out.[31] That possibly happened with Muhammad's consent because of Ibn Ubayy's ill health.[1][32] After Muhammad's return, those criticizing the campaign and had remained behind were chided in Surah 9:81.[32]
Ibn Ubayy died two months after Muhammad's return, in 631. Despite the various conflicts between the two men, Muhammad did not show signs of vindictiveness towards Ibn Ubayy and attended his funeral and prayed above his grave, but afterwards revealed a verse in Surah at-Tawbah which denies him forgiveness, condemned him and the Munafiqun,[7]
Whether you (O Muhammad ﷺ) ask forgiveness for them (hypocrites) or ask not forgiveness for them – (and even) if you ask seventy times for their forgiveness – Allah will not forgive them because they have disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger. And Allah guides not those people who are rebellious (80).
Ibn Ubayy's death signalled the end of the so-called Munafiqun faction, as "there was no one left ... possessed of power or influence".[32]
Ibn Ubayy married three times and left behind nine children, all of whom became devout Muslims.[1]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 William Montgomery Watt, "`Abd Allah b. Ubayy", Encyclopaedia of Islam
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Maxime Rodinson, Muhammad: Prophet of Islam (2002), p. 156
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Glubb (2002), p. 161, 164f.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Ibn Ishaq, The earliest biography of Muhammad´
- ↑ Rudi Paret, Mohammed und der Koran, Stuttgart: Kohlhammer Verlag (1957), p. 103.
- ↑ Saif-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum (2002), p. 285
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Sayed Ali Asgher Razwy, Restatement of History of Islam
- ↑ Rodinson (2002), p. 157
- ↑ Mubarakpuri, Saifur Rahman Al (2005), The sealed nectar: biography of the Noble Prophet, Darussalam Publications, p. 284, ISBN 978-9960-899-55-8
- ↑ Stillman, The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book.
- ↑ Guillaume 363, ibn Kathir 2
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Rodinson (2002), p. 173
- ↑ William Muir, The Life of Mohammad, vol. 3, chapter 13
- ↑ Glubb (p. 197) refers to Ubada ibn al-Samit as an alternative; a Muslim from the tribe of Aws and also an ally of the Qunayqa, he then renounced his friendship the Jews.
- ↑ Glubb (2002), p. 197f.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 William Muir, The Life of Mohammad, vol. 3, chapter 14
- ↑ al-Mubarakpuri (2002), p. 298
- ↑ Glubb (2002), p. 202-205.
- ↑ Some scholars interpret the Surah to indicate that Ibn Ubayy stayed in the town in the first place; A. Schaade, "`Abd-Allah b. Ubaiy", Enzyklopädie des Islam.
- ↑ Glubb (2002), p. 215f.
- ↑ Rodinson (2002), p. 182
- ↑ William Muir, The Life of Muhammad, vol. 3, chapter 15.
- ↑ V. Vacca, "Nadir, Banu'l", Encyclopaedia of Islam
- ↑ Hartwig Hirschfeld, "Abdallah ibn Ubaiy", Jewish Encyclopedia.
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 William Muir, The Life of Mohammad, vol. 3, chapter 16
- ↑ Akram Diya Al-Umari, The Bonds of Faith Are the Bases of the Links Between Men Archived October 18, 2006, at the Wayback Machine (1991).
- ↑ Glubb (2002), p. 262f.
- ↑ William Montgomery Watt, "Aisha bint Abi Bakr", Encyclopaedia of Islam
- ↑ Glubb (2002), p. 264f.
- ↑ Rudi Paret, Mohammed und der Koran, Stuttgart: Kohlhammer (1957), p. 126.
- ↑ Glubb (2002), p. 333f.
- ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 William Muir, The Life of Muhammad, vol. 3, chapter 14
Sources[edit]
- Watt, William Montgomery. "'Abd Allah b. Ubayy". In P.J. Bearman; Th. Bianquis; C.E. Bosworth; E. van Donzel; W.P. Heinrichs (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam Online. Brill Academic Publishers. ISSN 1573-3912.
- Rodinson, Maxime (2002). Muhammad: Prophet of Islam. Tauris Parke Paperbacks. ISBN 1-86064-827-4.
- Glubb, John Bagot (2002) [1970]. The Life and Times of Muhammad. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-8154-1176-6.
- al-Mubarakpuri, Saif-ur-Rahman (2002). Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum ("The Sealed Nectar"). Riyadh: Darussalam publishers. ISBN 1-59144-071-8.
- Rodney J. Phillips, The Muslim Empire and the Land of Gold, 2008, Eloquent Books