The Root of Terrorism a la Islamic Style

Part Twelve

Abul Kasem
e-mail: abul88@...

[A cautionary note: This essay is a twenty parts series; its content may be
deemed offensive to some readers. The author will not be responsible in the
event any reader feels anger, umbrage, agitated, distraught and/or derided
after reading this serial. You have been forewarned. Read at your own
risk.]


‘Guns will make us powerful; butter will only make us fat’---Hermann Goering
(1893-1946)


Terror Forty-six

The Raid on Bani al-Mustaliq by Muhammad—December, 627

Bani al-Mustaliq was a branch of the Khozaa (Jewish) tribe. Two months after
Muhammad returned from Dhu Qarad campaign (see Terror 40, TROTIS 11), Allah
suddenly told him that B. al-Mustaliq, under the leadership of Haritha b.
Abi Dirar was mobilizing forces against him. Hitherto, B. al-Mustaliq people
were friendly to Muhammad. But, out of the blue, Muhammad spread the rumour
that B. al-Mustaliq were now joining with the Quraysh to launch an attack
against the Muslims. The Muslims even killed a man from B. al-Mustaliq on
suspicion of spying for them . With this pretext Muhammad rallied all the
fighting men around him to assail the B. al- Mustaliq. It is not clear why
Allah had suddenly changed His mind on B. al-Mustaliq. However, the real
reason was that B. al-Mustaliq were a prosperous Jewish clan who had immense
wealth and property and Muhammad was eyeing to appropriate their resources
through plunder. So far, he was not absolutely certain whether his terror
campaign to this peace-loving Jewish clan would be a success or not. But
when his ethnic cleaning of the Jews in Medina was a great accomplishment,
the Jews all around Medina became fearful of his further attack on them. So,
B. al-Mustaliq Jews took all precautionary measures to prevent such an
invasion on them. Naturally, they sought help from other clans as well. Now,
a militarily strong Muhammad was poised to plunder this Jewish community to
further enrich his horde of followers. We can infer this conclusion from the
fact that Muhammad gave no opportunity to this clan to embrace Islam before
facing ethnic cleansing—Islamic style. On previous occasions, he abided by
the rule that the infidels be given a three days reprieve to decide whether
to accept Islam or face liquidation. In fact, Muhammad was not at all keen
on this prosperous clan to take up Islam, as that meant no booty to his
ardent Jihadists. It was far better that B. al-Mustaliq did not embrace
Islam so that the Muslims could pillage everything that they had through a
pre-emptive attack. Here is a passage from Sahhi Muslim on this raid:

Book 019, Number 4292:
Ibn 'Aun reported: I wrote to Nafi' inquiring from him whether it was
necessary to extend (to the disbelievers) an invitation to accept (Islam)
before m". ing them in fight. He wrote (in reply) to me that it was
necessary in the early days of Islam. The Messenger of Allah (may peace be
upon him) made a raid upon Banu Mustaliq while they were unaware and their
cattle were having a drink at the water. He killed those who fought and
imprisoned others. On that very day, he captured Juwairiya bint al-Harith.
Nafi' said that this tradition was related to him by Abdullah b. Umar who
(himself) was among the raiding troops.
Further confirmation of this sudden pillage is referred in Sahih Bukhari:

Volume 3, Book 46, Number 717:
Narrated Ibn Aun:
I wrote a letter to Nafi and Nafi wrote in reply to my letter that the
Prophet had suddenly attacked Bani Mustaliq without warning while they were
heedless and their cattle were being watered at the places of water. Their
fighting men were killed and their women and children were taken as
captives; the Prophet got Juwairiya on that day. Nafi said that Ibn 'Umar
had told him the above narration and that Ibn 'Umar was in that army.

Therefore, with clear plunder in mind, Muhammad rallied all the fighting men
around him to attack the B.al- Mustaliq. Many Jihadists joined him to have a
share in the loot. Muhammad gave Abu Bakr the flag for this attack.
Curiously, Abdullah ibn Ubay, Muhammad’s nemesis (and a hypocrite, as per
Muhammad) was also made one of the leaders of this strike team. The Muslim
forces then started marching with thirty horses. After eight days of
marching they encamped at the wells of Muraysi near the seashore, close to
Mecca. Muhammad pitched tents for himself, Aisha and Umm Salma, two of his
wives who accompanied him. When the B. al-Mustaliq people heard the arrival
of Muhammad’s soldiers, they were dismayed, but fought gallantly. After
exchanging arrows for a brief period, the Muslim forces advanced and quickly
surrounded the B. al-Mustaliq, and soon B. al-Mustaliq’s ranks fell in
disarray and they were vanquished, having lost some of their men. Ali b.
Talib killed a few wounded B. al-Mustaliq people; among them were Malik and
his son . Muhammad seized their cattle herd, took many as captives and
divided them among the Jihadists. Two hundred families were taken as
captives, two thousand camels (US$700,000) and five thousand sheep and goats
(US$ 175,000), as well as a huge quantity of household goods (say US$
100,000) were taken as booty. Juwayriah, the young, beautiful and vivacious
daughter of B. al-Mutaliq chief was one of those captives . The household
goods were sold in an auction to the highest bidders. During the battle a
Muslim was mortally wounded by another Muslim by accident. The Muslim
soldiers were hungry for sex and Muhammad allowed them to rape the B.
Mustaliq women captives. Here is a Hadith from Sahhi Bukhari:

Volume 5, Book 59, Number 459:
Narrated Ibn Muhairiz:
I entered the Mosque and saw Abu Said Al-Khudri and sat beside him and asked
him about Al-Azl (i.e. coitus interruptus). Abu Said said, "We went out with
Allah's Apostle for the Ghazwa of Banu Al-Mustaliq and we received captives
from among the Arab captives and we desired women and celibacy became hard
on us and we loved to do coitus interruptus. So when we intended to do
coitus interrupt us, we said, 'How can we do coitus interruptus before
asking Allah's Apostle who is present among us?" We asked (him) about it and
he said, 'It is better for you not to do so, for if any soul (till the Day
of Resurrection) is predestined to exist, it will exist."

After having sex with his captive-girl, Said al-Khudri took this young girl
to the nearest slave market for a quick sale. Here is the continuation of
the above story, as told by al-Waqidi and excerpted by Rodinson :

“A Jew said to me: ‘Abu Said, no doubt you want to sell her as she has in
her belly a baby by you.’ I said: ‘No; I used the ‘azl.’ To which he replied
[sarcastically]: ‘Then it was lesser child-murder!’ When I repeated this
story to the Prophet he said: ‘The Jews lie. The Jews lie.’”

In this connection it is worthwhile to mention the Sharia Law (Islamic Law)
on captive women and children:

Law o9.13
Where a child or a woman is taken captive, they become slaves by the fact
that of capture, and the woman’s previous marriage is immediately annulled.
(Reliance of the Traveller, p.604)

Muhammad’s marriage to Juwayriah, his seventh wife

The captives of the B. al-Mustaliq were carried to Medina. Among the
captives were two hundred women. Men from B. al-Mustaliq soon arrived to
make terms for their release. At first, unknown to Muhammad, the pretty
Juwayriah fell in the hands of Jihadist, Thabit b. Qays, an Ansar and one of
his cousins. Juwayrah was a young woman, the daughter of B. al-Mustaliq
chief and married to Musab b. Safwan. As soon as she became a captive, her
marriage was immediately cancelled—as per Islamic rule (see above) and she
was handed over to those two Jihadists to do with her whatever they liked.
It is rather curious to note why a young, beautiful woman captive be
allotted to two Jihadists at the same time. I have not found any other
reference of a woman captive being shared by two Muslim soldiers. However, a
note in Ibn Sa’d’s book says: “When a slave girl was allotted to more than
one person, none of them could cohabit with her.” Clearly, this is a later
invention by Muslim biographers to assert that Muhammad married a Juwayriah
who had not been ‘contaminated’ by another Jihadist. Anyway, because of
Juwayriah’s rank, her captor/s put a ransom of nine ounces of gold (in
today’s estimate, around US$ 3,600). She could not raise that large sum of
gold. So, she approached Muhammad while he was resting in Aisha’s apartment
and pleaded for some remission for the steep price demanded for her release.
As soon as Aisha saw Juwayriah she was filled with jealousy. Muhammad gently
replied that he would pay her ransom and marry her. Juwayriah agreed on this
suggestion. The ransom was paid and Muhammad immediately married her and
built a seventh quarter to house her in his ever increasing harem. As soon
as the news of marriage of Juwayriah reached to the people, they took it as
a relationship between them and the B. al-Mustaliq and as such all the
prisoners were let loose free. Previously her name was Barra (Pious). After
Muhammad married her, he gave her the Islamic name, Juwayriah. She was only
twenty (20) and Muhammad fifty-eight (58) when he married her. Aisha was
only thirteen (13) at that time! Here is a Hadith from Sunaan Abu Dawud that
describes how Muhammad married Juwayriah:

Book 29, Number 3920:
Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin:
Juwayriyyah, daughter of al-Harith ibn al-Mustaliq, fell to the lot of
Thabit ibn Qays ibn Shammas, or to her cousin. She entered into an agreement
to purchase her freedom. She was a very beautiful woman, most attractive to
the eye.
Aisha said: She then came to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) asking
him for the purchase of her freedom. When she was standing at the door, I
looked at her with disapproval. I realised that the Apostle of Allah
(peace_be_upon_him) would look at her in the same way that I had looked.
She said: Apostle of Allah, I am Juwayriyyah, daughter of al-Harith, and
something has happened to me, which is not hidden from you. I have fallen to
the lot of Thabit ibn Qays ibn Shammas, and I have entered into an agreement
to purchase of my freedom. I have come to you to seek assistance for the
purchase of my freedom.
The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: Are you inclined to that
which is better? She asked: What is that, Apostle of Allah? He replied: I
shall pay the price of your freedom on your behalf, and I shall marry you.
She said: I shall do this. She (Aisha) said: The people then heard that the
Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) had married Juwayriyyah. They released
the captives in their possession and set them free, and said: They are the
relatives of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) by marriage. We did
not see any woman greater than Juwayriyyah who brought blessings to her
people. One hundred families of Banu al-Mustaliq were set free on account of
her.

There is another version of this story that goes like this:
Harith ibn Abu Dirar, the father of and the chief of B. al-Mustaliq came to
Muhammad to ransom his daughter, and after talking to Muhammad, he became a
Muslim. It is said that he was astonished at Muhammad’s incredible power of
fore-knowledge of His (Harith b. Abu Dirar) secret of hidden camels. Then
Juwayriyah followed her father and converted to Islam as well. As soon as
she became a Muslimah, Muhammad married her and offered her a dowry of four
hundred Dirhams .

Still another version runs like this:
Her (Juwayriah) father was not agreeable to her marriage to Muhammad and
that a relative of her intervened and gave her to the prophet against the
will of her father (Haykal, Ch. The Campaign on B. al-Mustaliq).

For more details on Muhammad’s marriage to his captive woman (Juwayriyah)
you may refer to: http://www.faithfreedom.org/Articles/sina/Juwairiyah.htm
You may also wish to read the Islamic version on the raid on B. al-Mustaliq
at: www.trueteachings,com

From this raid we also learn about the internal feud between the Muhajirs
and the Ansars. Islamic history often talks of the existence of
exceptionally amicable relationship between the migrant Quraysh (Muhajir)
and the indigenous residents of Medina (Ansars). This is not really true
when we read some details as written by several Muslim historians. Here is
brief account of the acrimonious relationship that erupted in the open
during the plunder of B. al-Mustaliq.

From Tabri’s book we learn:

An altercation took place between the Ansars and the Mohajirs and swords
were drawn while they were drawing water from a well. There was widespread
dislike for the Muhajirs in Medina. Abd Allah ibn Ubayy (a local resident of
Medina) was greatly disturbed that the newly arrived Muslim migrants had
outnumbered them and were poised to take over the complete authority of
Medina. When the verbal fight took place between an Ansar and a Muhajir, and
Abd Allah ibn Ubay was further agitated at the new found audacity of the
Muhajirs he said, “Have they really done it? They have tried to outrank us
and outnumber us in our own lands. By God, the proverb, ‘Fatten your dog and
he will eat you up!’ fits us and [the wearers of] the jilbab (the flowing
cloak) of Quraysh to a tree. By God if we go back to Medina, those who are
stronger will drive out the weaker from it.”’ Then he turned to his
tribesmen who were with him and said: “This is what you have done to
yourselves! You allowed them to settle in your lands and divided your wealth
with them. Had you kept from them what you had, by God they would have moved
to lands other than yours”

Very soon, these utterances of Abd Allah ibn Ubayy reached Muhammad who was
then sitting with Umar b. Khattab. Umar was furious and sought Muhammad’s
permission to kill Abd Allah ibn Ubayy forthwith. But Muhammad refused to
permit him to do so, saying that slaying of Abd Allah ibn Ubay would simply
aggravate the situation further by angering the Ansars. To placate the
situation, and to avoid bloodshed, Muhammad then ordered his entourage to
proceed towards Medina without delaying further.

In this episode we also learn about the mindset of an Islamic
fundamentalist. Abd Allah ibn Ubayy’s son. Abd Allah ibn Abd Allah ibn Ubayy
was such a fundamentalist. Ibn Sa’d writes: ‘Abd Allah ibn Abd Allah ibn
Ubayy went forward and waited for his father on the way. When he saw him, he
made him sit down and said: “I shall not let you go unless you realize that
you have been humbled and Muhammad is honorable.” That meant, for a true
Jihadist, nothing, even his father, can be dearer than Muhammad.

When Abd Allah ibn Ubayy came to learn that Muhammad is already aware of his
seditious statements, he went straight to him and denied all allegations
against him. Muhammad now became accommodative to Abd Allah ibn Ubayy when
people told him that he (Muhammad) had dashed the hope of Abd Allah ibn
Ubayy who was destined to be the king of Medina.

The Muslims traveled continuously for a day and a night until dawn. Then
they halted at a place, and soon they fell asleep. Muhammad did this ruse on
purpose to trick the Muslims on a long and exhaustive journey, so that the
talk about Abd Allah ibn Ubayy died down. In the evening, when the Muslim
army rose fresh from their sleep they marched through the Hijaj and halted
at a watering place called Naqa. In the afternoon, while Muhammad was at
Naqa a very strong wind blew, hurting the Muslim. They became afraid and
assumed that to be a curse from Allah. But Muhammad cleverly told his
followers that the strong wind came to Muhammad to announce the death of one
of the great men among the unbelievers. When the Jihadists arrived at Medina
they heard that Rifaah b. Zayd, a prominent man among the B. Qaynuqa Jews
and a great refuge for the polytheists had died. During this journey through
the desert, the Muslims did not have water to perform ablution; so Allah
revealed the verse (4:43) on Tayammum (ablution using dirt).On this
occasion, a complete Sura (Sura 63) was released by Allah on Abd Allah ibn
Ubayy and the hypocrites like him.

When Abd Allah ibn Ubay’s son, Abd Allah b. Abd Allah b. Ubayy heard of what
had happened he approached Muhammad and volunteered to kill his father. He
said to Muhammad: “Messenger of God, I have been told that you want to kill
‘Abd Allah b. Ubayy because of what has been reported to you concerning him.
If you are going to do it, command me to do it and I will bring you his
head. By God, al-Khazraj know that there has never been among them a man
more dutiful to his father than I. I am afraid that you may order someone
else to do it and he may kill him; and then my soul will not allow me to
look on the slayer of Abd Allah b. Ubayy walking among the people: I would
kill him, killing a believer to avenge an unbeliever, and thereby enter the
Fire [of hell].” Mubarakpuri calls this type of fanatic Jihadist a
‘righteous’ Muslim.

However, Muhammad diplomatically advised Abd Allah (son of ibn Ubayy) not to
commit such an act but to be gentle with his father so long as he (Abd Allah
ibn Ubayy) remained a Muslim, albeit a nominal one.

After Muhammad arrived at Medina, a polytheist from Mecca, Miqyas b. Subbah
arrived at Medina and became a Muslim. He came to seek the blood money for
his newly convert Muslim brother (Hisham b. Subbah) who was killed by
mistake during the raid at B. al-Mustaliq. Muhammad paid his blood money to
Miqyas.

After receiving the blood money for his brother, Miqyas stayed at Medina for
a short while. Then he killed the slayer of his brother, apostatized and
left for Mecca. We need to remember the name of Miqyas, as we shall see very
soon that he was one of the persons whom Muhammad targeted for killing
during his occupation of Mecca. Miqyas was earmarked for murder not because
of his killing of his brother’s killer, but because he (Miqyas) apostatized.

During this raid the affair regarding the adulterous relation of Aisha,
Muhammad’s youngest and the most favorite wife, with an errant Bedouin youth
took place. However, since this is not a case of plunder and terror, it will
not be discussed here.


Terror Forty-seven

Second Raid at Dumat al-Jandal by Abd al-Rahman b. Awf—December, 627

Abd al-Rahman b. Awf was one of the closest companions of Muhammad. Muhammad
appointed him to make the second raid on Dumat al-Jandal (Duma). He told Abd
al-Rahman, ‘Fight everyone in the way of God and kill those who disbelieve
in God. Do not be deceitful with spoils, do not be treacherous, nor
mutilate, do not kill children. This is God’s ordinance and practice of his
prophet among you. ‘

Abd al-Rahman b. Awf then set out at the behest of seven hundred men on the
expedition to Dumat al-Jandal (Duma), that lay on the route to Khaybar,
Fadak and then branching out to Syria and Iraq. Duma was a great trading
center; the inhabitants were mainly Christians and were ruled by a Christian
king. Following the Islamic rule, on reaching Duma, Abd al-Rahman b. Awf
summoned the resident tribes to embrace Islam within three days or face
execution. People had no choice but to comply with his dreadful ultimatum.
During this ultimatum period, Al-Asbagh, a Christian chief of Bani Kalb
complied and many of his followers also followed suit. Other tribes also
paid tribute (Jizya) to Abd al-Rahman. On agreement to pay Jizya tax
regularly, they were allowed to keep their Christianity. When this good news
was communicated to Muhammad, he (Muhammad) instructed Abd al-Rahman to
marry Tamadhir, the daughter of the Christian chief, Al-Asbagh. In an
epistle to Abd al-Rahman, Muhammad wrote, “If they obey you, marry the
daughter of their king. ” So Abd al-Rahman married Tumadhir bt.al-Asbagh,
the daughter of their Christian king and brought this lady with him to
Medina. She became one of his many wives, as many as sixteen, besides many
concubines .


Terror Forty-eight

Raid at Fadak against B. Sad by Ali ibn Talib—December, 627

Muhammad received intelligence information that B. Sa’d b. Bakr, the tribe
inhabiting Fadak was planning to help the Khaybar Jews. So he sent Ali b.
Abi Talib to punish them. Having traveled by night and concealing by day,
Ali arrived at the site and lay in wait for them during the day. The Muslims
caught a spy who informed them that B. Sa’d b. Bakr had agreed to aid the
Khaybar Jews in exchange for some harvest of Khaybar crop. Ali then returned
Medina with the captive.


Terror Forty-nine

Raid against Umm Qirfa of B. Fazarah by Zayd b. Haritha/Abu Bakr—January,
628

Readers may recall Zayd b. Haritha’s first raid at Wadi al-Qura (see Terror
45, TROTIS 11). When this raid ended in a failure, Zayd conducted several
warlike raids of inferior importance. In one of these operations, he set out
for a mercantile trip to Syria to do some border trading there. When he
arrived at Wadi al-Qura, he again raided the inhabitants there. However, his
caravan was waylaid and was attacked by B. Fazarah tribe. During the
fighting B. Fazarah killed a number of Muslims including Ward b. Amr, one of
Zayd’s dear comrade-in-arms. Zayd himself was wounded.

After Zayd returned toMedina with his wound he vowed to avenge the death of
his comrade by raiding B. Fazarah again. After his recovery from the injury
Muhammad sent Zayd with an army against the B. Fazarah. He attacked them at
Wadi al-Qura and inflicted heavy casualties on them. He took Umm Qirfa (her
real name was Fatimah bt. Rabiah b. Badr), the wife of Malik b. Hudhayfah,
the chief of B. Fazarah, as a prisoner. Umm Qirfa was a very old woman
having a young and extremely beautiful daughter. She (Umm Qirfa) was the
aunt of Uyeina and was married to her cousin, Malik, the uncle of Uyeina.
They formed a branch of Fazarah, Fazarah tribe being a branch of the
Ghatafan tribe.Zayd took her daughter as a captive and ordered a Jihadist,
Qays b. Mohsin to kill Umm Qirfa. Her old age and sex did not deter her from
receiving a barbaric punishment from the Muslim army (Please note here the
hypocrisy of Islamic rule on killing a woman). Qays tied each of her legs
with a rope and attached the ropes to two camels. Then he drove the camels
in opposite directions thus renting her in two . Rodinson writes that Umm
Qirfa was torn from limb to limb by four camels . Two brothers from the same
family were also brutally executed. When told, Muhammad fully approved this
ferocious punishment meted out to a grand old lady . When Zayd brought Umm
Qirfa’s daughter to Muhammad, he allocated her to Salamah b. Amr al-Akwa, a
Jihadist who captured her. She belonged to a very distinguished Arab family.
Then Muhammad found that one of his maternal uncles, Hazn b. Abi Wahb was
eyeing on Umm Qirfa’s beautiful daughter. So, he asked her owner, Salamah b.
Amr b. al-Akwa, if he would give her to his (Muhammad’s) uncle. Salamah
readily agreed to Muhammad’s request. This distinguished lady was then
passed on to Muhammad’s uncle for his private use.

Another version of this story says that the leader of this raid was Abu Bakr
b. Abi Quhafah (told by Salamah) and runs like this:

Muhammad appointed Abu Bakr as the leader of this raiding party. When Abu
Bakr arrived at Wadi al-Qura, he ordered his troop to rest there; then they
prayed. After prayer, Abu Bakr made a raid on B. Fazarah. The Muslims killed
a number of B. Fazarah people and captured a number of their women and
children. Among them was Umm Qirfa, a very old lady, wearing a worn-out
piece of leather coat. With her was her young daughter, the fairest of the
Arabs. Abu Bakr gave Umm Qirfa’s pretty, young and vivacious daughter to,
the Jihadist, who had captured her as booty. After Salamah b. al-Akwa
returned to Medina and met Muhammad at the market place, he (Muhammad) asked
Salamah to give this pretty young lass to him. Salamah told Muhammad that he
liked her but had not had sex with her yet. Then he offered her to him.

Quoting Salamah, Tabari writes:
‘When I returned to Medina, the messenger of God met me in the market and
said, “Salamah—how excellent the father who begot you!—give me the woman.” I
said, “Messenger of God, I like her, by God, and I have not uncovered her
garment.” He said nothing to me until the next day, when he met me in the
market and said, “Salamah—how excellent a father begot you!—give me the
woman.” I said: “Messenger of God, I have not touched her garment. She is
yours, Messenger of God.” The Messenger of God sent her to Mecca, and with
her he ransomed some Muslim captives who were in the hands of the
polytheists.’

There is a similar Hadith from Sahhi Muslim (Refer to: Sahi Muslim: Book 19,
Hadith number 4345)

Terror Fifty

Barbarous Execution of Uraynah Robbers By Muhammad—February, 628CE

Eight members B. Uraynah , a Bedouin tribe, came to Muhammad and embraced
Islam. The climate of Medina did not suit them. They complained about a
stomach problem they were suffering from due to an epidemic. Muhammad gave
them some camels to take with them; instructed them to drink the camel’s
milk and urine as medicines. They took the camels in the plain south of Quba
for grazing. Following Muhammad’s prescription, they soon recovered from
their stomach problem. Then they escaped with the camels by killing the
camel herdsman by cutting off his hands and legs and poking thorny spikes
into his tongue and eyes. When this news reached Muhammad, he dispatched
twenty horsemen in hot pursuit of the robbers. They caught the robbers and
recovered all the camels except one. The eight captives were then brought to
Muhammad. On Muhammad’s order their arms and legs were cut off and their
eyes were put off. The trunks of these wretched victims were then laid side
by side in the hot sun in the plain of al-Ghaba until they died . On this
occasion the verses on the punishment of waging war against Allah and for
theft were released (5:39, 33).

This story is mentioned in Sahih Bukhari:

Volume 8, Book 82, Number 796:
Narrated Anas:
A group of people from 'Ukl (tribe) came to the Prophet and they were living
with the people of As-Suffa, but they became ill as the climate of Medina
did not suit them, so they said, "O Allah's Apostle! Provide us with milk."
The Prophet said, I see no other way for you than to use the camels of
Allah's Apostle." So they went and drank the milk and urine of the camels,
(as medicine) and became healthy and fat. Then they killed the shepherd and
took the camels away. When a help-seeker came to Allah's Apostle, he sent
some men in their pursuit, and they were captured and brought before mid
day. The Prophet ordered for some iron pieces to be made red hot, and their
eyes were branded with them and their hands and feet were cut off and were
not cauterized. Then they were put at a place called Al-Harra, and when they
asked for water to drink they were not given till they died. (Abu Qilaba
said, "Those people committed theft and murder and fought against Allah and
His Apostle.")

Terror Fifty-one

Assassination of Al-Yusayr b. Rizam and a party of Khaybar Jews at
al-Qarqara—February, 628CE

Even with the assassination of Abu Rafi (also known as Sallam ibn
Abul-Huqayq), the chief of Khaybar Jews in December, 624 (see Terror 20,
TROTIS 5) Muhammad did not feel safe from the Jews of Khaybar. The new chief
of the Khaybar Jews was Al-Yusayr b. Rizam. He maintained the good relation
with the B. Ghatafan, the tribe Muhammad feared a lot. Muhammad heard that
Al-Yusayr b. Rizam was planning a fresh attack against him. So, he quickly
dispatched Abdallah ibn Rawaha, a leader of the B. Khazraj to Khaybar to
gather intelligence to eliminate Al-Yusayr clandestinely. But Abd Allah ibn
Rawaha found the Jews to be extremely alert for this type of covert
political murder to be a success.

When he returned to Medina with this bad news, Muhammad again sent him
openly with thirty men (or thirty selected killers) mounted on camels to
persuade al-Yusayr b. Rizam to visit Medina. When the Muslims arrived at
Khaybar the Jews treated them well. Abd Allah ibn Rawaha pretended to be
friendly with the Jews and invited al-Yusayr b. Rizam to visit Medina with
them. He assured him that Muhammad would make him the ruler of Khaybar,
giving al-Yusayr b. Rizam a solemn guarantee of his safety. At first,
al-Yusayr declined. But due to the persistence of the Muslim delegation he
finally relented and went with them with a number of Jews. One of the Muslim
delegates, Abd Allah b. Unays mounted al-Yusayr on his beast and rode behind
him. When they arrived at al-Qarqarat, about six miles from Khaybar,
al-Yusayr suspected the ill-motive of the Muslims and changed his mind about
going to meet Muhammad. He dismounted from the beast he was riding with Abd
Allah Unays. Abd Allah b. Unays claimed that he perceived al-Yusayr was
drawing his sword. So he rushed at him and cut off his leg. Al-Yusayr hit
Abd Allah b. Unays with a piece of wood and wounded his head. Ibn Ishak
claims that later God killed al-Yusayr . The Muslims killed all other Jews
except one who escaped on foot. When Abd Allah b. Unays came to Muhammad,
Muhammad spat on his wound in his head and it healed immediately ! Muhammad
praised Allah when he heard the news of assassination of al-Yusayr b. Rizam
and the killing of the Jews.

To be continued in Part Thirteen

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