The Expedition of Ibn Atik to Khaybar
Time and Place
This expedition took place in the year 5 A.H. in the region of Khaybar. [1]
The Background to this Expedition
A request from the Khazrajis to kill Ibn Abi Huqayq
As it has been narrated from Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri from Abd Allah ibn Kab from his father, Kab ibn Malik al-Ansari,
“From the words that Allah bestowed upon His Prophet it was said that the two tribes of Aws and Khazraj competed with one another in their support of the Prophet of Allah. Anything that the people of Aws did, the people of Khazraj also wanted to carry out a similar fashion, and any action that the people of Khazraj did, the people of Aws also wanted to perform. After the Battle of Badr but before the Battle of Uhud, the people of Aws killed Kab ibn Ashraf, who had been encouraging the enemies against the Prophet of Allah. For this reason, the people of Khazraj requested permission from the Prophet, after the Battle of Khandaq, to assassinate Sallam ibn Abi al-Huqayq. Like Ibn Ashraf, he too had been involved in instigating the enemies of the Prophet of Allah and due to this, permission was granted.” [2]
Sending a group under the leadership of Ibn Atik on the order of the Prophet
When the affairs related to Khandaq and Bani Qurayzah came to an end, the Prophet of Allah sent a group for this next expedition. Four people, whom the historians have recorded as being: Harith ibn Rabi, Abd Allah ibn Unays, Abd Allah ibn Atik, and Masud ibn Sinan volunteered for this expedition and a fifth person, Khuzai ibn Aswad Aslami, who was a confederate of the people of Khazraj, also joined them.
The Prophet of Allah appointed Ibn Atik as their leader and forbade them from killing his (ibn Abi Huqayq) wives and children.
Atiyyah ibn Abd Allah ibn Unays narrates from his father,
“Abd Allah ibn Atik’s foster mother was Jewish and lived in Khaybar. Abd Allah could speak Hebrew and he was chosen for this job for this reason.” [3]
The Events of this Expedition
The Muslim enter the fort of Khaybar
The Muslims left for Khaybar at dawn on Monday, the fourth of the month of Dhu al-Hijjah. Abd Allah sent a message to his mother in Khaybar and informed her of his coming. After some time, his mother came with a container full of bread and dates and they ate together. Thereafter, Abd Allah said to her,
“O mother, you see that night has fallen (and that the journey from Medina to Khaybar took one full day), so take us into Khaybar so that we may sleep at your house (as it is too late to go back).”
His mother asked,
“Who do you want (to kill)?”
He replied,
“Abu Rafi.”
His mother then said,
“Enter with the people and come to me at night. When the ruckus of the people coming back in calms down, ambush him.”
They entered the village at night and he proceeded to go to his mother’s house. When the ruckus of everyone coming back home had calmed down, she said to them,
“Go.” [4]
The circumstances of Ibn Abi al-Huqayq’s murder
Ibn Ishaq narrates from Zuhri from Abd Allah ibn Kab from Kab ibn Malik Ansari that,
“They moved at night until they reached Ibn Abi al-Huqayq’s house and saw that it was shut. Ibn Abi al-Huqayq lived in a tall house and they went up into it using a ladder.”
Waqidi narrates from Abd Allah ibn Unays saying,
“Abd Allah ibn Atik went first and when I joined him inside, we hid in a corner of the house. He knocked on the door and after a while, Sallam’s wife came and said,
“What do you want?”
He replied in Hebrew,
“We have brought a gift for Abu Rafi!”
She opened the door and we instantly pushed our way into the house. When she saw our swords, she wanted to scream, but I pointed my sword at her and she quietened down. I asked her,
“Where is Abu Rafi? If you do not tell me the truth, I will kill you with my sword!”
She replied,
“He is in that room.”
We entered the room and recognized him by the white clothes he was wearing, the same clothes worn by the Egyptian Copts, and we attacked him with our swords. His wife began to scream and so some of us wanted to go and quiet her (kill her), but we remembered the order of the Prophet of Allah who forbade us from killing women.
Because the roof of the room was low, we could not strike him hard, so I plunged my sword into his abdomen until the sounds of life stopped coming from him and I was sure that he had been killed. The people who were with me also struck him. [5]
The Events after the Killing
The hiding of the Muslims
When his wife began to scream, others in the area also began to shout, but they did not leave their houses. During this confusion, we left Ibn Abi al-Huqayq’s room and hid near the waterway of Khaybar. [5]
The Jews search for the Muslims
Thereafter, the Jews of Khaybar came looking for us with torches in hand with their leader, Harith Abu Zaynab. We were hiding under the waterway and they went from behind it and so they did not see us. After an extensive search, they did not find anything and thus, they returned back to Ibn Abi al-Huqayq’s wife. Speaking amongst ourselves, we said,
“It would be good if one of us could go back to confirm that he has died.”
Ironically, Abu Qatadah Aswad ibn Khuzai (his name has come as such in Waqidi) had forgotten his bow and so Aswad left the hiding spot, altered his appearance to make himself look like the Jews of Khaybar, took a torch like the ones they were using and went amongst them, as this group was going towards Abu Rafi’s house for the second time. He joined this group and when he got to the house, he saw that a large group had gathered there and they were looking at his lifeless body. His wife came forward, torch in hand, and bent over him to see if he was alive or dead and proclaimed,
“By the God of Musa, he is dead!”
Because there did not seem to be any pulse in his veins, they understood that he had died and went to gather the things required for burial.
Aswad says, “I also left the house and went to my friends at the waterway and told them what had happened. After that, we remained in our hiding spot for two days until the Jews stopped searching at which point we left for Medina. [5]
The return of the Muslims to Medina and visit to the Prophet
When we returned to Medina we went to see the Prophet. He was sitting on the pulpit and when he saw us, he said,
“Be honored.”
We replied,
“May God honor you O’ Prophet of Allah!”
He asked if we had killed him. We replied,
“Yes.”
All of us claimed that we had killed him! He said,
“Show me your swords.”
We produced our swords for him and he pointed at Unays’ sword and said,
“This sword has killed him and this is the mark left from the strike.” [5]
References
- ↑ al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah, Ibn Kathir Volume 4 Page 137
- ↑ Sirah of Ibn Hisham Volume 3 Page 286-287
- ↑ Muhammad bin Umar al-Waqidi, al-Maghazi Volume 1 Page 291-292
- ↑ Muhammad bin Umar al-Waqidi, al-Maghazi Volume 1 Page 391-392
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Muhammad bin Umar al-Waqidi, al-Maghazi Volume 1 Page 391-394