Khalidmendi at 11:55, 21 December 2025

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{{Short description|7th-century Arab poet}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf
| birth_date =
| birth_place =[[Yathrib]], [[Hejaz]], [[Arabia]]<br>{{small|(present-day [[Medina]], [[Saudi Arabia]])}}
| death_date = {{circa|624}} CE
| death_place = [[Medina]], [[Hejaz]], [[Arabia]]
| death_cause = Assassinated by [[Muhammad ibn Maslamah]] on the order of [[Muhammad]]
| other_names =
| occupation =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}

'''Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf''' ({{langx|ar|كعب بن الأشرف}}; died {{circa|624}}) was, according to [[Islam]]ic texts, a [[Pre-Islamic Arabic poetry|pre-Islamic Arabic poet]] and contemporary of Muhammad in [[Medina]].<ref>{{Interlanguage link multi|Ibn Sallâm al-Jumahî|fr}} quotes his name among eight names of Arab poets of Jewish religion, in his ''Tabaqat ashooara''.[https://archive.org/details/waq66836/page/n106/mode/1up]</ref> Scholars identify him as a Jewish leader.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rubin |first=Uri |date=1990 |title=The Assassination of Kaʿb b. al-Ashraf |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1580625 |journal=Oriens |volume=32 |pages=65–71 |doi=10.2307/1580625 |jstor=1580625 |issn=0078-6527|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Roohi |first=Ehsan |date=January 2021 |title=The Murder of the Jewish Chieftain Ka'b b. al-Ashraf: A Re-examination |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-royal-asiatic-society/article/abs/murder-of-the-jewish-chieftain-kab-b-alashraf-a-reexamination/4C4D285E540E8B3C6BB91CCED0AE57D7 |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |language=en |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=103–124 |doi=10.1017/S135618632000053X |issn=1356-1863|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Biography==
Ka'b was born to a father from the [[Arab]] [[Tayy]] tribe and a mother from the [[Jewish]] [[Banu Nadir]] tribe. His father having died early, Ka'b was brought up in his mother's family and in her faith.{{r|JE}} He was recognized as belonging to his mother's tribe, in which he was one of the leading men.{{r|mam|page=18–19}}

The order to kill Ka'b is mentioned in numerous [[hadith]]s. Muhammad made it clear to his companions that he wished Ka'b dealt with, saying, "Who is willing to deal with Ka’b bin Al-Ashraf who has irritated Allah and His Messenger?"<ref>{{Hadith-usc|bukhari|usc=yes|4|52|270}}</ref> [[Muhammad ibn Maslama|Muhammad bin Maslama]] volunteered and was aided by several others, including Ka‘b’s [[Sibling#Milk sibling|foster brother]], [[Silkan bin Salama|Abu Na'ila]]. Ibn Maslamah was troubled that this assassination would involve lying to Ka'b, but Muhammad gave him a dispensation to do so.<ref name=still124 /> They took Ka'b out for a walk late at night and killed him.<ref name="EI"/>

==Interpretation==
Many authors have ascribed harmful acts (i.e. mocking [[Muhammad]]) deeds to Ka'b.<ref name=JE>{{JewishEncyclopedia|no-prescript=1|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9106-ka-b-al-ashraf|volume=7|page=400|article=Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf|first1=Richard|last1=Gottheil|first2=Hartwig|last2=Hirschfeld|author2-link=Hartwig Hirschfeld}}</ref> According to the [[Encyclopaedia of Islam]], following the victory of the Muslims over the [[Quraysh (tribe)|Quraysh]] in the [[Battle of Badr]], in March 624, Ka'b was angry at the execution of a number of [[Mecca]]n notables who had been captured after that battle, the Meccan notables who caused a lot of damage against the Muslims.<ref name=EI>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Montgomery Watt|first=W.|author-link=William Montgomery Watt|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia of Islam]] |edition=Online |title=Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf |publisher=Brill Academic Publishers |issn=1573-3912}}</ref> According to some [[Tafsir|Islamic commentators]], Muhammad called upon his followers to deal with Ka'b because the latter had "provoked [the] Quraysh against Muhammad" by bewailing Quraysh victims of the Battle in a poem.

[[Ibn Hisham]]'s biography of Muhammad reports Ka'b as saying "By Allah, if Muhammad has indeed struck down those people, then it were better to be buried in the earth than to walk upon it!"<ref name=still124>{{cite book |author=Stillman, Norman |url=https://archive.org/details/jewsofarablands00stil |url-access=registration |title=The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book |publisher=Jewish Publication Society |work=[[Jewish Publication Society]] |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-8276-0116-1 |pages=124–127 |type=Translation of Ibn Hisham's ''al-Sira al-Nabawiyya''|author-link = Norman Stillman}}</ref>

Other sources state that the reason for killing of Ka'b was that he had plotted with a group of Jews to kill Muhammad. The writings of the later commentators such as [[al-Zamakhshari]], al-Tabarsi, al-Razi, [[al-Baydawi]], and [[Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani|al-Asqalani]] provide another distinct report according to which Ka'b was killed because [[Gabriel]] had informed Muhammad about a treaty signed by himself and [[Abu Sufyan ibn Harb|Abu Sufyan]] creating an alliance between the Quraysh and forty Jews against Muhammad during Ka'b's visit to Mecca.{{r|rub|page=66}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani|author-link=Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YzZJCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT95|chapter=Fath al-Bari|title=Kitab al-Maghazi|page=96|volume=9|publisher=Dar Taybah|date=2005|lang=ar|quote=وأخرج ابن عائذ من طريق الكلبي أن كعب بن الأشرف قدم على مشركي قريش فحالفهم عند أستار الكعبة على قتال المسلمين}}</ref> According to [[Uri Rubin]], some allusions to the existence of an anti-Muslim treaty between Quraysh and Ibn al-Ashraf may be found in the earlier sources.{{r|rub|pages=65–71}}. Many people also consider that Muhammad had no evidence that Ka'b was plotting to murder Muhammad or even tried to assassinate Muhammad. Muhammad conducted no trial and had got him assassinated.

On some accounts, [[Huyayy ibn Akhtab|Huyayy bin Akhtab]] of [[Banu Nadir]] tribe had earlier refused to pay blood money for the murder of two Muslims and [[Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy]] had planned along with allied nomads to attack Muhammad.{{r|mam|page=211–212}} Muhammad besieged the Banu Nadir and ordered the tribe to leave Medina within ten days. The tribe at first decided to comply, but certain people from Medina who were not believers offered to help Banu al-Nadir fight the Muslims.<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040625103910/http://www.hraic.org/hadith/ibn_ishaq.html|url=http://www.hraic.org/hadith/ibn_ishaq.html|title=The earliest biography of Muhammad, by Ibn Ishaq|archive-date=25 June 2004}}</ref> [[Huyayy ibn Akhtab]], despite opposition from within the tribe, decided to fight, a fight which ended with their surrender although they were allowed to leave and take what possessions they could carry on their camels, with the exception of their weapons which they had to leave behind.<ref name="BanuNadir">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Montgomery Watt|first=W.|author-link=William Montgomery Watt |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia of Islam]] |edition=Online |title=Nadir, Banu 'l|publisher=Brill Academic Publishers |issn=1573-3912}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Non-Muslim interactants with Muslims during Muhammad's era]]
* [[Umm Qirfa]]
* [[Asma bint Marwan]]
* [[Abu 'Afak]]
* [[Huyayy ibn Akhtab]]
* [[Ka'b ibn Asad]]
* [[Al-Kawthar]]

==References==
<references>

<ref name=mam>{{cite book |last=Montgomery Watt|first=W. |url=https://archive.org/stream/muhammadatmedina029655mbp|title=Muhammad at Medina |year=1956 |author-link=William Montgomery Watt|location=Oxford |publisher=The Clarendon Press|oclc=458879357}}</ref>
<ref name=rub>{{cite journal |last=Rubin |first=Uri |title=The Assassination of Kaʿb b. al-Ashraf |journal=Oriens |volume=32 |year=1990 |pages=66|jstor=1580625 |doi=10.2307/1580625 }}</ref>

</references>

== Further reading ==
* Ehsan Roohi, ''[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-royal-asiatic-society/article/abs/murder-of-the-jewish-chieftain-kab-b-alashraf-a-reexamination/4C4D285E540E8B3C6BB91CCED0AE57D7 The Murder of the Jewish Chieftain Ka‘b b. al-Ashraf: A Re-examination]'', Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 31, Issue 1, January 2021, pp. 103 - 124

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kab Ibn Al-Ashraf}}
[[Category:624 deaths]]
[[Category:Assassinated Jews]]
[[Category:Banu Nadir]]
[[Category:Tayy]]
[[Category:7th-century Arabian Jews]]
[[Category:Medieval Jewish poets]]
[[Category:Pre-Islamic Arabian poets]]
[[Category:Opponents of Muhammad]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]

Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf - Revision history

Khalidmendi at 11:55, 21 December 2025