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she knew that she would be killed.' It was she who had cast the hand-mill upon Khalad ibn Suwaid
.... Ibn Ishaq says: The Apostle of God had commanded the slaughter of the men who had reached the
age of puberty ... Then verily the Apostle of God divided the goods of the Banau Quraizah and their
wives and their children among the Muslims ... Then the Apostle of God sent Sa'd bin Zaid the Ansari,
brother of the Banu 'Abdi'l Ashhal, with some of the captives of the Banu Quraizah to Najad, and
there he bought with them horses and arms. And the Apostle of God chose for himself of their women
Rihanah, daughter of 'Amr bin Khanafah ... and she was with the Apostle of God until he died from
her, and she was among his concubines. The Apostle of God had proposed to her that he should marry
her and cast the veil over her. She said, 'O Apostle of God, on the contrary, leave me among thy
slaves, for it is easier for me and for thee. "
After the battle of Badr when the Muslims had cast the bodies of their enemies who had fallen in
that engagement into an old 1 well, while they were on their way back to Medinah with
their prisoners, some of the latter were put to death. Ibn Ishaq's account of the matter runs 2
thus: "When the Apostle of God was at As Sufra, An Nazr ibnu'l Harith was executed, 'Ali ibn
Abi Talib executed him, as some of the learned Meccans have informed me ... Then (Muhammad) went
forward till, when he was at 'Arqu'z Zabiyyah, 'Uqbah bin Abi Mu'ait was executed ... When the
Apostle of God ordered his execution, 'Uqbah said, 'Who then (will be a guardian) to my little girl,
O Muhammad?' He said, 'Hell-fire.'"
The story of the murder of Ka'b ibnu'l Ashraf is thus related in Ibn Hisham's Siratu'r Rasul,3:
"Then
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Ka'b ibnu'l Ashraf returned to Medinah and praised the beauty of the Muslims' wives until he
annoyed them. Accordingly the Apostle of God said, ... 'Who is for me in the matter of Ibnu'l Ashraf?'
Muhammad ibn Maslamah, brother of the Banu 'Abdi'l Ashhal, said to him, 'I am for thee in his
affair, O Apostle of God: I shall kill him.' He said, 'Then do so, if you are able for it'.
Accordingly Muhammad ibn Maslamah returned and waited three days, neither eating nor drinking except
what his life depended on. He mentioned this to the Apostle of God? Then the latter prayed, and said
to him, 'Why hast thou given up food and drink?' He said, 'O Apostle of God, I spoke to thee a word,
and I know not whether I shall accomplish it for thee or not.' (Muhammad) said, 'Verily the attempt
is incumbent on thee' ... For his killing there gathered together Muhammad ibn Maslamah and Salkan
ibn Salamah ibn Waqsh, and he is Abu Na'ilah, one of the sons of 'Abdu'l Ashhal, and he was
foster-brother of Ka'b ibnu'l Ashraf, and 'Abbad ibn Bashr ibn Waqsh, one of the sons of 'Abdu'l
Ashhal, and Harith ibn Aus ibn Mu'adh, one of the sons of 'Abdu'l Ashhal, and Abu 'Abs ibn Jabar,
one of the sons of Harithah. Before coming to him, they sent Salkan ibn Salamah Abu Na'ilah to the
enemy of God, Ka'b ibnu'l Ashraf. He came and conversed with him for a time, and they recited poetry
to one another, and Abu Na'ilah kept quoting the poetry. 1 Then he said, 'Well done,
Ibnu'l Ashraf! Verily I have come to thee by reason of a need which I wish to mention to thee: keep
it secret for me.' He said, 'I shall do so.' (Abu Na'ilah) said, 'The coming of this man 2
has been a calamity to us. Through him have the Arabs ... blocked the roads against us, so that our
families have perished and our souls are emaciated, and we have grown thin and our families have
grown thin.' Ka'b said, 'As sure as I am Ibnu'l Ashraf, used I not, by God, to assure thee, O Ibn
Salamah,
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