Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy
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Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy was a chief of some groups part of the Arab tribe Banu al-Khazraj at Medina (then known as Yathrib) and an opponent of Muhammad, who had undermined Abd-Allah's influence in that city. He was the head of the party that Muhammad called "Munafiq."
A Muslim source states:
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...Abd-Allah ibn Ubaiy whom the people of Medina were about to crown king before the Muslims arrived. He never got over the bitterness he felt for losing the chance of his lifetime to become a king. Therefore, he used his craftiness to weave deceitful plots against Islam, while Abd-Allah ibn Rawahah kept on tracing and detecting this craftiness with remarkable insight that frustrated most of Ibn Ubaiy's maneuvers and plots.[1] |
Being an ally of the Banu Qaynuqa and vary of Mohammed's growing power, he succeeded in preventing them from being killed after they had surrendered.
Muhammad found a casus belli by claiming to have received a divine revelation that the Banu Nadir were plotting to assassinate him and through Muhammad ibn Maslama, ordered them to leave Medina within ten days. The tribe at first decided to comply, but Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy persuaded them to resist in their fortresses. Huyayy ibn Akhtab decided to put up resistance, hoping also for help from Banu Qurayza, despite opposition within the tribe. [citation needed]
When Muhammad mobilized the Muslim forces for the expedition against Syria in 630, Abd-Allah and his Jewish allies, who had remained in Medina, formed a separate camp, which, however, did not join the main army. His disappearance was a death-blow to the party which still showed opposition to Mohammed, and paved the way for the final expulsion of the remaining Jews from Medina. [2]
He had a son named Abd-Allah ibn Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy [3].
Ali Asgher Razwy, a 20th century Shi'a Islamic scholar writes:
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When Abdullah bin Ubayy died, the Apostle attended his funeral, and prayed to God to forgive him and to bestow mercy upon his soul. Umar tried to dissuade him from doing so by pointing out that Ibn Ubayy had been a Munafiq (hypocrite). It is true that Abdullah bin Ubayy was a hypocrite. But his hypocrisy was not a secret from anyone in Medina. Everyone knew that he was a hypocrite. On the eve of the battle of Uhud, he withdrew his contingent of 300 warriors from the army on the ostensible pretext that the Muslims had not accepted his plan of the battle. In that battle, the Muslims were defeated. But they were defeated not because of Ibn Ubayy's defection but because of their own greed and indiscipline. The withdrawal of Ibn Ubayy's troops did not affect the fortunes of war in any way. Since Ibn Ubayy played a divisive role in a crisis, the Muslims were alert at all times for what he might do. He could, therefore, never catch them off-guard. He was a known and an "open" hypocrite. Far more dangerous to Islam were the hypocrites who were "hidden" from the sight of the Muslims. The true believers considered them to be sincere Muslims and trusted them. This trust of the Muslims in them made the Muslim society and the State of Medina much more vulnerable to sabotage by them. Al-Qur’an al-Majid is a witness to the presence in Medina, in large numbers, of these hypocrites, and has castigated them repeatedly. It were they – the hidden hypocrites – and not Abdullah ibn Ubayy and his supporters – who were the real source of danger to the security of Islam. Abdullah ibn Ubayy's son was a true believer. He volunteered to kill him (his father). But Muhammad, the bringer of mercy, did not let him. And when Ibn Ubayy died, he (Muhammad) condoned all his transgressions, most of which, he knew, were products of frustration. Before the Prophet's arrival from Makkah, he (Ibn Ubayy) had hoped to become the king of Medina. To forgive and to forget was characteristic of Muhammad's magnanimity. Earlier, he had shown the same magnanimity toward the idolaters of Makkah when he conquered that city, and granted amnesty to them all. It was, therefore, entirely, "in character" for him to conduct the funeral services for Ibn Ubayy, to see that he was given a proper burial, to pray for his soul, and to offer condolences to his son, notwithstanding Umar's remonstrance [4]. |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.islamic-council.org/lib/men/ABD-ALLAH-IBN-RAWAAHAH.html (broken link)
- ^ jewishencyclopedia.com [1]
- ^ http://www.islaam.com/Article.aspx?id=423
- ^ A Restatement of the History of Islam and Muslims on Al-Islam.org [2]
This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.
