Kinana ibn al-Rabi' (Arabic: كنانة ابن الربيع, also Kinana bin al-Rabi, Kinana ibn al-Rabi'a, Kinana ibn al-Rabi ibn Abu al-Huqayq) was a Jewish leader of seventh-century Arabia and an opponent of Muhammad; son of the poet al-Rabi ibn Abu al-Huqayq. Ibn al-Rabi' was killed during early Muslim clashes with the Banu Nadir.
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He had two brothers — al-Rabi and Sallam. Kinana is said to have urged Muhammad to give up the custom during prayer of turning his face toward Mecca ("Qiblah") in favor of Jerusalem, as had been the custom in Islam at first. After the expulsion of the Banu al-Nadir, of which tribe he was a member, he and his family retired to Khaibar, where they possessed a castle called Qamus.[1]
Ibn Ishaq writes about Kinana ibn al-Rabi,[2]
Kinana al-Rabi, who had the custody of the treasure of Banu Nadir, was brought to the apostle who asked him about it. He denied that he knew where it was. A Jew came (Tabari says "was brought"), to the apostle and said that he had seen Kinana going round a certain ruin every morning early. When the apostle said to Kinana, "Do you know that if we find you have it I shall kill you?" He said "Yes". The apostle gave orders that the ruin was to be excavated and some of the treasure was found. When he asked him about the rest he refused to produce it, so the apostle gave orders to al-Zubayr Al-Awwam, "Torture him until you extract what he has." So he kindled a fire with flint and steel on his chest until he was nearly dead. Then the apostle delivered him to Muhammad b. Maslama and he struck off his head, in revenge for his brother Mahmud
Al-Mubarakpuri maintains that al-Rabi was bound by agreements between Muhammad and Khaybar to not conceal anything from the Muslims. He was executed, al-Mubarakpuri concludes, for breaching the agreement.[3] Montgomery Watt supports the view that he was executed for concealing the treasure.[4] Shibli Nomani, however, argues that Kinana was put to death because he had killed Mahmud, the brother of Muhammad bin Maslama. Nomani also casts doubt on the accuraccy of the story due to its sources (see section below).[5]
Ibn Ishaq's narration is the only one that contains a reference to the torture of Kinana ibn al-Rabi. Ibn Ishaq is widely discredited as a narrator of hadith, generally considered as a mudallis (meaning "one who did not name his teacher, claiming instead to narrate directly from his teacher's teacher").[6] Concerning his sīra, the most notable and widely discussed criticism was that of his contemporary, Malik ibn Anas, who leveled many accusations against Ibn Ishaq.[7][8] Malik rejected the stories of Muhammad and the Jews of Medina on ground that they were taken solely based on accounts by sons of Jewish converts.[9] These same stories have also been denounced as "odd tales" later by Ibn Hajar.[9] Malik and others also thought that Ibn Ishaq relied too heavily on the Isra'iliyat.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Jewish Encyclopedia. 1901–1906.