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MILITARY ACTIVITIES CONTINUED:
Salam bin Abi Al-Huqaiq (Abu Rafi‘) was a terrible Jew criminal, who had mustered the troops of the
Confederates and provided them with a lot of wealth and supplies, on the one hand, and used to
malign the Prophet (Peace be upon him), on the other. When the Muslims had settled their affair
with Banu Quraiza; Al-Khazraj tribe, a rival of Al-Aws, asked for the Prophet’s permission to kill that
criminal in order to merit a virtue equal to that of Al-Aws who had killed another criminal of the
Jews, Ka‘b bin Al-Ashraf. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) gave them his permission provided that
no women or children be killed.
A group of five people with ‘Abdullah bin ‘Ateeq at their head, headed for Khaibar where ‘Abu Rafi‘’s
fort was situated. When they approached the place, ‘Abdullah advised his men to stay a little
behind, while he went ahead disguised himself in h is cloak as if he had been relieving himself. When
the people of the fort went in, the gate-keeper called him to enter thinking he was one of them.
‘Abdullah went in and lurked inside. He then began to unbolt the doors leading to Salam’s room.
There it was absolutely dark but he managed to put him to the sword, and then leave in safety. On
his way back, his leg broke so he wrapped it up in a band, and hid in a secret place until morning
when someone stood on the wall and announced the death of Salam bin Abi Al-Huqaiq officially. On
hearing the glad news he left and went to see the Prophet (Peace be upon him), who listened to the
whole story, and then asked ‘Abdullah to stretch his leg, which he wiped and the fracture healed on
the spot.
In another version, all the group of five participated in killing that enemy of Islam. This incident took
place in Dhul Qa‘dah or Dhul Hijjah in the year five Hijri.
Shortly after the conclusion of the battle with the Confederates and Quraiza, the Prophet (Peace be
upon him) began to despatch punitive expeditions to force the aggressive tribes and rebellious
Arabians to come to peaceful terms with the rising state of Islam.
A platoon of thirty believers under the leadership of Muhammad bin Maslamah was despatched on a
military mission in Muharram, the sixth year Hijri, following the two previous battles. It headed for
the habitation of Bani Bakr sept. The Muslims attacked that sept and dispersed them in all
directions. Plenty of spoils fell to the lot of the Muslims who returned home with a terrible
disbeliever, Thumamah bin Uthal Al-Hanafi, chief of Bani Hanifa, who had gone out by order of
Musailama, the Liar, to assassinate the Prophet (Peace be upon him). The Prophet’s Companions
tied him to a pole of the Prophetic Mosque. To a question posed by the Prophet (Peace be upon
him), Thumamah used to say: “If you were to kill someone, then you would have to choose one of
noble descent, if you were to be gracious, then let it be to a grateful man and if you were to ask for
money, you would have to ask for it from a generous man.” He repeated that three times on three
different occasions. On the third time, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) ordered that he should be
released. He soon went nearby, washed and then came back to profess the new faith addressing the
Prophet (Peace be upon him) : “No face had been more awful to me than yours but now it is the
closest to my heart, no religion had ever been more repugnant to me than yours, now it is the
dearest in my heart. Now I want to perform the
‘Umrah
(lesser pilgrimage).” The Prophet (Peace be
upon him) gave him good tidings and asked him to do that. On his arrival in Makkah, the
Quraishites accused him of apostasy. He denied it and affirmed that he had embraced Islam, then
swore that they would never get a grain from Yamama, a suburban area around Makkah, unless the
Prophet (Peace be upon him) would allow it. In fact, he did it and refused to send food supplies to
Makkah until the Prophet (Peace be upon him) interceded at the Makkans’ earnest plea.
BANI LIHYAN INVASION:
Bani Lihyan had acted treacherously towards ten of the Prophet’s Companions and had them
hanged. Their habitation being situated deep in the heart of Hijaz on the borders of Makkah, and
due to deep-seated blood-revenge between the Muslims on the one hand, and Quraish and the
Arabians on the other, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) deemed it unwise to penetrate deep and
come close to the greatest enemy, Quraish. However, when the power of the allied Confederates
collapsed and they began to slacken and resign to the current unfavourable balance of power, the
Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) seized this rare opportunity and decided that it was time to
take revenge on Bani Lihyan. He set out in Rabi‘ Al-Awwal or Jumada Al-Ula in the year six Hijri at
the head of two hundred Muslim fighters and made a feint of heading for Syria, then soon changed
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