The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 271
VI - Rukhsatānah of Ḥaḍrat ‘Ā’ishah ra and an Exposition of Her Age at the Time, the Issue of Polygamy and Two Fabricated Incidents 271 Islām. 1 How then can it be accepted that prior to this Ghazwah , such killing and bloodshed had taken place between the Jews and Muslims? Furthermore, if such events had in fact transpired prior to the Ghazwah of Banū Qainuqā’, then it was impossible for them to not have been listed among the factors, etc. , leading up to this Ghazwah. In the least, the Jewish people, who could have capitalized on an apparent opportunity to raise an allegation against the Muslims on the basis of these events, that it was the Muslims who initially provoked physical conflict, would have raised an outcry over these incidents. Yet, in no historical record, and even in the works of those historians who have transmitted these tales, there is absolutely no mention whatsoever that the Jews of Madīnah ever raised such an allegation. If someone believes that perhaps they did raise an objection, but Muslim historians conveniently omitted it, then this would be an erroneous and baseless notion. For as already mentioned, no Muslim Muḥaddith or historian has ever placed a veil upon any allegation levelled by an opponent. For example, in the incident of the Sariyyah of Nakhlah, when the idolators of Makkah raised an objection against the Muslims for dishonouring the sacred months, Muslim historians recorded this allegation in their books with unprecedented integrity. Hence, if any such allegation had been raised by the Jews on this occasion, historical records would not have been empty of its mention. Therefore, these tales do not prove to be correct from any perspective of analysis. It seems as if a hidden enemy of Islām either related these tales, whilst attributing them to some Muslim, and then they found way of inclusion in the narrations of the Muslims; or perhaps a weak Muslim included these narrations into the historical record in order to attribute the false pride towards his own tribe that such men as were related to him killed various harmful disbelievers. 2 ُ وَاللّٰه ُ اَعْلَم This is the actual reality which is ascertained with respect to these incidents. However, as we have indicated above, even if these occurrences were true, they cannot be considered objectionable under the circumstances in which they took place. In those days, the vulnerable state with which the 1 * Aṭ-Ṭabaqātul-Kubrā, By Muḥammad bin Sa‘d, Volume 2, pp. 263-264, Ghazwatu Banī Qainuqā‘, Dāru Iḥyā’it-Turāthil-‘Arabī, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996) * As-Sīratun-Nabawiyyah, By Abū Muḥammad ‘Abdul-Mālik bin Hishām, p. 514, Amru Banī Qainuqā‘, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2001) * Tārīkhur-Rusuli Wal-Mulūk (Tārīkhuṭ-Ṭabarī), By Abū Ja‘far Muḥammad bin Jarīr Aṭ-Ṭabarī, Volume 3, p. 50, Thumma Dakhalatis-Sanatuth-Thāniyatu Minal-Hijrah / Ghazwatu Banī Qainuqā‘, Dārul-Fikr, Beirut, Lebanon, Second Edition (2002) 2 And Allāh knows best [Publishers]