The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 286
Seal of the Prophets - Volume II 286 assassinate the Holy Prophet sa. There is a narration that in those days when a faithful Companion by the name of Ṭalḥah bin Barā’ ra was about to pass away, he bequeathed that “If I die at night, the Holy Prophet sa should not be notified about my funeral prayer, lest a misfortune befalls the Holy Prophet sa at the hands of the Jews on my account. ” 1 Therefore, after the Battle of Badr, the Jews openly began to fuel mischief, and among the Jews of Madīnah, since the Banū Qainuqā‘ were the most powerful and bold, it was they who first began to breach the treaty. As such, historians write: ُ اِن َّ بَنِی ْ قَیْنِقَاع َ كَانُوْا اَوَّل َ یَهُوْد ٍ نَقَضُوا مَا بَیْنَھُم ْ وَبَیْن َ رَسُوْل ِ اللّٰه ِ. فَلَمَّا كَانَت ْ وَقْعَة َ بَدْر ٍ اَظْھَرُوا الْبَغْی َ وَالْحَسَد َ وَنَبَذُوا الْعَھْد Meaning, “Among the Jews of Madīnah, the Banū Qainuqā‘ were the first to break the treaty which had been settled between them and the Holy Prophet sa. 2 After Badr, they began to rebel fiercely and openly expressed their rancour and malice and broke their treaty and agreement. ” 3 However, despite such events, under the guidance of their Master, the Muslims demonstrated patience in every way and did not allow themselves to take the lead in any respect. It is narrated in a Ḥadīth that after the treaty which had been settled with the Jews, the Holy Prophet sa would even take special care to protect their sentiments. On one occasion an argument broke out between a Muslim and Jew. The Jew asserted the superiority of Moses as above all the other Prophets. The Companion was angered by this and he dealt somewhat harshly with that person replying that the Holy Prophet sa was the most superior of all the Messengers. When the Holy Prophet sa was informed of this, he was displeased and rebuked the Companion saying, “It is not your task to go about speaking of the superiority of God’s Messengers in comparison to one another. ” Then, the Holy Prophet sa mentioned a partial superiority of Moses as 1 Al-Iṣābah Fī Tamīziṣ-Ṣaḥābah, By Aḥmad bin ‘Alī bin Ḥajar Al-‘Asqalānī, Volume 3, pp. 425-426, Ṭalḥah bin Barā’, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon (2005) 2 * 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) 3 Aṭ-Ṭabaqātul-Kubrā, By Muḥammad bin Sa‘d, Volume 2, p. 264, Ghazwatu Banī Qainuqā‘, Dāru Iḥyā’it-Turāthil-‘Arabī, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996)