The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 310
Seal of the Prophets - Volume II 310 After mentioning the account of Ka‘b bin Ashraf, Ibni Hishām has recorded the narration that after the execution of Ka‘b, the Holy Prophet sa instructed the Companions that now they should slay any Jew they were able to apprehend. Hence, one Companion by the name of Maḥīṣah, attacked a Jew and killed him. The same narration has been related in Abū Dāwūd as well. 1 The source of both these narrations is Ibni Isḥāq. In light of the ‘Science of Narration,’ this narration is weak and unreliable, because Ibni Hishām has recorded it without a chain of narration, and the chain of narrators, which has been provided by Abū Dāwūd is weak and incomplete. In this chain of narrators, Ibni Isḥāq states that he heard this incident from a freed slave of Zaid bin Thābit ra , and that anonymous slave heard this incident from an unknown daughter of Maḥīṣah, and that daughter had heard this incident from her father. Now any individual can understand that a narration of this type, where two narrators are absolutely anonymous and unknown, cannot be acceptable in the least. Moreover, even if a person contemplates in terms of Dirāyat , this tale does not hold true, because the general practice of the Holy Prophet sa categorically refutes the notion that he would ever issue forth such a general order. Furthermore, if this was a general order, then definitely as a result, there should have been numerous killings of this sort. However, narrations have only reported a single case, which substantiates that this was not a general order. Then, when it is established in light of authentic narrations that the very next day a new treaty was settled with the Jews, 2 in such a case, it cannot be accepted at all that a command of this nature would have been issued. Furthermore, if such an incident had actually occurred, the Jews would have surely raised a huge hue and cry. However, no historical account demonstrates that any such complaint was lodged by the Jews. Hence, in terms of both Riwāyat and Dirāyat , this tale proves to be false. If this narration can be taken to possess any truth at all then only inasmuch that when an outcry broke out in Madīnah after the execution of Ka‘b bin Ashraf, and the Jewish people became enraged, perceiving a threat from the Jews, the Holy Prophet sa may have told the Companions that in self-defence, they 1 Sunanu Abī Dāwūd, Kitābul-Khirāji Wal-Imārati Wal-Fai’i, Bābu Kaifa Kāna Ikhrājul-Yahūdi Minal- Madīnah, Ḥadīth No. 3002 2 * Sunanu Abī Dāwūd, Kitābul-Khirāji Wal-Imārati Wal-Fai’i, Bābu Kaifa Kāna Ikhrājul-Yahūdi Minal- Madīnah, Ḥadīth No. 3000 * Aṭ-Ṭabaqātul-Kubrā, By Muḥammad bin Sa‘d, Volume 2, p. 266, Sariyyatu Qatli Ka‘b bin Al-Ashraf, Dāru Iḥyā’it-Turāthil-‘Arabī, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996)