Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 321
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 321 observed, ‘When they have been executed, what shall I do with my life?’ Another Jew, Rifa’h, persuaded a Muslim lady to plead for his life with the Holy Prophet, who gave effect to her plea and directed that Rifa’h’s life be spared. There were two or three other similar instances in which the Holy Prophet gave effect to a plea of mercy on behalf of a condemned person. In no single case did he reject such a plea. Someone reminded him that he had promised to give effect in full to the judgment of Sa’d bin Muaz, to which he replied that he was entitled to exercise the prerogative of mercy as the chief executive. This is an indication, that though he was bound to carry out Sa’d’s judgment, his own inclination was towards mercy. Approximately 400 men of Banu Quraidhah were executed under the judgment of Sa’d bin Muaz and were given p roper burial under the directions of the Holy Prophet. The women and children of Banu Quraidhah were held prisoners in Medina. Some of them obtained their freedom by payment of ransom and some were freed by the Holy - Prophet as a matter of grace. In the course of time, all of them became Muslims. The names of Atiyah Qurdhi, Abdur Rahman bin Zubair bin Bafla, Ka’ab bin Saleem and Muhammad bin Ka’ab, the last one a Muslim of note, are mentioned in this context by historians. Though some Western writers like Stanley Lane - Poole and Margoliouth have not only justified the execution of Banu Quraidhah, but, in the words of Margoliouth, have pronounced it as inevitable and inescapable, yet several of them have criticized it in very harsh terms. For the benefit of such hostile critics, most