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Umm Qirfa: Difference between revisions
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'''Umm Qirfa''' was an elderly Arab woman contemporaneous to [[Muhammad]], the prophet of [[Islam]]. She is said to have belonged to a [[Pagan Origins of Islam|pagan]] tribe named Banu Fazara at the valley of al-Qurra. The elderly woman was also said to be a chief of her clan, which was brutally [[Jihad in Islamic Law|killed]] when Muhammad and [[Companion|his followers]] [[List of expeditions of Muhammad|raided]] and overpowered them. The attack took place almost six years after Muhammad’s Hijra (هِجْرَة Migration) to [[Medina]] in 622 AD. Traditional sources recount how Muhammad's companions tied Umm Qirfa to a pair of camels which, after being made to run in opposite directions, tore her body in half. | '''Umm Qirfa''' was an elderly Arab woman contemporaneous to [[Muhammad]], the prophet of [[Islam]]. She is said to have belonged to a [[Pagan Origins of Islam|pagan]] tribe named Banu Fazara at the valley of al-Qurra. The elderly woman was also said to be a chief of her clan, which was brutally [[Jihad in Islamic Law|killed]] when Muhammad and [[Companion|his followers]] [[List of expeditions of Muhammad|raided]] and overpowered them. The attack took place almost six years after Muhammad’s Hijra (هِجْرَة Migration) to [[Medina]] in 622 AD. Traditional sources recount how Muhammad's [[Sahabah|companions]] tied Umm Qirfa to a pair of camels which, after being made to run in opposite directions, tore her body in half. | ||
==Umm Qirfa in the sirahs== | ==Umm Qirfa in the sirahs== | ||
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There is slight variation in the Sahih Muslim account, however, such variations are extremely common in hadith literature. In the hadith from Sahih Muslim, [[Abu bakr|Abu Bakr]] is leading the raid in place of Zaid b. Harithah, who both Ibn Ishaq and Tabari describe as the leader. The remainder the account given almost entirely aligns with Ibn Ishaq and Tabari. | There is slight variation in the Sahih Muslim account, however, such variations are extremely common in hadith literature. In the hadith from Sahih Muslim, [[Abu bakr|Abu Bakr]] is leading the raid in place of Zaid b. Harithah, who both Ibn Ishaq and Tabari describe as the leader. The remainder the account given almost entirely aligns with Ibn Ishaq and Tabari. | ||
== | ==Modern perspectives and criticisms thereof== | ||
{{Quote||Zaid went on a trading journey to Syria and with some merchandise. The Banu Fazara tribe, whose leader was Umm Qirfa, attacked him and his companions and snatched all their merchandise. They killed some Muslims. So Umm Qirfa and her tribe deserved their fate.}} | |||
=== A deserved outcome === | |||
Some modern Muslim scholars, confronted with the negative light the incident of Umm Qirfa sheds on Muhammad's companions and potentially Muhammad himself, have felt the need to construe Umm Qirfa's execution as an act of retribution rather than an exercise of the Shari'ah-based permission to execute one's opponents following a successful [[Jihad]].<ref>One source paints the chronology of events as follows:{{Quote||Zaid went on a trading journey to Syria and with some merchandise. The Banu Fazara tribe, whose leader was Umm Qirfa, attacked him and his companions and snatched all their merchandise. They killed some Muslims. '''So Umm Qirfa and her tribe deserved their fate.'''}}</ref> | |||
The above quote reflects the claim made by some modern scholars and influential apologists by citing the books of Ibn Sa'd and Ibn Hisham. On the other hand, Ibn Ishaq says that the first event in the chronology was Zaid's raid on a place called Wadi-al-Qurra and then came a skirmish with Banu Fazara. Mubarakpuri (a 20th century author) suggests that Zaid was on a reconnaissance mission. Additionally, the Sahih sources do not even hint at any trading journey by Zaid. There is indeed a contradiction present in the accounts of the historians. | The above quote reflects the claim made by some modern scholars and influential apologists by citing the books of Ibn Sa'd and Ibn Hisham. On the other hand, Ibn Ishaq says that the first event in the chronology was Zaid's raid on a place called Wadi-al-Qurra and then came a skirmish with Banu Fazara. Mubarakpuri (a 20th century author) suggests that Zaid was on a reconnaissance mission. Additionally, the Sahih sources do not even hint at any trading journey by Zaid. There is indeed a contradiction present in the accounts of the historians. | ||