Umm Qirfa: Difference between revisions

Some have suggested that the motivation for the execution itself, the mode of execution, and possible subsequent display was Muhammad's inability to tolerate women enjoying leadership roles in society, as suggested by {{Bukhari|9|88|219|}}.<ref>"''Narrated Abu Bakra: ... When the Prophet heard the news that the people of the Persia had made the daughter of Khosrau their Queen (ruler), he said, "Never will succeed such a nation as makes a woman their ruler."''" - {{Bukhari|9|88|219}}</ref>  

The first to report this murder was Ibn Ishaq followed by Tabari, two historians which Muslims sometimes view with suspicion when Muhammad is cast by them in what is today a negative light. While, the highly edited version of Ibn Ishaq (by Ibn Hisham) does contain the mention of the killing but not the brutal way in which she was killed, Tabari details the brutality of her killing. [[Sahih]] sources (Bukhari and Muslim) are also silent in regards to the killing of Umm Qirfa. Saifur Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, a widely-read modern day biographer of Prophet Muhammad has also pointed out the Umm Qirfa incident in his work “The Sealed Nectar”. This book is highly regarded among the worlds Muslims and its Arabic version was awarded first prize by the Muslim World League, at the first Islamic Conference on Seerah, following a worldwide competition for a book on the Sirah Rasul Allah (life of Muhammad) in 1979.

{{Quote|Saifur Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, The Sealed Nectar: Page 152|An expedition led by Abu Bakr As-Siddiq or Zaid bin Haritha was despatched to Wadi Al-Qura in Ramadan 6 Hijri after Fazara sept had made an attempt at the Prophet’s life. Following the morning prayer, the detachment was given orders to raid the enemy. Some of them were killed and others captured. Amongst the captives, were Umm Qirfa and her beautiful daughter, who was sent to Makkah as a ransom for the release of some Muslim prisoners there. Umm Qirfa’s attempts at the Prophet’s life recoiled on her, and the thirty horsemen she had gathered and sustained to implement her evil scheme were all killed.}}

The account found in “The Sealed Nectar” is derived from a Sahih Muslim Hadith in regards to the incident. Though somewhat descriptive, the Sahih Muslim Hadith does not mention the fate of Umm Qirfa.  

 

The accounts of the generally raid as given by both Ibn Ishaq and Tabari are consistent with each other, and are broadly confirmed by a hadith in Sahih Muslim, though the details of Umm Qirfa's fate are not mentioned.  

{{Quote|{{Muslim|19|4345}}|It has been narrated on the authority of Salama (b. al-Akwa') who said: We fought against the Fazara and Abu Bakr was the commander over us. He had been appointed by the Messenger of Allah. When we were only at an hour's distance from the water of the enemy, Abu Bakr ordered us to attack. We made a halt during the last part of the night to rest and then we attacked from all sides and reached their watering-place where a battle was fought. Some of the enemies were killed and some were taken prisoners. I saw a group of persons that consisted of women and children. I was afraid lest they should reach the mountain before me, so I shot an arrow between them and the mountain. When they saw the arrow, they stopped. So I brought them, driving them along. Among them was a woman from Banu Fazara. She was wearing a leather coat. With her was her daughter who was one of the prettiest girls in Arabia. I drove them along until I brought them to Abu Bakr who bestowed that girl upon me as a prize. So we arrived in Medina. I had not yet disrobed her when the Messenger of Allah met me in the street and said: Give me that girl, O Salama. I said: Messenger of Allah, she has fascinated me. I had not yet disrobed her. When on the next day, the Messenger of Allah again met me in the street, he said: O Salama, give me that girl, may God bless your father. I said: She is for you. Messenger of Allah! By Allah, I have not yet disrobed her. The Messenger of Allah sent her to the people of Mecca, and surrendered her as ransom for a number of Muslims who had been kept as prisoners at Mecca.}}

There is slight variation in the Sahih Muslim account, however, this is common with the hadiths. In the above hadith, Abu Bakr, the first Caliph of Islam leading the raid in place of Zaid bin Harith, the person we find in Ibn Ishaq and Tabari. Apart from this, the account given almost entirely aligns with Ibn Ishaq and Tabari, as a raid on Banu Fazara is said to take place on the order of Muhammad. There was also an old woman among the raided tribe, as Sahih Muslim hadith testifies “Among them was a woman from Banu Fazara. She was wearing a leather coat”. As we read in Sahih Muslim, this woman, her daughter and many others were fleeing the raid and had they reached a nearby mountain, their lives would have been spared but an arrow from Salama bin Al-Akwa (one of the Muslim raiders) decided their fate. The woman was unable to escape with her daughter and all were taken as captives. Silent on the fate of the old woman who tried to escape, Imam Muslim instead reports what happened to her daughter: the beautiful girl, now enslaved, that Muhammad acquired from the person who possessed her was given to the Meccans in exchange for some Muslim prisoners. Importantly, the account in Sahih Muslim does not disagree with the additional details provided in Ibn Ishaq and Tabari.