killing Abu Rafi Salam bin Abi Al-Haqiq

 In the name of Allah, the

Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Some of the Christians today have criticized the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, for sending Abdullah bin Atik, may Allah be pleased with him, to kill Abu Rafi’ in Khaybar. They have argued for this with what was mentioned in Sahih al-Bukhari, portraying Abu Rafi’ as if he were an innocent or oppressed man!!!! To respond to such ignorance:

First: Abu Rafi’ Salam bin Abi al-Haqiq was one of the leading Jews of Khaybar who incited enmity against the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and helped him by plotting against him and forming parties against him. There was no treaty between the Jews of Khaybar and the Muslims of Medina, other than that they began to show enmity towards the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and they were the direct cause, as narrated, of the Battle of the Confederates. The evidence for this is from the same narration of al-Bukhari which they use as evidence.
We read from Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Military Expeditions, Chapter on the killing of Abu Rafi`
3813: Yusuf ibn Musa narrated to us, Ubayd Allah ibn Musa narrated to us, on the authority of Israel, on the authority of Abu Ishaq, on the authority of al-Bara` ibn `Azib, who said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sent men from the Ansar to Abu Rafi` the Jew, and he put Abdullah ibn `Atik in charge of them. Abu Rafi` used to harm the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and help him. He was in a fortress of his in the land of the Hijaz. When they approached it, the sun had set and the people had left their flocks, Abdullah said to his companions: Sit where you are, for I am going and will be gentle with the doorman, so that I may enter. So he approached until he approached the door, then covered himself with his garment as if he was relieving himself, and the people had entered. The doorman called out to him: O Abdullah, if you want to enter, then enter, for I want to close the door. So he entered and hid. When the people entered, he closed the door and hung the locks on a peg. He said: So I went to the locks, took them, and opened the door. Abu Rafi` was staying up late with him, and he was in his attics. So when... The people of Samra left him. I went up to him and every time I opened a door, it would close on me from the inside. I said, “The people vowed to me that they would not reach me until I killed him.” I went to him and found him in a dark house among his family. I did not know where he was in the house. I said, “O Abu Rafi.” He said, “Who is this?” I rushed towards the sound and struck him with the sword. I was astonished, but I did not do anything. He cried out, so I went out of the house and stayed a short distance. Then I went in to him and said, “What is this sound, O Abu Rafi?” He said, “Woe to your mother! A man in the house struck me with the sword before.” He said, “I struck him with a blow that wounded him, but I did not kill him.” Then I put the tip of the sword in his stomach until it took hold of his back. I knew that I had killed him. I opened the doors, door by door, until I reached a step of his. I put my foot down, and I thought that I had reached the ground. I fell on a moonlit night and my leg was broken. I wrapped it with a turban. Then I went and sat at the door. I said, “I will not go out tonight until I know that I killed him.” When the rooster crowed, the mourner stood on the wall and said, “I mourn Abu Rafi.” I was a merchant from the Hijaz, so I went to my companions and said, “Save yourself, for God has killed Abu Rafi’.” So I went to the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and spoke to him. He said, “Stretch out your leg.” So I stretched out my leg, and he wiped it, and it was as if I had never complained of it.

We read from Fath al-Bari, a commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Military Expeditions:
((His saying: “And Abu Rafi’ used to harm the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, and help against him.” Ibn A’idh mentioned, through al-Aswad, from Urwah , that he was among those who helped Ghatafan and other polytheists of the Arabs with a lot of money against the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace .))

We read an indication of what we mentioned, which is what Ibn Ishaq transmitted from a group of the followers, in a mursal hadith in the biography of Ibn Hisham, Part Two, Chapter on the Battle of the Trench:
((Yazid bin Ruman, the client of the family of Al-Zubayr bin Urwah bin Al-Zubayr, and someone I do not accuse, told me on the authority of Abdullah bin Kaab bin Malik, Muhammad bin Kaab Al-Qurazi, Al-Zuhri, Asim bin Omar bin Qatada, Abdullah bin Abi Bakr, and others from our scholars, all of whom have agreed on the hadith of the Trench, and some of them narrate what others do not narrate, they said: It was from the hadith of the Trench that a group of Jews, including: Salam bin Abi Al-Haqiq Al-Nadri, Huyayy bin Akhtab Al-Nadri, Kinanah bin Abi Al-Haqiq Al-Nadri, Hudhah bin Qais Al-Wa’ili, and Abu Ammar Al-Wa’ili, with a group of Banu Al-Nadir, and a group of Banu Wa’il, and they are the ones who formed parties against the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, went out until they came to the Quraysh of Mecca, and called them to war against the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, and said: We will be with you against him, until we eradicate him , so the Quraysh said to them: O group of Jews, you are the people of the first Book and knowledge. Because of what we have come to differ about with Muhammad, is our religion better or his religion? They said: Rather, your religion is better than his religion, and you are more deserving of the truth [p. 215] (than him).

They are the ones about whom Allah the Most High revealed: Have you not seen those who were given a portion of the Scripture? They believe in jibt and taghut and say to those who disbelieve, "These are better guided than those who believe in the way." Those are the ones whom Allah has cursed. And he whom Allah curses, you will never find for him a helper. Until His saying the Most High: Or do they envy people for what Allah has given them of His bounty, meaning prophethood? But We had given the family of Abraham the Scripture and wisdom and conferred upon them a great kingdom. Then among them were those who believed in it and among them were those who turned away from it. And sufficient is Hell as a Blaze.

Second: Abu Rafi' Salam bin Abi Al-Haqiq was from Banu Nadir and he was expelled from Medina with the rest of Banu Nadir for breaking their covenant with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Therefore, from the beginning in Medina, he was a traitor and a fighter against the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace. So how was it after his expulsion, when neither he nor Banu Nadir had a covenant with the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace!!!
We read from Sunan Abi Dawood, Book of Kharaj, Emirate, and Booty, Chapter on the Battle of Banu Nadir
((3004 Muhammad bin Dawood bin Sufyan told us, Abd al-Razzaq told us, Muammar told us, on the authority of al-Zuhri, on the authority of Abd al-Rahman bin Ka`b bin Malik, on the authority of a man from the companions of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, that the infidels of Quraysh wrote to Ibn Ubayy and those who worshipped idols with him from the Aws and Khazraj, and the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, was in Medina at that time before the Battle of Badr, “You have given refuge to our companion, and we swear by God that you will fight him or expel him, or we will march against you all together until we kill your fighters and take your women as booty.” When that reached Abd Allah bin Ubayy and those who were with him from the idol worshippers, they gathered to fight the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace. When that reached the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, he met them and said, “The threat of Quraysh from you has reached its limits. Your plotting against you was more than you want to plot against yourselves. You want to fight your sons and your brothers.” When they heard that from the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, they dispersed, and that reached the infidels. Quraish, so the infidels of Quraish wrote to the Jews after the Battle of Badr: You are the people of the circle and the fortresses, and you must fight our companion or we will do such and such, and nothing will come between us and the servants of your women, and they are the anklets.When their letter reached the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, Banu Nadir decided to betray him, so they sent to the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, saying: Come out to us with thirty men from your companions, and let thirty rabbis come out from us so that we may meet at the place of justice and hear from you. If they believe you and have faith in you, we will believe in you. So he related their story. The next day, the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, came to them with battalions and besieged them. He said to them: By God, you will not be safe with me except by a covenant that you make with me. But they refused to give him a covenant, so he fought them that day. Then the next day he went to Banu Qurayzah with battalions and left Banu Nadir and called upon them to make a covenant with him. So they made a covenant with him. So he turned away from them and went to Banu Nadir with battalions and fought them until they agreed to leave. Then Banu Nadir fled and carried what the camels carried of their belongings and the doors of their houses and their wood. So the palm trees of Banu Nadir were for the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, specifically. God gave them to him and made them special to him. So he said: And what God has bestowed upon His Messenger from them, so you have not been afraid. 3004. We read from Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Military Expeditions, Chapter on the Hadith of Banu Nadir ((3804 Ishaq bin Nasr narrated to us, Abd al-
Razzaq narrated to us, Ibn Jurayj narrated to us, on the authority of Musa bin Uqbah, on the authority of Nafi’, on the authority of Ibn Umar, may God be pleased with them both, who said: I fought against

Nadir and Qurayza, so
he expelled Banu Nadir and left Qurayza alone and was merciful to them until he fought against Qurayza, so he killed their men and divided their women, children and wealth among the Muslims except for some of them who joined the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, so he granted them security and they became Muslims, and he expelled all the Jews of Medina, Banu Qaynuqa’, who were the people of Abdullah bin Salam, and the Jews of Banu Haritha. And all the Jews of the city))

Third: She accused me of her disease and slipped away! Examples of praised assassinations in the Holy Bible.
1. Ehud killed Eglon, king of Moab .
We read from the Book of Judges, Chapter 3:
((12 And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they did evil in the sight of the Lord.
13 And he gathered to him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and defeated Israel, and they took possession of the city of palm trees.
14 And the children of Israel served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.
15 Then the children of Israel cried to the LORD, and the LORD raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a left-handed man. And the children of Israel sent by his hand a present to Eglon king of Moab.
16 So Ehud made himself a two-edged sword, a cubit long, and girded it under his garments on his right thigh.
17 And he presented the present to Eglon . king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man.
18 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of presenting the gift, that he sent away the men that brought the gift,
19 Then he returned from the graven images that were by Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he said, “Hush.” And all those who stood by him went out from him.
20 Then Ehud came in to him, as he was sitting in a cool upper room which was his own. And Ehud said, “I have a message for you from God.” And he rose from his throne.
21 Then Ehud stretched out his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly.
22 And the post also went in behind the blade, and the fat closed behind the blade, because he did not draw the sword from his belly. And he went out of the chamber.
23 Then Ehud went out of the porch, and shut the doors of the upper chamber behind him, and locked them.
24 And when he had gone out, his servants came and looked, and behold, the doors of the upper chamber were shut; and they said, He has covered his feet in the room of the cloaks.
25 And they tarried so long that they were ashamed, and behold, he would not open the doors of the upper chamber. So they took the key and opened it, and behold, their lord was fallen to the ground dead.
26 But Ehud escaped, for they were astonished; and he passed over the graven images, and escaped to Seirah.

2. Jael killed Sisera while he was sleeping, after she had given him security . 14
Then
Deborah said to Barak, “Arise, for this is the day that the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the Lord gone out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor, and ten thousand men followed him. 15 And the Lord discomfited Sisera and all the chariots and all the army with the edge of the sword before Barak. So Sisera got down from the chariot and fled on foot.
16 And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth of the nations. And all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not one was left.
17 But Sisera fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there had been peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
18 Then Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; do not be afraid.” So he turned in to her into the tent, and she covered him with a blanket
. 19 And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened the milk jar and gave him a drink, then covered him.
20 And he said to her, “Stand by the door .” 21 Then Jael, Heber's wife ,
took the tent peg and put the stick in her hand. Then she went to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went into the ground. He was heavy asleep and tired, and he died.
22 And behold, Barak pursued Sisera. And Jael went out to meet him and said to him, Come, I will show you the man whom you seek. So he came to her, and behold, Sisera lay dead, with the peg in his temple.
23 So God humbled Jabin king of Canaan that day before the children of Israel.
24 And the hand of the children of Israel increased and became harsher against Jabin king of Canaan, until they cut off Jabin king of Canaan.

And may God bless our master Muhammad and his family and companions and grant them peace.