Ka'b Ibn Asad - Early Interactions With Muhammad

Early Interactions With Muhammad

When the Islamic prophet Muhammad arrived in Medina in 622, Ka'b ibn Asad bound himself to the Constitution of Medina on behalf of his tribe. Among other conditions, he agreed that each tribe would bear its own expenses, that there would be freedom of religion, that acts of violence and injustice would be punished, that all tribes would unite to defend Medina against an outside attack, and that unresolved disputes would be referred to Muhammad.

Shortly afterwards, the Qurayza did in fact refer a legal case to Muhammad. Ka'b apparently used this as an opportunity to test Muhammad’s claim to be a prophet. He reminded Muhammad that he was a rabbi and leader among his people, who would be sure to follow his example if he became a Muslim. He therefore offered to recognise Muhammad’s prophethood if he would settle the case in favour of the Qurayza. A man who accepted this bribe would presumably betray himself as a false prophet. However, Muhammad did not fall into the trap; he announced the revelation: “If thou judgest, judge in equity, for Allah loveth those who deal fairly.”

The lawsuit in question was a dispute about blood-money. According to Ibn Ishaq, a Qurayza had slain some Nadir noblemen and wanted to pay only half the usual blood-money penalty. (It appears there were historical reasons why the Qurayza usually had to pay the Nadir double the blood-money that the Nadir paid to them.) Muhammad settled it by decreeing that they both tribes should pay equal fines. According to Abu Daw’ud, writing a century later, the situation was that a Qurayza who killed a Nadir was killed but a Nadir who killed a Qurayza only paid blood-money. He writes that the lawsuit concerned a Nadir who had killed a Qurayza. The Qurayza demanded capital punishment, but the Nadir went to Muhammad to plead their right to pay blood-money as usual. Muhammad decreed “a life for a life” on the grounds that judgments based on situations from the days of paganism were no longer relevant.

Muhammad called Ka'b to accept Islam, but he replied that he did not believe Muhammad to be a prophet and would remain a Jew. Muhammad then announced the revelation: “O ye to whom the Book was sent, believe in what We have sent down in confirmation of what ye have, before We efface features and turn them back to front or curse you as We cursed the Sabbath-breakers when Allah’s command was carried out.”

Ka'b was one of thirteen Jewish leaders representing all three major tribes who came to Muhammad to make a formal declaration of their joint unbelief. They asked: “Is it true, Muhammad, that what you have brought is the truth from God? For our part, we cannot see that it is arranged as the Torah is.” Muhammad replied: “You know quite well that it is from Allah; you will find it written in the Torah that you have. If men and jinn came together to produce its like, they could not.” The Jews challenged Muhammad to bring down from Heaven a book that they would recognise as a companion to their Torah; otherwise they themselves would produce a book like the Qur'an.