| Answer:
I am sorry it would not be possible for me to give a
detailed account of the circumstances in which Ka‘ab Ibn Ashraf was killed.
Books on early history of Islam and the H~adīth works are a ready source of
reference. However, I would like to allude to an important premise which has to
be kept in mind while dealing with incidents which depict animosity with the
rejecters of the faith of the time of the Prophet (sws).
While discussing this premise Shehzad Saleem writes:
In order to make the reward and punishment that is going to
take place in the Hereafter an observable reality in this world, the Almighty
selects certain personalities called Messengers to elucidate and explain the
basic truths to their respective peoples. With the special help and assistance
of the Almighty, they remove misconceptions that surround these concepts and
vehemently remind people that if they do not accept these truths they shall be
doomed in this world and in the Hereafter. Messengers give glad tidings of
success both in this world and in the next to those who profess faith in them.
People who deliberately deny these truths are punished in various degrees so
that this whole episode can become an argument for the reward and punishment
that is to take place on similar grounds in the Hereafter.
As a consequence of this fundamental premise what needs to be
understood is that some directives of Islam are specific to the age of the
Prophet Muhammad (sws) and his Companions (rta) and cannot be extended to later
periods. The reason for this is that a Muslim preacher cannot unveil the basic
truths in their ultimate form as a Messenger is able to. Nor can he know whether
a non-Muslim is knowingly denying it or not. Only the Almighty knows this. In
the age of Messengers, He chose to reveal this judgement through His appointees,
while in the second period of history He has not chosen to do so. Consequently,
it is imperative that Muslims study the Qur’ān and the life of the Prophet (sws),
which are replete with the details of this divine scheme in the proper
perspective.
Keeping the above in perspective we see that among the
enemies of the faith and rejecters of the Messenger of God were the polytheists,
the people of the Book and the hypocrites which included some miscreants. These
people tried to challenge the divine authority in the land and committed crimes
against Muslims and even tried to kill the Messenger of God. When some of them
started crossing all bounds the Almighty warned them:
If the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease and
the agitators in the city do not desist, We shall most certainly set you over
them, then they shall not be your neighbors in it but for a little while;
(33:60)
Ka‘ab Ibn Ashraf fell in this category of the rejecters of
the Messengers. He was a miscreant of the ultimate degree and posed a serious
threat to Islam. Muslim historians have mentioned the extremities he committed
and harms he inflicted upon the Prophet (sws) and his Companions (rta). He went
as far as attempting to kill the Messenger of God. It was not the Prophet (sws)
who decided that he be executed rather the Almighty Himself (see 33:60) who had
already decided that the enemies of God and His Messengers who had not only
denied the truth they were convinced of but had become brutal enemies of it had
to be exterminated.
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