Malik ibn Nuwayra
Malik ibn Nuwayra | |
|---|---|
| مالك بن نويرة | |
| Born | Arabia |
| Died | 632 CE (10/11 AH) |
| Spouse | Layla bint al-Minhal |
| Parent | Nuwayrah |
Malik ibn Nuwayra (Arabic: مالك بن نويرة: died 632), was the chief of the Banu Yarbu, a clan of the Banu Hanzala, a large section of the powerful tribe of Bani Tamim which inhabited the north-eastern region of Arabia, between Bahrain and Najd. The tribe was pagan until Islam came to Arabia. The centre of Malik's clan was Butah.
Muhammad appointed Malik as an officer over the clan of Banu Yarbu. His main responsibility was the collection of taxes and their dispatch to Madinah. Following the Islamic prophet's death in 632, Malik was accused of apostasy for questioning the legitimacy of Abu Bakr under the pretext of cooperating with the self-proclaimed prophetess Sajah, though many others claim that he remained a Muslim until his death and Khalid bin Waleed killed him unjustly.
Biography
Malik might have been appointed by Muhammad as the collector of the sadaqa ('alms tax') over his clan of the Tamim, the Yarbu. Following the Islamic prophet's death, Malik stopping passing the tax, and also refused to give his tax to Medina.[1] According to the account of the 8th-century historian Sayf ibn Umar (d. 786–809), Malik started to cooperate with Sajah, his kinswoman from the Yarbu, and was encountered with his small party by the Muslims after being defeated by rival clans from the Tamim.[2]
The Rashidun general Khalid ibn al-Walid and his army encountered Malik and eleven of his clansmen from the Yarbu in 632. The Yarbu did not resist, proclaimed their Muslim faith and were escorted to Khalid's camp. Khalid had them all executed over the objection of an Ansarite, who had been among the captors of the tribesmen and argued for the captives' inviolability due to their testaments as Muslims. Afterward, Khalid raped Layla, an act for which some Shia Muslims view Khalid as a war criminal.[3] When news of Khalid's actions reached Medina, Umar, who had become Abu Bakr's chief aide, pressed for Khalid to be punished or relieved of command, but Abu Bakr pardoned him.[1] Abu Bakr acted in the same way as the prophet Muhammad did when Khalid might have attacked the Banu Jadhima and killed their men.[4] Muhammad did declare himself innocent of Khalid's actions but did not discharge or punish him.[5]
Watt considers accounts about the Yarbu during the Ridda Wars in general to be "obscure ... partly because the enemies of Khālid b. al-Walīd have twisted the stories to blacken him".[6] In the view of the modern historian Ella Landau-Tasseron, "the truth behind Malik's career and death will remain buried under a heap of conflicting traditions".[2] . Ali and Umar criticized Khalid for his actions.[7]
Although some people such as Abu Qutada and 'Umar condemned this act of Khalid and 'Umar called for his stoning, but Abu Bakr did not punish Khalid and said that he had made a mistake and paid the blood money for Malik from the bayt al-mal (public treasury).
Narration of Tarikh Al Tabari
‘Umar told Khalid: “You enemy of Allah! You killed a Muslim man and thereafter took his wife. By Allah, I will stone you".[8]
The chain of narration on the authority of which this report reached al Tabari is as follows:
Al Tabari — (narrates from) — (Muhammad) ibn Humaid (al Razi )— (who narrates from) — Salamah (ibn al Fadl al Razi) — (who narrates from) — Muhammad ibn Ishaq — (who narrates from)— Talhah ibn ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abdul Rahman ibn Abi Bakr — who says that it used to be Abu Bakr al Siddiq's instruction to his armies
References
- ^ a b Landau-Tasseron 1991, p. 267.
- ^ a b Landau-Tasseron 1991, p. 268.
- ^ Mulder 2014, pp. 92–93.
- ^ Crone 1978, p. 928.
- ^ Umari 1991, pp. 172–173.
- ^ Watt 1956, p. 139.
- ^ Na, Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im; Naʻīm, ʻAbd Allāh Aḥmad (2009-06-30). Islam and the Secular State. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-03376-4.
- ^ Tarikh al Tabari 2 p. 274
Bibliography
- Crone, P. (1978). "Khālid b. al-Walīd". In van Donzel, E.; Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch. & Bosworth, C. E. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume IV: Iran–Kha. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 928–929. OCLC 758278456.
- Kister, M. J. (2002). "The Struggle against Musaylima and the Conquest of Yamama". Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam. 27: 1–56.
- Landau-Tasseron, Ella (1991). "Mālik b. Nuwayra". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume VI: Mahk–Mid. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 267–269. ISBN 978-90-04-08112-3.
- Mulder, Stephennie (2014). "Seeing the Light: Enacting the Divine at Three Medieval Syrian Shrines". In Roxburgh, David J. (ed.). Envisioning Islamic Art and Architecture: Essays in Honor of Renata Holod. Leiden and Boston: Brill. pp. 88–108. ISBN 978-90-04-26402-1.
- Umari, Akram Diya (1991). Madīnan Society at the Time of the Prophet, Volume II: The Jihād against the Mushrikūn. Translated by Huda Khattab. Herndon, Virginia: The International Institute of Islamic Thought. ISBN 0-912463-37-6.
- Watt, W. Montgomery (1960). "Abū Bakr". In Gibb, H. A. R.; Kramers, J. H.; Lévi-Provençal, E.; Schacht, J.; Lewis, B. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume I: A–B. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 109–111. OCLC 495469456.