Did the Prophet ﷺ Order the Torture of Kinanah ibn al-Rabi'? A Full Isnad Refutation of the Khaybar Slander
The Torture of Kinanah ibn al-Rabi’ — Refuting the Slander Against the Prophet ﷺ
Table of Contents
- 1. The Cited Narration — Al-Tabari’s History
- 2. First Point of Refutation — The Narration is Incorrect
- 3. Second Point of Refutation — Scholarly Ruling on the Narration
- 4. Third Point of Refutation — Contradiction with Authentic Sunnah
- 5. Fourth Point of Refutation — The Killing Was Retaliation
- 6. References
1. The Cited Narration — Al-Tabari’s History
The Messenger of God said to Kinana: Tell me, if we find him with you, should I kill you? He said: Yes, so the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, ordered the ruin to be dug up, and some of their treasure was taken out of it. Then he asked him what was left, but he refused to give it. So the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, ordered Az-Zubayr ibn Al-Awwam to do it, and he said: Torture him until you have taken away what he has. So Az-Zubayr kept striking his chest with his flint until he almost died, then the Messenger of God pushed him away. To Muhammad ibn Maslamah, so he struck his neck with his brother Mahmoud ibn Maslamah. The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, besieged the people of Khaybar in their two fortresses, al-Watih and al-Salaam, until when they were certain of their destruction, they asked him to send them forth and spare their blood, so he did. The Messenger of God had acquired all the wealth: al-Shiqq, Nata’ah, al-Katibah, and all of their fortresses, except for those two fortresses.
2. First Point of Refutation — The Narration is Incorrect
2.1 The Five Conditions of an Authentic Hadith
| # | Condition |
|---|---|
| 1 | The chain of transmission is continuous |
| 2 | The narrators are just |
| 3 | The narrators are accurate |
| 4 | The absence of anomalies |
| 5 | The absence of defects |
2.2 Conditions Violated in This Chain
- The connection of the chain of transmission
- The accuracy of the narrators
2.3 Narrator Criticism — Muhammad ibn Humayd al-Razi
I say that Al-Dhahabi mentioned a nice response to this issue and said (Vol. 11, p. 504):
Abu Ali al-Naysaburi said: “I said to Ibn Khuzaymah: If the professor narrated from Muhammad bin Humayd, then Ahmad bin Hanbal praised him well.” He said: He did not know him, and if he had known him as we did, he would not have praised him at all. And I say that the people who know the most about a man are the people of his country, and the people of his country said about him that he is a liar.
2.4 Narrator Criticism — Ibn Ishaq
| Detail | Year (AH) |
|---|---|
| Ibn Ishaq — Death | 150 AH |
| Ibn Ishaq — Birth | 80 AH |
| The Prophet ﷺ — Death | 11 AH |
| Gap between them | ~70 years |
3. Second Point of Refutation — Scholarly Ruling on the Narration
3.1 Another Chain of Transmission — Ibn Sa’d’s Al-Tabaqat
Then he said to them: “If you conceal anything from me and I find out about it, I will make your blood and the blood of your children permissible.” They said: “Yes.” So he called a man from the Ansar and said: “Go to such-and-such a place, then go to the palm trees and look at a palm tree from to your right or to your left, and look for a raised palm tree and bring me what is in it.” He said: So he went and brought him the vessels and the wealth, and he struck their necks and took their families captive, and he sent a man who brought Safiyyah and passed by her at their place of death. The Prophet of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to him: “Why did you do that?” He said: O Messenger of Allah, I wanted to anger her. He said: “So he gave it to Bilal and to a man from the Ansar, and it was with him.”
3.2 Narrator Criticism — Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla
4. Third Point of Refutation — Contradiction with Authentic Sunnah
4.1 Hadith — Sahih Muslim
4.2 Hadith — Musnad Ahmad
4.3 Hadith — Sunan Abi Dawud
4.4 Statement of Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah
Rather, the polytheists themselves would have denounced his action, and they were the ones who were lying in wait for him.
5. Fourth Point of Refutation — The Killing Was Retaliation
6. References
| # | Source | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | History of the Messengers and Kings — Imam al-Tabari | Vol. 3, p. 14 — Dar al-Ma’arif, Cairo — Ed. Muhammad Abu al-Fadl Ibrahim |
| 2 | Sciences of Hadith — Abu Amr ibn al-Salah | p. 11 — Dar al-Fikr al-Mu’aser, Lebanon — Ed. Nur al-Din Antar |
| 3 | Seerah A’lam al-Nubala’ — Imam al-Dhahabi | Vol. 11, p. 503 — Dar al-Risala, Beirut — Ed. Sheikh Shu’ayb al-Arna’ut |
| 4 | Seerah A’lam al-Nubala’ — Imam al-Dhahabi | Vol. 11, p. 504 — Dar al-Risala, Beirut — Ed. Sheikh Shu’ayb al-Arna’ut |
| 5 | Al-Majruhin min Al-Muhaddithin — Imam Ibn Hibban | Vol. 2, p. 321 — Dar Al-Sumaie, Riyadh — Ed. Sheikh Hamdi Abdul Majeed Al-Salafi |
| 6 | Da’if Tarikh Al-Tabari — Dr. Muhammad Subhi Hasan Hallaq | Vol. 7, p. 186 — Dar Ibn Katheer, Damascus, Beirut |
| 7 | Al-Tabaqat Al-Kubra — Imam Ibn Sa’d | Vol. 2, p. 106 — Maktabat Al-Khanji, Cairo — Ed. Dr. Ali Muhammad Umar |
| 8 | Taqrib Al-Tahdhib — Imam Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani | p. 427 — Al-Risalah, Beirut — Ed. Adel Murshid |
| 9 | Sahih Muslim — Imam Muslim Ibn Al-Hajjaj | p. 828, Hadith 3/1731 — Dar Taybah, Riyadh — Ed. Nazar Muhammad Al-Fariabi |
| 10 | Musnad Ahmad — Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal | Vol. 33, p. 91 |
| 11 | Sunan Abi Dawud — Imam Abu Dawud al-Sijistani | Vol. 7, p. 185 — Dar al-Risalah al-Alamiyah — Ed. Sheikh Shuaib al-Arna’ut |
| 12 | Majmu’ al-Fatawa — Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah | Vol. 28, p. 314 — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques — Ed. Abd al-Rahman Muhammad Qasim |
| 13 | Sahih al-Bukhari — Imam Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari | p. 159, Hadith 631 — Dar Ibn Kathir, Beirut |