318 THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD"The Messenger of God (SAAS) smiled at this and said, 'Hey, cousin, those
were the al-mala', chiefs!"'
Ibn Hisha observed, "He was referring to the nobles and the leaders."THE DEATHS OF AL-NADR B. AL-HXRITH AND 'UQBA B. ABU MUCAW,
GOD DAMN THEM!
Ibn Ishaq stated, "While the Messenger of God (SAAS) was at al-Safra', al-Nadr
b. d-Harith was killed by 'Ali h. Abii Tzlib, or so I was told by a scholar from
Mecca. After they had moved on to 'Irq al-Zabiyya, Wqba b. Abii Mu'ay! was
executed.
"When the Messenger of God (SAAS) ordered his death, Wqba asked him,
'Who will look after my children, Muhammad?' 'The fire!' he responded. The
man who killed him was 'Asi b. Thxbit b. Abii d-Aqlah, a brother of the Banii
'Amr b. 'Awf, as I was told by Abii Wbayda b. Muhammad b. 'Ammar b. Yasir."
Mtisa b. 'Uqba also stated this in his work on the military expeditions. He
claimed that the Messenger of God (SAAS) killed no other person taken captive.
He stated, "And when '.&vim b. Thabit came up (to kill him) Wqha asked, '0
tribe 6f Quraysh, why am I to be killed out of all those here?'
"He replied, 'For your enmity towards God and His Messenger.'
"Hammad b. Salama stated, from 'A(% b. d-Sa'ib, from al-Sha'bi, who said,
'When the Prophet (SAAS) ordered the execution of Wqha, he asked, "Will you
kill only me from among Quraysh?"
"'The Messenger of God (SAAS) replied, "Yes. Do you know how this man
treated me? He came up while I was prostrate in prayer behind the maqcim,69
placed his foot on my neck and pressed down on it. I thought my eyes were going
to come out, before he lifted up his foot. On another occasion he brought a
sheep's entrails which he threw over my head while I was prostrate in prayer.
Fxtima came and washed it off my head.""'
Ibn Hisha stated, "It is also said that it was 'Ali b. Abii Tzlib who killed
Wqha, according to al-Zuhri and other scholars."
I would comment that these two men were among the most evil of God's
servants, the most stubborn, wicked, envious and disbelieving of men and they
had been very active in satirizing Islam and its supporters. God damn them! And
He did, indeed!
Ihn Hish- stated, "Qutayla, daughter of d-HZrith, sister of al-Nadr h.
al-Hzrith, spoke the following verses about the death of her brother,
^ '0 nder, al-Athil is a landmark since the morning of
the fifth n~ght, and you are fortunate.
Inform there a dead man of a greeting that the finest
of all are still waving,
From me to you, and of tears that are shed in
69 The "shrme of Abraham", near the kn'ba