Al-W¥^idÏ's Asb¥b al-Nuz‰l - The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies ...

Chapter 8: Surah al-Anfal
(O ye who believe! Betray not Allah and His messenger…) [8:27].
This verse was revealed about Abu Lubabah ibn ‘Abd al-Mundhir al-Ansari. 8 What happened is that the
Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, besieged the Jews of Banu Qurayzah for 21
nights when they requested peace from the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, on
the same terms that their brothers from Banu’l-Nadir had secured before, i.e. that they join their brothers
in Adhri‘at and Jericho in Syria. But he refused to grant it to them and insisted that they submit to
the judgment of Sa‘d ibn Mu‘adh. They refused to do so and said: “Send us Abu Lubabah, instead”. Abu
Lubabah was loyal to them, for his property, wife and children were with them. When the Messenger of
Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, sent him to them, they said to him: “O Abu Lubabah, what
do you think we should do Should we accept the judgment of Sa‘d ibn Mu‘adh” Abu Lubabah made
a gesture to his throat, i.e. that they should not do it, for they will be slaughtered. Abu Lubabah said: “I
straightaway realised that I had betrayed Allah and His Messenger”. And then this verse was revealed
about him. When the verse was revealed, Abu Lubabah tied himself to one of the columns of the mosques
and said: “By Allah, I will not taste food or drink until Allah relents on me or I die”. He remained in this
state for seven days, neither eating nor drinking, until Allah, exalted is He, relented on him. When it
was said to him: “O Abu Lubabah! You have been pardoned”, he said: “By Allah, I will not untie myself;
I want the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, to untie me”. The Prophet went and
untied him with his own hands. Abu Lubabah then said: “The completion of my repentance requires that
I migrate from the abode of my people where I had committed the sin and that I let go of my property”.
The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said to him: “It is enough that you give a
third of it to charity”. 9
(And when they said: O Allah! If this be indeed the truth from Thee…) [8:32-33].
The Commentators of the Qur’an said: “This was revealed about al-Nadr ibn al-Harith who said: ‘[O Allah!]
If what Muhammad says is true, then rain down stones on us’ ”. 10
Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Ja‘far informed us> Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-
Hakam> Muhammad ibn Ya‘qub al-Shaybani> Ahmad ibn al-Nadr ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab> ‘Ubayd Allah
ibn Mu‘adh> his father> Shu‘bah> ‘Abd al-Hamid, the companion of al-Ziyadi who heard Anas ibn
Malik saying: “Abu Jahl said: (If this be indeed the truth from Thee, then rain down stones on us or bring
on us some painful doom!) and so this was revealed (But Allah would not punish them while thou wast
with them)”. 11 This was narrated by Bukhari from Ahmad ibn al-Nadr and by Muslim from ‘Abd Allah
ibn Mu‘adh.
(And their worship at the (holy) House is naught but whistling and hand-clapping…) [8:35].
Abu Isma‘il ibn ‘Amr al-Naysaburi informed us> Hamzah ibn Shabib al-Ma‘mari> ‘Ubayd Allah ibn
Ibrahim ibn Balawayh> Abu’l-Muthanna Mu‘adh ibn al-Muthanna> ‘Amr>> his father> Qurrah> ‘Atiyyah>
Ibn ‘Umar who said: “They [people in the pre-Islamic period] used to go round the Ka‘bah clapping
— and he described how they clapped — and whistling — and he described how they whistled
— and they also put their cheeks on the ground. Then this verse was revealed”. 12
8
Durr, :48; Tabari, :221.
9
Musnad of Ahmad.
10
Durr, :55; Tabari, :232.
11
Durr, :55.
12
Durr, :61-62; Tabari, :241.
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