The Life of the Prophet Muhammad by Ibn Kathir - Volume 3 of 4

IMAM ABU AL-FIDI?' ISMA'IL IBN KATHiR 109
them who emerged. He then addressed them, telling them he would leave them
alone if they moved out of Medina. 'My people, you have seen what you have
seen! Obey me! Come, let us follow Muhammad! You well know, by God, that
he is a prophet; Ibn al-Hayyibxn Abii Wmayr and Ibn Hirzsh foretold us of
him, these being the most learned of Jews. They expected hi
to come and told
us to follow him. They came to us from Jerusalem and ordered us to deliver him
their greetings. They the died in their faith, and we buried them in this piece
of land of ours.' ,/P
"His people were silent at this, not one of them speaking. He then repeated
something similar and warned them of warfare, capture and exile. Al-Zubayr b.
BS@ then said, 'By the Torah, I have read the description of him in BZ@'s book,
the Torah that was revealed to Moses, though it is not in the works we instituted.'
"Ka'b b. Asad then asked him, 'Well, what's preventing you, Abii 'Abd
al-Wmsn, from following him?' 'You, Ka'b, are preventing me,' he replied.
'Why so?' Ka'b asked. 'I have never, I swear by the Torah, come between you
and hi.'
"Al-Zubayr insisted, 'On the contrary, you are the custodian of our pacts
and pledges; if you followed him, so would we. If you refused, so will we.'
"At this 'Amr b. Su'da approached Ka'b and referred to discussion between
them on that. Eventually, 'Amr stated, 'I've said all I'm going to about him; I
would not feel comfortable being his follower."'
Al-Bayhaqi related this.
THE EXPEDITIONAGAINST BAN0 LIHYAN DURING WHICH HE
PERFORMED, AT 'USFAN, THE SALATAL-KHAWF, THE "PRAYER
OF FEAR '!
Al-Bayhaqi related this in his Dalz1il (The Signs). Ibn Ishaq, so far as I have seen,
related it through Hisha, from Ziyad, tu the effect that it happened in Jumsds
al-Uwlx of the year 2 AH, after the battle of al-khandaq, "the ditch", and after
the expedition against Bann @rayp. This is similar to the account given by
al-Bayhaqi. But God knows best.
The hiif;? alSaybaqi stated, "Abn 'Abd Allsh, the h~f;?, related to us,
quoting Abii alLCAbb% al-A~rnm, quoting Ahmad b. 'Abd al-Jabb* and others,
as follows: 'After Khubayb and his companions had been struck down, the
Messenger of God (SAAS) went forth to revenge them by makimg a surprise
attack against Banti Lihyxn. He took the route to Syria to give the impression
that he was not attacking them, then headed for their territory. But he found
that they had taken the precaution of moving into defensive positions in the
mountain heights. The Messenger of God (SAAS) said, "If we go on down to
Wsfsn, Quraysh will think we're going on to Mecca." And so he proceeded
on with 200 men and encamped at 'Usfxn. He then sent on two horsemen to
Kura' al-Ghamim; they then left there."'