Nadr ibn al-Harith

A painting from Siyer-i Nebi, Ali beheading Nadr ibn al-Harith in the presence of Muhammad and his companions.

al- Naḍr b. al- Ḥārith b. ʿAlḳama b. Kalada b. ʿAbd Manāf b. ʿAbd al-Dār b. Ḳuṣayy (d. 624 CE) was an Arab pagan who lived in the same time and region as the Islamic prophet Muhammad. After the Battle of Badr, Muhammad decided to return to Medina. While Muhammad was returning to Medina, he reportedly received a revelation regarding the distribution of war booty. This was the Quran verse Quran 8:41 [1][2]

According to the Muslim scholar Safiur Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, two captives – Nadr bin Harith and ‘Uqbah ibn Abū Mu‘ayṭ were beheaded by Ali. Mubarakpuri mentions that this incident about the beheading is also mentioned in the Sunan Abu Dawud no 2686 and Anwal Ma'bud 3/12[3] The event is claimed to have inspired Nadr's relative Qutayla to compose an elegy on his death, upbraiding Muhammad for the execution.[4]

Personal life

The son of al-Harith ibn Kalada, a doctor who attended the Persian school in Gundeshapur, Nadr ibn al-Harith was also a doctor and pactitioned in Hejaz.[5] He came from Taif and used to tell the Arabs stories of Rustam and Isfandiyar. [6]

Quran verse about the beheading of al-Nadir ibn al harith

Ibn Kathir also mentions this incident in his book Tafsir ibn Kathir and states the Quran verse Quran 8:31 was revealed about al-Nadir ibn al Harith. Ibn Kathir's commentary on Quran 8:31 and Quran 8:5 is as follows:[7][8]

An-Nadr visited Persia and learned the stories of some Persian kings, such as Rustum and Isphandiyar. When he went back to Makkah, He found that the Prophet was reciting the ayats of Qur'an sent from Allah to the people. Whenever the Prophet would leave an audience in which An-Nadr was sitting, An-Nadr began narrating to them the stories that he learned in Persia, proclaiming afterwards, Who, by Allah, has better tales to narrate, I or Muhammad. When Allah allowed the Muslims to capture An-Nadr in Badr, the Messenger of Allah commanded that his head be cut off before him, and that was done, all thanks are due to Allah. The meaning of,

(. ..tales of the ancients) [Tafsir Ibn Kathir, on Quran 8:31]

See also

References

  1. [Quran 8:41]
  2. Husayn Haykal, Muhammad (2008). The Life of Muhammad. Selangor: Islamic Book Trust. p. 250. ISBN 978-983-9154-17-7.
  3. Mubarakpuri, The Sealed Nectar (Free Version), p. 129
  4. Sarah Bowen Savant, The New Muslims of Post-Conquest Iran: Tradition, Memory and Conversion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), p. 176. E.g. Ibn Khallikan's Biographical Dictionary, trans. by Bn Mac Guckin de Slane, Oriental Translation Fund (Series), 57, 4 vols (Paris: Printed for the Oriental translation fund of Great Britain and Ireland, 1842-71), I 372.
  5. Shahîd, Irfan (1 February 2010). Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century. Harvard University Press. p. 179. ISBN 978-0-88402-347-0.
  6. Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century, Volume 2, Part 2, p.179, Irfan Shahîd. Also see footnote
  7. [Quran 8:31]and [Quran 8:5]
  8. Muhammad Saed Abdul-Rahman, The Meaning and Explanation of the Glorious Qur'an (Vol 3) 2nd Edition, p. 412, ISBN 1861797699, MSA Publication Limited, 2009. (online)


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