Talk:Abu al-Rafi ibn Abu al-Huqayq

Is this person notable enough to have his own article? I mean is there any information about him that we can possibly find other than he died before the Battle of Khaybar?Bless sins 23:32, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

Abu al-Rafi ibn Abu al-Huqayq is the same person as Sallam ibn Abu al-Huqayq, so I suggest that the two Wikipedia articles under these separate names should be merged.

His death is described in detail by the early Muslim writers, so they presumably considered him a serious opponent.

Ibn Ishaq 714-715. Five men of the Salima tribe of Khazraj went to him: Abdullah ibn Atik; Masood ibn Sinan; Abdullah ibn Unays; Abu Qatada al-Harith ibn Ribi; and Khuzai ibn Aswad, an ally from Aslam. As they left, the apostle appointed Abdullah ibn Atik as their leader, and he forbade them to kill women or children. When they got to Khaybar they went to Sallam’s house by night, having locked every door in the settlement on the inhabitants. Now he was in an upper chamber of his to which a ladder led up. They mounted this until they came to the door and asked to be allowed to come in. His wife came out and asked who they were and they told her that they were Arabs in search of supplies. She told them that their man was here and that they could come in. When we entered we bolted the door of the room on her and ourselves fearing lest something should come between us and him. His wife shrieked and warned him of us, so we ran at him with our swords as he was on his bed. The only thing that guided us in the darkness of the night was his whiteness like an Egyptian blanket. When his wife shrieked one of our number would lift his sword against her; then he would remember the apostle’s ban on killing women and withdraw his hand; but for that we would have made an end of her that night. When we had smitten him with our swords Abdullah ibn Unays bore down with his sword into his belly until it went right through him, as he was saying “Qatni, qatni,” (“enough”). We went out. Now Abdullah ibn Atik had poor sight, and fell from the ladder and sprained his arm severely, so we carried him until we brought him to one of their water channels and went into it. The people lit lamps and went in search of us in all directions until, despairing of finding us, they returned to their master and gathered round him as he was dying. We asked each other how we could know that the enemy of God was dead, and one of us volunteered to go and see; so off he went and mingled with the people. He said, “I found his wife and some Jews gathered round him. She had a lamp in her hand and was peering into his face and saying to them: ‘By God, I certainly heard the voice of Abdullah b Atik. Then I decided I must be wrong and thought, “How can Ibn Atik be in this country?”’ Then she turned towards him, looking into his face, and said, ‘By the God of the Jews, he is dead!’ Never have I heard sweeter words than those.” Then he came to us and told us the news, and we picked up our companion and took him to the apostle and told him that we had killed God’s enemy. We disputed before him as to who had killed him, each of us laying claim to the deed. The apostle demanded to see our swords and when he looked at them he said, “It is the sword of Abdullah ibn Unays that killed him; I can see traces of food on it.”

Hassan ibn Thabit wrote this poem about the deaths of Sallam ibn Abu al-Huqayq and Kaab ibn al-Ashraf. Allah, what a fine band you met, O Ibn al-Hukaik and Ibn al-Ashraf! They went to you with sharp swords, Brisk as lions in a tangled thicket, Until they came on you in your dwelling And made you drink death with their swift-slaying swords, Seeking victory for the religion of their prophet Despising every risk of hurt. Grace has Victory (talk) 21:59, 30 January 2012 (UTC)Grace has Victory