Ka'b and Abu Qatada at the garden wall

كعب وأبو قتادة على جدار الحائط

October 630 CE · Rajab 9 AH

Medina

During the boycott Ka'b climbed the wall of his cousin Abu Qatada's garden and greeted him; he did not answer. Ka'b adjured him three times: did he know that Ka'b loved God and His Messenger? On the third Abu Qatada said: God and His Messenger know best — and Ka'b's eyes welled up.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Arabia
Review
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In time

620630640
The Prophetic Era · The Rashidun Caliphate

In space

Medina

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Summary

The Muslims' estrangement from Ka'b wore on; he climbed the wall of his cousin Abu Qatada's garden and greeted him, and Abu Qatada did not return the greeting — then Ka'b adjured him three times, and at the third he said only: "God and His Messenger know best." 1

The account

Ka'b said: when the Muslims' estrangement wore long upon me I walked until I climbed the wall of Abu Qatada's garden — my cousin and the dearest of people to me — and greeted him; by God, he did not return my greeting. 1

The adjuration

I said: Abu Qatada, I adjure you by God — do you know that I love God and His Messenger? He was silent. I adjured him again; he was silent. I adjured him again, and he said: "God and His Messenger know best." My eyes brimmed and I sprang up, climbed back over the wall and went off to the market. 1

Source notes and markers of doubt

  • Ibn Ishaq names him only "Abu Qatada", Ka'b's cousin; he has not been identified with any other biography in this batch.

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant
Abu Qatada, cousin of Ka'b ibn Malik· Ka'b ibn Malik al-Ansari
Occurred at
Medina
Part of
The three who were left behind after Tabuk

People and things also explored

The fifty-night boycott of the three· The letter of the king of Ghassan to Ka'b ibn Malik· Ka'b ibn Malik puts off his preparations for Tabuk· Ka'b offers his wealth and vows to speak only the truth· Ka'b tells the Prophet the truth· The order that the three keep apart from their wives· The acceptance of the repentance of the three· The three who were left behind after Tabuk

Sources

  1. al-Sira al-Nabawiyya — Ibn Hisham, al-Saqqa edition (1355/1936) , 4/178
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Ka'b and Abu Qatada at the garden wall”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/kaab-and-abu-qatada-at-the-garden-wall/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

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Related

The fifty-night boycott of the three

After his return the Prophet forbade the Muslims to speak to Ka'b, Murara and Hilal; people shunned them and their world changed for fifty nights. Two of them kept to their houses, while Ka'b went out to prayer and the markets and no one spoke to him.