At a glance
- Roles
- Poet
- Era
- The Prophetic Era
- Region
- Arabia
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
Contested: This record includes matters on which scholars differ. The speaker's views are labelled as his, and other views are marked where no cited source yet exists.
Life in time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
LiteratureFactions, splits and schismsPolemic and apologetic
Place in the story
- OpponenttowardThe early Muslim community · 624 CE · 2 AH† – 624 CE · 2 AH†Historical
- Victim · c. September 624 CE · c. Rabi' I 3 AH†Historical
Jewish (documented)
Roles are dated and sourced; the museum describes the act and attributes the judgement.
Brief
Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, a poet of Banu Nadir, who turned his art to war after Badr: elegies that mourned Mecca and stirred it up, and satire of the women of the Muslims that wounds. He was assassinated in Medina with the Prophet's permission.
Life
Jewish through his father, of Banu Nadir, and Arab through his mother, Ka'b rode to Mecca after Badr and composed elegies for its dead. The sources attribute to these elegies the incitement of Quraysh to take revenge. He then returned to Medina and satirised the women of the Muslims in verse 1.
In the autumn of 624 CE a band of Ansar led by Muhammad ibn Maslama (may God be pleased with him) killed him in his fortress. The sources record that the Prophet authorised it, saying: "Who will deal with Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf? He has harmed God and His Messenger" 1 2.
For young visitors
Ka'b fought with poems instead of swords, and in that war it was enough to get him killed.
Opinions on the question
The question: How are Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf and his killing described?
First opinion · Sunni tradition (the museum's frame)Main reference
More opinions (1)
Academic viewSecondary opinion
Connections
- Died in
- Medina
- Member of
- Banu Nadir
- Opposed
- The early Muslim community
- Participated in
- The killing of Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf
People and things also explored
Medina· The killing of Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf· Banu Nadir· The early Muslim community· Medina's society at the Hijra· The Battle of the Trench (al-Ahzab)· The Battle of Uhud· The Constitution of Medina
Sources
- Ibn Ishaq / Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad (1955)
- Watt, Muhammad at Medina (1956)
- Ibn Sa'd, Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir (Bewley translation, Ta-Ha)
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/kab-ibn-al-ashraf/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.