At a glance
- Era
- The Prophetic Era
- Region
- Arabia
- Identifiers
- Wikidata
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
Life in time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Place in the story
- PersecutortowardMuhammad · c. 613 CE – 622 CE · 1 BH†Historical
- Military opponenttowardThe early Muslim community · 624 CE · 2 AH†Historical
Arabian polytheism (documented)
Roles are dated and sourced; the museum describes the act and attributes the judgement.
Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt, a Qurashi for whom the sources record specific physical harm of the Prophet ﷺ — and one of the two captives executed after Badr, a fact the narrative itself records without adornment. The sources tie Uqba to the ugliest scenes of the Meccan years: throwing a camel's afterbirth on the Prophet while he was prostrate, and strangling him with his garment at the Ka'ba until Abu Bakr pushed him off. He was taken at Badr and executed on the way back — one of two captives (the other al-Nadr ibn al-Harith) singled out for execution, which the sources explain by his record of harm. He was among the harshest toward the Prophet.
Overview
Uqba ibn Abi Muayt was a Qurashi whom the sources record as causing the Prophet specific, physical harm. He was one of two prisoners executed after Badr. The report itself records this fact without softening it.
Life
The sources link Uqba to the most shameful scenes of the early Meccan years: he threw the entrails of a slaughtered camel on the Prophet while he was prostrating, and he strangled him with his garment at the Kaaba until Abu Bakr came. 2.
He was taken prisoner at Badr and executed on the way back. He was one of two prisoners singled out for execution, the other being al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, and the sources explain this by his record of harm. 2 3.
Legacy
The exhibit presents him dryly, as the sources do: a man who was repaid, after the battle, in kind for his documented acts. He is a difficult showcase: war, captivity and revenge in the first generation.
For young visitors
Uqba harmed the Prophet many times among the people. After the first great battle, he was one of only two prisoners who were not pardoned.
On the enmity towards the Prophet (The Sealed Nectar pp.88, 100)
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Connections
- Parent of
- Umm Kulthum bint Uqba
- Born in
- Mecca
- Died in
- Badr
- Member of
- Banu Abd Shams· Quraysh
- Persecuted
- Muhammad
- Participated in
- The Battle of Badr· After Badr: the dead, the captives, the spoils, and the news in Mecca and Medina· The affair of the Badr prisoners· The departure night of the Hijra· Uqba ibn Abi Mu'it chokes the Prophet at the Hijr
- Mentioned in
- Bukhari 3678 — Uqba strangles the Prophet; Abu Bakr pushes him off
People and things also explored
al-Nadr ibn al-Harith· Muhammad· Abu Bakr al-Siddiq· Umar ibn al-Khattab· Abu Jahl (Amr ibn Hisham)· Umayya ibn Khalaf· Utba ibn Rabi'a· Mecca
Sources
- Sahih al-Bukhari , 3678
- Ibn Ishaq / Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad (1955)
- Watt, Muhammad at Mecca (1953)
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri , p.88
- Sahih al-Bukhari , 1/543
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri , p.100
- Sahih al-Bukhari , 1/544
- Ibn Sa'd, Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir (Bewley translation, Ta-Ha)
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/uqba-ibn-abi-muayt/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-26.