Abu 'Afak

Abu 'Afak (Arabic: أبو عفك‎‎, died c. 624) was a Jewish poet who lived in the Hijaz region (today Saudi Arabia). Abu 'Afak did not convert to Islam and was vocal about his opposition to Muhammad. He became a significant political enemy of Muhammad.

As an elderly man, Abu 'Afak Arwan wrote a politically charged poem against Muhammad and his followers that is preserved in the Sira. Muhammad then allegedly called for Abu 'Afak's death, and Salim ibn Umayr killed him. The affair was recorded by Ibn Ishaq in "Sirat Rasul Allah" (The Life of the Prophet of God), the oldest biography of Muhammad.

The following is an excerpt from Alfred Guillaume's translation of Ibn Ishaq's prophetic biography, chapter "Salim b. Umayr's expedition to kill Abu Afak".

Abu Afak was one of the B. Amr b. Auf of the B. Ubayda clan. He showed his disaffection when the apostle [Muhammad] killed al-Harith b. Suwayd b. Samit and said:

The apostle [Muhammad] said, "Who will deal with this rascal for me?" Whereupon Salim b. Umayr, brother of B. Amr b. Auf, one of the "weepers", went forth and killed him. Umama b. Muzayriya said concerning that:

The following is an excerpt from Rizwi Faizer’s translation of Waqidi’s military history, chapter “The Expedition to Kill Abu ‘Afak”.

Sa’id b. Muhammad related to us from ‘Umara b. Ghaziyya, and Abu Mus’ab related to us from Isma’il b. Mus’ab b. Isma’il b. Zayd b. Thabit from his elders, who said: “There was a sheikh of the Banu ‘Amr ibn ‘Awf called ‘Abu Afak. He was an old man who had reached one hundred and twenty years when the Prophet arrived in Medina. He provoked the enmity of the Prophet and did not enter Islam. When the Messenger of God went out to Badr and returned, and God granted him victory, Abu ‘Afak envited him and opposed him, saying:

‘Long have I lived but never have I seen
An assembly or collection of people,
more minds that came to a commitment swiftly when called.
A rider dispossessed them of their affairs,
splitting them into forbidden and permitted.
If it was kingship that you believed in,
you would have followed Tubba’.’

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