Companions of the Qalib
Companions of the Qalīb (Arabic: أَصحاب القَليب) refers to a group of polytheist leaders from Mecca who were killed in the Battle of Badr and, by the order of Prophet Muhammad (s), were buried in the Qalib (meaning an abandoned well).[1] The term "qalīb" means an abandoned well.[2]
According to historical reports, the Prophet (s) addressed these slain individuals, reprimanding them for denying the divine message and expelling His Messenger from Mecca.[3] Umar b. al-Khattab called them deaf dead bodies, but the Prophet (s) responded: "They hear, but they are unable to reply."[4] This event has been cited as evidence for the hearing of the dead.[5] The number of polytheists killed in the Battle of Badr is reported to be between 49 and 74,[6] including individuals such as Utba b. Rabi'a, Shayba b. Rabi'a, Umayya b. Khalaf, and Abu Jahl.[7]
Exegetes have considered Qur'an 47:34[8] and Qur'an 8:50 to be related to this event.[9] Some narrations also indicate that angels struck the polytheists during the Battle of Badr, as whip marks were found on Abu Jahl's body.[10]
Hassan b. Thabit composed a poem about the Companions of the Qalib, part of which is quoted below:[11]
When we cast them in groups into the well, the Messenger of God called out to them: "Did you not find my words to be true? Indeed, God's command prevails over hearts." They gave no reply; yet had they been able to speak, they would have said: "You spoke the truth, and your judgment was sound."
Notes
- ↑ Wāqidī, al-Maghāzī, vol. 1, pp. 111–112; Ibn Hishām, al-Sīra al-Nabawiyya, p. 306.
- ↑ Shartūnī, Aqrab al-mawārid, vol. 4, p. 395.
- ↑ Wāqidī, al-Maghāzī, vol. 1, p. 112; Ibn Hishām, al-Sīra al-Nabawiyya, p. 306.
- ↑ Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, vol. 5, p. 98.
- ↑ See: Maybudī, Kashf al-asrār, vol. 4, pp. 65–66.
- ↑ Wāqidī, al-Maghāzī, vol. 1, p. 144.
- ↑ Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 2, p. 13.
- ↑ Zamakhsharī, al-Kashshāf, vol. 4, p. 329; Maybudī, Kashf al-asrār, vol. 9, p. 196.
- ↑ Maybudī, Kashf al-asrār, vol. 4, pp. 65–66.
- ↑ Maybudī, Kashf al-asrār, vol. 4, pp. 65–66.
- ↑ Ibn Hishām, al-Sīra al-Nabawiyya, p. 306.
References
- Bukhārī, Muḥammad b. Ismāʿīl al-. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī. Edited by Muḥammad Zuhayr b. Nāṣir al-Nāṣir. Dār Ṭawq al-Najāh, 1st ed., 1422 AH.
- Ḥalabī, ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm al-. Al-Sīra al-Ḥalabiyya. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1427 AH.
- Ibn Hishām, ʿAbd al-Malik. Al-Sīra al-Nabawiyya. Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 1430 AH.
- Ibn Saʿd, Muḥammad. Al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2nd ed., 1418 AH.
- Maybudī, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad. Kashf al-asrār wa ʿuddat al-abrār. Tehran: Amīr Kabīr, 1371 Sh.
- Shartūnī, Saʿīd. Aqrab al-mawārid fī fuṣaḥ al-ʿArabiyya wa l-shawārid. Tehran: Dār al-Uswa, 1416 AH.
- Subḥānī, Jaʿfar. Furūgh-i abadiyyat. Qom: Būstān-i Kitāb, 1385 Sh.
- Wāqidī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar al-. Al-Maghāzī. Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Aʿlamī, 1989.
- Zamakhsharī, Maḥmūd b. ʿUmar al-. Al-Kashshāf ʿan ḥaqāʾiq ghawāmiḍ al-tanzīl. Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1407 AH.
