Ka'b and Abu Qatada at the garden wall
كعب وأبو قتادة على جدار الحائط
October 630 CE · Rajab 9 AH
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.
At a glance
- Era
- The Prophetic Era
- Region
- Arabia
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
In time
In space
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
- Had participant
- Abu Qatada, cousin of Ka'b ibn MalikKa'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 threeThe letter of the king of Ghassan to Ka'b ibn MalikKa'b ibn Malik puts off his preparations for TabukKa'b offers his wealth and vows to speak only the truthKa'b tells the Prophet the truthThe order that the three keep apart from their wivesThe acceptance of the repentance of the threeThe three who were left behind after Tabuk
Sources
- 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. Accessed 2026-10-12.