Salim ibn Umayr's mission to kill Abu Afak

Ibn Ishaq counts among the raids "the expedition of Salim ibn Umayr to kill Abu Afak", who was one of the Banu Amr ibn Awf and later of the Banu Ubayda. ¹ Ibn Ishaq says that his hypocrisy had come out, that is, had shown itself, when al-Harith ibn Suwayd ibn al-Samit was killed, and that he then composed verses. ²

In his verses, as Ibn Ishaq gives them, he says that he has lived a long time and has seen among people no house or group more faithful to their covenants, or more fulfilling of agreements with those who contract with them, than the sons of Qayla. Their gathering would shake the mountains, yet they did not submit. Then a rider came to them with "lawful and unlawful mixed together" and split them apart. He ends: "If you had believed in glory, or followed a king, you would have followed a Tubba." Qayla is the ancestor to whom the Aws and the Khazraj are attributed, as the scholars explain. ² See the verses.

The Prophet said: who will rid me of this wicked man? Salim ibn Umayr, a brother of the Banu Amr ibn Awf and one of the weepers, went out and killed him. ² Umama al-Muzayriyya said two verses about it, addressing Abu Afak: he denies the religion of God and the Praised One; and a "hanif", that is a Muslim, gave him a stab in the last of the night; let him take it despite his age. ² See the two verses of Umama.

The description of Abu Afak as "wicked" comes from the Prophet's words in Ibn Ishaq's report, and "hypocrisy" comes from Ibn Ishaq's own words. The museum gives both descriptions attributed and does not issue a judgement. This is one of the shortest reports of the biography on its subject and one of the most debated, so it is placed in the first review tier. ²

• Ibn Ishaq gives no chain for the report. ¹
• The title of the report is "The expedition of Salim ibn Umayr to kill Abu Afak" in one copy, and "The expedition of Salim ibn Umayr against Abu Afak" in the other sources. ¹
• "And they did not submit" with the alif substituted for the light emphatic nun, according to the editors. ²
• The date is not stated; it is linked to the killing of al-Harith ibn Suwayd in Ibn Ishaq's text, and the year given by later writers needs an additional source.