The plan

The plan  (68)

Having received the Prophet’s permission to entrap Ka’b,
Muhammad bin Muslimah went to Ka’b. After Ka’b’s initial wariness had worn off, Muhammad confided, “This man [indicating the Prophet came to us asking for charity, but he has put us to great trouble.”

Muhammad bin Muslimah’s words had the desired effect.
Ka’b exclaimed with joy, “By God, you people will tire of him even more in the future.”

Now that Muhammad had gained Ka’b’s confidence, he
requested a loan of wheat  or dates, leaving his weapon as collateral. His weapon was granted.

Next came Abu Naailah with a similar complaint. He held the same that some of his companions unfavourable opinions of the Prophet and that he would bring them to Ka’b, as they were also in need of Ka’b’s help. Ka’b graciously agreed to meet them at a later date, delighted at finding more and more disenchanted Muslims through whom he could hurt the Prophet ﷺ.

It was the fourteenth of Rabi’ Al-Awwal, 3 A.H., and the full
moon was shining down on Ka’b as he lay with his new wife in his fortress. When the five armed Muslims called out to him, Ka’b readily went down to see them, disregarding his wife’s pleas to take care. He was so complacent about his success in finding collaborators that even the sight of the Muslims’ weapons did not startle him. He certainly did not see himself as their target.

They set out on a stroll. Abu Naailah complimented Ka’b on
his perfume, and asked permission to smell his head. Flattered, Ka’b obliged. Abu Naailah sniffed his head and then, holding Ka’b’s head in his hands, bade his companions smell the fragrance as well. He asked to do so again, and was allowed to smell the fragrance once more.

When Ka’b’s head was securely in his grasp, Abu Naailah urged his comrades, “Seize this enemy of Allah!”

Instantly, the others struck with their swords, but with no
success. Finally, Muhammad bin Muslimah used his axe to strike Ka’b’s abdomen. As the axe cleaved his body, Ka’b died screaming horribly. The sound of the disturbance roused Ka’b’s men, who lit torches around the top of the fort, but they did not find the five men who got away, having silenced their most vocal enemy at last.

Ka’b’s death greatly demoralised the Jews. In their new found
sense of discretion they decided against open warfare upon the Muslims and went underground, and the Muslims were safe for a while from harassment.

The Sariyya of Qardah

In Jamad Al-Awwal, 3 A.H., the Quraysh sent a trade caravan to Syria by way of Iraq. They entrusted the caravan to Safwan bin Umayya and were not overly concerned at the risks involved since the route went through Najd, far from Madinah and the menace of the Muslims.

When the Prophet ﷺ came to know about the Qurayshi
caravan with its precious cargo, he dispatched a cavalry of two hundred men under the command of Zayd bin Haritha .

At Najd, as the caravan halted at a spring named Qardah, Zayd and his men swooped down on the caravan and its travellers. Even though the men managed to flee, their possessions fell into the hands of the Muslims as did the caravan guide, Furat bin Hayyan. The humane treatment Furat experienced at the hands of his captors so impressed him that he became Muslim.

When the booty from the caravan was evaluated, its worth stood at a hundred thousand dirhams. With this raid, the Muslims had inflicted on the Quraysh an economic defeat as devastating as the military one at Badr.

Do not forget to share the life of our prophet SAW to get the reward
and read the first parts from here.

Read from first part https://islamicreminder.org/the-history-life-of-prophet-muhammad-pbuh/

TO BE CONTINUED IN SHA ALLAH…