MAR?AB AL–YAH?D? IBN AL–??RITH

MAR?AB AL–YAH?D? IBN AL–??RITH (d. 629), warrior of Arabia, renowned for his courage. His family is said to have been of ?imyarite origin and several other members gained fame as warriors. They were mentioned by many Muslim historians, and were noted for their outstanding courage. Mar?ab's two brothers, al-??rith and Y?sir, distinguished themselves in the *Khaybar war against *Muhammad. Zaynab, a woman famous in Islam, who attempted to poison Muhammad to avenge the death of her husband, father and uncle in that war, was also a member of the family. Arab sources refer to him as Mar?ab al-Yah?d? (Mar?ab the Jew), omitting mention of his father's name. The references to the woman Zaynab are somewhat confused. One source states that al-??rith was "Zaynab's father and Mar?ab's brother" (al-Maqr?z?, 1:314). The same source, however, refers to Zaynab as "Zaynab the Jewess, al-??rith's daughter, and Mar?ab's sister." Mar?ab and his brother, Y?sir, both composed poetry in the rajaz meter. Arab historians and biographers of Muhammad state that Mar?ab died in a duel during one of the battles at Khaybar. The story, as preserved by the ninth-century historians al-W?qid? and Ibn Hish?m, states that, during the siege by Muslim forces of one of the Khaybar fortresses, Mar?ab threw a heavy millstone over the walls of the fort, killing Mahm?d ibn Maslama. His cousin Ali ibn Abu ??lib promptly challenged Mar?ab's brother to a duel and killed him. Mar?ab, singing an urj?za (poem in rajaz meter), then came to avenge his brother's blood and met Ma?m?d ibn Maslama's brother, Muhammad ibn Maslama. In the duel Mar?ab's sword stuck in his adversary's shield and M?hammad then struck Mar?ab a mortal blow. Mar?ab's second brother, Y?sir, was also killed in a duel, while Zaynab's husband fell in battle. The distraught Zaynab, having lost her husband and her brothers, attempted to poison Muhammad in revenge, but he was saved by his foresight. There are conflicting traditions as to whether Muhammad had Zaynab killed, or released her after her conversion to Islam.

bibliography:

A.P. Coussin de Perceval, Essai sur l'histoire des Arabes…, 3 (Paris, 1847), 195–8; Graetz, Hist, 3 (1894), 82–84; Ibn Hish?m, Abd el-Malik, Kit?b S?rat Ras?l Allah, Das Leben Muhammeds, ed. by F. Wuestenfeld (1859), 670–1; Ibn Saad, Kit?b al-?abaq?t al-Kab?r… Biographien Muhammed's…, ed. by J. Horovitz, 2 pt. 1 (1909), 80–81; al-W?qid?, The Kit?b al-Magh?z?, ed. Marsden Jones, 2 (London, 1966), 645, 653–4; al-Maqr?z?, Ahmad ibn Ali, Imt??al-Asm??, ed. Mahmud M. Sh?kir, 1 (Cairo, 1941), 187, 311–16, 321–2; al-Diy?rbakr?, Hussein ibn Muhammad, Ta?r?kh al-Kham?s…, (Cairo, 1283 H. (1866 c.e.)), ii, 50–3; al-?alab? Ali ibn Burh?n al-D?n, Ins?nal-?Uy?n, 3 (1320 ah, 1902 c.e.), 43–46; H.Z. Hirschberg, Yisrael ba-?Arav (1946), 55, 148, 251.

[Shmuel Moreh]