Malik ibn Nuwayra

Malik ibn Nuwayra (Arabic: مالك بن نويرة: died 632), was the chief of the Banu Yarbu, a clan of the Banu Hanzala, a large section of the powerful tribe of Bani Tamim which inhabited the north-eastern region of Arabia, between Bahrain and Najd. The tribe was pagan until converting to Islam. The center of Malik's clan was Butah.

Muhammad appointed Malik as an officer over the clan of Banu Yarbu. His main responsibility was the collection of taxes and their dispatch to Madinah following the Islamic prophet's death in 632.

Malik was appointed as the collector of the sadaqa over his clan of the Tamim, the Yarbu after the prophet's death. Following the Islamic prophet's death, Malik stopped passing the sadaqah, and also refused to give his sadaqah to Medina,^[1] as they refused to recognise the Caliphate of Abu Bakr.

The Rashidun general Khalid ibn al-Walid and his army encountered Malik and eleven of his clansmen from the Yarbu in 632. The Yarbu did not resist, proclaimed their Muslim faith even after being proven guilty and were escorted to Khalid's camp. Khalid had them all executed for their refusal to pay sadaqah and subsequently refusing to recognize the newly instilled caliphate of Abu Bakr. Khalid then married Malik's widow Layla who has been a strong witness of Malik's alleged treason and had been against her husband ever since he joined the proclaimed prophetess from her tribe. Khalid consummated his marriage to Layla on the same night her husband was killed.

When news of Khalid's decision reached Medina, Umar, who had become Abu Bakr's chief aide, pressed for Khalid to be punished or relieved of command as Malik had been a Muslim at the time of his death, had surrendered to Khalid, and had professed the Shahada before his death, making Khalid a murderer under Islamic law. Abu Bakr chose to pardon him stating that Khalid did nothing wrong and the proofs against Malik strongly proved his treason. Abu Bakr acted in the same way as Muhammad did when Khalid might have attacked the Banu Jadhima and killed their men.^[2] Muhammad did not discharge or punish Khalid in this incident.^[3]

Watt considers accounts about the Yarbu during the Ridda Wars in general to be "obscure".^[4] In the view of the modern historian Ella Landau-Tasseron, "the truth behind Malik's career and death will remain buried under a heap of conflicting traditions".

Although some people such as Abu Qutada and Umar condemned this act of Khalid and Umar called for his stoning, Abu Bakr did not punish Khalid and said that he had made no bigger mistake to be punished for and that he won't sheathe the Sword of Allah as Malik reaped what he sowed.

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• Kister, M. J. (2002). "The Struggle against Musaylima and the Conquest of Yamama". Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam. 27: 1–56.
• Landau-Tasseron, Ella (1991). "Mālik b. Nuwayra". In Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume VI: Mahk–Mid. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 267–269. ISBN 978-90-04-08112-3.
• Mulder, Stephennie (2014). "Seeing the Light: Enacting the Divine at Three Medieval Syrian Shrines". In Roxburgh, David J. (ed.). Envisioning Islamic Art and Architecture: Essays in Honor of Renata Holod. Leiden and Boston: Brill. pp. 88–108. ISBN 978-90-04-26402-1.
• Umari, Akram Diya (1991). Madīnan Society at the Time of the Prophet, Volume II: The Jihād against the Mushrikūn. Translated by Huda Khattab. Herndon, Virginia: The International Institute of Islamic Thought. ISBN 0-912463-37-6.
• Watt, W. Montgomery (1960). "Abū Bakr". In Gibb, H. A. R.; Kramers, J. H.; Lévi-Provençal, E.; Schacht, J.; Lewis, B. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume I: A–B. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 109–111. OCLC 495469456.