l permission to his followers to slay any Jew
whom they might chance to meet, and consequently Muheiasa killed Ibn
Sanina, and Huweisa became a convert to Islam, is contradicted by
another counter-tradition in Ibn Hisham (pp. 554-555), who has related
from Abu Obeida, who relates from Abu Omar-al-Madani, that, "during the
execution of the Bani Koreiza (_vide_ para. 68), one Kab-bin-Yahooza was
made over to Muheiasa for execution. When the latter executed his
victim, Huweisa, his brother, who was still unbelieving, upbraided
Muheiasa. "If he," responded Muheiasa, "that commanded me to kill him
had commanded me to kill thee also, I would have killed thee." Huweisa
was quite surprised at his brother's reply, and went away astonished.
During the night he used to wake up repeatedly, and wonder at his
brother's staunch devotion to his faith. In the morning, he said, "By
the Lord! This is a wonderful faith," and came to the Prophet to embrace
Islam. These remarks show that the alleged permission to kill the Jews,
and Ibn Sanina's murder, and Huweisa's conversion in consequence
thereof, is all a mere concoction.

[Sidenote: 83. Sir W. Muir quoted.]

Even Sir W. Muir, though very fond of collecting all such apocryphal
traditions reflecting on the character of the Prophet, doubts the
veracity of this one, and declares its improbability and inexpediency.
He writes:--

"But the order itself is a strange one, and must, one would
suppose, have been accompanied by some conditions or reservations
not here apparent. It was surely not expedient for the Prophet's
cause at this time that the streets of Medina should have flowed
with blood by the strict execution of this command. Yet such is the
distinct tenor of the best traditions.

"The order was not an unlikely one to have issued at a time when
Mahomet was irritated against the Jews by their treachery; and
Hishami has a tradition that it was promulgated when Mahomet
directed the massacre of all the males of the Coreitza, which would
have been the more likely version, if the other tradition had not
been so strong and positive."[279]

But the tradition quoted by him is by no means the best or strongest as
I have shown above. Hishamee does not say that the order was promulgated
at the execution of the Bani Koreiza. He simply narrates the story of
Muheiasa and Huweisa to have taken place at that time.

_The expulsion of the