Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul
عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ أُبَيِّ بْنِ سَلُولٍʿAbdullāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl
Senior member of Yathrib who survived the Battle of Bu'ath · Undisputed political leader of Yathrib before the Hijrah · Leader of the Munafiqun after the Hijrah
Biography
ʿAbdullāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl was the single most senior tribal figure in Yathrib who survived the catastrophic Battle of Buʿāth. The battle killed or decimated the senior leadership of both the Aus and the Khazraj. When the dust settled, ʿAbdullāh ibn Ubayy stood as the unchallenged senior figure, effectively the de facto political leader of all of Yathrib by default of seniority.
The Yathribis were in the process of crowning him formally as their chief when the Prophet ﷺ arrived after the Hijrah. The arrival of Islam, and the Prophet ﷺ as the new authority of the city, displaced ʿAbdullāh ibn Ubayy from the position he had considered his birthright. This displacement bred a deep, permanent bitterness.
He outwardly declared Islam to avoid isolation from his community, but inwardly remained hostile. He became the head of the Munāfiqūn (hypocrites) in Madinah, a group the Quran warns extensively about. Many Quranic passages and incidents in the later Seerah involve him directly.
The speaker notes at this point in the Seerah: "I'm jumping the gun here. He eventually becomes the leader of the Munafiqun." His detailed stories belong to the Medinan period.
Significance
His survival of Bu'ath (while all other seniors died) is what gave him the arrogance and sense of entitlement that later manifested as Nifaq; his story is a lesson in how worldly ambition can corrupt spiritual receptiveness
Stories
The Return from Badr: Zayd's Announcement, Ruqayyah's Burial, and the Beginning of Hypocrisy
historicalDeparture from Badr The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa-sallam left the plains of Badr on Monday the 20th of Ramadan 2 AH. The battle itself had been on…
Read the full story →The Three Primary Effects of the Battle of Badr
historicalDr. Yasir Qadhi identifies three primary effects of the Battle of Badr on the trajectory of early Islām: Effect One: The Establishment of Muslim Poli…
Read the full story →The Expulsion of Banu Qaynuqa
historical**Speaker Introduction** Dr. Yasir Qadhi prefaces this story with an extended contextual discussion about the historical relationship between Jews an…
Read the full story →The Shura Debate: Stay in Medina or March to Uhud?
historical**The Meeting** By approximately the 11th of Shawwāl, the Prophet ﷺ had confirmed, through independent spies after al-ʿAbbās's letter, that the Quray…
Read the full story →The March to Uhud and Ibn Ubayy's Withdrawal
historical**The March Begins** On the **14th of Shawwāl, 3rd year of Hijrah**, the Muslim force of 700 marched northward out of Madinah toward the mountain ran…
Read the full story →The Expulsion of Banu al-Nadir
historicalShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: BACKGROUND TENSIONS By the time of their expulsion, Banū al-Naḍīr already carried a history of friction with the Muslim…
Read the full story →Surah al-Hashr and the Fay' Rulings from Banu al-Nadir
historicalShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: Sūrah al-Ḥashr was revealed in its entirety in the aftermath of Banū al-Naḍīr's expulsion, and reading it against that b…
Read the full story →The Expedition of al-Muraysi' (Banu al-Mustaliq)
battleShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: Banū al-Muṣṭaliq, a clan of Khuzāʿah settled at the pool of al-Muraysīʿ between Mecca and Madinah, had sided with the Qu…
Read the full story →The Youth Quarrel and Abdullah ibn Ubayy's Statement
historicalShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: Al-Muraysīʿ saw the largest concentration of hypocrites of any expedition in the Sīrah, the campaign was nearby, promise…
Read the full story →The Beginning of the Slander of Aishah: The Lost Necklace
companion biographyShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: This account is drawn directly from ʿĀʾishah's own extended first-person narration, preserved across several pages of Ṣa…
Read the full story →The Slander Spreads, and Aishah Learns the Truth
companion biographyShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: Freshly humiliated by his exposure as a hypocrite in Sūrat al-Munāfiqūn, ʿAbdullāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl seized on Ṣafwān…
Read the full story →At Tabūk: Muʿādh Defends Kaʿb, and Abū Khaythamah Rides Alone
historicalShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: The Prophet ﷺ did not miss Kaʿb until the army had reached Tabūk, where he camped for some time (reports say ten to nine…
Read the full story →Masjid al-Ḍirār: The Mosque of Harm
historicalShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: The final incident is the mosque the hypocrites built. Refusing a coin for Tabūk, they yet found the funds to raise thei…
Read the full story →The Death of Abdullah ibn Ubayy, the Leader of the Hypocrites
historicalShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: One incident remains before the story of Tabūk can be closed, and it happened after the army had already come home: with…
Read the full story →Historical context
Yathrib: Background on the City That Would Become Madinah
historical noteSpeaker note: Before the story of the Aqabah meetings can be understood, the background of the city of Yathrib must be established. This note covers t…
Read the historical context →The Excuses of the Hypocrites: 'Do Not Tempt Me'
historical noteShaykh Yasir Qadhi explains: As the Prophet ﷺ called men to march, the hypocrites not only withheld their wealth but spun excuses to stay behind, som…
Read the historical context →The Treaty of Madinah, The Ṣaḥīfat al-Madīnah
historical note**The Ṣaḥīfat al-Madīnah: Document and Source** The Treaty of Madinah, known in Arabic as the *Ṣaḥīfat al-Madīnah* (صَحِيفَةُ الْمَدِينَة) or *Wathīq…
Read the historical context →