so I said, “O Messenger of Allah, the people are thirsty, and I drove them off before they could water their mounts. Dispatch riders after them.”
He replied, “Son of al-Akwaʿ, now that you have prevailed, be gracious; those folk are known to honor their guests among their own people.”

The Slaying of Abū Rāfiʿ
He was Salām ibn Abī al-Ḥuqayq; some say his name was ʿAbdullāh ibn Abī al-Ḥuqayq the Jew—may Allah’s curse be upon him.

Al-Bakkāʾī relates from Ibn Isḥāq: When the affair of the Trench and the matter of Banū Qurayẓah had been concluded, Salām ibn Abī al-Ḥuqayq (Abū Rāfiʿ) was among those who had marshalled the Confederates against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Earlier, before the Battle of Uḥud, the Aws had killed Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf. The Khazraj therefore asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for permission to kill Ibn Abī al-Ḥuqayq, who was a man of standing, and he granted them leave.

Al-Zuhrī narrated to me from ʿAbdullāh ibn Kaʿb ibn Mālik, who said: One of the favors Allah bestowed upon His Messenger ﷺ was that these two clans of the Anṣār vied with one another in serving him like two stallions contending. Whenever the Aws accomplished something that benefited the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, the Khazraj would say, “By Allah, they shall not eclipse us in merit with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and in Islam,” and they would not rest until they had matched it. When the Khazraj did something, the Aws said the same.

Thus, when the Aws dispatched Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf because of his enmity toward the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, the Khazraj said, “By Allah, they shall not take this distinction over us.” They discussed who among the enemies of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was comparable to Ibn al-Ashraf, and they settled on Ibn Abī al-Ḥuqayq, who was then residing in Khaybar.