The Firsts (Sahaba Stories) | The Forerunners of Islam
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Ka'ab Ibn Malik (ra): The Greatest Story of Repentance | The Firsts
Dr. Omar Suleiman presents the story of Ka'ab Ibn Malik (ra), the eloquent poet who was silenced, then elevated through his story to be the most narrated about repenter in the history of Islam.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan, the accursed in the name of Allah, the most Merciful, the most Gracious. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. No title except for the wrongdoers. And the end is for the righteous. O Allah, bless and bless Your servant and Messenger Muhammad, peace be upon him, and his family and companions. So inshallah ta'ala, tonight we will be continuing with the poets of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, and we will be covering the second poet of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, who is famous for his story of repentance. But just as I said, it's important to inshallah ta'ala have this insight into what it looked like when you came into Medina. The man that we're speaking about, Ka'b ibn Malik radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, was one of those sahaba that lived a very, very long life, and who many people became tabi'een because of, who many narrated from. And you could often see him walking around the masjid of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, in his old age, with one of his sons taking him around because he was blind. So he's one of those companions that lived a long life, and lived a significant amount of his life blind, and whose sons would take him around the masjid of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, where people would come to meet him, and would come to ask him about his history with the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, and what he witnessed of those glorious days in Al-Medina. So we start off once again with the reminder that Imam bin Sidin, rahimahullah, says, كان شعراء رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ثلاثة، that there were three poets of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Abdullah ibn Rawaha radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, and Hassan ibn Thabit radiyaAllahu anhu, and Ka'b ibn Malik radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. Ka'b ibn Malik has a lot of Ka'bs in his long name. So he's himself, Ka'b ibn Malik radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, the son of Malik ibn Abi Ka'b al-Qayn.
Both of his parents passed away before Islam had reached him or reached Al-Medina. He had two brothers, Sahl and Abdullah. So there's Ka'b ibn Malik, Sahl ibn Abdullah, and Abdullah ibn Malik, both of whom also accepted Islam and became companions through Ka'b ibn Malik. So again, three brothers, Ka'b ibn Malik, Sahl, and Abdullah, all who became companions of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam. And he had at least 11 children. He was married five times, obviously not all at the same time, and had over 11 children. The most famous of his children was Abdullah ibn Ka'b, who became a famous hadith narrator. So out of his 11 children that we know of, one of his children, Abdullah, became one of the more famous hadith narrators who narrated from his father as well as from many of the other companions of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Now Ka'b ibn Malik radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, what makes him of the blessed, first and foremost, is that he's one of the first people to embrace Islam from Al-Medina, and like Abdullah ibn Rawaha, he's one of those who actually went to Bay'at al-Aqaba, the second treaty of Aqaba in Mecca, and took the pledge with the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam. So he's from the first batch of Muslims from Al-Medina, and someone who's also a famous poet, a famous writer, and also a warrior from Al-Medina. So the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, pairs him off with Az-Zubair ibn Awwam radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. There's one narration that says Talha radiyaAllahu anhu, but the more correct one appears to be that he was the brother of Az-Zubair radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, which tells you a lot. Az-Zubair and Talha, of course, are most famous for being who to the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam? What are they to the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam? Does anyone remember? Talha and Az-Zubair?
What are they? His neighbors in Jannah. Talha and Az-Zubair are the two neighbors of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, in Al-Jannah. Talha and Az-Zubair are the two neighbors of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, in Al-Jannah. Az-Zubair is the disciple of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam. لكل نبي حواري Every Prophet had a disciple, and my disciple was or is Az-Zubair ibn Awwam radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. So when the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, chooses you to be the host of a person like Az-Zubair, that shows the position that this man has immediately in the sight of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Now he's going to go on to participate in every major battle alongside the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, except for two. The most famous one being Tabuk, which is literally the bulk of his biography. So 75% of his biography is this one narration of Tabuk, and he missed Tabuk. And the other one is Badr. He missed Badr, and he says about Badr that the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, did not admonish people for missing Badr, because Badr wasn't supposed to become a battle. Remember it was simply the Muslims trying to intercept the caravans and get back their stolen stuff. So Badr was not intended to be this huge battle that it became. But Allah blessed those who served alongside the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, in the Battle of Badr. And of course the Badriyun, the people of Badr, are the veterans of Islam. So he missed Badr, and he missed Tabuk, but he caught every other battle alongside the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam. And in Uhud in particular, he was one of those who not only did not flee from the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, but one of those who was wounded heavily alongside the Messenger, salallahu alayhi wa sallam. And there are a few narrations about Uhud. One of them is this narration of him and Az-Zubayr radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu.
And the narration is that when Ka'b radiyaAllahu anhu sustained multiple wounds, and Az-Zubayr radiyaAllahu anhu also sustained multiple wounds, you could see Az-Zubayr radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu picking up Ka'b and trying to keep him going, and Ka'b supporting him. So Az-Zubayr was leading him in the Battle of Uhud, and Ka'b radiyaAllahu anhu was with him. And they were so close, and of course also brothers, in the pact between the people of Mecca and the people of Madinah, the Muhajiri and the Ansar, that Az-Zubayr was going to inherit Ka'b ibn Malik had he died that day. And that's why they say Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala revealed, verse 85 in Surat al-Anfal, وَأُلُو الْأَرْحَامِ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلَى بِبَعْضٍ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ And the people of your family members have greater rights in the Book of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, because they were closer than brothers. And this was of course just the understanding as they were going into it, that inheritance would have transferred to Az-Zubayr radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu had Ka'b ibn Malik passed away on that day. There's also a narration from Ka'b ibn Malik radiyaAllahu anhu that he had a distinct honor on that day of Uhud with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. He says about himself, he says, لَمَّنْ كَشَفْنَا يَوْمَ أُحُدُ كُنتُ أَوَّلُ مَنْ عَرَفَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَمُ وَبَشَّرْتُ بِهِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ حَيًّا سَوِيًّا He says, when we became exposed in Uhud, or when we were hit in Uhud from the back, obviously we all know the story of Uhud. When Khalid radiyaAllahu anhu took the opposing army from the back and they started to attack the Muslims, he said, I was the first person to see the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam and to give the glad tidings of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam's well-being. So I was the one who caught sight of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam and who let the companions know, because the morale was very low, on the basis of what?
They thought the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam died. And the enemies of the Muslims were playing this trick of saying that we killed Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam to demoralize the Muslims, and to get the Muslims to stop fighting. So he says, I was the first person to see the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam and to assure that he was alive, and then to let the Muslims know that he was still alive salallahu alayhi wa sallam. And then he goes to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam and he swapped armor with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. This is an act of bravery and courage. He swapped his armor with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, and that of course caused much of the opposing army to come towards him. I mean that's more bravery and sacrifice than you can think of from any human being, subhanallah. Not only does he stick with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, but he swaps armor with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, and goes to the other side of the battlefield, taking a group with him, and they continue to fight with him on that day. فَقَاتَلَ يَوْمَئِذٍ قِتَالًا شَدِيدًا حَتَّى جُرِحًا سَبْعَةَ عَشَرَ جُرْحًا And so he was wounded on the day of Uhud with 17 significant wounds. Obviously in his act of bravery, his act of courage, and being with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam on that day of Uhud. So he missed Badr, but on Uhud not only did he catch Uhud, but he is the only person that we know of that carried out this act of actually swapping armor with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, and in the process incurring a significant amount of damage himself, radiyallahu anhu, but of course he survived, and Az-Zubayr radiyallahu anhu also survived, At-Talha radiyallahu anhu also survived, and of course the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam survived. So he's that person that is demonstrating his love for the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam in the most difficult moments. And this is important to the lead up of Tabuk,
so you can understand why the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam was so disappointed that he wasn't there. Right, I mean that's your showing in Uhud. That's a showing that isn't matched, right, that goes down in the books, and you are likely a person who will never have another stain on his reputation, right, after you carry out an act like that of bravery and courage, being with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, and being willing to incur that type of damage on his behalf, alayhi salatu was salam. Now his poetry was war poetry. As I said, the three poets of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam each had a genre, and I found a more specific saying of Ibn Siddiq, rahimahullah, he says, أما كعب فكان يذكر الحرب ويقول فعلنا ونفعل ويتهددهم He said that as for Ka'b, his poetry was war poetry, it was poetry of strength and courage, and he would say we did and we shall do, and he would basically threaten the opposing army, he would warn the opposing army. One of the sayings, وَبِيَوْمِي بَدْرٍ حِينَ تُمْحَى وَجُوهَهُمْ جِبْرِيرُ تَحْتَ رِوَٰئَنَا وَمُحَمَّدُ And on the day of Badr, when their faces were humiliated, Jibreel alayhis salam was under our banner and Muhammad salallahu alayhi wasalam, something that's traced back to Ka'b radiyaAllahu anhu. So he said Ka'b kind of had that poetry where he talked about the strength of the army and talked down the other army. He says, وَأَمَّا حَسَّانَ فَكَانَ يَذْكُرُوا عِيُوبَهُمْ As for Hassan, he used to mention their faults. Hassan's poetry was really mean, as you'll see next week. It wasn't very nice poetry in the sense that he really diced up those people that would insult the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam with poetry that really took them apart. And that was his specialty, right? It was dis-poetry, putting people down and that has a function in Islam as well. Okay, that has a function in Islam as well.
So putting them down with their own rhetoric, with their own flaws and humiliating them when they tried to humiliate the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam and the righteous ones. And he says, وَأَمَّا ابْنُ رَوَاحَةَ فَكَانَ يُعَيِّرُهُمْ بِالْكُفْرِ He said, as for Ibn Rawaha, he was the one radiyaAllahu anhu who used to speak about their disbelief and speak about the superiority of belief to disbelief. So they each have their lane and their genre of poetry. And he said, وَقَدْ أَسْلَمَتْ دَوْسٌ فَرَقًا مِنْ بَيْتٍ قَالَهُ كَعْبٍ He said that Daws, the remaining holdouts of Daws, they heard the poetry of Ka'ab radiyaAllahu anhu and they embraced Islam, they came forth and they put down their arms and they embraced Islam because of the strength of his poetry before anything even broke out between them. So the confidence of Ka'ab radiyaAllahu anhu, when they heard his voice as they're about to go into battle, they heard that confidence and that was inspiring to them, of course causes fear and inspires them to not go forth in their ways. And he said, نُخَيِّرُهَا وَلَوْ نَطَقَتْ لَقَالَتْ قَوَاتِعُهُنَّ دَوْسًا أَوْ ثَقِيفًا These are hard lines to translate. نُخَيِّرُهَا, أي نُخَيِّرُ الصِّيُوف We'll give our swords the choice and they will take, if they could speak, they would either take on Daws or Thaqeef. Like it doesn't matter to us who's on the other side, we're going forward. And Ibn Siddin rahimahullah was saying that Daws heard the confidence and the strength in the voice of Ka'ab radiyaAllahu anhu and that was enough for them. The Prophet ﷺ also praised his poetry on a very specific occasion in a beautiful way. Rasulullah ﷺ said to Ka'ab al-Malik radiyaAllahu anhu, he said, ما نسي ربك لك وما كان ربك نسي بيتا قلته ما نسي ربك لك means your Lord has not forgotten this for you and your Lord is not forgetful.
These words that you said, this poem that you once said. So what does that mean? Basically Allah has written down the reward of that poem that you once said and Allah does not forget anything good that you do. So these good words that you said. So that's pretty amazing. The Prophet ﷺ is saying Allah remembers the words that you have said one day and Allah has written them down for you. So he said, ما هو? He said, what are those words, ya Rasulullah? The Prophet ﷺ turned to Abu Bakr radiyaAllahu anhu and he said, أَنشِدْهُ يَا أَبَبَكِرِ Say the words, O Abu Bakr. So Abu Bakr radiyaAllahu anhu quoting Ka'ab to him, قَالَ زَعْمَتْ سَخِينَةُ أَنْ سَتَغْلِبَ رَبَّهَا وَلَيُغْلَبَنَّ مُغَالِبُ الْغَلَّابِ زَعْمَتْ سَخِينَةُ أَنْ سَتَغْلِبَ رَبَّهَا سخينة said that it would defeat its Lord or overcome the Lord, overcome Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So what is a sakhina? Sakhina is like the grease and the flour. What is it called? What's that word? Clarified butter? Ghee, right? So the Quraysh used to eat this. It's basically cheap food and it's fatty food. So it's a fatty food that Quraysh used to eat a lot of. And so he's basically calling them by the food that they used to eat. Like these lazy fools. So if someone ate a lot of donuts and you said the donuts said, you're referring to them because of how many donuts they eat. No offense to the donut eaters in here, right? But that's what his poetry is doing. He says, زَعْمَتْ سَخِينَةُ meaning Quraysh, سخينة claimed that it was going to overcome its Lord. وَلَا يُغْلَبَنَّ مُغَالِبُ الْغَلَّابِ And whoever believes he will overcome, the one who overcomes shall be overcome. Whoever believes he will overcome, the one who overcomes shall be overcome.
So the Prophet ﷺ is saying, Allah has not forgotten those powerful words that you said. And Allah does not forget anything. And it was so beautiful. I mean, imagine and Ka'b says, what is it, Ya Rasulullah? And the Prophet ﷺ could turn to Abu Bakr radiyallahu anhu and say, why don't you share those words? And Abu Bakr right off the top of his head, shares those words back to Ka'b ibn Malik radiyallahu ta'ala anhu. So it's a beautiful statement and it's a beautiful means by which we see the praise of the Prophet ﷺ for his poetry as well. Abdurrahman ibn Ka'b radiyallahu anhu narrates that Ka'b radiyallahu anhu said, Ya Rasulullah, قَدْ أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ فِي الشُّعَرَاءِ مَا أَنزَلْ He said, O Messenger of Allah, Allah has revealed things about the poets that he has revealed. Meaning what? When Allah talks about poets in the Quran, it's not praise. Right? As-shu'ara are not praised in the Quran. This was of course the fear of who? Abdullah ibn Rawaha. Like poets are not praised people in the Quran. They're looked down upon. And so he was worried. He said, Ya Rasulullah, Allah has revealed about the poets what he revealed. And he's basically saying to the Prophet ﷺ, I don't feel like I'm doing something good anymore. Like I'm worried about my rank. I'm worried about my status. And the Prophet ﷺ responded, إِنَّ الْمُجَاهِدَ مُجَاهِدٌ بِسَيْفِهِ وَلِسَانِهِ The Prophet ﷺ said, The Mujahid, the one who strives, strives with his sword and with his tongue. And he said, وَالَّذِي نَفْسِ بِيَدِهِ لَكَ أَنَّمَا تَرْمُونَهُمْ بِهِ نَضْحُ النَّبْلِ He said ﷺ, And I swear by the one in whose hands is my soul, that your words are like the arrows being thrown towards them. I mean, your tongue is archery. You know, what you are able to accomplish with your tongue. So keep doing what you do. It's okay. You shouldn't feel like you are low because of the poetry that you use. Because obviously Ka'b was using this poetry in battle,
almost exclusively in battle, to get the troops ready, right? And to keep the morale high and keep them going. So this is Ka'b around the Prophet ﷺ, one of the poets of the Prophet ﷺ, someone who has a heroic story in Uhud, someone who has seniority amongst the companions, one of those who was there on the night of Aqaba, so one of the early Muslims. And that's what makes tabuk so significant. So now we get into what's known as the story of Ka'b ibn Malik, the repentance of Ka'b ibn Malik. In the chapters of hadith, there is no person who occupies a greater story than Ka'b radiAllahu anhu in regards to his tawbah, in regards to his repentance. It is the longest story of repentance and the most famous story of repentance that is told in the books of biography, in the books of siyam, and in the books of a hadith from the Prophet ﷺ. So we go to tabuk. Tabuk is a battle in which, once again, the Romans have killed an ambassador, the Prophet ﷺ sends an ambassador to them, and they killed him. And essentially that was taken as a declaration of war, and the Prophet ﷺ starts to march towards tabuk with the expectation that this is going to be a large-scale battle between the Muslims and the Romans. And this story, you know, is really not complete unless you understand the circumstances of tabuk as a whole, like the individual story of Ka'b ibn Malik radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. Ka'b radiAllahu anhu himself had been Muslim for over a decade at this point, close companion of the Prophet ﷺ, and most of those who had been close to the Prophet ﷺ up until this point did what was predictably ihsan, predictable excellence, if you will. Those who stood with the Prophet ﷺ in Badr and Uhud,
tabuk is a daunting task, who cares? So most of the stories of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ are stories that cause you to admire them. Who can tell me the most famous story of charity from tabuk? Does anyone know? I'll give you a clue, Jaysh al-Usra. It's called the difficult army, an army in hardship. Uthman ibn Affan radiAllahu anhu. Uthman radiAllahu anhu was the one who financed the army of tabuk and the Prophet ﷺ looking after the army. maa dharra uthman maa fa'ala ba'da al-yawm Nothing would ever harm Uthman after what he did today. Like this amazing contribution of Uthman radiAllahu anhu, the way he came forth with the Prophet ﷺ, predictable, ihsan, excellence, beauty, and the Prophet ﷺ praised him. Abdurrahman ibn Uf radiAllahu ta'ala anhu also, predictable, right, spends and comes forward. The close companions of the Prophet ﷺ, the Badriyun, the people of Uhud, they're all gathering around the Prophet ﷺ and they're saying, we'll go forth, Ya Rasulullah, we don't care how daunting it is. Right? And the hypocrites are very defined here. See in Badr they got away with not having to be there anyway. Uhud, remember, they split off right before the battle started. The hypocrites split off right before the battle started. Khandaq, they plotted from the inside, right, and tried to make things worse on the inside. Tabuk, they tried to discourage people from going forward. And those that were still in the ranks of the Muslims, you know, and weren't exposed at this point, started to make excuses. And of course, what they did was, they mocked everyone who did anything good. So I gave a khutbah about this recently, that when a person came, اذ جاء رجل فتصدق بشئ كثير if someone came and donated a large amount, قالوا مرآئي they said he's just showing off. So if a man comes, عبد الرحمن عوف, they said what is show off? Right? He's not sincere, he's just doing this to show off.
And then on the other hand, و جاء رجل فتصدق بصاع a man comes and all he had was this small handful, all he had was just something seemingly insignificant to donate. And he had to work for the whole day. He went out and worked for the whole day to gather just the sa'ah that he could go and present to the Prophet ﷺ and say this is my contribution to the army as the Prophet ﷺ was preparing the army. And they responded, they said, اِنَّ اللَّهَ لَغَنِيٌ عَنْ صَاعِ هَذَا So Allah has no need for this man's insignificant amount. So they mocked the one who gave a lot, they mocked the one who gave a little, and Allah ﷻ revealed, الَّذِينَ يَلْمِزُونَ الْمُطَّوِّعِينَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ فِى الصَّدَقَاتِ وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَجِدُونَ إِلَّا جُهْتَهُمْ فَيَصْخَرُونَ مِنْهُمْ سَخِرَ اللَّهُ مِنْهُمْ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ Those who disparage the people that would give charity among the believers and who find nothing to spend of their efforts. So they mock them and Allah mocks them and they will have an agonizing punishment. So you've got people that are giving sadaqah. You know this is a long lead up to the battle. Okay. You have a lot of time to think about this. And it's July, around the time of July. And it's burning hot. And they're about to go to unknown land and face a much bigger army. Right. This is a daunting task. So you got the predictable sadaqah, the people giving a lot. And then you got the people that are trying to give what they can. And then you have those that are coming forth and they are crying to the Prophet ﷺ because they have nothing to give. And they don't have the means to go out. And you have the people whose health does not allow them. And you have the people whose health does not allow them to go forward. Okay. So you're getting all these different, you know, groups of people. And you have the hypocrites. Now what happens is,
this basically boils down to at the end of it, once it comes time for the battle, you have 20,000 sahaba surrounding the Prophet ﷺ ready to go. 20,000 companions. Huge army that are leaving behind, you know, the comfort of their homes and putting themselves in a very difficult situation and marching in the heat in the hot summer without even much water to carry them through. And then you have the people of ʻUdhr, the people who had an excuse to stay back. They were sincere, they were righteous, they wished they could go forward. And then you have the hypocrites. Right. The hypocrites. The hypocrites who made excuses for themselves when they didn't really have an excuse and they tried to discourage people from going forward. They said, you know, لا تنفروا في الحرق, it's hot, don't go. It's difficult right now, this is a difficult battle. Stay behind. So you got these three groups of people. And then you have these three men, amongst whom is Ka'b ibn Mālik, that really are the outliers. These are three companions of the Prophet ﷺ who are great men. And they don't have an excuse, but they stayed behind. And they are Ka'b ibn Mālik radiyallahu anhu, Murārah ibn al-Rabīʿ, and Hilāl ibn Umayyah. So Ka'b ibn Mālik, Murārah ibn al-Rabīʿ, and Hilāl ibn Umayyah. These three men are great companions of the Prophet ﷺ. And all three of them got caught up and ended up falling behind. So they missed the army when it went out for Tabuk. So here you have Ka'b ibn Mālik radiyallahu anhu, sharing the story of what happened to him. And the narration, it's actually beautiful the narration. The narration is from Ka'b ibn Abdillah, ibn Ka'b ibn Mālik. Ka'b the grandson, narrating from Ka'b the grandfather,
the story of his staying behind, and the story of his repentance. And this is 40 years later, Ka'b ibn Mālik sharing the story with his son. 40 years later when he was blind, because the narration actually says that, Ka'b ibn Mālik radiyallahu ta'ala anhu, sharing with his son Abdillah, who then shares it with his son Ka'b, who he named after his father. 40 years later, my regret for staying behind in Tabuk. So this is the, you know, think about ibn Abbas radiyallahu anhu, getting the story from Salman al-Fārisi radiyallahu anhu. Here you have Ka'b ibn Mālik radiyallahu anhu, 40 years after the incident, blind, sitting in the masjid of the Prophet ﷺ, talking to his son Abdillah, and saying, let me share with you, the story of the time that I stayed behind in Tabuk. So he goes on to say, radiyallahu ta'ala anhu, he says, لم أتخلف عن رسول الله ﷺ في غزوة غزاها قط إلا في غزوة تابوك غير أني قد تخلفت في غزوة بدر ولم يعاتب أحدا تخلف عنه. He said, radiyallahu ta'ala anhu, that I never missed a battle with the Prophet ﷺ that he undertook except for the battle of Tabuk, and the battle of Badr. And when it came to the battle of Badr, the Prophet ﷺ did not blame anyone for missing it. So I only missed one battle that I am to blame for, because the Prophet ﷺ did not blame anyone for missing Badr. And he explains, because the Prophet ﷺ went on, and يُرِيدون عِيرَ قُرَيْشٍ You know, they were not trying to start a battle, a war with Quraish, they were just simply trying to attack the caravans and get their stolen stuff back. But Allah ﷻ instead caused it to be greater than that, غير مِعَاد, even though that was not the plan in the first place.
قَالَ وَلَقَدْ شَهِدْتُ مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ لَيْلَةِ الْعَقَبَةِ حِينَ تَوَاثَقْنَا عَلَى الْإِسْلَامِ He said, and I was there on the night that the Prophet ﷺ took the pledge of Aqabah, when we pledged our allegiance to Islam. I mean, this is the earliest station with the Prophet ﷺ for the Muslims in Medina. I was there when we went to Mecca in secrecy, and we embraced the Prophet ﷺ, and we took that pledge with the Prophet ﷺ. And he says that, وَمَا أُحِبُّ أَنَّ لِي بِهَا مَشْهَدَ بَدْرٌ وَإِن كَانَتْ بَدْرٌ أَذْكَرَ فِي النَّاسِ مِنْهَا And he said, رضي الله تعالى عنه, that I would not trade that night of Aqabah even for Badr, even if Badr is more famous amongst the people, even if people talk about Badr all the time. But when we were just 70 of us, you know, going to Mecca in the time of Hajj, with this man that was wanted by his people and disparaged by his people, and there was no safety net whatsoever, and secretly meeting the Prophet ﷺ and taking that pledge with him, he said, that was the most beloved night of my life. I would not trade that day for any day in my life. Meaning to say, I was there in some difficult moments. I didn't used to miss the Prophet ﷺ in difficult moments. This wasn't out of cowardice that I fell behind on the day of Tabuk. And he goes on to say, as for my story or how I fell back in Tabuk, this is brutal honesty. He says, لم أكن قدت أقوى ولا إيصر مني حين تخلفت عنه في تلك الغزوة. والله ما جمعت قبلها راحلتين قد حتى جمعتهما في تلك الغزوة. He said that I had never been before the expedition of Tabuk in a good financial situation. I'd always been poor. I always had a bad situation. I was always in poverty.
And by the way, you know, some of the scholars say at some point he was from Ahl as-Suffah. He was homeless. Ka'b ibn Malik was not a wealthy man. He lived a very difficult life. Before Islam he was poor. After Islam he was not someone who was known to be wealthy. So he's saying, you know, throughout Islam, like, I struggled. And then by the time Tabuk came around, he said that was the first time in my life that I owned two camels at the same time. I mean, that's the best that I'd ever been. This was the easiest situation that I had ever been in. So he's being honest with himself. He's saying that I was finally starting to see some of the ease and comfort of this dunya that I'd never seen before. So he said, فغزاها رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم في حر شديد واستقبل سفر بعيد. He said the Prophet ﷺ chooses to go out in Tabuk in extreme heat and with an extreme distance. And the land that we had to cover had no water in it. And we had to confront this large army. And the Prophet ﷺ told us to be ready. Kept on telling us be ready. To get ready and to be ready. And he said that multiple Muslims heeded the call of the Prophet ﷺ. And at the same time, they were so large that there was no proper record of them. وَلَا يَجْمَعُهُمْ كِتَابُ حَافِظٍ There was no scroll. Like you're thinking about the draft now and the scrolls. Literally writing down the names of those that had come forward. This is 20,000 people in a short amount of time that said, Ya Rasulullah, we've got you. We're going to go out in this. So he said that in this situation, there were some people that were under the impression they could easily conceal themselves. Because it's not like there was a proper record. The Prophet ﷺ said come out. But it was very easy for some people to simply sneak out of that situation.
Because it was so much going on at the same time. And so many people. And they were under the impression that they could easily remain undetected until the wahi from Allah ﷻ came down upon them. Meaning surah Tawbah. Right? They thought they could easily just sneak out. So you've got a whole bunch of people going around the Prophet ﷺ. Some people are like, well he's not going to notice me. And it's not like this is being recorded anywhere. Like no one's writing down or taking names. So we can get out of this from the Prophet ﷺ. قَالَ وَغَزَىٰ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ تِلْكَ الْغَزْوَةِ حِينَ طَابَتَ الْثِّمَارِ وَالْغِلَالِ فَأَنَا إِلَيْهَ أَسْعُرُ He said, رضي الله عنه, that the Prophet ﷺ set out on this expedition and the garden, the garden that I had, the fruits were ripe and the shadows had been lengthened. And he said, فَأَنَا إِلَيْهَ أَسْعُرُ that I had a weakness for that. Like I'm finally starting to see my crops are growing. I've got something going here with my wealth. So he said that تَجَهَّزَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ وَالْمُسْلِمُونَ مَعَهُ The Prophet ﷺ and the Muslims were getting ready. And I thought to myself, well, I'll get ready when the time comes. Basically, I procrastinated. وَأَقُولُ فِي نَفْسِي أَنَا قَادِرٌ عَلَىٰ ذَٰلِكَ إِذَا أَرَدْ You know, when the time comes, I'm pretty good at doing this. I know how to get ready for battle quickly. When the Prophet ﷺ says it's go time, I'll get ready then. But so far, you know, I've got time. So let me just keep on enjoying this new comfort that Allah ﷻ has given to me. And he said that I kept on doing that, kept on procrastinating until people were about to leave. It was getting to the time that the Prophet ﷺ was about to set out on this journey. And those that were with him, those that had that energy, that readiness, that preparedness, they were ready to go.
So he said, I kept on delaying and they were about to go. And I went out early in the morning. It looked like they were about to leave. And I came back and I thought to myself, you know what, they're probably not going to leave today. They'll probably leave tomorrow. And he said that as time went on, I realized that the Prophet ﷺ, the next morning was gone. And the companions were gone. So this is a shock for him. Right, wait a minute, he left? The Prophet ﷺ had been saying all this time, be ready, be ready, be ready. Ka'b r.a heard it, he intended it, but he'd come home, he'd see his garden, see his two camels. This is the idea of distraction. Not a palace, right? Not Tik Tok, right? Just his distraction was what? I got some fruits coming out on these trees. Things are pretty comfortable right now. I'll take a nap today. I'll be ready when the time comes. I'm ready for battle. I know how to do this. And then they were gone. So he said that, I at that point said to myself, فهممت أن أرتح إلى فأدركهم He said that I told myself, I wish I could go and catch them. And subhanAllah, he's sharing this narration 40 years later to his son. This is so powerful and this is one of the things that can be missed when you're just reading through something quickly. And in the middle of sharing this narration, فَيَا لَيْتَنِي فَعَلْتُ God, I wish I did it. Like I still am mad at myself for missing it. 40 years later, blind, after Allah announced his tawbah in the Qur'an, he's going back and calling to his son those moments before they left. And he says, فَيَا لَيْتَنِي فَعَلْتُ ثُمَّ لَمْ يُقَدَّرَ ذَٰلِكَ لِي But Allah subhanAllah decreed otherwise for me.
So he describes the scene in Medina. قال فَتَفِقْتُ إِذَا خَرَجْتُ فِي النَّاسِ بَعْدَ خُرُوجِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَحْزُنُنِي أَنِّي لَا أَرَى لِي أُسْوَةً إِلَّا رَجُلًا مَغْمُوسًا عَلَيْهِ فِي النِّفَاقِ أَوْ رَجُلًا مِمَّنْ عَذَرَ اللَّهُ مِنَ الضُّعَفَاتِ He said that I went out amongst the people, and I was so depressed that the only people left in Medina were people who were clear hypocrites, people that were just clear منافقين. I looked out and saw a bunch of hypocrites, and I saw the people that were exempt because of their incapacity, because of their health or whatever reason they could not go with the Prophet ﷺ. That's when it really struck me. Like you imagine when 20,000 Sahaba leave Medina with the Prophet ﷺ, and he goes out and looks around and he says, Oh my God, who are these people? These are the people that I found myself left behind with? So he said that I was so sad, but I knew that there was no way for me to catch up with the Prophet ﷺ at that point. And he said, وَلَمْ يَذْكُرْنِي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَى اللَّهُ عَلِيهِ وَسَلَّمَ حَتَّى بَلَغَ تَابُوكَ The Prophet ﷺ did not mention me to the companions until we got to Tabuk. وَهُوَ جَالِسٌ فِي الْقَوْمِ بِتَابُوكَ The Prophet ﷺ was sitting with the companions in Tabuk. I mean there's 20,000 people in the heat going out, kicking up the sand and making these preparations, and the Prophet ﷺ looks around, and Rasulullah ﷺ says, مَا فَعَلَ كَعْبِ ابْنُ مَالِكِ Where's Ka'b? Where's Ka'b ibn Malik? Now he wasn't saying it to humiliate him, and Ka'b was obviously hearing the second hand what's happening in his absence. So the Prophet ﷺ looks around and he says, Where's Ka'b? What happened to Ka'b ibn Malik? Not making an assumption. قَالَ رَجْلٌ مِن بَنِ سَلَمَةٍ A man stood up from Bani Salama and he said,
يَا رَسُولُ اللهِ حَبَسَهُ بُرْدَاهُ وَنَظَرُ فِي عِطْفَيْهِ He said, Ya Rasulullah, the beauty of his gardens and his sudden wealth distracted him. And SubhanAllah he said, مُعَاذُ ابْنُ جَبَرَ رضي الله عنه stood up and he said, بِعْسَ مَا قُلْتْ وَاللَّهِ يَا رَسُولُ اللهِ مَا عَلِمْنَا عَلَيْهِ إِلَّا خَيْرًا He said, what a horrible thing you just said. Wallahi Ya Rasulullah, we only know good things about Ka'b. See SubhanAllah, always read the story and assume that you could be someone else in the story. This is your typical backbiting moment. Alright, and this is how righteous religious people fall into the depths of ugly sin. You're sitting around and hey, have you seen that person? They haven't come to the masjid in a long time. Yeah, I saw him at the mall the other day. You know, I saw them here. Those indications. مُعَاذُ ابْنُ جَبَرَ رضي الله عنه Out of his righteousness. Notice by the way, the man who backbited is not named. So Ka'b radiyaAllahu anhu knows who he is. But he's doing sitr of him. He's concealing his identity. But he's praising Mu'adh ibn Jabir. He's saying, but Mu'adh ibn Jabir stood up and Mu'adh radiyaAllahu anhu said, What a horrible thing you just said. Wallahi Ya Rasulullah, we only know good things about Ka'b. Like I can't testify to what held him back. But the man's track record should mean something. He's a good man. We know the sahabi. We know Ka'b radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. فَسَكَتَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَامًا The Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam was quiet. فَبَيْنَمَا هُوَ عَلَى ذَلِكَ While the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam is sitting down with the companions, and that exchange just happened. The Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam did not get a chance to even comment on what the man said and what Mu'adh radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu said. He said, رَأَى رَجُلًا مُبَيِّضًا يَزُولُ بِهِ السَّرَابِ The Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam saw this man running, coming forward, dressed in all white, and he was so far away, I mean he's kicking up the dirt, it's like a mirage in the desert.
Like there's a man that's coming. And the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam says, كُنْ أَبَى خَيْثَمَا كُنْ أَبَى خَيْثَمَا Be Abu Khaythamah. I hope you're Abu Khaythamah. I hope you're Abu Khaythamah. Who was Abu Khaythamah? He said, أَبَى خَيْثَمَا رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ هوَ الَّذِي تَصَدَّقَ بِصَاعِدْ تَمْرٍ He's the one who brought us that small amount of tamar that the munafiqoon made fun of. And he didn't have the means to be with the army, but he found a way. And he was chasing after the army afterwards to come find the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam. And the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam sees him so far away that it's just like a figure, a mirage over there. And the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam says, كُنْ أَبَى خَيْثَمَا I hope that's Abu Khaythamah. And it was Abu Khaythamah radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And Ka'b is sharing this, not just to share the incident. But like, it could have been Abu Khaythamah. You know, Shaytan held me back from even going and trying to chase afterwards, and I would have been okay. But, you know, it's like, you know, practical example, you know, salatul fajr is 630. Get up a little bit late, you do your wudu at 631. I'd only catch the second rak'ah even. Let me stay behind, right? That's kind of the way Shaytan works, right? Procrastination. So it's like the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam was so excited to see Abu Khaythamah radiAllahu ta'ala anhu come and join him in that moment radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And then Ka'b radiAllahu anhu says, falamma qeela li inna rasoolAllahu salAllahu alaihi wasalam qad adhalla qadiman zaha'anni albaatil hatta araftu anni lan anju minhu bishay'in abada faajma'tu sidqahu. I'm paraphrasing this, by the way. I'm going a little bit ahead in the hadith because of time. But when the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam was coming back, I thought to myself, let me fabricate something or maybe I should tell a lie or maybe I should make an excuse the way other people did and other people told me I should.
But when it was said to me that the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam was on his way back, because what happened in Tabuk, they got there and the battle never happens. Right? So they made their way all the way out there and the battle of Tabuk never happened. So he says, when the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam was coming back, I told myself that maybe I can fabricate something or I can tell a story or I can make an excuse and people were telling me to do that. But he said when I heard the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam was coming and he was about to arrive, he said all of that left my mind and I came to the conclusion that nothing could save me but the truth. Nothing could save me. لن أنجو منه بشيء أبدا فأجمعت صدقا. Nothing would save me except for telling the truth. So I basically just decided I'm going to speak the truth to the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam. So the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam and the army get back from Tabuk and the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam arrives in Medina and Ka'b radiAllahu anhu said that the first thing the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam would do when he got back to Medina was what? What's the first thing he would do? Before he even go home what would he do? He'd go to the masjid and pray two rak'as. So he says I knew the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam sunnah, his habit was when he came back from a journey, battle or elsewhere, he would always go back to the masjid before he went home and he'd pray two rak'as salAllahu alaihi wasalam. So he said that the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam did that, he came back from safar, he came back from travel and he prayed these two rak'as and he said at that point, ثُمَّ جَلَسَ لِلنَّاسِ After the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam prayed his two rak'as he sat down in the masjid. He said فَلَمَّ فَعَلَ ذَلِكَ جَاءَهُ الْمُخَلَّفُونَ
They came to the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam and they all started to make their excuses one by one and he said there were about 80 men just immediately going to the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam. يَا رُسُلُ اللهِ ذِي سَيِّمْ So the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam قَبِلَ مِنْهُمْ He just took what they said at face value and the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam said, may Allah forgive you, وَاستَغْفَرَ لَهُمْ And he entrusted their secrets to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Now وَوَكَلَ سَرَائِرَهُمْ إِلَى اللَّهِ means that the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam took them at what they said and their intentions and what they're really concealing. The Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam left that to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to decide in their regard. At the end of the day the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam said I'm going to take you at face value. He knows who they are and he knows that they're making stuff up. But you know what, if you're lying your affair is with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. If you're not then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will make a way out for you. He said حَتَّى جِئْتُ until it was my turn. So Ka'ab is watching this and he sees these 80 men and he waited until they all finished. And he said until I came to the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam. And he said فَلَمَّا سَلَّمْتُ when I gave the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam تَبَسَّمَ تَبَسُّمَ الْمُغْضَبُ The Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam smiled the smile of an angry man. You know what an angry smile looks like? Right? Like it wasn't his happy smile. The Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam gave me that disappointed and angry smile. Like not you. Right? Like everybody else I get. This was expected of the hypocrites. But Ka'ab what happened to you? So he said I came to the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam جَلَسْتُ بَيْنَيَدَيْهِ I sat in front of the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam and he said to me ما خَلَفَك What caused you to fall behind? Didn't you have the means to go forth? Couldn't you afford a ride?
And he said that I said to the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam يا رسول الله إِنِّي وَاللَّهِ لَوْ جَلَسْتُ عَنْدَ غَيْرِكَ He said O Messenger of Allah I swear by Allah if I was sitting with someone other than you من أهل الدنيا from the people of this world you would have seen that I'm an articulate man. I'm an eloquent person. I would have easily been able to get myself out of this. Right? Like I'm a poet. I know how to make stuff up. I know how to you know embellish the truth a little bit. Right? I know how to do this. But because it's you يا رسول الله I'm not going to do this. But he said I'm just going to admit to you والله ما كان لي عذر I had no excuse. I've never been in a better situation than when Tabuk started. I had all the means to go. I just procrastinated. I kept on waiting until the last minute. I got distracted. And then I missed out. So the Prophet ﷺ he says to him أَمَّا هَذَا فَقَدْ صَدَق Prophet ﷺ says ask for this person. He's telling the truth. Ka'ab is telling the truth. And he said فَقُمْ حَتَّى يَقْلِيَ اللَّهُ فِيكَ He said O Ka'ab go until Allah ﷻ reveals something in regards to you. So the Prophet ﷺ is expecting a revelation that's going to declare the status of all of these people who were exposed in the situation of Tabuk. So he said that as I left He said ثَارَى رِجَالٌ مِن بَنِي سَلِمًا فَاتَّبَعُونِي He said that this group of people that were watching the whole thing unfold in the masjid they followed me and they said to me وَاللَّهِ مَا عَلَمْنَاكَ أَذْنَبْتَ ذَنْبًا قَبْلَ هَذَا We swear by Allah we've never seen you commit a sin before this. We don't know you to be a person who's ever made a mistake. And he said why don't you go back
the way that those people went to the Prophet ﷺ and give him an ʻudr, just give him an excuse. And the Prophet ﷺ will seek forgiveness for you and everything will be okay. Why did you do that to yourself? Why did you just tell the Prophet ﷺ that I've never been in a more easy situation and I have no excuse, I should have went out with you. I just failed Ya Rasulullah. So they're trying to prompt him and he said that they almost got me to go back to the Prophet ﷺ and to try to you know somewhat soften the blow. But he said, I asked them at that point قُلْتُ لَهُمْ هَلْ لَقِيَ هَذَا مَعِي مِنْ أَحَدٍ Has anyone else suffered the same fate as me? Meaning are there anyone or is there anyone that came to the Prophet ﷺ like me who just had no excuse? And they said two people that have made the same mistake as you and they refused to give an excuse. So I said to them, who were they? And when they told me it was Murara and Hilal, I remembered that they were Ashab from Badr. They were two companions who were in Badr. So I said to myself if these two pious people, right, were in this situation, then I have no chance. I mean I'm going to basically stay patient because if these two pious people made their case with the Prophet ﷺ or delivered the news to the Prophet ﷺ in this way and the Prophet ﷺ told them wait until Allah ﷻ decrees your matter the same way he told me, then I'm not going to go try to change things at this point. Instead I have to wait. At that point, ونهى رسول الله ﷺ المسلمين عن كلامنا The Prophet ﷺ forbade the Muslims from talking to us. So we ended up being excommunicated until Allah ﷻ revealed something in regards to us.
And he said the people were avoiding us and then their attitude started to become hostile towards us. And he said at that point, he said حتى تذكرت أو تذكرت لي في نفسي He said at that point it felt like the earth had been confounded. Like the earth was suffocating. I was fully aware and it was as if the earth was suffocating and I had absolutely nowhere to turn. And he said that at that point I continued and it went on for 40 whole days where the atmosphere had turned hostile and no one was talking to us and we were crying and wondering what's going to happen to us. And he says that as for my two companions they basically stayed at home at that point and they just cried. They would stay at home and cry مرارة انهلال He says واما انا فكنت اشب القوم He said that as for me I was the youngest of them and I was the strongest of them فكنت اخرج I used to go out فاشهد الصلاة and I would pray with the Muslims واطوف في الاسواق and I would go through the marketplace ولا يكلمني احد and no one would talk to me. So I'm walking around the people and no one is talking to me. And he said وآتي رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فأسلم عليه وهو في مجلسه بعد الصلاة I would go to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and I'd say salam to him after salah فأقول في نفسي هل حرك شفتيه And I would say to myself did his lips move? Did he respond to me in this moment برد السلام with the response of the salam or not? Now remember this was the order of Allah سبحانه وتعالى to leave these three until Allah عز و جل reveals something in regards to them. So this is not punishment or cruelty towards them
This is Allah عز و جل has to reveal something in regards to these three men and their affair is not clear yet. So he says ثم أصلي قريبا منهم He said then I would try to go close to him and pray close to him صلى الله عليه وسلم And I would try to see if I could make eye contact with him عليه الصلاة والسلام And he said that he would look at me and then if I looked back at him then he would look away صلى الله عليه وسلم So I couldn't even get a chance to make eye contact with him صلى الله عليه وسلم He says حتى إذا طال ذلك علي من جفوة المسلمين He said at that point when time had gone on and the harshness of the Muslims towards me had increased He said I went and I went to the wall of the garden of Abu Qatada Abu Qatada was my cousin رضي الله تعالى عنه And he said that I used to love him هو ابن عمي he was my cousin و أحب الناس إلي He was the most beloved of people to me فسلمت عليه So I said السلام عليكم أبو قتادة And he said ما رد عليه السلام He didn't respond to the salam And that's when it really hurt him He said فقلت له I said to him يا أبا قتادة أنشدك بالله هل تعلم أني أحب الله ورسوله Oh Abu Qatada أنشدك بالله I ask you by Allah هل تعلم أني أحب الله ورسوله Don't you know that I love Allah and His Messenger And he didn't respond So I said it again I ask you by Allah don't you know aren't you aware هل تعلم أني أحب الله ورسوله Don't you know I love Allah and His Messenger And he said that he kept on being quiet And then finally he responded and he said الله ورسوله أعلم Allah and His Messenger know best
He said that crushed me So he said فثاظت عيني He said I started to cry and I turned away And I started to you know I climbed down from the wall And as I was walking home I heard this voice calling my name But it wasn't a madani voice It wasn't from the people of Medina It was a voice of someone an outsider Who was asking the people in Medina to direct him to me So they're asking him where is Ka'b ibn Malik Where is Ka'b ibn Malik So he said I noticed people were pointing towards me And this man was calling out and they were you know Eventually this man comes to me and he hands me a letter And he said and I was a scribe I was literate and I was a scribe And I knew how to read So he said I opened up the letter And he said it said in that letter أما بعد فإنه قد بلغنا أن صاحبك قد جثاك ولم يجعلك الله بدار هوان ولا مضيعة فالحق بنا نواسك He said to me or that the letter said to me And it was written from the Christians That we knew or we've come to know That your friend is mistreating you Meaning the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam ولم يجعلك الله بدار هوان Allah did not create you to be so degraded And not to be someone who is so lost and mistreated فالحق بنا Come to us نواسك And we'll treat you well we'll honor you So basically leave the Muslims and come to us Join us and we'll treat you well So he said that حين قرأتها I read it and I said to myself هذه أيضا من البلاء This is also a test
And he said I put it in a tannour I basically burnt it in the oven Of course this was another trick of Shaitaan Hey you know what you messed up Why don't you go leave your religion Come to us and you'll be treated well with us So he said then at that time As time had passed Even our wives had stopped talking to us So I asked the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam Am I supposed to divorce her And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said no So he has to remain separate from his wife Or he's separate from his wife And he said the same message was said to my companions Or that you know even their wives Are not talking to them at this point And I said to my wife you better go to your parents And stay with them until Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Gives us some sort of an order And he goes on to say that the wife of Hilal Ibn Umayyah Came to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam And said Ya Rasulullah Hilal is an older man He has no one to serve him I just want to serve him I'm not going to be around him or be intimate with him He doesn't have that instinct But I still want to be around him and serve him And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam Gave her that permission And while we're kind of separated from the community In this regard Some of my family members came to me And said why don't you go to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam And say Ya Rasulullah can I be with my wife Because the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam Permitted Hilal Ibn Umayyah to have his wife And he said I'm not going to seek permission From Allah's messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam For I cannot say what he will say In response to my seeking permission And he said I'm also a young man I'm not in the situation of Hilal Ibn Umayyah Instead I'm going to wait And he said in this situation While I was in the state 50 nights had passed And he said I observed the Fajr prayer And I was sitting on the roof of my house And as I was in fact Sitting in that very state That Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Describes us Perfectly with
وَضَاقَتْ عَلَيَّ نَفْسِي وَضَاقَتْ عَلَيَّ الْأَرْضُ بِمَا رَحُبَتْ He said just as Allah Would come to describe us in Surah Tawbah Life had become so difficult And the earth had suffocated us Despite its vastness I was so sad, so confused Waiting for something to come Then he said I heard an announcer From the hill Saying at the top of his voice يا كعب ابن مالك يا كعب ابن مالك أبشر أبشر Oh Kaab Ibn Malik Congratulations, congratulations, glad tidings So he said So I went out and I just made sujood وعرفت أن قد جاء فرج And I knew that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala's Relief had come to me And he said Allah's Messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam had received the news from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala of the acceptance Of our repentance After he prayed Salatul Fajr So the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam Told the people that Allah had Revealed our Tawbah, Allah Had revealed our repentance And when he said that Kaab Radiallahu Ta'ala Said the people went running out Of the masjid to come towards me Which one of them To see which one of them would be the first person to tell me That I was Forgiven, that Tawbah had come my way So he said I see These people, my friends Rushing towards me, people galloping on their horses Coming towards me To say to me that Allah has Forgiven you, Allah has forgiven you, Allah has Forgiven you, and he said that I was so Happy that the first person that reached me He said I took off my shirt and I gave it to him And he said I realized as I Was so happy and I gave him my shirt that I didn't Have a garment to cover myself so I had to Borrow a garment so I could then go to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam And celebrate with the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, so he Said so I went out to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and on
The way I'm meeting people, it's like a Complete change of environment, first People were ignoring me, they didn't know what to do in regards To me, now people are saying salam and they're Congratulating me, they're saying apshir, apshir, apshir And he said that I'm going To the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, I'm trying to Get between the people And he said when I entered Upon the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in the Masjid, he said faqama talha RadhiAllahu Anhu, he said talha RadhiAllahu Anhu, got up And he rushed towards me to hug Me and to celebrate me And he said that I'll never forget what He did for me, I'll never forget that moment Like I'll never, I'll never Be thankful enough to Talha RadhiAllahu Anhu for the way that he embraced Me on that day when he got up And rushed towards me and he Said that I then made my way to The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam And he said that as I said To the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, salam The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam looked at me And he said salam and he said Abshir bi khairi yawm He said glad tidings to you of the Best day, abshir bi khairi yawm Mara alayk, mundu Waladatka ummuk, glad tidings To you of the best day of your life Since your mother gave birth to you The day of your death The day that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala revealed your tawbah This is the best day of your life, oh Ka'ab The day that Allah forgave you The day that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Revealed your repentance This is the best day Since the day your mother gave birth to you And I said to him Is this from you, ya Rasulullah? Amin indika ya Rasulullah? Amin indillah? Is this from you, oh Messenger of Allah? Or is this from Allah Himself? Did you just decide to forgive me? Or did Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala decide to forgive me? Qala laa, dhal min indillah The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said Rather this is from Allah And he said wakana Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam Itha surra istanara wajhuhu Ka'anna wajhahu qit'atu qamuh
He said the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam When he used to be happy Like when he used to smile with that happiness When he was with joy His face was like the moon It was like a full moon He was looking at me Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam With his face fully brightened And in delight And he's telling me Abshir ya ka'ab This is the best day of your life The day that Allah forgave you And he said I said to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam That ya Rasulullah For my tawbah I'm giving away all of my wealth in sadaqah Everything I own I got distracted by the money I got distracted by the gardens Ya Rasulullah I'm giving it all away for the sake of Allah The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam does not exploit him in the moment He says Amsik ba'da ma'rika fa huwa khayrun lak You should hold on to some of your money It's better for you Don't give it all away That's not what is required of you In this moment And he said Fine Then I'm just going to keep with me Just what I have from khaybar I'm going to give everything else away Ya Rasulullah And I said to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam Qultu ya Rasulullah He said I said to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam Inna Allaha innama anjani bis-sidq He said that Allah saved me By me speaking the truth And he said Wa inna min tawbati An laa uhaditha illa sidqan maa baqeet From my tawbah I will make sure that I never say a word Ever again in my existence Except that it is truth Lying would have messed things up for me I spoke the truth Ya Rasulullah And the only thing that saved me in this situation Was the truth Was me telling the truth And he said I will never tell a lie O Messenger of Allah As long as I live with this tongue And he goes on Subhanallah And he said By Allah I do not know Whether anyone amongst the Muslims
Was put more severe Was put in more severe trial By Allah because of telling the truth But Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Also revealed in regards to Ka'ab R.A. Anhu And his companions His forgiveness Surat al-Tawbah is about their tawbah Is about their repentance The verses of their tawbah Verses 117 and 118 Where Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala reveals That Allah Azawajal has forgiven them And rewarded them And that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Has counted them amongst the truthful And Allah Azawajal advising us To be amongst the sadiqeen So fear Allah and be amongst the truthful And Ka'ab R.A. Anhu He said by Allah There is no blessing more significant In my life than the truth That I spoke in the face of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam And if I were to tell a lie I would have been ruined As the liars were ruined Because all those people that made excuses With the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam Accepted it Allah revealed verses about them Being hypocrites Allah revealed verses about their lies And so it's a lesson as well That telling the truth Even if it's going to hurt you in the beginning The reward of it is great And telling lies Even if it's going to make things easy for you in the beginning The pain of it afterwards is great This is the story of Ka'ab Ibn Malik R.A. Anhu Of his tawbah, of his repentance And this is something Subhanallah That we take for ourselves The day that Allah forgives you Is the greatest day of your life The day that Allah looks at you And says that you are amongst those Who receive his repentance Is the greatest day that exists on this earth Whether that's Laylatul Qadr Whether that's the beginning of Ramadan Whether that is your Hajj or the day of Arafah Or whether that's just a moment That you don't even know is recorded In which Allah sees you as a sincere repenter
And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala forgives you We see with Ka'ab R.A. Anhu after this And I know we've run out of time So I don't want to take too much time He lives a long peaceful life after this And his story becomes synonymous with one thing Which is tawbah to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala And many of the Ahadith are narrated from his children From his 11 children R.A. Anhu And we see that he was someone that did not participate In anything that would not be truthful Or anything that would not be noble When Uthman R.A. Anhu was besieged He was still alive And he said this poetry He said فَكَفَّ يَدَيْهِ ثُمَّ أَغْلَقَ بَابَهُ وَأَيْقَنَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ لَيْسَ بِغَافِلِ He said that Uthman R.A. Anhu threw up his hands And shut his doors And he had certainty that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Is certainly not amongst the heedless وَقَالَ لِمَنْ فِي دَارِهِ لَا تُقَاتِلُ عَفَى اللَّهُ عَنْ كُلِّ مْرِئٍ لَمْ يُقَاتِلِ And he said to those that were in his home Do not fight back Allah has forgiven everyone who does not partake in the fitna Does not partake in the bloodshed فَكَيْفَ رَأِيْتَ اللَّهَ صَبَّ عَلَيْهِمُ الْعَدَاوَةَ وَالْبَغْضَاءَ بَعْدَ تَوَاصِلِ And look how Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Allowed them instead You know, after their closeness to one another To become consumed with enmity And become consumed with hatred and grudges فَكَيْفَ رَأَيْتَ الْخَيْرَ أَدْبَرَ عَنْهُمْ وَوَلَّا كَأِدْبَارِ النَّعَامِ الْجَوَافِرِ And the translation of this And have you seen how goodness All goodness has left from them and escaped from them Ran away from them like an ostrich in fear You know, that goodness went away from them When they started to kill other Muslims When they killed Uthman radiAllahu anhu And they turned their backs on him Obviously he was very sensitive radiAllahu ta'ala anhu To what he saw as the abandonment of a righteous man
Because of his own experience radiAllahu ta'ala anhu He died of natural causes at very very old age And he narrates from the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam Several ahadith The most famous of them is his own narration of himself The narration of Tabuk And most of the ahadith of Ka'ab radiAllahu anhu Are about the travel habits of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam And I end with one narration Because it's the first narration we started with Of the season It shows you how the people of Madinah all come together Abdurrahman ibn Ka'ab radiAllahu ta'ala anhu He says that when my father was too old To take himself to the masjid and he was blind He said that I was taking my father to the masjid And he said that every time he heard the adhan for Jumu'ah He would make dua for As'ad ibn Zurarah radiAllahu ta'ala anhu And start to seek Allah's forgiveness for As'ad ibn Zurarah radiAllahu ta'ala anhu And us young ones we didn't understand why And we asked him why is it that you always seek forgiveness for As'ad ibn Zurarah And he said because he was the first one to give us khutbah And to gather us for Jumu'ah before the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam arrived in this place As'ad being the first person that we spoke about from the Ansar So you see the way the history of these people come together May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala be pleased with them all And send his peace and blessings upon our Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam And gather us with the Messenger salAllahu alayhi wa sallam and his companions And make us amongst the people who are sincere in their repentance Who are sincere in their struggle and who are accepted by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Allahumma ameen InshaAllah next week we will talk about Hassan ibn Thabit the third poet radiAllahu ta'ala anhu Wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh
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