(Cont.) The Story of Ka'b ibn Malik RA (With Sh. YQ's Commentary)
We continue the story of Ka'b ibn Malik from episode 88. As we said, he was one of the three people who were honest enough to say, "Ya Rasulullah, I swear by Allah, I have no excuse." Then the Prophet PBUH told the people of Madinah that the three should be boycotted. 40 days went by and the command came that they should remain separate from their wives, so their wives were sent to their parents' house, except for Hilal's wife, she asked the Prophet PBUH, "Ya Rasulullah, Hilal ibn Umayyah is an old man with no servant. Do you disapprove of my serving him?" and the Prophet PBUH said, "No, but he should not come near you," so she remained. Some of the members of Ka'b's family said to Ka'b, "Will you also seek permission from the Prophet PBUH in regards to your wife?" but Ka'b said, "I will not ask the permission of the Prophet PBUH regarding her, for I do not know what the Prophet PBUH would say if I asked him to permit her [to serve me] while I am a young man."
He continued: "It was in this state I spent ten more nights, and thus fifty nights were completed starting from the time when the people were prohibited from talking to us. Then I prayed Fajr on the morning of the fiftieth night on the roof of one of our houses, and while I was sitting in the manner that Allah AWJ described us [in Quran, 9:118] —i.e., my soul seemed straitened to me, and even the earth seemed narrow to me despite its vastness— there I heard the voice of somebody who had gone to the top of Jabal al-Sela (the mountain that you see when you exit the Masjid al-Nabawi), crying out at the top of his voice, 'Ya Ka'b ibn Malik, be happy!' As soon as I heard this, I fell down in sajdah realizing Allah's help had come"—after Salat al-Fajr, the Prophet PBUH announced to the people that Allah had forgiven Ka'b, Murara, and Hilal.
Ka'b said, "The people came to congratulate us; some people rushed out to my two companions. And a horseman came galloping towards me in haste, but the man on the mountain, his voice reached me first. The one who came on the horse, he came to convey me in person, and I was so happy I gifted him the clothes on my back, and that was all I had at the time." This shows us the genuine love that the sahaba had for each other, so much so that when they heard that Allah had forgiven the three Companions, they rushed to them to congratulate them. They genuinely wanted good for each other and they weren't even from the same tribe.
And Ka'b was so happy he gifted the clothes on his back, and that was the only clothes he had at the time. This shows the poverty of the sahaba. Wallahi, if one of us were to be gifted somebody's used shirt/kurta/thobe, we would be insulted. But the sahaba were so poor that being gifted a used thobe was a big deal. As we know, most of the sahaba only had one garment. Even our Prophet PBUH, typically, he only had two garments.
Then he said, "I did not have any other garment, so I had to knock on my neighbor's door and borrow a garment from him to go to the Prophet PBUH." This literally shows us that in these 50 days, his house wealth was completely gone. He didn't even have clothes to wear.
And he continued, "I rushed to the masjid, and the people began to receive me in batches — wherever I went, they would congratulate me on Allah's acceptance of my repentance. And when I entered the Masjid of the Prophet PBUH, I saw the Prophet PBUH and all the people around him"—this shows us this was a festival for all of the sahaba. Wallahi, imagine this — what does it have to do with the rest of the sahaba that Allah has forgiven these three people? But when you have that type of ukhuwwah (أخوة - brotherhood) and love, when your brother has been saved, you feel you have been saved. So the whole community is rejoicing and celebrating.
Ka'b said, "I saw the Prophet PBUH in the middle of the masjid, and Talha ibn Ubaydillah stood up to rush to greet me, and he shook hands with me and congratulated me. By Allah, out of all the Muhajirun, he was the only one who did this, and I will never forget this gesture from him." Subhan'Allah, one act of goodwill changes a person's heart for the rest of his life. Just a smile, a handshake, a word of comfort; it does the world of good at times of distress. When is Ka'b narrating this? 40 years after it happened, yet he remembers that Talha stood up.
Then he said, "I greeted the Prophet PBUH, and his face became bright with joy like the full moon. Whenever the Prophet PBUH was happy, his face became like the full moon." And the Prophet PBUH said to Ka'b, "Be happy and be given the glad tidings, for you have been given the best news since the day your mother gave birth to you!" Ka'b said, "O Messenger of Allah, is this [forgiveness] from you or from Allah?" The Prophet PBUH said, "No, [it is not from me,] it is from Allah"—and this shows us again as we discussed in the previous episode, the clear distinction that the sahaba made between the status of Allah AWJ and the status of the Prophet PBUH.
Then Ka'b narrates that when he sat in front of the Prophet PBUH, he said, "Ya Rasulullah, because Allah has accepted my repentance, I will give up all my possessions fi sabiliLlah." We learn from this that when something good happens to us —e.g., if we get a raise or we graduate— we should give charity to thank Allah. This is something that is established from our tradition.
Ka'b said, "I saw the Prophet PBUH in the middle of the masjid, and Talha ibn Ubaydillah stood up to rush to greet me, and he shook hands with me and congratulated me. By Allah, out of all the Muhajirun, he was the only one who did this, and I will never forget this gesture from him." Subhan'Allah, one act of goodwill changes a person's heart for the rest of his life. Just a smile, a handshake, a word of comfort; it does the world of good at times of distress. When is Ka'b narrating this? 40 years after it happened, yet he remembers that Talha stood up.
Then he said, "I greeted the Prophet PBUH, and his face became bright with joy like the full moon. Whenever the Prophet PBUH was happy, his face became like the full moon." And the Prophet PBUH said to Ka'b, "Be happy and be given the glad tidings, for you have been given the best news since the day your mother gave birth to you!" Ka'b said, "O Messenger of Allah, is this [forgiveness] from you or from Allah?" The Prophet PBUH said, "No, [it is not from me,] it is from Allah"—and this shows us again as we discussed in the previous episode, the clear distinction that the sahaba made between the status of Allah AWJ and the status of the Prophet PBUH.
Then Ka'b narrates that when he sat in front of the Prophet PBUH, he said, "Ya Rasulullah, because Allah has accepted my repentance, I will give up all my possessions fi sabiliLlah." We learn from this that when something good happens to us —e.g., if we get a raise or we graduate— we should give charity to thank Allah. This is something that is established from our tradition.
But notice Ka'b said, "All my possessions." To this, the Prophet PBUH said, "Keep some of your wealth with you. That is better for you." This shows us that we shouldn't act on raw emotion. We have to think wisely. Ka'b is so happy he thinks he should give everything up; but here we have the wisdom of the Prophet PBUH basically saying, "No, calm down, keep some of your wealth with you and your family." Now, if somebody were to say, "But don't we know from our tradition that some of the sahaba, such as Abu Bakr, gave everything fi sabiliLlah, leaving nothing at all at home?" how do we respond to this? The response is easy: "That is why he was Abu Bakr," i.e., none of the other sahaba, not even Umar, did that. We have not and will not reach the level of Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr knew what he was doing, but as for us, it's foolish to give all our money away to the poor, and then make our own family poor. It is not of the teachings of Islam that we neglect the needs of our own family. As we see here, the Prophet PBUH told Ka'b to keep sufficiently for his family, and then give the rest fi sabiliLlah. And Ka'b said, "Very well, I shall keep [for my family] my share of Khaybar."
Then he says to him PBUH, "Ya Rasulullah, Allah has saved me by telling the truth, so as a part of my tawba, I promise never to tell any lie as long as I live"—so he makes a promise to Allah SWT. Then as he narrates this story, he tells his son, "Wallahi, I don't know any Muslim whom Allah tested more with truthfulness in speech than me; but wallahi, I haven't told a lie intentionally since the day I made that promise until today. And I hope Allah will save me for the remaining of my days." We can assume he narrated this story when he was around 75 years old, which means he hasn't told a lie for ~40 years — but subhan'Allah, out of humbleness, he is saying, "May Allah protect me for the remainder of my life"—what a beautiful humbleness that is shown here. Also notice he said, "I never intentionally told a lie"—even in this, we see his humility and caution, in that, he is thinking maybe he told a lie by mistake.
Ka'b goes on and says, "Allah revealed the verses in the Quran that:
Ka'b goes on and says, "Allah revealed the verses in the Quran that:
لَّقَد تَّابَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَى ٱلنَّبِىِّ وَٱلْمُهَـٰجِرِينَ وَٱلْأَنصَارِ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّبَعُوهُ فِى سَاعَةِ ٱلْعُسْرَةِ مِنۢ بَعْدِ مَا كَادَ يَزِيغُ قُلُوبُ فَرِيقٍ مِّنْهُمْ ثُمَّ تَابَ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ بِهِمْ رَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ
9:117. Allah has certainly turned in mercy to the Prophet as well as the Muhajirun and the Ansar who stood by him in the time of difficulty, after the hearts of a group of them had almost faltered. He then accepted their repentance. Surely, He is Ever Gracious and Most Merciful to them.
وَعَلَى ٱلثَّلَـٰثَةِ ٱلَّذِينَ خُلِّفُوا۟ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا ضَاقَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْأَرْضُ بِمَا رَحُبَتْ وَضَاقَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ أَنفُسُهُمْ وَظَنُّوٓا۟ أَن لَّا مَلْجَأَ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ إِلَّآ إِلَيْهِ ثُمَّ تَابَ عَلَيْهِمْ لِيَتُوبُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ
9:118. And [Allah has also turned in mercy to] the three who were left behind, [whose guilt distressed them] until the earth, despite its vastness, seemed to close in on them, and their souls were torn in anguish. They knew there was no refuge from Allah except in Him. Then He turned to them in mercy so that they might repent. Surely, Allah [alone] is the Accepter of Repentance, Most Merciful.
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَكُونُوا۟ مَعَ ٱلصَّـٰدِقِينَ
9:119. O believers! Be mindful of Allah and be with the truthful."
Then Ka'b said, "Wallahi, since Allah directed me to Islam, He has never blessed me with anything more significant than this truth I spoke to the Prophet PBUH — because if I had lied, I would have been destroyed like the hypocrites — because Allah described the hypocrites with the worst descriptions He ever used for anybody"—and he quoted Surat al-Tawba, verses 95 & 96—:"'They shall swear to you by Allah when you come back [to Madinah, that they have an excuse,] just so that you turn away from them. So [O Prophet,] turn away from them. They are filthy, and they shall be in the Fire of Hell as a Punishment for what they do. They will swear to you in order to please you. And even if you are pleased with them, Allah will never be pleased with the fasiq people.'"
Notice once again, Ka'b is attributing good to Allah; he said, "Wallahi, since Allah directed me to Islam, He has never blessed me with anything more significant than this truth I spoke to the Prophet PBUH." This is the difference between the Muslim and the non-Muslim. The Muslim attributes all good to Allah, whereas the one who doesn't believe in Allah, he attributes the good to himself.
Then Ka'b said, "We, the three people, were the ones who gave no excuse to the Prophet PBUH, unlike the others. As for us, the Prophet PBUH suspended our case until Allah's decision came down concerning it, and this is the reference in the Quran (9:118): 'And the three who were left behind'"—so Ka'b is explaining verse 118; he is doing the tafsir of the verse. He is saying that the word خُلِّفُوا۟ is commonly misinterpreted as "the three who had remained behind," and the correct interpretation is "the three whom the Prophet PBUH kept their verdict behind the verdict for the others," i.e., their verdict was deferred/suspended/delayed as compared with the verdict for the munafiqun, and they were told to wait until Allah's decision is revealed, and thus they were in limbo. As for the munafiqun, they were not in limbo because the Prophet PBUH [outwardly] accepted their excuse [and left their inward affairs to Allah]. So the correct translation is "the three upon whom the verdict was suspended," or "the three who were in suspension," or "the three who were left behind," and NOT "the three who had remained behind," because the reference isn't them remaining behind in the ghazwa, but rather, it's the fact that the Prophet PBUH did not make a decision about them.
Then Ka'b said, "We, the three people, were the ones who gave no excuse to the Prophet PBUH, unlike the others. As for us, the Prophet PBUH suspended our case until Allah's decision came down concerning it, and this is the reference in the Quran (9:118): 'And the three who were left behind'"—so Ka'b is explaining verse 118; he is doing the tafsir of the verse. He is saying that the word خُلِّفُوا۟ is commonly misinterpreted as "the three who had remained behind," and the correct interpretation is "the three whom the Prophet PBUH kept their verdict behind the verdict for the others," i.e., their verdict was deferred/suspended/delayed as compared with the verdict for the munafiqun, and they were told to wait until Allah's decision is revealed, and thus they were in limbo. As for the munafiqun, they were not in limbo because the Prophet PBUH [outwardly] accepted their excuse [and left their inward affairs to Allah]. So the correct translation is "the three upon whom the verdict was suspended," or "the three who were in suspension," or "the three who were left behind," and NOT "the three who had remained behind," because the reference isn't them remaining behind in the ghazwa, but rather, it's the fact that the Prophet PBUH did not make a decision about them.
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More About Ka'b ibn Malik RA
Ka'b was amongst the 2-3 most famous poets of Madinah. Hassan ibn Thabit, his poetry is more famous to us because he specialized in a genre of poetry we are more comfortable/happy with, i.e., attacking the Quraysh; but Ka'b ibn Malik's poetry was not of the attacking type, his genre was of enticing the Muslims to be more brave and steadfast in the battlefield. And he is amongst the same group of elite poets as Hassan ibn Thabit.
Also, recall Ka'b ibn Malik was the one who substituted his armor for the armor of the Prophet PBUH in the Battle of Uhud so that the enemy would think he was the Prophet PBUH and target him; and indeed, a lot of the mushrikun thought he was the Prophet PBUH from the distance, so they targeted and attacked him; and as a result, he was wounded 11 different times through spears and arrows [see episode 49].
This is Ka'b ibn Malik. He lived a long life throughout the period of Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali, and he eventually died in the reign of Muawiyah at the age of 77. And from the books of seerah (and from the long hadith we discussed), we know he became blind in his old age.
It's worth noting that the hadith of his repentance is muttafaq alayh —found in Sahih Bukhari and Muslim— and also reported in Ibn Ishaq and al-Tabari. And it's interesting to note that Imam Bukhari puts the hadith in the Chapter of Maghazi (expeditions led by the Prophet PBUH), but Imam Muslim puts it in the Chapter of Tawba (repentance). The hadith is beautiful because it makes us optimistic about repentance.
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Points of Benefit From the Story of Ka'b ibn Malik RA
In addition to the benefits that we derived throughout the narration, let us discuss some more benefits from different angles:
1. The permissibility of narrating the stories of the sinners who repent. E.g., if a singer repents and becomes a qari of the Quran, or an actress repents and starts wearing the hijab — these are all permissible to narrate. Some of the stricter scholars frown upon these stories and say, "Why are you quoting the stories of the sinners? Stick with the Quran and Sunnah," but we say, no doubt, nothing can compete with the Quran and Sunnah, but the Quran and Sunnah allow us to occasionally narrate these type of stories. And we like to hear such stories because it gives us hope of Allah's forgiveness, and it's something we can relate to, because these are people who live amongst us. Stricter scholars say these stories should not be related, and they have valid arguments for this position; however, one can mitigate them with some simple conditions, e.g., by keeping the stories of these modern repenters in perspective — don't base all our hopes on them; and realize that they are just as human as everybody else.
2. We learn the permissibility to narrate your achievements without boasting. The evidence is when Ka'b listed out at the beginning of the narration that he witnessed the Bay'at al-Aqaba and participated in every single ghazwa except Badr and Tabuk. He told his son his entire CV. There is nothing wrong with telling someone the good that Allah has blessed you with, as long as your intention is not boasting (and that's something you have to monitor; nobody else can monitor it). And Allah says in the Quran, "As for the blessings that Allah has given you, tell the people of them" [Quran, 93:11]. So you are allowed to tell somebody of a positive that you have done in order to encourage them. For example, to say, "Alhamdulillah, I have memorized Surat al-Baqarah"—if you are saying this to get praise (and Allah knows your intention), then your ajr is gone; however, if you are doing it to encourage the person to say, "If I can do it, you can do it," then this is permissible. Also, we must be careful to be factual and not exaggerate. Ka'b said, "I participated in all the ghazawat except Badr and Tabuk"—he made sure he was being factual.
3. No matter how noble your past is, it doesn't mean your future will be noble. If you look at Ka'b's CV before Tabuk, who would have imagined he would disobey a direct command of the Prophet PBUH? He was one of 70+ sahaba who gave the bay'ah at Aqaba — this is the elite of the Ansar; and he was the one who took the armor of the Prophet PBUH in the Battle of Uhud and endured 11 different attacks. So who would have imagined this might happen? And subhan'Allah, we have in the du'a of Ibrahim AS enough of this warning: As he was building the Ka'bah, he made the du'a, "O Allah, make sure my children and I never worship idols"—look at what he was scared of. No matter what your past is, your future, nobody knows; so you should always be humble about your future.
4. It's permissible to narrate one's sins to others IF there is a moral. (We must cover up the sins of others, but as for our own sins, we have the right to narrate them IF there is a moral.) But be careful, because if there is no moral and we narrate them to boast, then we are bringing Allah's wrath — our Prophet PBUH said, "All of my ummah shall be forgiven except those who boast about their sins." It is unfortunate therefore that this is so common in our days, that people are boasting, "I was with so-and-so," "I drank so-and-so," "I did this and that"—this is a complete lack of Iman. If however, someone says, "Yes, I used to drink alcohol, but then Allah guided me," and then he warns the people, then this is permissible, as we learn from the hadith of Ka'b.
5. We see the sacrifice of the sahaba and the obedience that they had to the Prophet PBUH. Imagine 20,000 obeying the call of the Prophet PBUH, giving up their agriculture, and walking in the July heat in the desert from Madinah all the way to Tabuk. And how many remained behind? Just 3 (of the sahaba). What is the obedience rate? 100-(3/20,000)*100, so 99.99%, subhan'Allah. When the Prophet PBUH said, "Go forth," the whole ummah went forth. This shows us the Iman that the sahaba had.
6. We also see again that the Prophet PBUH took adequate precautions. Because it was such a difficult journey in the case of Tabuk, he told the Muslims exactly where they were going. He gave them time to prepare; he told them to arrange their matters for their family and agriculture before they went. This shows us the reality of the difficulty of Tabuk and the reality of preparing fi sabiliLlah. It is foolish to go forth in any endeavor —whether it's a battle or anything, without any preparations— and say, "Allah will take care of me." No. Rather, Allah will take care of you when you (i) take care of yourself, and *then* (ii) put your trust in Him. This is precisely what the sahaba did.
7. Also notice —as our Prophet PBUH said— feeling guilty is the essence of tawba. This whole hadith, we can sense how guilty Ka'b felt, especially the phrase that he says to his son, "How I wish I prepared and made it with them." Notice he is saying this 40 years later, yet still in his heart —even though he knows he is forgiven— he is telling his son, "How I wish I prepared and made it with them." This is the sign of genuine tawba — you feel guilty for your sins.
8. Also we see the dangers of delaying and procrastinating and being lazy. The mu'min is not lazy. Every time we feel like postponing something for tomorrow, we must remember the story of Ka'b. Days went by and he kept on saying, "Yes, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow," until finally, the Prophet PBUH left, and he said, "Okay, today I'll do it," but today also nothing, then the next day the same thing, and after that, it was too late. So don't delay — we must act immediately.
9. The simplest and most profound lesson is the importance of telling the truth. In Sahih Bukhari and Muslim, it is narrated that the Prophet PBUH said, "I oblige upon you the command of speaking the truth, because speaking the truth leads to piety (bir/بر), and piety leads to Jannah. And a man continues to speak the truth until Allah writes him as a siddiq. And I warn you against lying, for lying leads to evilness (fujur/فجور), and evilness leads to Jahannam. And a person continues to lie until Allah writes him as a liar."
So we must always speak the truth. Our Prophet PBUH would speak the truth even when he was joking [see episode 2]. And that's why once, when he told a sahabi to write down everything that he says and the sahabi said, "But sometimes you joke with us, ya Rasulullah," he PBUH said, "Write, because I swear by the One in whose Hands is my ruh, that nothing comes from this [tongue] except the truth." He PBUH never said a lie.
10. Making excuses for not doing good deeds is a sign of hypocrisy. The munafiqun just made excuses — and the Quran mentions this many times, e.g., [9:94]. So making excuses for not doing good deeds is not a good sign; it's not a sign of Iman.
11. Pleasing Allah will eventually make Allah make mankind pleased with you; and pleasing mankind at the expense of Allah, you will lose both. Ka'b said, "Ya Rasulullah, I am fully aware of the fact that if I were to put forward before you a false excuse to please you today, Allah would definitely [expose me and] provoke your wrath upon me [in the near future]; and if I speak the truth [today], though you will get angry because of it, I hope that Allah will make its end well." And the Prophet PBUH said in a hadith in Musnad Imam Ahmad and al-Tirmidhi, "Whoever seeks the pleasure of Allah even if it means getting the people angry at him, [he] shall gain both the pleasure of Allah and the people. And whoever gains the pleasure of the people by displeasing Allah, [he] shall never gain the pleasure of Allah or the people." There are times when speaking the truth and standing up alone is very difficult —it's so much easier to go with the flow— but in the story of Ka'b, we learn that he became beloved to Allah and His Messenger and to all of us because he prioritized the pleasure of Allah. In contrast, look at the munafiqun — they are despised by Allah and His Messenger, and by us to this day.
12. We also see the importance of following righteous people at times of doubt. If you are confused, look to what pious people are doing. When Ka'b's tribesmen continued to incite him and he was confused, he took examples from the two pious people who shared his fate, Murara and Hilal. He said, "My people continued to incite me until I thought of going back to the Prophet PBUH and contradicting myself; but when they made a mention of these two pious people to me who had participated in the Battle of Badr, there was an example for me in them; so I did not change my mind." Thus at times of difficulty and doubt, we must turn to the people of knowledge and Iman and taqwa. See what they are doing and then follow them.
13. It is the Sunnah of the Prophet PBUH that no matter what it looked like outwardly, he judged people by what they said, and he left their inner affairs to Allah SWT. Everyone knew the hypocrites were lying. When Ka'b admitted to the Prophet PBUH that he had no excuse, the Prophet PBUH said, "As for this man, he has spoken the truth," which means he knew the others were lying. But he accepted their excuses outwardly, and he left their inner affairs to Allah SWT. If this is the case of the Prophet PBUH, how about us? We must leave people's intentions to Allah. And this leads us to the next point:
14. Yes, it is true that we leave intentions to Allah, but it is not un-Islamic to have a perception of a person who has a bad reputation, without verbalizing that perception. Clearly, the Prophet PBUH and the sahaba knew the hypocrites were lying; but did they verbalize it? No. So there is nothing wrong with having an opinion in your heart, but —unless you are at the court of law in which case you have to say something— you don't actually pronounce a verdict, and you leave their inner affairs to Allah SWT. You judge them by the outer, especially if they swear by Allah. There is a famous hadith in Bukhari and Muslim where the Prophet PBUH said, "Isa AS once saw a man steal, so he said to the man, 'Why did you steal?' The man said, 'Wallahi, I didn't steal.' So Isa AS said, '[You swore by Allah, so] I will believe in Allah, and disbelieve in what my eyes saw'"—meaning, "If you are going to mention Allah's name, let me take my statement back and leave your affair to Allah." It is important to note, however, that of course, you cannot use this in a court of law. This is adab; just being polite.
15. We also learn that if you have a tuhma (تهمه - accusation) in your heart about your fellow brother, you must have a frank conversation/dialogue with him. When Ka'b came to the Prophet PBUH, he knew the Prophet PBUH was angry, and what did the Prophet PBUH say? "Didn't you have a camel?" He PBUH asked a frank question and let Ka'b tell his side of the story. In Ka'b's case, of course, he admitted that he had no excuse — but wallahi, how many times have we confronted someone with a fact, only to realize after hearing the other side that the 'fact' was actually wrong. So if you want to cleanse your heart of the tuhma and want to have a good opinion of your brother, have a frank conversation with him.
16. Also we learn —and this is a constant throughout the seerah— the Prophet PBUH is just a human. He cannot forgive your sins, he doesn't know the ultimate Ilm al-Ghayb, and he does not control Jannah and Nar. Anyone who studies the seerah simply cannot hold this extremist view [that he can do all these]. Thus the notion that some Muslims have that, "The Prophet PBUH is a medium of tawassul in our du'a to get to Allah" — this is completely wrong. The sahaba interacted with him directly, but even they did not put him on the pedestal that some of our extreme Sufi/Barelvi brethren put him on. It was not possible for the sahaba to hold these views because they saw him and his life. We see this in Ka'b's story when he said, "Is this forgiveness from you or from Allah?"
17. We also see that eloquence can be very dangerous. There are so many evidences for this. The Prophet PBUH said in a hadith in Bukhari, "Some speech is almost like magic." It means just like magic can make things appear and disappear, similarly, speech can turn black into white, make the good appear evil, etc. As Ka'b said, "I have been bestowed the power of speaking fluently and eloquently," i.e., "If I wanted to, I could have manipulated" — but he feared Allah, so he spoke the truth. And the Prophet PBUH said in another hadith in Bukhari, "You come to me with your disputes [about property], and perhaps some of you are more persuasive in arguing your case than the other one [so I might find myself leaning toward the eloquent one even if he is lying]. But let him realize that if I [wrongly] give the verdict in his favor [at the expense of the right of the other one, then] what I'm giving to him is actually a piece of Jahannam"—meaning, that lying person might convince you, might even convince the Prophet PBUH, but you can never lie to Allah. This hadith shows that speech can be very persuasive. And it's so true today: We see how each group is justifying what they are doing. How the extremists, how Israel, how the U.S. and its foreign policy, etc., are justifying what they are doing. It's so easy to manipulate the minds of people. This is what the Prophet PBUH warned us against.
18. Being harsh is sometimes needed. And again, we see this throughout the seerah. The image that we have of the Prophet PBUH that "he always forgave," is good, but not true. You cannot run a civilization and be a leader where everything is always forgiven. There has to be a balance. Anyone who says otherwise does not know anything about politics. And that's why the religion that preaches "always turn the other cheek" and "always forgive" has never followed it in its own history; because —yes, such philosophy might work in your personal life, but— it will never work at a societal level. This is the reality. So the Prophet PBUH demonstrated the ultimate reality, which is that the general rule is indeed kindness and forgiveness, but you must sometimes take a stand — as in the case of him PBUH with Ka'b.
19. Every pain and suffering, Allah uses it to cleanse us of our sins. Thus with the right intention and attitude, every pain is to our advantage on the Day of Judgment. So every time something happens that is painful, have a positive attitude and think of the story of Ka'b.
20. It is of the etiquette of the Quran and Sunnah that we indicate certain activities in implied wording. When the wives of Ka'b, Murara, and Hilal were told not to "go close" to their husbands, explicit language was not used. And the Prophet PBUH said to the wife of Hilal, "Make sure he doesn't come close to you"—and the implied meaning was understood, so there was no need to be explicit. And this is of the etiquette of the Muslim. And this is the etiquette of the Quran. E.g., Allah says, "When one of you comes from the restroom" [4:43], i.e., Allah doesn't mention what happened in the restroom. And in the same verse, He SWT further says, "When you touch women" [4:43], and the reference is understood. If however the situation is called for, then yes, you are allowed to be explicit. And we have cases where the Prophet PBUH was very explicit in certain narrations.
21. The general rule of Allah is that victory comes at the darkest hour, at the lowest point of desperation. If you wait to that point, then insha'Allah, victory shall come. As K'ab said, the relief came when "my soul seemed straitened to me, and even the earth seemed narrow to me despite its vastness." Just like when you feel you can't take it anymore, the relief comes. So the mu'min is always patient and aware that victory is around the corner.
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Fiqh Benefits From the Story of Ka'b ibn Malik RA
Fiqh benefits:
1. The permissibility of non-Muslims entering Makkah and Madinah for a legitimate reason. And this is in contrast to popular opinion; most of us believe that non-Muslims can *never* enter Makkah and Madinah — but this is not true. The majority opinion that has been acted upon for most of Islamic history is that non-Muslims can enter Makkah/Madinah. (Side note: Except now in the modern era, they don't allow this anymore, even though it still happens — but they just don't tell us it's happening. E.g., the umbrellas of the Haram in Madinah were designed and installed by Germans. So in reality, they are still allowed.) And we learn this permissibility from the story of Ka'b. The Nabati was a Christian and he entered Madinah to deliver the letter from the King of Ghassan; and he was buying and selling in the city. And this gives another fiqh benefit:
2. You can buy and sell from people of other faiths.
3. The permissibility of entering a semi-private property as long as one is sure that the owner of the property would not mind him entering such an area. The reference here is of course Ka'b entering his cousin Abu Qatada's garden. Ka'b said he "jumped over the wall." While this may not be common in our current homes, in many Muslim lands, it was and still is customary to have a lawn, opening, or front room with an unlocked door, allowing friends and relatives to enter freely. And the friends and relatives understand not to go beyond certain areas, such as behind curtains. This practice still exists in some societies. In some cultures, the veranda is open after Salat al-Asr until Maghrib, allowing friends to walk in without prior notice, where they will find tea and company. Abu Qatada's garden was such a semi-private space, and he was aware and allowed Ka'b to enter without knocking. So if somebody says, "How could Ka'b have done this?" we say, because it's understood that this was not the inner house; but rather, it was a place where Abu Qatada would not mind Ka'b coming in uninvited.
4. The sajdat al-shukr (سجدة الشكر - prostration of thanksgiving). The [practice of] sajdat al-shukr is never explicitly mentioned in a verbal hadith of the Prophet PBUH, i.e., there is no such hadith that says, "When something good happens to you, fall down in sajdah" — but the concept is mentioned in the Quran [38:24] and Sunnah. Here we have the story of Ka'b; he is on his rooftop, and as soon as he hears the good news, he falls into sajdah. This shows us it's Sunnah to do this, even though the Prophet PBUH never directly commanded it in any hadith. And this sajdah does not need wudu. You fall into sajdah in any state you are in. Do you have to say "Allahu'akbar"? Minor difference of opinion, but better to just say it.
5. It is permissible to shout out good news to the whole community. Good news is not like bad news; you can make it public. We have the man screaming the good news of the acceptance of Ka'b tawba from the mountaintops.
6. It's permissible to stand up and greet someone for a legitimate reason as long as it's not a habitual act. We learn this from Talha ibn Ubaydillah who stood up to greet Ka'b. Some of our brothers are very strict in this regard and say, "I will never stand up for anybody, because the Prophet PBUH forbade it." We say, no doubt, the Prophet PBUH said, "Whoever loves it that people stand up for him, let him be prepared for his seat in Jahannam"—yes, this is authentic, but —as the saying goes— a little knowledge is a dangerous thing; there is another hadith in Sahih Bukhari that says the Prophet PBUH stood up to greet his daughter when she entered the house out of the joy of seeing her; and similarly, when Sa'd ibn Mu'adh was coming after the Battle of the Banu Qurayza, the Prophet PBUH told the Ansar, "Stand up to greet your leader" [see episode 61]; we have so many references of standing up [see also: episode 67]. So when are we allowed to stand up? Al-Shawkani and others have written booklets on this. You are not allowed to stand up when the person has made it a culture or a habit that people stand up in his presence. (Side note: If you are forced to stand up by law, such as in the court of law, then it's fine, so long as you hate it in your heart and realize that it should not be done voluntarily for a person who takes it as a habit to be done in his presence — you have no option, otherwise you will be thrown into jail for contempt.) However, occasionally, you are allowed to, e.g., if you haven't seen someone for a long time and he is coming back from a journey, then you can stand up and greet him — this is totally halal.
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The Battle of Tabuk is the final battle of the Prophet PBUH, and so many incidents took place during this expedition. We will discuss Tabuk for at least three more episodes.
[Transcribed by Br. Safwan Khan & Faizan]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, December 2021]
[Revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, December 2021]
