Hussain Kamani – Stories of the Companions – Kab b. Malik
AI: Summary ©
The importance of the Bible's language on the culture of Islam is highlighted, including the use of "monster" to describe strong and powerful people. The physical presence of Islam is essential to build a narrative that inspires strong and unique expression. The importance of learning to be strong and unique in order to be strong in one's life is emphasized, along with the importance of finding a unique way to express one's views on the upcoming Middle East conflict and finding inspiration from enemies. The importance of avoiding loss of faith and remaining true to oneself is emphasized, along with the importance of staying true to oneself and not abandoning one's beliefs.
AI: Summary ©
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From the companions of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
there were those that were
known for
their grasp on the Arabic language.
This is a big deal living in a
society where everyone
was amazing at the Arabic language,
a community
that was proud over their oral tradition,
where it was common for an average person
to have
hundreds of lines of poetry memorized.
It was common for people to not only
have
poetry memorized for their tribes,
their leaders,
their family members,
their martyrs,
their city,
their language,
their culture,
but also in praise of their horses and
animals.
They had poetry memorized
about their swords,
their shields,
their flags,
about their mountains, their valleys.
Most of this poetry
involved a lot of exaggeration.
And then
from there,
it also grew
into a world of indecency.
Poetry was used as a means of propaganda.
People were terrified of poets because one word
of theirs could add a stain
to their honor.
One statement of theirs
could spark a battle.
One statement of theirs
could have you defamed for generations to come.
So there was this obsession that everyone wanted
to be a poet and they had the
most
prominence and fame in society.
Allah says in
the Quran,
That it is the misguided,
fooled individual
type that you see following these poets.
The poets say
without much consideration,
And what they say they don't do, these
are just nothing more than words.
They speak and speak and speak.
One way of understanding the influence that poets
had
is possibly in our context
the
the prominence and influence that media wields in
our day and age.
One report can hurt someone.
One article can bring
a person, a power, a business, a powerhouse
down.
There were companions of Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wa
sallam who
were quite fluent in poetry
when they heard this verse
of the Quran.
One of the Sahaba,
Sayduna
Kaab ibn Malik radhiallahu anhu,
he said,
That Allah
has revealed regarding poets what he has revealed.
And the Quran
doesn't speak too positively
of poets.
He himself was a poet.
This is a hobby that we will take
a quick look into today,
whose life we'll study briefly
and cover his famous narration
in Bukhari,
of him falling behind in participation
when it came to the battle of Tabuk.
Kabir Malik radiallahu an
was a senior companion of the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam. He was from the Ansar.
He participated in all battles with Rasulullah Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam minus the battle of Badr and
the battle and the battle of Tabuk.
One of the great companions that invited Rasulullah
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam to migrate to Madinah Munawara.
He was known for his poetry.
One of the 3 great poets of Rasulullah
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
in line with
great giants
like Hassan bin Thabit radiallahu an and Abdullah
bin Rawaha radiallahu an.
That they were all amazing poets. They were
all very strong. However, each one had their
unique aspect.
They had a unique
flavor to their poetry.
Was
the companion
known for poetry
with relation to battles.
He would talk about battles and how the
Muslims
were sharp in the battlefield,
a force to be feared.
Hassan bin Thabit radiallahu an, he had his
own touch,
his own way of addressing the Quraysh
and the enemies of Islam.
He would call out the flaws
of their leaders.
He wouldn't hold back.
The prophet
said
to him, uhhujuk Quraish.
Call them out. Call them out for their
flaws. They present themselves as deities,
as strong powers, as gods, and they are
nothing like that.
They are weak from within.
They are flawed human beings that are taking
advantage of people
just because they are in a position of
leadership.
And then Ablobir Rawah radiallahu an, he had
his own approach as well.
So each of these sahaba,
when you heard Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wa sallam
reciting these verses
of the Quran regarding the poets,
he said, oh, messenger of Allah,
the Quran has revealed what it has revealed
regarding the poets.
What about us?
What about us?
To that Nabi sallallahu alaihi wa sallam very
beautifully said,
A soldier fights in the path of Allah
with his sword and his tongue.
And by the one in whose hand my
soul lies.
That when
you say your lines of poetry, when you
speak your truth,
when you show them excellence in your language,
and you reach them where they claim to
be leaders,
and then face them head on,
it's as if you are showering
arrows at them.
The prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam encouraged these companions
to use a method that the enemy was
familiar with.
We won't we won't only fight them in
the battlefield, but we will fight them on
all fields.
In the
followed this example of the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam that if they were called to
fight on the battlefield, they were next to
Nabi salallahu alaihi wa sallam. If it came
to debate and discussion, they were next to
Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wa sallam. Where Nabi salallahu
alaihi wa sallam told them to gain
prominence in the markets, the Sahaba went there,
and they and they guided the humanity, and
they guided the people that this is how
Muslims are strong financially too.
When Nabi salallahu alaihi wa sallam taught the
sahaba that be strong in your families, they
became strong there. The prophet salallahu alaihi wa
sallam instructed companions to become strong at reading
and writing. You see in Madinah Munawah our
culture comes into existence in a nation where
reading and writing is foreign.
This is what
Allah says in the Quran.
That bring forth
all means
that your enemies gather in.
Whatever it is that they gather to fight
against you, you meet them there
And be stronger than them, be greater than
them.
Put in their hearts the fear of Allah
that the Muslim
is not spineless.
The Muslim is strong.
Today we see Alhamdulillah that it's a blessing
from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
that, Muslims stand at all fronts.
Alhamdulillah.
And we pray that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
guides us and purifies our hearts of insincerity,
that He
cleans our hearts of greed and love for
fame.
But as long as we remain sincere and
keep pushing, Allah
will keep opening the path ahead of us.
So much more still needs to be done.
We're nowhere near the finish line,
but it's good to see Muslims raise their
voice
where we can raise our voice.
Today, we see
on the university
campuses
young Muslims encamping
and holding their ground and raising their voice
with the tone of sacred activism,
standing for those that have been done wrong,
and
gathering in solidarity
for a call of justice.
It's moments like these that honestly we remember,
the sacred pack.
Circumstances
are different,
but the ideal is still the same.
The idea is still the same,
that wherever injustice occurs, Muslims stand up and
they speak.
They don't remain silent.
And any time you see someone taking
a turn or cutting a corner in a
new technology or advancement that they will use
to their advantage,
Muslims must do the exact same thing.
There is no one script for dawah. There's
no one script for conveying this
Every person brings something different.
You have to find what comes to you
and search for a unique way. Don't just
do what people are doing.
See if you can reach a new audience,
create a new talent,
or take the talent that you have and
contribute in a way
that
is special and unique.
If Muslims were just to see how far
the enemies of Islam are willing to go,
how much they're willing to sacrifice,
how much of their wealth they're willing to
spend to defame Allah and his rasul, that
in itself should be an inspiration.
That if that person can hate the haqq
so much, how much should I love the
haqq?
How far and above should I be willing
to go? If you can't take inspiration from
the salaf and the sahaba and the Anbiya
alayhi mus salam who put their lives on
the line for the sake of the deen,
then at least take inspiration
from the enemies of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala.
From the enemies of the deen,
how far they're willing to go.
Ka'bim Malik radiAllahu an, when he says to
the Prophet of Allah that the Quran says
what it says regarding poets.
He was a poet. What's next?
Nabi salallahu alayhi wa sallam says that the
that the the warrior, the soldier
fights the enemy
with his sword and his tongue.
And what you are doing with your words
is no less than what is being done
in the battlefield.
What's happening there is great. What's happening here
is great.
Narratives are 1 on different platforms,
and it's through those narratives of stories established,
and it's through those stories that a culture
of justice is created and the hearts of
humanity then
fall towards justice. Loving adal is a part
of insaniyat.
Every oppressor
has to build a narrative
to cover their
and present it as adal.
This is what they all do.
Your task is to pull
that that cover from the eyes of people,
remove that shade from their eyes and allow
them to see justice as justice.
Once they see what adal is, what's right,
they, out of their own natural fitra,
will come to support and stand by it.
Sayyidur Qabl ibn Malik, radiallahu an, when he
arrived in when he,
welcomed Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wa sallam in the
sahabah that arrived in Madinah Munawwara.
The prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam paired him
with a muhajir companion
as a brother. The
system of that every unsali sahabi was paired
with a muhajir companion.
Now who was the companion
of Ka'b Malik radiAllahu an?
There's there are 2 common narrations.
One narration tells us that Ibn Ushak narrates
that it was Talhabin Ubaidullah,
one of the senior companions.
However, there is another narration that you'll see
in the works of Tariq and Sira.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam joined Ka'bim
Malik
with Zubayr radiAllahu ta'ala.
And there's a fascinating story here
narrated by Hisham bin Urwa, who narrates from
his father
Zubayr.
He says that Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam
joined in this bond of brotherhood.
Kaab ibn Malik radiallahu an and his father
Zubayr bin Awam radiallahu an.
Was injured.
So he was then carried
from the battlefield due to his wounds.
Zubayr
was with him as he was being taken
back to Madinah.
And the narrator says that had Ka'b died
that day, Zubayr would have inherited from them.
There was this understanding among the people that
the individuals Nabi salallahu alaihi wa sallam joined
together were now relatives.
So Nabi salallahu alaihi wasallam said they were
brothers and if one were to pass the
other would inherit.
For Anzalallahu ta'ala, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then
revealed the ayah.
That even though they were made brothers by
Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wa sallam, that was brotherhood
of Islam,
not one of familial bond.
So they would actually not inherit from one
another.
Ka'bim Malik narrates
regarding his
participation in the Battle of Uhud.
Now when we heard Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
was
was injured and then later on Nabi salallahu
alaihi wasalam was,
killed.
Everyone lost their grounding and it a very
chaotic moment.
I was the first one to see the
Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
I told people the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam was alive and well.
Farda'arasulallahu
alaihi wa sallam kabin
He put on the armor and he went
to the battlefield and he got busy.
And he fought and fought that we had
never seen
a person fight like this before.
When he was taken from the battlefield and
carried back to Madinah Munawwara,
he had
17
wounds on his body.
Seventeen different cuts.
But they were fighting with iman.
They were fighting for purpose.
He was fighting to defend Rasulullah
And therefore the energy they had and the
strength they had, the vigor they fought with
was something very different.
When a person has a purpose and drive,
the energy that follows is beyond measurement.
This is why the ulema
emphasized the hadith,
Figure out what you're doing and why you're
doing it.
People will do things, but not everyone knows
why they're doing it.
Once you know why you're doing something,
and if it's a meaningful cause that you
stand for,
you will keep going right until your final
breath.
But you need the right cause.
And the best way to learn
what your cause and intention should be is
by observing those who Allah
showered his rama upon.
By staying close to people whose hearts Allah
has
connected
to himself, his mercy,
his fafal, his
favor, his bounty.
Ka'b al Malik
narrates
so many beautiful narrations from Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam.
He narrates regarding the saffar of the prophet
of Allah
That Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wasallam would generally
start his saffar on Thursday.
If the Prophet of Allah had to go
somewhere, we would normally see
the Prophet's travel would start on a Thursday.
This is why the ulema they write that
if a person intends to travel somewhere, they
should start their journey on a Thursday.
In kitab al Hajj, you'll see the right
there as a recommendation
that it is mustahab a person begins their
journey of Hajj on a
Thursday.
Similarly, in the chapter of jihad,
the right there, that it is mustahab recommended
that if a person is to go on
a journey of jihad,
they start that that journey that suffer on
a Thursday.
Ka'bim Malik radiallahu an also narrates the return
of Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wa sallam. That when
the prophet of Allah would return from a
journey, it was his habit before going home
to first head to the masjid.
This is a beautiful advice for all of
us.
As
as much as you may want that I
get from the airport and go straight home,
maybe take a quick detour to the masjid.
Pray 2 raka there and then go.
He says the prophet would
upon arrival head to the masjid first,
pray
there, and then he would sit in the
masjid to greet and talk with anyone that
had anything to discuss with him. If anyone
wanted to catch up, share a story, something
that happened while the prophet
was gone, he would sit there for some
time and listen to them. And after he
was done talking with people, he would then
head home.
Gabbin Malik narrates
that when Nabi salallahu alaihi wasalam would eat,
after he was done eating, he wouldn't just
wipe his hand with a cloth or go
wash away his hands.
Because when you're done eating with your hands,
there is usually a little bit of curry
left on your hand, few grains of rice
left on your hand, a little bit of
something, some residue.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would lick his
fingers.
In some cultures that's frowned upon because people
don't eat with their hands. And so when
they see others licking their fingers, they view
that to be, an inappropriate sight.
But for the sahabah, when Nabi salallahu alayhi
wa sallam did it, it was a lesson
for them that we Muslims don't waste anything.
Rather in one narration, the prophet salallahu alaihi
wa sallam told them that barakah lies in
the last part of the meal.
The first part of the meal, there's so
much food there, but the barakah lies in
those final moments. Those last grains that are
there.
In one narration, the sahaba they say that
when Nabi salallahu alaihi wasalam was done eating,
not only would he lick his own finger,
but he would use his finger to clean
the whole plate.
So no food was left behind.
And then in another narration,
and I saw this with one of my
teachers too, Hafez Ahmed Sab, that when he
would finish eating, not only would he,
clean his hands and then clean the plate
as well, he would take a small piece
of roti and bread and clean the pot
the food is cooked in
to make sure there was no wastage at
all.
Where is that generation gone and where are
we today?
Sometimes you wonder if people were ever taught
how to eat food.
There is enough meat on a bone to
feed a nation, and it's being thrown away
in the garbage.
There are grains of rice embedded everywhere, and
it's just cultural. As you know, that's all
I could get. That's all done.
When the sahaba they described that it was,
you know, that when they would eat with
Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam everything was clean. I
mean, there's so many narrations that I'm thinking
of right now.
Ka'b ibn Malik radiAllahu an in a whole
different context.
He tells us that the Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam warned us of greed,
specifically
greed for honor and wealth.
These things consume
and destroy a person.
The most famous story of Ka'b al Malik
radiallahu an
is probably
the narration
that he narrates in his own words
in so much detail
about
him missing the honor of participating in the
battle of Tabuk.
It was very hard on him.
It was a tough situation.
The truth is that no Sahabi
was tested for his truth as much as
Ka'b ibn Malik radiAllahu an was.
One slip up, one mistake.
He had an opportunity to lie his way
out of it, but he stuck to the
truth.
And the consequences of that truth were very
rough.
Rasulullah
through revelation
made an example of in
this regard.
Now I know that may sound harsh, but
let me explain.
Making an example of someone for the Prophet
wasn't about humiliating them or belittling them or
abandoning
them. When something great is done,
it must be made clear that the wrong
that was done
was so great that the punishment that comes
with it will match the gratitude, the magnitude
of what was done.
It'll match it. So no one thinks that
something small. A great Sahabi that Kabir Malikar
was a leader, someone beloved to the prophet
of Allah, seen with Nabi salallahu alayhi wasalam.
He was one of the great poets of
the Prophet of Allah salallahu alaihi wasalam, and
he does something so great. He and we'll
talk about this in a few moments. Staying
behind from a battle was no small affair.
Among the Arabs, even prior to the arrival
of Islam,
this was viewed as
a major crime
that if you are called to a battle
and you are a healthy body and everyone
is going, you stay behind, that's abandonment.
Even in modern law, this is considered to
be a major crime. It's punishable.
You don't have to be Muslim to know
this.
The Muslims were going to Tabuk, the Prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam commanded
all hands on deck.
It was generally the habit of Rasulullah salallahu
alaihi wa sallam to not even disclose the
destination because he didn't want any enemy
to hear from someone from the hypocrites of
Madinah and then plan against the Muslims.
But this battle of Tabuk was against the
Romans.
It was a very very big deal.
And the prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam knew
the journey ahead of them was long.
So this is one of the few times
the prophet of Allah
did not engage in any tawiyyah. He openly
announced, we are headed in this direction, everyone
get themselves ready. It was a long journey.
It was a very hot season.
God ibn Malik
didn't join.
When the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam returned,
now if you think about it,
he could have let him off, but that
would have been a bad example.
Someone could say that he favored his friend.
He let him go.
Is this what kind of prophet you have?
He let someone go on a crime that
even
the non Muslim knows is unforgivable?
On the other hand,
Ka'b ibn Malik radiallahu an hadi openly lied
to Rasulullah radiallahu alaihi wa sallam,
the adala of the sahaba would have been
questioned.
That this corpus of hadith that we have
attributed to Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is this
even acceptable?
And then on the other hand,
Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam wanted everyone to know
how grave of a mistake was made in
that in that in in that in that
decision of theirs,
that the Prophet was
instructed by Allah to use as an example,
Sahaba
who the Prophet of Allah knew, who Allah
knew, had so much sincerity that they would
even be sincere in moments of punishment.
Being sincere, loyal, and loving
in times of ease and loyalty
is easy.
It's just reciprocating what you're given.
You find out the true value of a
student.
You find out the true loyalty of a
companion, a friend
when
the relationship
is put to a test
in moments of difficulty.
When I look at the story of God
and
what he went through,
I'm really
shocked and amazed by how much the Sahaba
really loved Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
Our teacher Sheikh
he wrote
and published his letters
that his Sheikh, Sheikh Zakariya Kandahar
sent him
over a span of almost
10 to 15 years.
Beautiful letters.
And in those letters, there were moments where
Sheikh Zakaria Kandahar
was scolding Sheikh Yusuf.
He would use very harsh words sometimes.
Sometimes he would refer to our sheikh. His
own teacher would refer to his student, our
teacher,
by saying that you are stubborn.
You don't listen to anyone,
and so on and so on.
There was a special relationship there.
One that may be difficult to understand in
modern times because
people only know
how to love as long as
their ego is very carefully stroked.
And the moment you give pushback and stop
stroking their egos,
most human beings run away.
They say, Sheikh, we're interested in
but it's only that makes them smile.
Not
that actually
pushes them to make change and be a
better human being.
So I remember someone asked Sheikh Isa
that you publish these letters. That's so beautiful.
Why did you publish the letters
in which Sheikh Youssef, Sheikh Zakaria uses harsh
words towards you?
It seems to be a little humiliating. People
respect you so much. Do you want that
laundry out? Do you want people to see
it?
So then Sheikh Yusuf
I heard him say this himself.
He said that,
had I published these letters without
my shirk scolding me, then these letters would
have been nothing more than showing off.
These letters without him scolding me in reality
mean nothing.
The moments that he was scolding me in
were the most valuable parts of the letters.
And he made sure to highlight them. If
you actually read his Muhammad Nabi, the 3
volume book,
in a very cute way, in a very
beautiful fashion, in the margins, right where the
letter begins to roast Sheikh Yusuf, he put
a lemon on the side.
There's literally an image of a lemon on
the side.
Right?
Right there he shows, and then he has
a a flower on the side in the
margins where Sheikh Zakari
said something of love to him, and he
has a lantern in the margins where Sheikh
Zakari
said something of to him. And so like
this he put these rumors,
in the margins of the books. So if
a student were were to open them and
just read through them, you get an idea
of what beautiful relationship they had.
And out of all the people that was
that were selected,
for this great test,
for this great thurbiyah,
Qaabin Malik
was one of them.
Every one of the sahaba
were carefully selected by Allah Subhanahu wa
ta'ala. Kabin Malik
himself says, it doesn't make any sense. I
was ready to go. I wanted to go.
I had the means to go. Somehow I
didn't go.
You know, sometimes you have your mind set
on something and something very different happens.
And therefore, when you look at the words
of the hadith, so, you know, I was
saying that Kaab ibn Malik radiAllahu 1 was
the one selected for this. I find that
so beautiful
because
what was his mastery in again?
Where did I start off where do we
start off today?
Poetry and language.
When you look at the words of the
narration
of him describing his test, every word fits
perfect.
Each stroke represents the masterpiece of this portrait.
Every stroke, every word is just perfect to
describe what happened.
Every word.
Allah chose the right Sahabi for this test.
Before we read the of Kabir Malik radiallahu
an, I'll share,
a sentiment that one of my teachers once
shared with us in Das.
He said
we were reading a we were reading a
narration
regarding a Sahabi,
engaging
in an act
that he was reprimanded for.
So while commenting on that, our Sheikh said,
Our sahaba were not ones that committed zina,
neither did our sahaba ever steal.
They were the purest of souls that were
selected by Allah
to breathe the same air as the prophet
and to be his companions,
his support,
his family.
Out of billions of human beings, those eyes
were carefully selected
long before this earth even came into existence
to be ones that saw the face of
the Prophet of Allah in this dunya.
Yet,
Allah
selected them
for these sins to occur during the life
of the prophet of Allah
because it was inappropriate for a nabi to
be an example here.
So those that were closest to them, the
sahaba,
were used as the example.
It was not in their nature to sin,
but Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, used them for
those actions,
So we, the ummah, can learn
how to live as Muslims.
So the takmir of sharia could happen, that
this is how kudood are carried out.
So we understand the interpretation
of the verses of the Quran.
And by Allah, the story of Ka'b Malik
reflects
this simple truth.
He says,
this is probably
the longest hadith in Sahih al Bukhari.
Imam Bukhari
narrates this
beautiful story of Ka'b al Malik radiAllahu an
under the book,
the chapter of repentance, the book on repentance.
I never missed a battle by the side
of Rasulullah
except for the Battle of Tabuk
and the Battle of Badr.
The Battle of Badr, the prophet of Allah,
did not hold any companion accountable for missing
it because it was never meant to be
a battle.
They were actually headed out to prevent a
caravan from reaching Mecca.
I was with Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, he
says,
When we took our covenant at the hands
of Rasulullah
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and became Muslims.
I would not trade that honor of accepting
Islam
in that night with a small group of
people before migration
for even participation in the Battle of Badr.
I wouldn't trade it.
Even though Badr went on to become much
more famous,
I am proud of my Laylatul Akbar
that I had that honor with Rasulullah Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam.
While he starts his story of
not participating
in the Battle of Tabuk, His opening line
is this,
By Allah, I was never wealthier
in my life than the day that I
skipped that battle.
It doesn't make any sense.
I never owned 2 animals at once in
my life until that day.
The battle
was at a distant land. It was very
hot.
We were planning to depart.
There were so many Muslims.
Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam openly announced our destination.
If a person wanted to disappear in the
number of Muslims, they could easily do so
because there were just too many to count.
There was no one, you know, registrar. There
was no one
list that had everyone's name in it.
I fell behind.
I told myself I would get ready for
the battle.
And then the day came for departure.
And as they headed out, I heard the
announcement being made that everyone's leaving, everyone's leaving.
I told myself that I'm a single traveler.
I have an animal. I have all means.
How about I spend another day at home
in my bed and, you know, enjoy myself
a little bit? I'll catch up with them
tomorrow.
He delayed one
day, then the next day he said,
I'll catch up tomorrow. I'll catch up tomorrow.
And he kept delaying,
I kept delaying, kept delaying, kept delaying until
now they had gone too far to catch
up. And even in that moment I said,
even though they're gone this far, they may
have even reached the destination,
let me leave anyway. At least I'll catch
them at some point.
I wish I had gone.
I had wished that I took on that
entire journey alone.
But Allah
in taqdeer had written otherwise for me.
My story was to play out another way.
Something great was gonna happen. After
Rasulullah
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam had gone and the sahaba
were long gone,
I would walk around in Madinah Munawala looking
for someone else like me that I can
find comfort in that I wasn't the only
one that fell behind.
It grieved me to know
that there was no one like me healthy
and strong in Madinah Munawwara.
The only people behind
were those that were known for being hypocrites
or those that were ill and actually couldn't
have gone.
The Prophet
made no mention of me during the entire
trip.
Until he actually arrived in Tabuk.
What happened to Kaabub N Malik?
One person
said his wealth held him back. He's doing
well these days financially. It seems like money
kept him away.
Mu'ad Abu Jabal once
spoke out, and he said,
You've spoken an evil statement,
oh messenger of Allah. We only know him
for his nobility.
We only know him for good.
The Prophet
remained silent.
The narration continues. Ka'ib Malik
says that the news arrived that the prophet
was returning from Tabuk.
I became very worried
And I begin to ponder on lying to
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
What should I say tomorrow
to exit from any anger?
I begin to talk to people and ask
them.
Then I heard the news
that the prophet
has arrived.
In that moment,
the reality struck me
that I should speak the truth because if
I lie to him, it'll come out.
The Prophet
entered Madinah Munawwrah in the morning,
and when he would return from a journey,
he would start with the masjid
and perform 2 raka,
and then he would sit for people.
As the prophet of Allah was sitting in
the masjid,
the people who did not participate
began to line up, and each of them
presented their excuse.
The prophet
began to accept their excuses. There were over
80 people,
80 of them. They presented their excuses.
Nabi
accepted their excuses,
relying just on their apparent, what they were
saying,
not investigating
what was internal.
Nabi salallahu alaihi wa sallam then made istighfar
for them and left their internal affairs.
The line shortened
until finally it was my turn to stand
in front of Rasulullah
Rasulullah I gave my salam to the Prophet
Nabi
smiled at me
in a state of anger.
He wasn't happy.
The prophet said,
why were you not with us?
Where were
you?
Did you not have an animal? Were you
not ready?
I said, O Messenger of Allah,
I swear by Allah, if I was sitting
in front of in front of anyone other
than you,
I would have presented
myself
with excuses
that would save me from any form of
reprimand or anger
for I have been granted eloquent speech.
However, I know that if I lie to
you today,
I will make you happy.
But Allah
will be angry at me, and he will
make
his anger come upon me through you too.
He will cause you to be angry at
me. And today, if I speak the truth,
you shall be angry at me.
But I hope for
reward with
Allah
So I have no excuse.
There was never a day in my life
that I was stronger
or had more wealth
from the day I stayed behind from joining
you.
Nabi said,
As for this man,
he spoke the truth.
Leave
until Allah
passes judgment for you.
I don't know of anyone that must have
been tested as much as Ka'abin Malik, radiallahu
an,
To know that the prophet
was angry at him,
how does a person deal with that?
How does a person internalize
that angry smile of Rasulullah
SAWHANNAH WASALLAM?
How do they deal with the emotion of
being crushed under the anger of Rasulullah SAW.
The silence of Rasulullah SAW.
Not hearing salaam from Rasulullah
The prophet of Allah turning his face away
from that person.
The salar of his
sincerity
is truly
unique and remarkable.
I got up to leave.
And as soon as I got up,
everyone rushed to me and they said, what
have you done?
Why did you speak the truth? You should
have just lied. The Prophet was making Istighfar
for everyone. His Istighfar
would have canceled your lie.
They kept telling me this. They kept saying
this to me until the thought crossed my
mind. I should maybe go back to the
prophet of Allah
and reject myself.
I should turn against my own testimony
and say, oh, messenger of Allah, I was
actually joking. I had a problem.
When I was thinking about this, I asked,
is there anyone else that spoke the truth?
He was looking for that example, that role
model.
They said, yes, there are 2 other people.
They named 2 people
who were righteous
and had participated in the battle of Badr.
In both of them
was the example.
That was my that was my role model.
Earlier in the narration, he said, I was
walking around Madinah looking for a role model,
but it grieved me to know no one
else was left.
But these were 2 people, and knowing that
they spoke the truth, they were righteous people,
they were participants
of badr,
that what they were doing
was right and, alhamdulillah, I had also spoken
the truth. At that moment, says,
I made my commitment to stick to my
truth.
In the ayah of the Quran regarding the
3 that Allah forgave, the Allah says,
the next ayah, Allah
says,
Be with those that are truthful.
He made the right choice by not being
with liars
and connecting himself to people of truth regardless
of the consequences.
The Prophet
told the companions to not engage with any
of these 3.
So people began to avoid us,
and they changed.
I couldn't recognize the land that I lived
in.
For 50 nights.
My two friends,
Murara and Hilal,
they
They locked themselves in their homes for 50
days, and they cried and cried and cried
over their mistake.
As for me, I was young and strong,
so I decided not to stay at home.
I would go outside of the house.
I would go for prayer.
Walk around in the markets.
Not one person would speak with me.
The test of love.
I would come to the prophet of Allah
while he was sitting and give salaam to
him,
hoping the prophet of Allah would just move
his lips so I could interpret that as
his
return
of
salaam.
I would pray salah close to Nabi sallallahu
alaihi wa
secretly
catching glimpses of Nabi salahahu alayhi wasalam.
And when I would start praying,
he would look at me.
And when I would turn to look back
at him,
he would turn away.
This wasn't easy for Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
Like a parent doing tarbia of their child
against their will, against their desire, but they
know
the lesson must be taught.
A person's hand gets chopped off, a person
loses wealth, a person loses a family member,
these are pains you bear.
But saying salaam to the prophet of Allah
and not hearing that back,
if that's our outcome on the day of
judgment, then this whole dunya is a waste
for us.
If we stand in front of Rasulullah Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam on the day of judgment
and the malaika drag us away,
that
These are people who innovated after you left
and they found new ways and new role
models and new pleasures.
Keep these people away. Keep these people away.
What would what will come of us?
Ka'bib Malik radiAllahu an.
He says, I return to Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam, the prophet of Allah, would turn his
face away.
So many days have passed by and no
one talked to us.
So I climbed a wall one day, and
I said to Abu Qatada, who
was my relative,
and very dear and beloved to me,
Assalamu alik.
My own cousin did not give salaam back
to me.
So I said to him,
I give you an oath by Allah.
Do you not know that I love Allah
and His Messenger?
So he stayed silent.
I said to him, do you not know
that I love Allah and his messenger?
He stayed silent.
I said, you know that I love Allah
and his messenger.
He stayed silent.
And then he said, Allahu Arasuluhu Adam, Allah
and his messenger know what you're saying and
the answer to what you're saying.
I began to cry because even those that
were closest to me
weren't speaking to me, and now they were
in doubt of my love for Allah
I got down from the mountain
from the from this wall
and I went to the market.
And one person from Sham was in the
market of Madinah Munawwara,
selling food to
the residents of Madinah.
And he said that, is there a person
that can guide me to qaab al Malik?
And they said, hey, there he is. So
that man came to me and he gave
me a letter from the king of Ghassan,
and I was able to read and write.
So I read it and it said,
it has reached us that your companion has
abandoned you
and
you now live in a state, in a
land of disgrace.
Come and join us. We will honor you.
We will treat you as an equal.
When I read the letter,
I realized immediately that this was a greater
test from Allah
I went to the tanoor,
the oven,
and I tossed it in there and burnt
it.
40 days passed by.
The prophet
sent a messenger
to me
and he said,
you are no longer
permitted
to be with your wife.
The first 40 days were already so tough,
and now he's being told, you cannot be
with your wife.
Am I being commanded to leave her?
She has to exit my marriage or what
is this?
He said, No. The Prophet of Allah says,
stay away from her. Do not engage in
any intimacy,
but there's no need to divorce her.
The same message was given to the other
2.
And
So I said to my wife that, why
don't you head over to your family and
stay there until Allah
finalizes my matter.
The wife of Hilal ibn Umayyah came to
Rasulullah
and she said, Messenger of Allah, my husband's
too old. He doesn't have a servant.
And
I need to serve him.
Is there any problem with me being with
him just to do his khidma? Nabi
said, no.
But you should not be close and intimate
with one another.
She said, oh, messenger of Allah, okay. I
mean, he's very old.
My husband,
since the day
you stopped speaking to him,
He's been sitting at home for 40 days
continuously
crying in grief and remorse.
One of my family members said to me
that why don't you ask the prophet of
Allah for a concession just as the wife
of Hilal did?
He said, No, I'm not going to. I'm
a young person. And what if I asked
the Prophet of Allah and he says no
to me? That'll hurt even more. I don't
know what his answer is gonna be. So
let's leave it the way it is.
10 more nights passed by.
It was a 50th night.
In the morning, I
prayed
upon a house
in our neighborhood,
and I was just sitting there remembering Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
My heart was very much constricted,
and I heard a sound of someone shouting
from the top of a mountain
saying, oh, Ka'a bim Malik, glad tidings to
you. He wasn't really sure what the glad
tidings were for,
but I fell into anyway.
And my heart said to me
that this difficult chapter in life had finally
come to an end.
It was time to be close with Rasulullah
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
He began to rush to the Masjid of
Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
A person came and told him
that
Allah
has revealed verses of the Quran regarding you.
So the 2 garments I had, I gave
it to him. I didn't have anything else
to wear, so I borrowed it back from
him.
And I began to walk towards the masjid
to meet Rasulullah
On the way to the masjid, group after
group people came
to meet us
and to give me glad tidings.
I entered into the masjid.
The prophet of Allah was sitting there
surrounded by companions.
Got up
and he rushed to greet me.
You remember that brother that the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasallam joined him with when they arrived
in Madinah?
He rushed to greet me, yuharwilu.
Hatasafahani.
He shook my hand and gave me glad
tidings.
Kaabim Malik
says, Wallahi maqamalajjudumminalmuajidina
ghayruum. He was the only one from the
muhajjudun that got up, that got up, and
I remember that. He was the one that
got up to greet me.
For the rest of his life, he remembered
that, that you were the first one to
hug me. You were the first one to
greet me.
He was sitting in front of Rasulullah sallallahu
alaihi wasallam finally,
the Prophet of Allah looking at him. He
was looking at the Prophet of Allah.
And
then Kaab says, I gave my salaam to
Rasulullah
And his face was shining out of joy.
He starts off the narration
by saying the prophet smiled at me in
a state of anger.
And now I was looking at Rasulullah Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam, his face was shining out of
just happiness.
And the Prophet said to me,
take joy and glad tidings in the day
that has come to you.
Take glad tidings in the best of days
that you have lived in.
From the day your mother gave birth to
you.
I asked the Messenger of Allah, is this
glad tidings from you or from Allah?
Rasulullah said,
rather from Allah
This poet very descriptive.
The Prophet of Allah, when he was happy,
his face would glow and shine
as if it was a portion of the
moon,
and we all knew it.
So when I sat in front of the
Prophet of Allah, he said, oh, Messenger of
Allah,
I will
show my tawba,
and I will live by my tawba.
That I will give away all of my
wealth,
I was held back from this battle due
to my wealth. I don't want any of
it. All of it's gone away from me.
It wasn't worth it.
A single day away from you was too
much, 50 days away from this wealth,
from you because of this wealth, I don't
wanna ever see it again.
This is what people will say on the
day of judgment when they stand in front
of jannah.
That because of that life in the dunya,
I couldn't reach where I should have reached.
I missed out on the pleasure of Allah
and his rasul because of some small worldly
toy.
What kind of mistake did I make?
Nabi salallahu alayhi wasalam said,
don't give it all away, keep some of
it for yourself.
Life goes on.
He said, Then I hold back the share
that was given to me in the battle
of Khayr.
O Messenger of Allah,
today I have been freed due to being
truthful.
And the symbol of my tawbah is that
I will never speak but the truth for
as long as I live.
For by Allah,
there is not a Muslim who was tested
for speaking the truth
like the way I was tested for speaking
the truth.
And
I never intended to lie again.
From that day, I sat in front of
Rasulullah
for the rest of my life.
And I pray
that Allah
protects me from all forms of false statements.
Allah
revealed the ayah in the Quran.
Allah has also forgiven the 3
that remained behind.
Beautiful verses
talking about their state at the time of
repentance and how Allah granted him granted them
his forgiveness.
And then Allah
says,
Oh, those who believe, be conscious of Allah.
He could have lied, but he was conscious
of Allah.
And whenever the consequences were were in a
worldly sense, they were okay because
he knew that he had to stand in
front of Allah
and that required
him to speak the truth today.
And always be
with truthful.
With people that are truthful.
Some of the Here
they say,
Be with righteous people.
And the fact that Allah
says as a command, be conscious of Allah,
and then says, be with righteous
people, be with the truthful people. There is
an overlap here because one requires the other.
Righteousness and consciousness of Allah is gained through
suhbah.
And of Allah
isn't gained just through reading books.
You shouldn't waste another decade, 2 decades of
your life believing
in this
this dream
that has no truth to it.
Righteousness
is gained
through companionship.
It's gained through companionship of righteous people.
By gaining companionship and studying the lives of
Sahaba,
the Tabirun, the that
are in the in the Quran. Studying them,
that's a form of companionship.
You know, one of my teachers used to
say that when you sleep at night, keep
a book of a righteous scholar next to
you, and read a few pages every day
before you go to sleep. That's you benefiting
from their suhbah.
That's you sitting in there gathering for a
few moments.
But that still is
the written role model,
you know, the documented role model.
We're not just interested in those role models,
we need practical role models.
There should be people in your life that
you see, and when you see them you
are able to say, this person reminds me
of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
That you're able to say that maybe if
I had interacted with the prophet of Allah,
this it would be an outcome of that,
like this is taken from that same mishkat,
taken from that same lantern that I would
recognize these actions if I had act interacted
with the prophet of Allah myself.
This is how the prophet of Allah was.
This is how he engaged with me. Now
that I interact with another person, I see
where they took it from.
This is not originally from them, they learned
this from the Quran and the sunnah.
You should have inspirations like that in your
life. You owe this to yourself.
Otherwise,
our chances at being the best version of
ourselves
dwindles, it disappears.
Ask someone
who spent
their life trying to grow
with hard work and effort
without the company of righteous servants of Allah,
and then ask them what they experience in
a few months just by sitting with righteous
people.
The few months that they sit with them
will eclipse
what they tried to do on their own
in 10 years.
Like 10 years of them doing what they
did on their own, in a few months
here, this will change your life.
That's how Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala created the
heart.
That's how the insan's aqal and mizaj works.
That's the tabi'ah of the insan.
Out of all the words
that we could have used to refer to
the students of Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wa sallam,
and the first to accept Islam,
the word the Quran used, the word the
saha the prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam used
was Sahaba,
companions.
That was actually the greatest thing they took
from the prophet of Allah that's irreplaceable. Companionship.
They were with Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wa sallam.
Ka'ib al Malik radiallahu an then says, I'm
thankful to Allah for not
lying because then Allah
revealed the ayat in the Quran regarding the
people that lied
when presenting their excuse to
They lied to make you happy. And even
if you are pleased with them, Allah will
never be pleased with them.
Their abode will be in the fire of
*. Allah
reprimanded Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam for accepting their
apologies.
The ayah starts off when Allah reprimands the
prophet of Allah
Allah has already forgiven you.
Why? Why did Allah forgive them? We'll talk
about that in a moment, but Allah
consoles the prophet of Allah
You are forgiven.
For You granting them permission and letting them
off.
This matter should have been further investigated.
And then the ayat continue regarding those that
sought permission who were sincere and those that
were insincere.
Ka'b ibn Malik, after
the passing of Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wa sallam,
there really isn't much
recorded
of him in the works of history.
There are some
fascinating
lines of poetry attributed to him regarding the
shahada of Sayidina,
Ruthman ibn Affan, very
beautiful lines.
Maybe we'll read them together another time. He
read these lines in front of
Ali ibn Abi Talib
As for his passing away,
in,
Imam
Abu Qasim
al Barhawi,
he writes in his Mu'ad al Sahaba
that Gabbin Malik
passed away during the khilafa of Mu'awiyah radhiallahuan.
In my opinion,
somewhere in Sham,
and towards the end of his life, he
lost his eyesight.
On
the other hand,
Abu Muhammad Abtayyib ibn Abdullah al Hijrani al
Hazrami al Shafi'i.
He writes that Kaab
passed away in Madinah Munawara
in the year 50 after Hijra.
We pray that Allah showers
his mercy on Kaab ibn Malik radiallahu an.
From Kaab radiallahu an story, we learn the
lesson of
using
the blessings that Allah
has showered you with
to serve the deen.
Use your words, use your sword, use your
life for serving the deen.
From Kaab
story, we learned the lesson of being truthful,
being honest.
And we learned that
growth happens
when you remain steadfast
on your principles,
even if life gets tough.
You believe in something, you stick to it.
Don't abandon and walk away.
Allah
will give you good things in this world
and on the hereafter,
as long as you remain committed to your
truth.
May Allah accept this gathering and make it
a means of for us all.