(Continued)
Ka‘b, may Allah be pleased with him, added,
We remained in that condition for fifty nights. As regards my two fellows, they remained in their houses and continued weeping, but I was the youngest and the strongest of them, so I would go out and attend the prayers along with the Muslims and roam about in the markets, but no one talked to me, and I often came to the Messenger of Allah and greeted him while he was sitting in his gathering after the prayer, and I always wondered afterwards whether or not he had moved his lips to return my greeting. Then I offered my prayer close to him and looked at him stealthily. Whenever I was occupied in my prayer, he would turn his face towards me, but whenever I turned my face to him, he would turn his face away from me.
When this harsh attitude of the people lasted for a long time, I walked till I jumped the wall of the garden of Abu Qataadah, who was my cousin and the dearest person to me, and I greeted him. By Allah, he did not return my greeting. I said, “O Abu Qataadah, I beseech you by Allah! Do you not know that I love Allah and His Messenger?” He kept silent. I asked him again, beseeching him by Allah, but he remained silent. Then I asked him again in the name of Allah. He said, “Allah and His Messenger know best.” Thereupon my eyes flowed with tears, and I returned and jumped over the wall.
Afterwards, and when I was once walking in the market of Madeenah, I suddenly saw a non-Arab farmer who came from Ash-Shaam [greater Syria] to sell his grain in Madeenah, saying, “Who can lead me to Ka‘b bin Maalik?” The people began to point to me and he came to me and handed me a letter from the King of Ghassaan, in which the following was written, given that I was lettered:
To proceed: I have been informed that your friend [the Prophet ] has deserted you, and Allah has not made you live in a place where you feel inferior and your rights are lost. Therefore, join us, and we will console you.
When I read it, I said to myself, this is a stern test. I took the letter to an oven, lit it, and burnt it.
When forty out of the fifty nights had elapsed, there came to me the messenger from the Messenger of Allah who said, “The Messenger of Allah orders you to keep away from your wife.” I said, “Should I divorce her, or what?” He said, “No, only keep aloof from her, and do not approach her.” The Prophet sent the same message to my two fellows. I therefore said to my wife, “Go to your parents and remain with them until Allah gives His decision on this matter.”
The wife of Hilaal bin Umayyah came to the Messenger of Allah and said, “O Messenger of Allah, Hilaal bin Umayyah is a helpless old man who has no servant to serve him. Would you mind if I stay with him to serve him?” He said:“No. But he should not come near you.” She said, “By Allah, he has no desire for anything. By Allah, he has not ceased weeping from when his case began until this day.” On that, some of my family members said to me, “Will you also ask the Messenger of Allah to permit your wife [to serve you] as he has permitted the wife of Hilaal bin Umayyah to serve him?” I said, “By Allah, I will not ask the permission of the Messenger of Allah regarding her, for I do not know what the Messenger of Allah would say if I asked him to permit her [to serve me] and I am a young man.”
Then I remained in that state for ten more nights till the period of fifty nights had passed, starting from the time when the Messenger of Allah prohibited the people from talking to us.
I offered the Fajr prayer on the fiftieth morning on the roof of one of our houses, and I was sitting in the state which Allah described [in the Quran]: My soul confined me and even the earth seemed narrow to me in spite of all its vastness. Then I heard the voice of one who had ascended the mountain of Sala‘ calling at the top of his voice, “O Ka‘b bin Maalik, Rejoice with the glad tidings!” I fell down in prostration before Allah The Almighty, realizing that relief had come.
The Messenger of Allah announced the acceptance of our repentance by Allah The Almighty just after he had offered the Fajr prayer. The people then went out to congratulate us. Some of those who brought good tidings went out to my two fellows, and a horseman came to me in haste, and a man from the Banu Aslam came running and ascended the mountain and his voice was swifter than a horse. When he [the man] whose voice I had heard, came to me conveying the good tidings, I took off my garments and gave them to him; and by Allah, I owned no garments otherthan those on that day. I therefore borrowed other garments and wore them, and went directly to the Messenger of Allah .
The people started receiving me in batches, congratulating me on the acceptance of my repentance by Allah, saying, “We congratulate you on the acceptance of your repentance by Allah.” When I entered the Masjid [mosque], I saw the Messenger of Allah sitting with the people around him. Talhah bin ‘Ubaydillaah stood up and came hurriedly towards me, shook hands with me and congratulated me. By Allah, none of the Muhaajiroon [emigrants] got up to receive me except him, and I will never forget this from Talhah. When I greeted the Messenger of Allah he, with his face joyfully bright, said: “Rejoice at the best day you ever had since your mother delivered you.” I asked the Prophet “Is this forgiveness from yourself or from Allah?” He said: “It is from Allah.” Whenever the Messenger of Allah was happy, his face would shine as if it were a piece of the moon, and we all knew that characteristic in him.
When I sat before him, I said, “O Messenger of Allah, because of the acceptance of my repentance I will give up all my wealth by way of charity for the sake of Allah and His Messenger.” The Messenger of Allah said: “Keep some of your wealth, as it will be better for you.”I said, “Then I will keep my share from Khaybar with me.” I added, “O Messenger of Allah, Allah has saved me for having told the truth; so it is part of my repentance that I will only tell the truth as long as I am alive.”
By Allah, I do not know anyone of the Muslims whom Allah has blessed with telling the truth more than me. Since I mentioned that truth to the Messenger of Allah until today, I have never intended to tell a lie. I hope that Allah will also save me [from telling lies] for the rest of my life.
In relation to this, Allah revealed (what means):{Allah has already forgiven the Prophet and the Muhaajiroon [emigrants] and the Ansaar [helpers] who followed him in the hour of difficulty after the hearts of a party of them had almost inclined [to doubt], and then He forgave them. Indeed, He was to them Kind and Merciful. And [He also forgave] the three who were left behind [and regretted their error] to the point that the earth closed in on them in spite of its vastness and their souls confined them and they were certain that there is no refuge from Allah except in Him. Then He turned to them so they could repent. Indeed, Allah is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful. O you who have believed, fear Allah and be with those who are true.} [Quran 9:117-119]
Ka‘b, may Allah be pleased with him, added,
By Allah, Allah has never bestowed upon me, apart from His guiding me to Islam, a greater blessing than my telling the truth to the Messenger of Allah and that I did not lie to him, a thing which would have caused me to perish as those who have told a lie have perished, for Allah describes those who told lies with the worst description He has ever attributed to anybody. Allah Says (what means):{They will swear by Allah to you when you return to them that you would leave them alone. So leave them alone; indeed they are evil; and their refuge is Hell as recompense for what they had been earning. They swear to you so that you might be satisfied with them. But if you should be satisfied with them - indeed, Allah is not satisfied with a defiantly disobedient people.} [Quran 9:95-96]
Ka‘b, may Allah be pleased with him, concluded,
We three were deferred from those whose excuses the Messenger of Allah accepted when they swore to him. He took their pledge of allegiance and asked Allah The Almighty to forgive them, but the Messenger of Allah left our case pending till Allah gave His judgment about it. Concerning this, Allah Says (what means): {And [He also forgave] the three who were left behind [and regretted their error] to the point that the earth closed in on them in spite of its vastness and their souls confined them and they were certain that there is no refuge from Allah except in Him. Then He turned to them so they could repent. Indeed, Allah is the Accepting of repentance, The Merciful.}[Quran 9:118]What Allah The Almighty Says [in this verse] does not refer to our failure to take part in the battle, but it instead refers to the deferment of making a decision by the Prophet about our case in contrast to that of those who had taken oaths before him and offered excuses to him, and he had accepted their excuses. [Al-Bukhari]