young when the light of iman shone through me and my heart was opened
to the teachings of Islam. And when my eyes beheld the Messenger
ofGod, for the first time, I loved him with a love that possessed my
entire being. I loved him to the exclusion of everyone else.
One day I said to myself:
'Woe to you, Rabi'ah. Why don't you put yourself completely in the
service of the Messenger of God, peace be on him. Go and suggest this
to him. If he is pleased with you, you would find happiness in being
near him. You will be successful through love for him and you will
have the good fortune of obtaining the good in this worldand the good
in the next.'
This I did hoping that he would accept me in his service. He did not
dash my hopes. He was pleased that I should be his servant. From that
day, I lived in the shadow of the noble Prophet. I went with him
wherever he went. I moved in his orbit whenever and wherever he
turned. Whenever he cast a glance in my direction, I would leap to
stand in his presence. Whenever he expressed a need, he would find me
hurrying to fulfil it.
I would serve him throughout the day. When the day was over and he had
prayed Salat al-Isha and retired to his home, I wouldthink about
leaving. But I would soon say to myself:
'Where would you go, Rabi'ah? Perhaps you may be required to do
something for the Prophet during the night.' So I would remain seated
at his door and would not leave the threshold ofhis house. The Prophet
would spend part of his night engaged in Salat. I would hear him
reciting the opening chapter of the Quran and he would continue
reciting sometimes for a third or a half of the night. I would become
tired and leave ormy eyes would get the better of me and I would fail
asleep.
It was the habit of the Prophet, peace be on him, that if someone did
him a good turn, he loved to repay that person with something more
excellent. He wanted to do something for me too in return for my
service to him. So one day he came up tome and said: 'O Rabi'ah ibn
Kab.' 'Labbayk ya rasulullah wa Sadark - At your command, O Messenger
of God and may God grant you happiness,' I responded. 'Ask of me
anything and I will give it to you.'
I thought a little and then said: 'Give me some time, O Messenger of
God, to think about what I should ask of you. Then I will let you
know.' He agreed.
At that time, I was a young man and poor. I had neither family, nor
wealth, nor place of abode. Iused to shelter in the Suffah of the
mosque with other poor Muslims like myself. People used to call us the
"guests of Islam". Whenever any Muslim brought something in charity to
the Prophet, he would send it all to us. And if someone gave him a
gift he would take some of it and leave the rest for us.
So, it occurred to me to ask the Prophet for some worldly good that
would save me from poverty and make me like otherswho had wealth, wife
and children. Soon, however, I said: 'May you perish Rabi'ah. The
world is temporary and will passaway. You have your share of
sustenance in it which God has guaranteed and which must come to you.
The Prophet, peacebe on him, has a place with his Lord and no request
would be refused him. Request him therefore, to ask Allah to grant you
something of the bounty of the hereafter.'
I felt pleased and satisfied with this thought. I went to the Prophet
and he asked: 'What do you say, O Rabi'ah?' 'O Messengerof God,' I
said, 'I ask you to beseech God most High on my behalf to make me your
companion in Paradise.'
'Who has advised you thus?' asked the Prophet.
'No by God,' I said, 'No one has advise me. But when you told me 'Ask
of me anything and I will give to you,' I thought of asking you for
something of the goodness of this world. But before long, I was guided
to choose what is permanent and lasting against what is temporary and
perishable. And so I have asked you to beseech God on my behalf that I
may be your companion in Paradise.'
The Prophet remained silent for a long while and then asked: 'Any
other request besides that, Rabi'ah?' 'No, O Messenger of God, Nothing
can match what I have asked you.' 'Then, in that case, assist me for
your sake by performing much prostration to God.'
So I began to exert myself in worship in order to attain the good
fortune of being with the Prophet in Paradise just as I had the good
fortune of being in his service and being his companionin this world.
Not long afterwards, the Prophet called me and asked: 'Don't you want
to get married, Rabi'ah?' 'I do not want anything to distract me from
your service,' I replied. 'Moreover, I don't have anything to give as
mahr (dowry) to a wife nor any place where I can accommodate a wife.'
The Prophet remained silent. When he saw me again he asked: 'Don't you
want to get married, Rabi'ah?' I gave him thesame reply as before.
Left to myself again, I regretted what I had said and chided myself:
'Woe to you, Rabi'ah. By God, theProphet knows better than you what is
good for you in this world and the next and he also knows better than
you what youpossess. By God, if the Prophet, peace be on him, should
ask me again to marry, I would reply positively.'
Before long, the Prophet asked me again: 'Don't you want to getmarried
'Rabi'ah?'
'Oh yes, Messenger of God,' I replied, 'but who will marry me when I
am in the state you know.' 'Go to the family of so-and-so and say to
them: the Prophet has instructed you to give your daughter in marriage
to me.'
Timidly, I went to the family andsaid: 'The Messenger of God, peace be
on him, has sent me toyou to ask you to give your daughter in marriage
to me.' 'Our daughter?' they asked, incredulously at first. 'Yes,' i
replied.
'Welcome to the Messenger of God, and welcome to his messenger. By
God, the messenger of God's Messenger shall only return with his
mission fulfilled. 'So they made amarriage contract between me and
her. I went back to the Prophet and reported:
'O Messenger of Allah. I have come from the best of homes. They
believed me, they welcomed me, and they made a marriage contract
between me and their daughter. But from where do I get the mahr for
her?'
The Prophet then sent for Buraydah ibn al-Khasib, one of the leading
persons in my tribe, the Banu Asiam, and said to him:'O Buraydah,
collect a nuwat's weight in gold for Rabi'ah.
This they did and the Prophet said to me: 'Take this to them and say,
this is the sadaq of yourdaughter.' I did so and they accepted it.
They were pleased and said, This is much and good.' I went back to the
Prophet and told him: 'I have never yet seen a people more generous
than they. They were pleased with what I gave them in spite of its
being little...Wherecan I get something for the walimah (marriage
feast), O Prophet of God?'
The Prophet said to Buraydah 'Collect the price of a ram for Rabi'ah.'
They bought a big fat ram for me and then the Prophet told me: 'Go to
Aishah and tell her to give you whateverbarley she has.'
Aishah gave me a bag with seven saas of barley and said: 'ByGod, we do
not have any other food.' I set off with the ram and the barley to my
wife's family. They said: 'We will prepare the barley but get your
friends to prepare the ram for you.'
We slaughtered, skinned and cooked the ram. So we had bread and meat
for the walimah. I invited the Prophet and he accepted my invitation.
The Prophet then gave me a piece of land near Abu Bakr's. From then I
became concerned with the dunya, with material things. I had a dispute
with Abu Bakr over a palm tree.
'It is in my land,' I insisted. 'No, it is in my land,' Abu Bakr
countered. We started to argue. Abu Bakr cursed me, but as soonas he
had uttered the offending word, he felt sorry and said to me: 'Rabiah,
say the same word to me so that it could be considered as qisas -just
retaliation.' 'No by God, I shall not,' I said.
'In that case, replied Abu Bakr. 'I shall go the Messenger of God and
complain to him about your refusal to retaliate against me measure for
measure.'
He set off and I followed him. Mytribe, the Banu Asiam, also set off
behind me protesting indignantly: 'He's the one who cursed you first
and then he goes off to the Prophet before you to complain about you!'
I turned to them and said: 'Woe to you! Do you know who this is? This
is As-Siddiq... and he is the respected elder of the Muslims. Go back
before he turns around, sees you and thinks that you have come to help
me against him. He would then be more incensed and go to the Prophet
in anger. The Prophet would get angry on his account. Then Allah would
be angry on their account and Rabi'ah would be finished.' They turned
back.
Abu Bakr went to the Prophet and related the incident as it had
happened. The Prophet raised his head and said to me:
'O Rabi'ah, what's wrong with you and as-Siddiq?' 'Messenger of God,
he wanted me to say thesame words to him as he had said to me and I
did not.'
'Yes, don't say the same word tohim as he had said to you. Instead
say: 'May God forgive youAbu Bakr.' With tears in his eyes,Abu Bakr
went away while saying: 'May God reward you with goodness for my sake,
O Rabiah ibn Kab... 'May God reward you with goodness for my sake, O
Rabiah ibn Kaab..."
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And Allah Knows the Best!
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Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA
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