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Here is the story of Rabiah told in his own words: "I was still quite 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 of God, for the first time, I
loved him with a lov e 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 world and 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 would think 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 of his 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 or my 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. I used 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 so mething 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 others who had wealth, wife and children.
Soon, however, I said: 'May you perish Rabi'ah. The world is temporary and will
pass away. You have y our share of sustenance in it which God has guaranteed and
which must come to you. The Prophet, peace be 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 Messenger of 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 agains t 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 companion in 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 the same reply as before. Left to myself
again, I regretted what I had said and chided myself: 'Woe to you, Rabi'ah. By
God, the Prophet knows better than you what is good for you in this world and
the next and he also knows better than you what you possess. 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 get married
'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 and said: 'The Messenger of God, peace be on
him, has sent me to you 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 a marriage 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 your daughter.' 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...Where can 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 whatever barley she has.'
Aishah gave me a bag with seven saas of barley and said: 'By God, 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 soon as 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 consi dered 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. My tribe, 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 yo u 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 Prophe t 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 the same words to him as he had said to me and I did not.'
'Yes, don't say the same word to him as he had said to you. Instead say: 'May
God forgive you Abu 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 g oodness for my sake, O Rabiah ibn Kaab..."
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