|
"O Abu Mundhir! Which verse of the Book of God is the greatest?" asked the
Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace. "Allah and His
Messenger know best," came the reply. The Prophet repeated the question and Abu
Mundhir replied.
"Allah, there is no god but He, the Living the Self-Subsisting. Neither
slumber overtakes him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and
whatever is on earth, ..." and most likely he went on to complete the Verse of
the Throne (Ayat al-Kurs i).
The Prophet smote his chest with his right hand in approval on hearing the
reply and with his countenance beaming with happiness, said to Abu Mundhir. "May
knowledge delight and benefit you, Abu Mundhir."
This Abu Mundhir whom the Prophet congratulated on the knowledge and
understanding which God had bestowed on him was Ubayy ibn Kab, one of his
distinguished companions and a person of high esteem in the early Muslim
community.
Ubayy was one of the Ansar and belonged to the Khazraj tribe. He was one of
the first persons of Yathrib to accept Islam. He pledged allegiance to the
Prophet at Aqabah before the Hijrah. He participated in the Battle of Badr and
other engagements there after. Ubayy was one of the select few who committed the
Quranic revelations to writing and had a Mushaf of his own. He acted as a scribe
of the Prophet, writing letters for him. At the demise of the Prophet, he was
one of the twenty five or so people who knew the Quran completely by heart. His
recitation was so beautiful and his understanding so profound that the Prophet
encouraged his companions to learn the Quran from him and from three others.
Later, Umar too once told the Muslims as he was dealing wi th some financial
matters of state:
"O people! Whoever wants to ask about the Quran, let him go to Ubayy ibn
Kab..." (Umar went on to say that anyone wishing to ask about inheritance
matters should go to Zayd ibn Thabit, about questions of fiqh to Muadh ibn Jabal
and about questions of mone y and finance, to himself.)
Ubayy enjoyed a special honor with regard to the Quran. One day, the Prophet,
may God bless him and grant him peace, said: "O Ubayy ibn Kab! I have been
commanded to show or lay open the Quran to you."
Ubayy was elated. He knew of course that the Prophet only received commands
from on high. Unable to control his excitement, he asked:
"O Messenger of God...Have I been mentioned to you by name?" "Yes," replied
the Prophet, "by your own name and by your genealogy (nasab) in the highest
heavens."
Any Muslim whose name had been conveyed to the heart of the Prophet in this
manner must certainly have been of great ability and of a tremendously high
stature.
Throughout the years of his association with the Prophet, Ubayy derived the
maximum benefit from his sweet and noble personality and from his noble
teachings. Ubayy related that the Prophet once asked him:
"Shall I not teach you a surah the like of which has not been revealed in the
Tawrah, nor in the Injil, nor in the Zabur, nor in the Quran?"
"Certainly," replied Ubayy.
"I hope you would not leave through that door until you know what it is,"
said the Prophet obviously prolonging the suspense for Ubayy. Ubayy continues:
"He stood up and I stood up with him. He started to speak, with my hand in his.
I tried to delay him fearing that he would leave before letting me know what the
surah is. When he reached the door, I asked: "O Messenger of God! The surah
which you promised to tell me..." He replied:
"What do you recite when you stand for Salat?" So, I recited for him
Fatihatu-l Kitab (the Opening Chapter of the Quran) and he said: "(That's) it!
(That's) it! They are the seven oft-repeated verses of which God Almighty has
said: We have given you the seven oft-repeated verses and the Mighty Quran."
Ubayy's devotion to the Quran was uncompromising. Once he recited part of a
verse which the Khalifah Umar apparently could not remember or did not know and
he said to Ubayy: "Your have lied," to which Ubayy retorted; "Rather, you have
lied."
A person who heard the exchange was astounded and said to Ubayy: "Do you call
the Amir al-Muminin a liar?"
"I have greater honor and respect for the Amir al-Muminin than you,"
responded Ubayy," but he has erred in verifying the Book of God and I shall not
say the Amir al-Muminin is correct when he has made an error concerning the Book
of God."
"Ubayy is right," concluded Umar.
Ubayy gave an idea of the importance of the Quran when a man came to him and
said, "Advise me," and he replied: "Take the Book of God as (your) leader
(imam). Be satisfied with it as (your) judge and ruler. It is what the Prophet
has bequeathed to you. ( It is your) intercessor with God and should be
obeyed..."
After the demise of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, Ubayy
remained strong in his attachment to Islam and his commitment to the Quran and
the Sunnah of the Prophet. He was constant in his ibadah and would often be
found in the mosque at night, after the last obligatory Prayer had been
performed, engaged in worship or in teaching. Once he was sitting in the mosque
after Salat with a group of Muslims, making supplication to God. Umar came in
and sat with them and asked each one to recite a dua. They all did until finally
Ubayy's turn came. He was sitting next to Umar. He felt somewhat over-awed and
became flustered. Umar prompted him and suggested that he say: "Allahumma ighfir
lanaa. Allahumma irhamnaa. O Lord, forgive us, O Lord, have mercy on us."
Taqwa remained the guiding force in Ubayy's life. He lived simply and did not
allow the world to corrupt or deceive him. He had a good grasp of reality and
knew that however a person lived and whatever comforts and luxuries he enjoyed,
these would all fad e away and he would have only his good deeds to his credit.
He was always a sort of warner to Muslims, reminding them of the times of the
Prophet, of the Muslims' devotion to Islam then, of their simplicity and spirit
of sacrifice. Many people came to him seeking knowledge and advice. To one such
person he said.
"The believer has four characteristics. If he is afflicted by any misfortune,
he remains patient and steadfast. If he is given anything, he is grateful. If he
speaks, he speaks the truth. If he passes a judgment on any issue, he is just."
Ubayy attained a position of great honor and esteem among the early Muslims.
Umar called him the "sayyid of the Muslims" and he came to be widely known by
this title. He was part of the consultative group (mushawarah) to which Abu
Bakr, as Khalifah, refer red many problems. This group was composed of men of
good sense and judgment (ahl ar-ray) and men who knew the law (ahl al-fiqh) from
among the Muhajirin and Ansar. It included Umar, Uthman, Ali, Abdur Rahman ibn
Awl, Muadh ibn Jabal, Ubayy ibn Kab and Z ayd ibn Harith. Umar later consulted
the same group when he was Khalifah. Specifically for fatwas (legal judgments)
he referred to Uthman, Ubayy and Zayd ibn Thabit.
Because of Ubayy's high standing, one might have expected him to have been
given positions of administrative responsibility, for example as a governor, in
the rapidly expanding Muslim state. (During the time of the Prophet in fact he
had performed the fun ction of a collector of sadaqah.) Indeed, Ubayy once asked
"What's the matter with you? Why don't you appoint me as a governor?"
"I do not want your religion to be corrupted" replied Umar.
Ubayy was probably prompted to put the question to Umar when he saw that
Muslims were tending to drift from the purity of faith and self-sacrifice of the
days of the Prophet. He was known to be especially critical of the excessively
polite and sycophan tic attitude of many Muslims to their governors which he
felt brought ruin both to the governors and those under them. Ubayy for his part
was always honest and frank in his dealings with persons in authority and feared
no one but God. He acted as a sort o f conscience to the Muslims. One of Ubayy's
major fears for the Muslim ummah was that a day would come when there would be
severe strife among Muslims. He often became overwhelmed with emotion when he
read or heard the verse of the Quran."
"Say: He (Allah) has power to send calamities on you, from above and below,
or to cover you with confusion in party strife, giving you a taste of mutual
vengeance, each from the other." (Surah al-An'am, 6: 65)
He would then pray fervently to God for guidance and ask for His clemency and
forgiveness. Ubayy died in the year 29 AH during the caliphate of Uthman.
|
Print
this page
 |
Top |
|
Ubayy Ibn Kab
