Ka'b ibn Malik

ProfileKa'b ibn Malik

Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him) was of the Banu Salimah of the Khazraj in Madinah. According to the early biographies, he was one of the poets of the Ansar from before Islam, and he had two brothers, Sahl and Abdullah, who also became Companions. He lived a long life and lost his sight, and in his old age his sons would lead him to the Prophet's ﷺ mosque, where people came to ask him about those days (Sahih al-Bukhari). He was among the people of Madinah who pledged themselves to the Prophet ﷺ at Aqabah, and he said that he would not exchange that night for Badr, even though Badr is the more famous (Sahih al-Bukhari). He missed Badr, but the Prophet ﷺ blamed no one who missed it, since he had gone out to meet the caravan (Sahih al-Bukhari). According to the early biographies, the Prophet ﷺ paired him as a brother with az-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, though one report says it was Talhah.

According to the early biographies, at Uhud he was wounded many times, and when the Muslims were scattered and the cry went up that the Prophet ﷺ was dead, Ka'b was the first to recognise him and called out to the believers that he was alive. According to the early biographies, the Prophet ﷺ gave him his armour and put on his, which drew the enemy towards Ka'b, and he fought on beside az-Zubayr with those wounds. According to the early biographies, his verses were war poetry, giving courage to the believers and warning the enemy, and some of those who heard them took them as a sign of how sure the Muslims were, and came in to Islam. When the Prophet ﷺ asked for poems against Quraysh, he sent for Ibn Rawahah and then for Ka'b, and neither pleased him, and then he sent for Hassan ibn Thabit (Sahih Muslim). According to the early biographies, the Prophet ﷺ also told him on one occasion that Allah had not forgotten the words he had said about Quraysh, and asked Abu Bakr to recite them. When Ka'b came to the Prophet ﷺ afraid because of what Allah had said about the poets, the Prophet ﷺ told him that the believer strives with his sword and with his tongue, and that his words were like arrows at the enemy (Musnad Ahmad, graded sahih).

His great test came at Tabuk, and he told the story himself, long afterwards, to his son. He said that he had never missed a battle with the Prophet ﷺ except Tabuk and Badr. He had never been stronger or better off than when the army was getting ready, and he owned two camels for the first time. He kept telling himself that he could get ready at the last moment, and put it off until the army had left. He stayed behind with those who had excuses and with the hypocrites, and it grieved him. The Prophet ﷺ did not mention him until he reached Tabuk, where he asked what had happened to Ka'b. A man of Banu Salimah said that his fine clothes and his admiring himself had held him back, and Mu'adh ibn Jabal told him that this was a bad thing to say, because they knew nothing about Ka'b but good. The Prophet ﷺ was silent. At that moment he saw a man in white in the distance and said that he hoped it was Abu Khaythamah, and it was (Sahih al-Bukhari; Sahih Muslim).

When the Prophet ﷺ came back to Madinah he went to the mosque and prayed two rak'ahs and sat down, and over eighty of those who had stayed behind came to give excuses and swear oaths. He accepted what they said, asked forgiveness for them and left what was in their hearts to Allah. When Ka'b came and greeted him, the Prophet ﷺ smiled the smile of an angry man, and asked what had held him back. Ka'b said that had he been sitting with anyone else of this world he could have talked his way out of it, because he was a skilled speaker, but that he knew that if he pleased him with a lie Allah might make him angry with him, and that he would rather tell the truth, hoping for Allah's forgiveness. He said that he had no excuse and had never been stronger or better off. The Prophet ﷺ said that he had told the truth, and told him to get up and wait until Allah decided his case. Men of Banu Salimah followed him and said they had never known him commit a sin before, and that it would have been enough to make an excuse as the others did, and the Prophet ﷺ would have asked forgiveness for him, and they nearly convinced him to go back and call himself a liar. He asked whether anyone else had said what he had, and they told him of two men, Murarah ibn ar-Rabi and Hilal ibn Umayyah, both pious men who had been at Badr, and he held to his decision (Sahih al-Bukhari).

The Prophet ﷺ told the Muslims not to speak to the three. Ka'b went out to the prayers and the market and no one spoke to him. He would greet the Prophet ﷺ after the prayer and wonder whether his lips had moved in reply, and if he turned toward him the Prophet ﷺ turned away. He climbed the wall of the garden of Abu Qatadah, his cousin and the dearest of people to him, and greeted him, and Abu Qatadah did not reply. He asked him by Allah whether he knew that he loved Allah and His Messenger, and the third time Abu Qatadah said only that Allah and His Messenger knew best, and Ka'b's eyes filled with tears. While he was walking in the market a man from Syria came asking for him and handed him a letter from the king of Ghassan, saying that he had heard that his companion had treated him harshly, that Allah had not made him a man to be humiliated, and that he should join them and they would honour him. Ka'b said that this was another test, and burned the letter in an oven. After forty nights the Prophet's ﷺ messenger came with an order that the three should keep away from their wives. Ka'b asked whether he should divorce her, and was told only to keep apart from her. He sent her to her parents. The wife of Hilal came to the Prophet ﷺ to ask if she might serve her old husband, and was allowed. People told Ka'b to ask for the same, but he said that he was a young man and would not (Sahih al-Bukhari).

On the fiftieth morning, after the dawn prayer, he was sitting on the roof of his house, feeling that the earth with all its width had become narrow for him, when he heard a man shout from the hill of Sala' that he should rejoice. He fell down in prostration and knew that relief had come. The Prophet ﷺ had announced after the dawn prayer that Allah had accepted their repentance. People ran to give the news, one on horseback and another up the hill. Ka'b gave the first man who reached him both of his garments for the glad tidings, and then borrowed two to wear. As he walked to the mosque people met him in groups and congratulated him. In the mosque Talhah ibn Ubaydillah got up, ran to him and shook his hand, and Ka'b never forgot it. The Prophet's ﷺ face shone with joy as if it were a piece of the moon, and he told him that this was the best day he had known since his mother bore him. Ka'b asked whether the forgiveness was from him or from Allah, and the Prophet ﷺ said it was from Allah. Ka'b said that as part of his repentance he would give all his wealth to the cause of Allah and His Messenger, and the Prophet ﷺ told him to keep some of it, as that was better for him. He kept his share from Khaybar. He said that Allah had saved him through telling the truth, and that as part of his repentance he would only ever tell the truth. He said that he did not know anyone Allah had tested more severely for telling the truth, and that since he said it to the Prophet ﷺ he never again meant to tell a lie. Allah revealed verses about the three in Surat at-Tawbah, and told the believers to be with the truthful (Sahih al-Bukhari; Sahih Muslim).

According to the early biographies, he lived long and peacefully afterwards, and when Uthman was besieged he wrote verses saying that Uthman had told those with him not to fight, and that goodness had fled from the people who killed him. He died of natural causes at a great age. He used to pray for As'ad ibn Zurarah whenever he heard the call for Friday prayer, because As'ad had been the first to lead the people of Madinah in the Friday prayer before the Prophet ﷺ came (Sunan Abi Dawud, graded hasan; Sunan Ibn Majah, graded hasan). His son Abdullah, who guided him, became a well-known narrator.

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