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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 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 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 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
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
your 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 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 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 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. 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 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 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 goodness for my
sake, O Rabiah ibn Kaab..."
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