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The
Speaker of the Messenger of Allah!
While
Hassaan was the poet of the Messenger of
Allah (sollallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) and
Islam, Thaabit ibn Qais was his speaker.
The words coming from his mouth were
strong, comprehensive, and perfect.
In the Year of Delegations, some men of
the Tamiim tribe arrived at Al-Madinah
and said to the Messenger of Allah (sollallahu
'alayhi wa sallam), “We have come to
brag, so please permit our poet and
speaker.” The Messenger r smiled and
told them, “I permit your speaker. Let
him speak.”
Their speaker, Utaarid Ibn Haajib, stood
and boasted of his people’s glories.
After he had finished, the Prophet (sollallahu
'alayhi wa sallam) told Thaabit Ibn Qais,
“Answer him.” Thaabit stood up and
said, “All praise to Allah Who created
the heavens and earth, in which He
controls everything, Whose throne
extends over the heavens and the earth.
And nothing is at all except out of His
kindness. It is part of His omnipotence
to make us models and selected His
Messenger out of the best of His
creation, among whom he is of the
noblest descent and of the most sincere
speech. He sent him down His book and
made His creation in trust of him. And
he was the best choice of Allah. Then he
called on people to believe in him. The
Muhaajiruun of his people and his own
kinsmen believed in him. They were of
the noblest descent and best deeds. Then
we the Ansaar were the first to respond.
We are the adherents of Allah and the
ministers of His Messenger.”
Thaabit witnessed the Battle of Uhud
with the Messenger of Allah (sollallahu
'alayhi wa sallam) and the battles that
followed. He was incredibly willing to
sacrifice himself.
In the apostasy wars, he used to be in
the vanguard, holding the Ansaar
standard and striking with a sword that
never retreated.
In the Battle of AI-Yamaamah, which we
have already mentioned more than once,
Thaabit witnessed the sudden assault
that the army of Musailamah the Liar
launched against the Muslims at the
beginning of the battle. He shouted in
his loud warning voice saying, “By
Allah, we did not use to fight that way
with the Messenger of Allah (sollallahu
'alayhi wa sallam).’”
Then he went not far away, and returned
after annointing himself and putting on
his shroud. He shouted once more, “O
Allah! I clear myself of what those
people have done (i.e. the army of
Musailamah) and I apologize to You for
what they have done (i.e. the Muslims’
slackness in fighting).”
Then Saalim, the servant of the
Messenger of Allah (sollallahu 'alayhi
wa sallam) who was holding the standard
of the Muhaajiruun, joined him. Both dug
a deep hole for themselves and then
stood in it. They piled up the sand on
themselves till it covered their hips.
They stood as two gigantic mountains,
with the lower body of each hurried in
the sand and fixed in the bottom of the
hole, while their upper bodies received
the armies of paganism and infidelity.
They kept striking with their swords
whoever came near them from
Musailamah’s army until they were
martyred in their place.
The sight of them y was the greatest cry
that contributed to bringing the Muslims
back to their positionsso that they
could change the army of Musailamah the
Liar into trodden sand.
Thaabit Ibn Qais, who excelled as a
speaker and warrior, used to be
self-reproaching and to humble himself
to Allah. Among the Muslims, he was
extremely modest and afraid of Allah.
When this noble verse was sent down <
GOD does not love any proud and boastful
one > (31 :18), Thaabit shut his
house door and kept crying. It was a
long time before the Messenger of Allah
(sollallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) knew
about him. He sent for him and asked.
Thaabit said, “O Messenger of Allah! I
like beautiful clothes and footwear. I
am afraid to be of the arrogant.” The
Prophet (sollallahu 'alayhi wa sallam)
laughed with content and answered,
“You are not one of them. You’ll
live and die with blessings and enter
Paradise.”
And when the following words of Allah
the Exalted were sent down < O you
who believe! Do not raise your voices
above the Prophet’s voice, and do not
speak loudly to him, as you speak to one
another, lest your deeds are rendered
fruitless, while you are unaware >
(49 :2), Thaabit shut himself indoors
and kept crying again. When the
Messenger missed him, he asked about him
and sent os him. When Thaabit came, the
Prophet (sollallahu 'alayhi wa sallam)
asked him the reason for his absence.
Thaabit answered, “I have a loud voice
and I used to raise my voice above your
voice. Messenger of Allah (sollallahu 'alayhi
wa sallam). My deeds are rendered
fruitless then, and I’m of the people
of the Fire.” The Messenger of Allah (sollallahu
'alayhi wa sallam) answered, “You are
not one of them. You’ll live
praiseworthily and be martyred, and
Allah will let you into Paradise.”
One incident is left in Thaabit’s
story about which those whose thoughts,
feelings, and views are limited to their
restricted, tangible, materialistic
world would not feel comfortable.
Inspite of this, the incident was real,
and is quite easily explained to whoever
uses sight and insight together.
After Thaabit had fallen martyr in
battle, one of the Muslims who had not
known Islam until recently passed by him
and saw Thaabit’s precious armor on
his corpse. He thought it was his right
to take it and he did.
Let the narrator of the incident narrate
it himself: While one of the Muslims was
asleep, Thaabit appeared to him in his
dream and said to him, “I entrust you
with my will, so be careful not to say
it’s a dream and waste it. When I fell
martyr yesterday, a Muslim man passed by
me and took my armor. His house is on
the outskirts of the town. His horse is
tall. He put his pot on the armor and
above the pot put his saddle. Go to
Khaalid and tell him to take it. And
when you go to Al-Madinah and meet the
successor of the Messenger of Allah (sollallahu
'alayhi wa sallam) Abu Bakr, tell him I
owe so- and- so. Let him pay my loan.”
When the man got up, he went to Khaalid
Ibn Al-Waliid and related to him his
dream. So Khaalid sent someone to bring
the armor, and he found it exactly as
Thaabit had described it. And when the
Muslims went back to Al-Madinah, the
Muslim narrated the dream to the caliph,
and he fulfilled Thaabit’s will. There
is not in Islam a dead man’s will that
was fulfilled in that way after his
death except that of Thaabit Ibn Qais.
Truly, man is a big mystery.
< Think not of those who are
killed in the Way of Allah as dead. Nay,
they are alive, with their Lord, and
they have provision > (3 : 169).
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