Here is the story of Rabiah told in his own words: "I
was still quite young when the light of imaan 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 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 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 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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