Episode 80: Exposure of the Hypocrites
Burial of Dhul Bijadayn:
One night, Abdullah ibn Mas’ud heard the noise of digging and saw the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ with Abu Bakr and Umar, digging a grave and burying one of his companions, Dhul Bijadayn.
Dhul Bijadayn was a very poor companion of the Prophet and he witnessed the expedition of Tabuk but passed away on the way back from Madinah.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ himself went down into the grave and said: O Allah be pleased with him, because surely I am pleased with him.
When Abdullah ibn Mas’ud saw this, he said to himself: I wish it was me in that place.
The Prophet’s Inspection of the Army:
They continued on their way back to Madinah and they passed by a small hill.
When they came near the hill, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ gave an order, informing his companions that nobody should follow him up that hill.
The Prophet ﷺ only took two companions with him, and they were Ammar ibn Yasir and Hudhayfah ibn Al-Yaman.
The Prophet wanted to observe the Muslim army to make sure everything was running smoothly.
Assasination Attempt by the Munaqifin:
Some of the Munafiqin who were pretending to be Muslims, thought that this was a perfect opportunity to kill the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
Fourteen of these hypocrites covered their faces and started climbing the hill with the intention to murder the Prophet.
As they approached him, the Prophet ﷺ got very angry.
An angry Hudhayfah ibn Al-Yaman had a stick with him and he went towards the Munafiqin and challenged them, but the fourteen members from the Munafiqin got scared and retreated.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ asked Hudhayfah: do you know who those people were?
Hudhayfah replied: their faces were covered but by the look of their horses and weaponry, it seems like they are from the tribe of Banu Tamim.
The Prophet ﷺ asked Hudhayfah: do you know what they wanted to do? Their intention was to come on top of this hill, attack me and push me off the hill.
Hudhayfah was shocked by this and the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ named each one of the fourteen men, even though their faces were covered as Allah SWT had revealed this to him.
Upon hearing this, Hudhayfah said: we can order for their execution.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ replied: No, I don’t want it to be said by the people that Muhammad kills his companions.
Hudhayfah Entrusted with the Secret:
Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman was given this secret of the names of the Munafiqin from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, who only entrusted him with this secret.
This Secret During the Reign of Umar ibn al-Khattab:
This is why during the Caliph of Umar, whenever there was a funeral prayer, he would wait to see if Hudhayfah was praying or not.
Hudhayfah knew who was actually a Muslim and who was a Munafiqin from what the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ informed him of.
One time, Umar ibn Al-Khattab asked Hudhayfah: did the Prophet include me in the names of the Munafiqin.?
Hudhayfah ibn Al-Yaman replied: No, you are not from the Munafiqin and I am never going to answer this question again. I do not want to tell the secrets of the Messenger of Allah.
Burning of Masjid al-Dirar;
As they got close to Madinah, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ sent two of his companions to go into Madinah, and they were were Malik ibn Dukhshum and Ma’an ibn Adiyy.
Their objective was to go into Madinah and burn down a specific Masjid as requested by the Prophet.
This Masjid was known as Masjid al-Dirar and the Munafiqin built this Mosque to harm and cause problems for the Muslims.
The Munafiqin went to the Prophet ﷺ and said: can you come to our Masjid and pray in our Masjid for blessings? The Prophet replied: we will see after we come back from Tabuk.
These two companions, Malik and Ma’an entered the Masjid and lit it on fire.
The Munafiqin were surprised by this and asked: why are you burning down our Masjid? The two companions replied: this is the order of the Messenger of Allah.
This is how Allah SWT exposed the Munafiqin.
Return to Madinah:
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his companions were now back in Madinah and the Prophet went to Masjid al-Nabawi and prayed two rakats.
The Munafiqin all gave false excuses to the Prophet ﷺ about why they didn’t participate in the expedition at Tabuk.
However, some of the true Muslims who were able to go but decided not to go to Tabuk, had now realised their mistake.
They tied themselves up in the Masjid and said: No one will untie us apart from Muhammad.
There were seven of them and when the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ heard about this, he said: I am not going to untie them until Allah decides whatever He wants to decide.
Revelation from Allah SWT Acknowledging Their Forgiveness:
They stayed tied up for a while until Allah SWT revealed the Ayat: ‘there are some of them who admitted to their sin, and they mix good deeds and bad deeds, perhaps Allah will forgive them.’ (Quran, 9:102)
When Allah SWT revealed this, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ untied the seven men.
The men told the Prophet: it is our wealth that distracted us, that’s why we didn’t go, so as for our repentance, we want to give all of our wealth in Sadaqah?
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ told them to keep their wealth but they begged him to take it.
Allah SWT then revealed: ‘Take from their wealth, (as Sadaqah) this will purify them and cleanse them. And pray for them, if you pray for them, this will be a comfort and peace for them’. (Quran, 9:103)
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ took some of their wealth and the men told him: take all of it!
The Prophet replied: No, I will not take all of it because Allah said: take from their wealth, not all of it.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ then made a Dua for each of the seven men.
The Story of Ka’b ibn Malik:
When the army set off to Tabuk, Ka’b ibn Malik procrastinated as he had the idea of leaving later and catching up with the Muslims.
However, it got to a point where he realised that the Muslims were way too far ahead for him to catch up and he regretted this decision.
Whilst the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his army were in Tabuk, Ka’b was still in Madinah, and he would roam the streets of the city where he would see only weak Muslims, old Muslims and the Munafiqin.
Because of this, he felt very guilty that he stayed in Madinah.
Ka’b wanted to go and meet the Prophet ﷺ but he knew he could not lie to him so he decided to tell him the truth.
When the Prophet saw Ka’b ibn Malik, he gave him an angry smile.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ asked: what held you back? Ka’b ibn Malik replied: I have no excuse. I am healthy and I have wealth and I have absolutely no justification for staying in Madinah. I should have gone with you but I didn’t.
After hearing this explanation, the Prophet ﷺ said: as for this man, he is telling the truth.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ told Ka’b ibn Malik to wait to see what the decision of Allah was for him.
There were two other companions in the same position as Ka’b, they were Hilal ibn Umayyah and Murarah bin Ar-Rabi’.
Revelation to the Prophet Regarding These Three Men:
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ received a revelation from Allah SWT to order the rest of companions to not talk to these three companions, even if they said Salaam.
Hilal ibn Umayyah and Murarah bin Ar-Rabi’ stayed at home after this and they were so regretful that they would cry and make Dua to Allah SWT to forgive them.
As for Ka’b ibn Malik, he would still go to the Masjid and the marketplaces but would be completely ignored by the people and this lasted for many weeks.
One day, Ka’b climbed over the wall of his cousin, Abu Qatadah and gave his Salaam but Abu Qatadah did not reply.
Ka’b was upset by this and said: O Abu Qatadah, you know I love Allah and his Messenger right. Abu Qatadah replied: Allah knows best.
Ka’b ibn Malik began to cry and returned back to his side of the wall.
A messenger from Sham came to Madinah, looking for Ka’b ibn Malik and he had a letter from the king of Ghassanid.
The letter from the king said: we have heard that your people are ignoring you and boycotting you. You can leave them and you can come to us. Come to Sham and become a Christian. We will honour you and respect you.
Ka’b read this letter and threw it in the fire.
Ka’b ibn Malik’s Fear:
Ka’b ibn Malik mentioned that during the time when no one was speaking to him, his greatest fear was that either he or the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ would pass away whilst still being in this situation.
Ka’b feared that if he passed away, the Prophet ﷺ would not read his Janazah, and if the Prophet died, the order not to speak to Ka’b would last forever.
The Order to Stay Away from His Wife:
Forty days passed and another order came from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which was that the three men had to keep away from their wives.
Ka’b immediately asked: should I divorce my wife? The companions replied: No, not divorce her but you have to be isolated from her.
Ka’b ibn Malik accepted this and sent his wife to her parent’s house.
Ka’b ibn Malik is Forgiven:
Ten more days passed, and now it was a total of fifty days since the beginning of this boycott.
After these fifty days passed, Ka’b ibn Malik was praying Fajr on the rooftop of his house when he heard a call from on top of a mountain, saying: glad tidings, rejoice ya Ka’b ibn Malik!
When Ka’b heard this, he knew that Allah SWT had forgiven him and he went down in sujood to thank Allah.
Ka’b ibn Malik then took off his garment and gave it to the messenger who had delivered the message out of thankfulness.
The Prophet and His Companions Congratulate Ka’b:
Ka’b ibn Malik quickly went to the Masjid to meet with the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and the companions congratulated Ka’b and gave their glad tidings.
Ka’b entered the Mosque and saw the Prophet sitting with his companions.
When Talhah ibn Ubaydallah saw Ka’b come into the Masjid, he stood up, hugged and congratulated him.
Ka’b ibn Malik said about this: I will never forget the way Talhah greeted me.
Ka’b went to the Prophet ﷺ and he later said about this incident: the face of the Messenger of Allah was glowing and shining with happiness.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: rejoice O Ka’b, this is the best day of your life, you have been forgiven by Allah.
Ka’b asked: is this from you or Allah? The Prophet ﷺ replied: from Allah.
Gratitude to Allah:
Ka’b told the Prophet ﷺ: as a show of my gratitude to Allah, for accepting my repentance, I want to give all of my wealth in the way of Allah. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ replied: No, you don’t have to give all of your wealth.
Ka’b then said: I will only keep my portion that I received from the battle of Khaybar, everything else I’m to give away in Sadaqah.
The Prophet Exposes the Hypocrites:
After the battle of Tabuk, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ gathered the people from Madinah and in that gathering, there were Muslims and there were hypocrites.
The Prophet ﷺ gave a Khutbah, and after praising Allah SWT, he said: O people from amongst you, there are hypocrites in this gathering. Whoever’s name I mention, let him stand up and leave.
The Munafiqin were scared and even the Muslims were afraid because the true believers always had a fear in their heart that they may have hypocrisy.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ started to mention the names and on that day, he named and expelled thirty six of the Munafiqin from the Masjid.
In this gathering, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ did not mention Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul, the leader of the Munafiqin.
Umar ibn al-Khattab came late to this gathering and saw someone outside of the Mosque and asked: what are you doing out here, why are you not in the Masjid? The man replied: The Messenger of Allah exposed me as one of the Munafiqin.
The Death of Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul:
Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul was very disturbed by what was going on and because of this stress, he became so weak that he became physically sick, to the extent that he was on the verge of death.
When he was on his deathbed, he called for the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, who came and Abdullah ibn Ubayy told him: when I die, bury me in your own garment, and I want you to pray to my Janazah.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, out of his mercy and compassion, agreed to do this.
This was the same man who caused so many difficulties and hardship for the Prophet ﷺ.
When Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul passed away, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ gathered the companions to pray his Janazah.
He wrapped Abdullah ibn Ubayy in his own garment and was getting ready to lead the Janazah.
Umar ibn al-Khattab’s Advice:
Umar ibn al-Khattab told the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ: this man is from the Munafiqin, don’t lead his Janazah. The Prophet replied: leave me, O Umar.
Umar insisted and said: do not pray his Janazah, didn’t Allah say: Ask Allah for forgiveness for them or don’t ask Allah for forgiveness from them. Even if you ask Allah to forgive them seventy times, Allah will not forgive them.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ replied: Then, I will ask more than seventy times, perhaps Allah will forgive them.
Umar held the garment of the Prophet ﷺ to stop him from praying the Janazah of Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul, but the Prophet said: O Umar, leave me, let me do it.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ prayed the Janazah prayer for Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul.
Revelation Supporting Umar ibn al-Khattab:
Allah SWT then revealed an Ayat supporting the position of Umar ibn al-Khattab.
The Ayat was: ‘And do not ever offer (funeral) prayers for any of their dead, nor stand by their grave ˹at burial˺, for they have lost faith in Allah and His Messenger and died rebellious’. (Quran: 9:84)
After this, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ never prayed a Janazah prayer for the Munafiqin again.