Rab’iah ibn Ka’b (RA)
Early Life:
Rab’iah ibn Ka’b was a poor man from the tribe of Banu Aslam and he accepted Islam at an early age.
He was among the poor Muslims that stayed on the Suffah (elevated part of the Prophet’s mosque), where he would receive charity from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
Rab’iah ibn Ka’b’s Story Narrated By Himself:
Love for the Prophet and His Service:
Rabi’ah said: I was still quite young and my heart was opened to the teachings of Islam. And when my eyes saw the Messenger of Allah, 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 Allah? Go and suggest this to him. If he is pleased with you, you would find happiness in being near him. The Messenger of Allah was pleased that I should be his servant. From that day, I lived in the shadow of the noble Messenger and I went with him wherever he went.
I followed him whenever and wherever he turned. When 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 Isha and returned 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 Messenger of Allah would spend part of his night engaged in prayer. 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. It was the habit of the Messenger, that if someone did something good for him, he loved to repay that person with something more excellent.
The Prophet’s Offer and Rab’iah’s Choice:
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ once said: Ask me anything and I will give it to you.
I thought a little and then said: Give me some time, O Messenger of Allah, to think about what I should ask of you. Then I will let you know.
At that time, I was a young man and poor. I had no family, nor wealth, nor a place to stay. I used to shelter in 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 Messenger of Allah for some worldly good that would save me from poverty and make me like others who had wealth, wives and children.
Soon, I said to myself: May you perish Rabi’ah. The world is temporary and will pass away. You have your share of sustenance in it which Allah has guaranteed and which must come to you.
The Prophet has a place with his Lord and no request would be refused to him. Request him therefore, to ask Allah to grant you something of the bounty of the hereafter.
I went to the Prophet and he asked: what do you say, O Rabi’ah? I responded: O Messenger of Allah, I ask you to beseech Allah on my behalf to make me your companion in Paradise.
The Messenger of Allah then asked: Who has advised you this?
I replied: No, by Allah, no one has advised me. But when you told me ‘Ask of me anything and I will give it 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 Allah on my behalf that I may be your companion in Paradise.
The Messenger of Allah remained silent for a while and asked: Any other request besides that, Rabi’ah?
I replied: No, O Messenger of Allah, nothing can match what I have asked you.
The Prophet responded: Then, in that case, assist me for your sake by performing much prostration to Allah.
So I began to exert myself in worship in order to gain the good fortune of being with the Prophet in Jannah 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 responded: I do not want anything to distract me from your service. Also, I don’t have anything to give as mahr (dowry) to a wife nor any place where I can accommodate a wife.
Refusal and Acceptance of Marriage:
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ remained silent and when he saw me again, he asked: Don’t you want to get married, Rabi’ah? I gave him the same reply as before.
After I said this, I immediately regretted what I had said. I thought to myself: Woe to you, Rabi’ah. By Allah, the Prophet knows better than you about what is good for you in this world and the next and he also knows better than you about what you possess. By Allah, if the Messenger of Allah should ask me again to marry, I would reply positively.
The Prophet asked me again: Don’t you want to get married ‘Rabi’ah? I replied: Oh yes, O Messenger of Allah, but who will marry me when I am in this state?
The Messenger of Allah instructed: 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.
I went to the family and said: The Messenger of Allah has sent me to you to ask you to give your daughter in marriage to me.
They asked: Our daughter? I replied: Yes.
They said: Welcome to the Messenger of Allah and welcome to his messenger. By Allah, the messenger of Allah’s Messenger shall only return with his mission fulfilled.
So, they made a marriage contract between me and her and I went back to the Prophet and said: 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 Messenger of Allah sent for Buraydah ibn al-Khasib, one of the leading people in my tribe, the Banu Aslam, and said to him: O Buraydah, collect a nuwat’s (a form of measurement) weight in gold for Rabi’ah.
They did this and the Messenger of Allah said: Take this to them and say, this is the sadaqah of your daughter. I did so and they accepted it. They were pleased and said: This is good.
I went back to the Messenger of Allah and told him: I have never yet seen people more generous than they. They were pleased with what I gave them despite it being little. Where can I get something for the walimah (marriage feast), O Prophet of Allah?
The Prophet told Buraydah: Collect the price of a ram for Rabi’ah.
They bought a big ram for me and the Messenger of Allah told me: Go to Aisha and tell her to give you whatever barley she has.
Aisha gave me a bag with seven saa’s of barley and said: By Allah, we do not have any other food.
I set off with the ram and the barley to my wife’s family, who said: We will prepare the barley but get your friends to prepare the ram for you. We slaughtered and cooked the ram and had bread and meat for the walimah.
I invited the Messenger of Allah and he accepted my invitation, and he gave me a piece of land near Abu Bakr’s and from then I became concerned with the Dunya, with material things.
The Dispute with Abu Bakr:
Rab’iah ibn Ka’b continued to narrate: I had a dispute with Abu Bakr over a palm tree and we started to argue. Abu Bakr cursed me, but as soon as he uttered the offending word, he felt sorry and said to me: Rab’iah, say the same word to me so that it could be considered as qisas (just retaliation).
I replied: No by Allah, I shall not. Abu Bakr then said: In that case, I shall go to the Messenger of Allah and complain to him about your refusal to retaliate against me.
Abu Bakr set off and I followed him and my tribe, the Banu Aslam, also set off behind me saying: He is 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-Siddique, 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.
The tribe of Banu Aslam went back and Abu Bakr went to the Messenger of Allah 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-Siddique?
I replied: O Messenger of Allah, he wanted me to say the same words to him as he had said to me and I did not.
The Messenger of Allah said: Yes, don’t say the same word to him as he had said to you. Instead say: May Allah forgive you Abu Bakr.
With tears in his eyes, Abu Bakr went away while saying: May Allah reward you with goodness for my sake, O Rab’iah ibn Ka’b! May Allah reward you with goodness for my sake, O Rab’iah ibn Ka’b!
Hadith Narrated by Rab’iah ibn Ka’b:
Rab’iah ibn Ka’b said: I used to live with the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and at night, I would bring water for his ablution and need. The Prophet said: Ask me for anything and I will give it to you. I replied: Your company in paradise. The Prophet asked: Is there anything other than that? I replied: it is only that. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ then said: Help me for yourself by making prostrations abundantly. (Abi Dawud)