Ka'b Ibn Malik: Trials, Truthfulness, and Trust in Allah

The Story of Ka'b ibn Malik: Trials, Truthfulness, and Trust in Allah

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Peace and blessings be upon His Noble Messenger.

I wanted to share a story with all of you today — myself first and foremost.

Ka'b ibn Malik and the Battle of Tabuk

In the time of the Prophet ﷺ, there was a man, a sahabi, who was doing very well in terms of the dunya and in terms of deen. It seemed like everything in his life was going for him.

This carried on for the entire period that the Prophet ﷺ was in Medina. That this particular sahabi was with the Prophet ﷺ and he accompanied him. He was at the forefront of every engagement — whenever the call for deen was there, he responded. So from a deeni standpoint, he was doing great. From a dunyawi standpoint, he was also doing great as well. Everything was going well for him.

It just so happened that in the ninth year after the hijrah, the Prophet ﷺ issued a call to battle. And this particular call was very different from many of the calls before. In many of the calls before, they wouldn't go very far. Generally speaking, the Prophet ﷺ would keep their destination hidden lest the word get out:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Maghazi)

Now the time of this battle rolled around:

The hadith states that the Prophet ﷺ this time around was going very far, in the heat of summer, and they were facing an enemy larger than anyone they had ever faced before. So due to all of this, the Prophet ﷺ made it very clear where they were going. No surprises here — everybody knew.

The Difficulty of the Call

Now for the Ansar, this was something that was tough. Circumstances were tough as it was — it was very hot, it was very far. But there was another difficulty:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Maghazi, Hadith 4418)

The Prophet ﷺ went out at a time that was the time of harvest. And for the Ansar, that was a problem — because they were farmers. That means that eleven months of the year, they could say, "Ya Rasulullah, whatever you want, we're ready for it." Just this one month — that one month would sustain them for the rest of the year. But that was the exact time the Prophet ﷺ issued the call to battle.

In fact, Allah Ta'ala revealed:

Everybody has to go out — no exception.

Now if you look at the history, they never even ended up facing off against the enemy in battle. What did Allah Ta'ala want them to do? Prior to this engagement — the Battle of Tabuk in the 9th year — it actually wasn't a battle. But prior to this engagement, every single test the Muslims had gone through brought out some distinct quality in them. Most were physical — they had to exert themselves to a great extent physically. Now this battle was not so much a physical sacrifice. If you look at the numbers for how many people were lost: zero. Thirty thousand people or more went out to battle, zero were lost. Why? Because there was no battle.

So what was the whole point of this? Allah Ta'ala just wanted the believers to sacrifice their conveniences for His sake. That's all. Before, they had sacrificed their lives, sacrificed their wealth, everything. They just needed to sacrifice their conveniences this time. So they went out when it was hot, they went out at the time of harvest, they went very far — all of these factors.

Ka'b ibn Malik's Procrastination

Now there is one particular sahabi who I said was doing very well in life — Ka'b ibn Malik. When the call to battle came, just to make the long story short, he said, "Yeah, yeah, I'll go, I'll go." And then people started to get their things together. And then he said, "I'll just get ready tomorrow." That tomorrow never came. The tomorrows kept on coming one after another, and he kept on saying, "Yeah, I'll do it later." He was postponing and procrastinating.

Finally, the day came that they were actually setting out. Prep time was over — now they were actually going. People told him, "Ka'b ibn Malik, what are you doing? They're leaving today and you're still not ready with anything." He said, "Oh, that's okay, I'll just get ready really fast and I'll join them."

Then they actually set out. And then Ka'b ibn Malik said, "Well, that's not a problem either. Because I'm just one person. There are over 30,000 people — how long is it going to take them to travel? It'll take them a long time. For me, stop for the bathroom, stop for Salah — I'm just one person. I'll just go really fast and I'll catch up to them." So he kept on postponing and postponing it until they actually got to their destination, Tabuk. The Prophet ﷺ realized that Ka'b ibn Malik was not there.

Then — long story short — the Prophet ﷺ stayed there for some time, then came back. Now Ka'b ibn Malik was in a state of panic. Because now the Prophet ﷺ was coming back and he wasn't even there. He hadn't set out at all. He kept on postponing it, saying he'd join them later. But you can only do that before the thing happens — after the thing happens, there's no way to postpone it anymore.

He didn't really know what to do:

He said: "I started asking everybody from my family, what do you think I should do?" People gave him different suggestions. Finally, the day came that the Prophet ﷺ arrived back in Medina:

Whenever the Prophet ﷺ would come back from any journey, he would start with the masjid — he would go back there first, pray two rak'ahs, then he would sit for anyone to meet him. That's what happened.

Ka'b ibn Malik's Truthfulness Before the Prophet ﷺ

There were some other people who had stayed back from the battle too, but they were munafiqun — people who weren't true Muslims. They went up to the Prophet ﷺ and just started presenting excuses. The Prophet ﷺ said, "Okay, whatever, may Allah forgive you, that's fine," and they left.

Then Ka'b ibn Malik رضي الله عنه came. He presented himself before the Prophet ﷺ. Now we can see what the psychology is of somebody who knows that they're in trouble. He went to the Prophet ﷺ, and said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Maghazi, Hadith 4418)

"The Prophet ﷺ smiled at me — but it wasn't a normal smile. He smiled at me like somebody who was angry. I could see through that smile and see that he wasn't happy with me."

Then he asked: "What happened? Didn't you pledge that you would be a part of everything? And then you didn't come? What happened?"

Ka'b ibn Malik رضي الله عنه, taking a deep breath, said: "Had I been in front of anyone else in the world, I would have just made up a story. Because Allah Ta'ala has given me the power of speech. I'm very convincing when I speak and I can pretty much sway anyone. I would have just made up a story and you probably would have been convinced by it. But I knew that I'm not standing in front of any normal person in the world today. I'm standing in front of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. If I made up something false, you would temporarily be appeased — but then afterwards, Allah Ta'ala would reveal to you that I made up a lie, and I would be doomed. But I'm just hoping that if I tell you the truth today, Allah Ta'ala will show you that I'm sincere, I really didn't mean any harm, and through that I'll be saved."

So he said: "In reality, I don't have any excuse."

"I actually was never better suited to participate in any expedition than that time. I have absolutely no excuse. So that's my situation."

You can imagine this. Pin-drop silence in the room. Everybody was looking at this scene unfold before their eyes, looking at Ka'b ibn Malik, wondering: what did he just do?

Then he came back, and people went to him saying, "Why on earth would you say such a thing?"

They kept on lampooning him, blaming him saying, "Why would you do such a thing?" — to the point that the thought came into his mind: maybe I should just go back to the Prophet ﷺ and say, "Forget everything I said," and make up a story. But he knew he couldn't do that — because this is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

This is what the Prophet ﷺ said about him:

"This person has told the truth. Wait until Allah makes a judgment about you."

Forty Days of Isolation

So now the Prophet ﷺ had ordered that no one is allowed to speak to Ka'b ibn Malik. And it persisted like that, indefinitely — for forty days.

Ka'b ibn Malik describes that this was the worst trial ever of his life. Because if he had died in that state, he didn't know how long it was going to last. He didn't even know if anyone would pray his janazah. The Prophet ﷺ was not talking to him, not even looking at him. He would ask, "Don't you know that I love Allah and His Messenger?" They would say, "We don't know." It was hard for him emotionally to handle the situation. He just didn't even know what had happened to him.

Keep in mind that he went from a state where he was at the forefront of everything, participating in pretty much every expedition — from a deeni standpoint he was doing very well. Life was going great for him. Then life suddenly took a sudden downturn. And he didn't even know what to make of himself anymore.

In that state of emotional distress, a letter came to him from a non-Muslim king — Malik al-Ghassani — saying that we heard that the person that you follow, meaning the Prophet ﷺ, has wronged you. We learn from this that even when you're in your lowest, most vulnerable state, Allah Ta'ala will still test you. Ka'b ibn Malik رضي الله عنه realized that this is a test from Allah. He took that letter, and he burned it right away. It could have been that his problems were solved — he could have just gone, been honored over there, and received a warm royal welcome. He said, "I can't do that. When you're in something, I'm in it completely. I'm in Islam. I know that I'm not going to leave it even though there's this bump in the road that I'm currently facing."

He said: "I was in that state where it was as if I couldn't even live in my own skin anymore. We couldn't even bear to be with ourselves. It's as if the land that we lived in, the country, the city, the entire planet just became like one narrow thing — I had nowhere to turn to." Literally, he felt entirely alone, like no one else could really share in the type of sorrow that he was going through.

Nowhere to turn. The earth became constricted upon him, as Allah Ta'ala says. He couldn't even live in his own skin anymore.

Allah's Forgiveness Revealed

In that state, suddenly Allah Ta'ala revealed these ayat:

Indeed Allah Ta'ala has relented towards the Prophet, and the Muhajirun and the Ansar who followed him in the hour of difficulty. And then:

"Those three people, Ka'b ibn Malik and some others, whose matter had been deferred." Just like the Prophet ﷺ said, "Wait until Allah makes a judgment" — their matter was deferred. Allah Ta'ala revealed this ayah announcing their forgiveness.

Allah Ta'ala is forgiving them, giving them the ability to repent.

Now an uproar took over Medina. People were rushing to Ka'b ibn Malik to offer their congratulations. He says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Maghazi, Hadith 4418)

"People rushed to give me the good news. I was so overwhelmed that I just gave the person my shirt out of gratitude for giving me the good news. Then I rushed towards the Prophet ﷺ — people were greeting me in troves. Then finally I got to the Prophet ﷺ:"

"When the Prophet ﷺ was made happy by something, his face would light up as if it were a piece of the moon." And then he looked at me, smiling, beaming, saying:

"Today is the best day ever since your mother gave you birth."

Now Ka'b ibn Malik رضي الله عنه was overwhelmed. He realized that it was only through the truth that he had stated — his truthfulness in front of the Prophet ﷺ — that Allah brought him to where he was.

Lessons from This Story

I know it's a long story, but we learn a few things from this.

First: Sometimes our lives can take a sudden downturn. Sometimes our circumstances will change drastically. Things might be going very well, but who knows — things might suddenly just change. We never really know. And this is exactly what we see in this story.

Second: Even when we're in those very emotionally fragile, vulnerable states, Allah is not going to stop testing us. Allah can continue to test us even at those times. That's when we have to watch out especially.

Third: If we remain true to our deen, remain patient, then ultimately Allah's help will be with us. Why? Allah says:

The ultimate, final, good result will be for those who remain true to their iman.

Trials Are for Every Believer

Now, what does this have to do with us? Every single one of us has their own personal trials and struggles that we go through. If we're not currently experiencing anything — may Allah give all of us aafiyah — then we will at some time or another. Allah Ta'ala says:

"We will undoubtedly test you with all sorts of different trials." And then Allah Ta'ala says: "Give glad tidings to those who are patient." Those who are patient are those who, when a trial strikes them, then they say:

"That we belong to Allah and it is to Him that we will return."

Now Mufti Zalhaq, one of the very prominent scholars of the world, mentions that there are ten different consolations just in this one ayah for the believers. Unfortunately, we don't have time to go through all ten.

Allah doesn't say if a trial strikes — Allah says when a trial strikes. Not إِن أَصَابَتْهُمْ but إِذَا أَصَابَتْهُمْ. What we learn from this is that it's going to happen to everybody, some day or another. If we are psychologically ready — that something will happen — this eases the impact a lot, as opposed to if we don't know.

The Prophet ﷺ said in a hadith:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2396)

"Indeed, the greatest reward will be with the greatest trials. And when Allah loves a people, that's when He tests them." So Allah testing us is not a sign that Allah has forsaken us, nor is it a sign that we're doing something bad and Allah is punishing us. Rather, it can be a sign of Allah's love.

All we have to do is embrace the will of Allah, stay patient, not say anything that's unbecoming of a Muslim — and then these very bad circumstances in our lives will end up becoming maybe some of the best circumstances to ever befall us.

The Story of the Slave Girl: Trials as Hidden Blessings

Just to quickly end with a quick story: there is a hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari in which Imam Bukhari narrates from his teacher Farwa, who narrates from Ali ibn Mushir, who narrates from Hisham ibn Urwa, from Urwa, from Aisha رضي الله عنها. Aisha رضي الله عنها says that there was a woman who would oftentimes visit her. She would always say this one couplet:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Hiba, Hadith 2627)

"The day of the cloak is from the wonders of my Lord. Indeed, it is the day that saved me from the land of disbelief."

So Aisha رضي الله عنها asked her one day, "Why do you always say this? What is it that you're saying?" She said: "The story goes like this — I was a slave girl. And then there was a shawl that was stolen from someone affluent, and they accused me of being the one to take it. They said they were going to search me. I tried to tell them it wasn't me, but they said they were going to search me. They even wanted to remove my clothing to find it."

So then she made du'a. She wasn't a Muslim at the time, but sort of like — O Allah, if you're there, then please help me. And then, right then and there — this hadith is in Bukhari — a bird swooped down, clutching that very shawl in its talons, and dropped it before the people. And she said, "This is what you've been accusing me about." Then she went and she embraced Islam. And she says, "This day is from the wonders of my Lord. Because I thought it was the worst day to ever befall me — and it ended up being the best day."

Sometimes Allah Ta'ala will throw trials and difficulties our way — we never know. If we're patient, if we remain true in our iman, then maybe the best circumstances will come out of those very bad circumstances.

We ask that Allah Ta'ala give all of us tawfiq.