🍀بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم🍀
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A long story but please read to the end. Holds amazing lessons for us.
The Three who Stayed Behind
The story of the three who stayed behind is a very inspiring & moving story from the seerah. The story is referred to in the holy Qur'an in verses 117 & 118 of surah Al-Tawbah. The details of the story are told by Ka'ab ibn Malik Radi'allâhu anhu, who was actually one of the three men. The story goes as follows:
When the Messenger of Allah sallallaahu alayhi wasallam decided to launch the Tabuk expedition, he asked all able-bodied men to join him, except for those who have special circumstances that would prevent them from travelling & leaving their homes for a long time. Valid excuses would be an illness or elderly parents who need care. The companions rushed to obey the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam & they prepared themselves for the long trip.
The Tabuk expedition occured a very inopportune time for most people. It was a very hot time of the year, & most people avoided long travels during this time. The distance from Al-Madinah to Tabuk was over 500 kilometers, a trip that would take many days by foot or on camels & horses. Also, it was the time of harvest for many owners of gardens around Al-Madinah. Travelling at this time would mean that they would not be able to harvest, & would incur large financial losses.
Yet, even with all of these difficulties, the vast majority of companions obeyed the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam without question. They took their provisions, prepared their belongings & were ready to join the Messenger. The holy Qur'an even mentions people whose tears would flow when they were told by the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam that he was not able to accomodate them in the expedition (Al-Tawbah, verse 92).
The hypocrites hated the idea of travelling at this time. They preferred to stay at their homes to avoid the heat & the hardship. They wanted to harvest their crops & gain the financial benefits. They thought that it is illogical to travel at this time, & that they must take care of their families & provide for them. So they started to look for any excuse to disobey the Messenger. They started to tell each other & the believers not to go out in this intense heat, & Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala answered them in the holy Qur'an by saying that the heat of the Hellfire is even more intense, if they would just understand! (Al-Tawbah, verse 81).
We need to stop at this point for a moment & reflect upon the actions of the hypocrites. Many of us today, when we are told to obey the commandments of Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala & the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam, we also make excuses, some of them are very similar to those made by the hypocrites at the time of the Tabuk expedition. For example, some of our dear sisters who do not wear the hijab would say that it would be too hot in the summer. Some of our dear brothers, when asked why they do not attend the Friday prayer every week explain that they do not want to look bad in front of their boss by being away for an hour every Friday afternoon. Almost all of us have made such excuses at one point or another in our life. It makes one wonder, if the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam was among us today & the revelation was still coming down, how many verses would be revealed about us & the excuses that we make for not following the commandments of Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala & the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam ? May Allah Subhana Wa ta'ala guide us all & make us follow the footsteps of the companions who obeyed Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala & the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam without question & without hesitation.
The Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam left with a large number of the companions towards Tabuk. Some of the companions were late making last minute arrangements but they continued catching up & joining the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam. Only the hyporcites & those with a valid excuse were left behind. After some time, the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam started asking about people whom he didn't see. He wanted to know who obeyed the orders & who rejected them. It was as if he knew that this was more than an expedition. This was a test of faith. Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala wanted to test the Muslims to see who are the true & sincere believers & who are the people who will make up any excuse to stay in their comfortable life & to avoid any hardship for the sake of Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala.
Indeed, it was a test of faith. There was no battle. After arriving at Tabuk, the Muslims discovered that the army that the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam expected to meet retreated when they got news that the Muslims were coming. The only battle was that of the believers against the shaytan (devil) & against their own desires. Those who overcame their desires & decided to obey Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala & the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam, even through intense hardship, passed the test.
When they arrived back in Al-Madinah, the hypocrites went to the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam, & one by one they would tell him their excuse. They would lie & make up stories to justify why they refused to obey the order. The Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam accepted their excuses, although Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala exposed them in the holy Qur'an (see verses 90 - 96 of surah Al-Tawbah).
Three of the companions, the three who stayed behind, were different. They were in good health, & had enough wealth & resources that they could have joined the expedition. But they did not. The shaytan was able to overcome them. They disobeyed Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala & the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam & followed their own personal desires.
Ka'ab ibn Malik Radi'allâhu Anhu was one of those three men, & he later told his story. He said that he was in his full health & strength at the time of this expedition. He was also financially able to go. However, he did not prepare when the others prepared,& he told himself that he would delay his travel & catch up with the expedition after a day or two. The days passed,& he kept delaying the travel, until it was too late for him to catch up. So he stayed behind, & he noticed that the only men remaining in Al-Madinah were the hypocrites, the sick & the elderly, which greatly saddened him.
When he heard that the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam arrived back in Al-Madinah, he went to the masjid to welcome him back. He initially thought of any excuse or lie to tell the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam in order to avoid angering him. But then he remembered Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala & he knew that Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala knows the truth that is in his heart. He realized that he should be honest, & that lying will not help him. In fact, it will only add more sins to the one he has already committed by not joining the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam.
He arrived at the masjid, & found the hypocrites making excuses & lying to the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam. He saw the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam was accepting their excuses, forgiving them & even praying to Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala to forgive them. However, being a true sincere & honest believer, he could not lie. He was just not able to lie.
He went up to the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam who smiled at him but was visibly angry, & the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam told him to come close & sit beside him. He then asked him: "What made u stay behind, didn't u prepare to come with us?" Ka'ab ibn Malik Radi'allâhu Anhu replied: "By Allah, I was never in better health or wealth than I was on the day u left, & I had no excuse & no reason for not joining". The Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam told him to get up & leave until Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala reveals His judgement. Only two other men had the courage & moral character to do the same as Ka'ab ibn Malik, accepting full responsibility for their actions & refusing to lie or make up excuses like the hypocrites did.
The Messenger sallallaahu alayhi asked the Muslims to boycott the three men. No one was allowed to talk to them, not even return their salaam. Even their own families would not talk to them. The boycott continued for fifty days.
We must again stop at this point of the story & try to learn a lesson from the honesty of Ka'ab ibn Malik Radi'allâhu Anhu . Even though he saw the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam accepting the excuses & forgiving anyone who made up any excuse, he simply refused to lie. As a Muslim & a believer, he knew that lying was forbidden. He knew that he could not correct one sin by adding another sin to it. He knew that even if he lied & got away with it in this life, that Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala knows the truth & will hold him accountable for this lie on the Day of Judgement. He knew how bad the consequences of saying the truth would be for him in this life. But he chose hardship & misery in this life over saying one lie & deserving the punishment from Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala for it on the Day of Judgement.
We really should learn a lesson from the honesty of this man. How many of us would do what he did? How many of us would just have lied & made up an excuse & then said to ourselves that it is just a small lie, & that we will ask Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala to forgive us later? How many of us would have passed this test of sincerity? He could not bring himself to lie. We should follow his example, because this is the example of true & sincere Muslims. In fact, Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala pointed to this beautiful moral character in these three men who stayed behind in verse 119 of surah Al-Tawbah, where Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala advises all believers: "Oh believers, fear Allah, & stand with the truthful ones". This verse came directly after the verse that mentioned the story of the three men, & although they committed a mistake by not adhering to the order of the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam to go on the Tabuk expedition, Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala forgave them & accepted their repentance, & Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala mentioned them as "the truthful ones" in the Qur'an. Their truthfulness & high moral character saved them from their sins & ensured their forgiveness. On the other hand, the hypocrites who thought that they got away with their lies, they did not gain the forgiveness of Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala & they will face a severe punishment on the Day of Judgement.
The story has a happy ending of course. Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala, after 50 days, revealed the verse 118 of surah Al-Tawbah: " Aиϑ to the three who were left behind (at the Battle of Tabuk), until the earth became narrow with all its vastness, & their souls became narrow for them, they knew there was no shelter from Allah except in Him. Then He turned to them (in mercy) so that they might also turn (in repentance). Allah is the Turner, the Most Merciful."
Their forgiveness was revealed in the holy Qur'an, & it came down from above the seven Heavens. It has been recited since that day, & will continue to be recited forever by millions of Muslims around the world. Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala replaced their hardship & misery with the honour of vindication & of being mentioned in the holy Qur'an. This was their reward for their sincerity & honesty, even though they committed a sin & made a mistake. But they were sincere in their hearts, & they truly loved Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala & the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam.
From this we learn that it is never too late to seek forgiveness. It is never too late to turn a new page. Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala forgives all sins, as long as we are sincere. As long as we love Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala & the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam in our hearts, & we ask for forgiveness sincerely, in sha' Allah we shall be granted forgiveness by the Most Gracious & the Most Merciful.
When these verses were revealed, the believers raced to the home of Ka'ab ibn Malik Radi'allâhu Anhu to give him the good news. One of them even got on top of a house & shouted out the news. Every believer wanted to be the first to tell the good news to their brother. They went to his home, hugged him & congratulated him on the forgiveness that he was granted.
What a beautiful example of brotherhood. They loved their brother. Even though they had boycotted him for 50 days, but when Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala forgave him they raced to hug him again! Subhan Allah, they loved & hated based on whom Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala loved & hated, not based on their own personal choice & their own desires. Even though their brother was a sinner, & he made a terrible mistake,& he disobeyed Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala & the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wasallam they still loved him & were hoping he would be forgiven.
We should implement this type of love & brotherhood today amongst ourselves. Unfortunately, many times when a Muslim commits a sin, the others will treat him badly. Even if he repents, they will still suspect him & never forget his mistake. These are not the manners of true believers. We should follow this beautiful example of the companions. We should rush towards those who repent, & love for our brothers to repent. We should love them & work with them to help them stop committing sins, not accuse them & fight with them & against them. We are all in this together, & we must help each other or else we will all lose everything in this world & on the Day of Judgement.
May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Guide us all to what pleases Him.
اللهم آمين
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