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| Ubayy ibn Kaab - Abu Mindhir |
Ubayy
bin Ka'ab RA is one of the most famous Sahabah and was an expert in
the recitation of the Qur’aan. Very few Arabs were educated before
Islam, and he was one of them. Nabi SAW used to read out the
revealed Qur’an to him. He memorised the Qur’an during the life
time of Nabi SAW and had a thorough understanding of it. Nabi (is
reported to have said: " Ubayy bin Ka'ab is the greatest Qari of
my Ummat." He used to finish the entire Qur’an in eight nights
in Tahajjud Salaah. Nabi SAW once said to him: "I have been
commanded by Allah to recite the Qur’an to you." He said: "O,
Nabi of Allah! Did Allah mention me by my name?"
Nabi
SAW replied: "Yes, He mentioned you by your name." Tears
began to roll down his cheeks with extreme joy. Jundub bin Abdullah
RA says: "When I went to Madinah to gain knowledge, I found that
people were sitting in groups and each group was handed over to a
teacher. In one of the groups I saw a person, dressed in two sheets
of cloth, teaching Hadith and looking like a traveler. I asked the
people, 'Who is this person?' They said, 'He is our respected Imam,
Ubayy bin Ka’ab .' When he finished teaching, I followed him to
his house. He was staying in a very old and rundown building, with
little or no furniture. I noticed Ubayy RA living a very simple and
poor life."
Ubayy says: "Once Nabi
SAW tested me in my knowledge of the Qur’an. He asked me, 'Ubayy,
which is the noblest verse of the Qur’aan?' I said, 'Allah and His
Nabi SAW know best.' He again asked me the same questionand I gave
the same humble and respectful reply. When he put the same question
to me once again, I replied, 'The noblest verse in the Qur’aan is
Aayatul Kursi (SII: V255).'
My
reply made him very happy. He said, 'May Allah bless you through your
knowledge.' Once, when Nabi SAW was leading the Solah, he missed one
verse. Ubayy RA pointed out the correction from behind. On finishing
Solah, Nabi SAW inquired, 'Who corrected me?' He was told that it
was Ubayy bin Ka'ab. He remarked, 'I also thought that it was him.'"
In spite of his devotion to knowledge and his special job of writing
the Qur’aan, he took part in all the battles by the side of Nabi
SAW. He did not miss a single battle or expedition led by Nabi SAW.
BIOGRAPHY
OF UBAYY IBN KAAB RA
"O Abu Mundhir! Which verse of the Book of God is the greatest?" asked the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace. "Allah and His Messenger know best," came the reply. The Prophet repeated the question and Abu Mundhir replied.
"Allah,
there is no god but He, the Living the Self-Subsisting. Neither
slumber overtakes him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the
heavens and whatever is on earth, ..." and most likely he went
on to complete the Verse of the Throne (Ayat al-Kursi).
The
Prophet smote his chest with his right hand in approval on hearing
the reply and with his countenance beaming with happiness, said to
Abu Mundhir. "May knowledge delight and benefit you, Abu
Mundhir."
This
Abu Mundhir whom the Prophet congratulated on the knowledge and
understanding which God had bestowed on him was Ubayy ibn Kab, one of
his distinguished companions and a person of high esteem in the early
Muslim community.
Ubayy
RA was one of the Ansar and belonged to the Khazraj tribe. He was one
of the first persons of Yathrib to accept Islam. He pledged
allegiance to the Prophet at Aqabah before the Hijrah. He
participated in the Battle of Badr and other engagements thereafter.
Ubayy RA was one of the select few who committed the Quranic
revelations to writing and had a Mushaf of his own. He acted as a
scribe of the Prophet, writing letters for him. At the demise of the
Prophet, he was one of the twenty five or so people who knew the
Quran completely by heart. His recitation was so beautiful and his
understanding so profound that the Prophet encouraged his companions
to learn the Quran from him and from three others. Later, Umar too
once told the Muslims as he was dealing with some financial matters
of state:
"O
people! Whoever wants to ask about the Quran, let him go to Ubayy ibn
Kab..." (Umar went on to say that anyone wishing to ask about
inheritance matters should go to Zayd ibn Thabit RA, about questions
of fiqh to Muadh ibn Jabal RA and about questions of money and
finance, to himself.)
Ubayy
enjoyed a special honor with regard to the Quran. One day, the
Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: "O Ubayy
ibn Kab! I have been commanded to show or lay open the Quran to you."
Ubayy
was elated. He knew of course that the Prophet only received commands
from on high. Unable to control his excitement, he asked:
"O
Messenger of God...Have I been mentioned to you by name?" "Yes,"
replied the Prophet, "by your own name and by your genealogy
(nasab) in the highest heavens."
Any
Muslim whose name had been conveyed to the heart of the Prophet in
this manner must certainly have been of great ability and of a
tremendously high stature.
Throughout
the years of his association with the Prophet, Ubayy RA derived the
maximum benefit from his sweet and noble personality and from his
noble teachings. Ubayy RA related that the Prophet once asked him:
"Shall
I not teach you a surah the like of which has not been revealed in
the Tawrah, nor in the Injil, nor in the Zabur, nor in the Quran?"
"Certainly," replied Ubayy.
"I
hope you would not leave through that door until you know what it
is," said the Prophet obviously prolonging the suspense for
Ubayy. Ubayy RA continues: "He stood up and I stood up with him.
He started to speak, with my hand in his. I tried to delay him
fearing that he would leave before letting me know what the surah is.
When he reached the door, I asked: "O Messenger of God! The
surah which you promised to tell me..." He replied:
"What
do you recite when you stand for Salat?" So, I recited for him
Fatihatu-l Kitab (the Opening Chapter of the Quran) and he said:
"(That's) it! (That's) it! They are the seven oft-repeated
verses of which God Almighty has said: We have given you the seven
oft-repeated verses and the Mighty Quran."
Ubayy's
devotion to the Quran was uncompromising. Once he recited part of a
verse which the Khalifah Umar RA apparently could not remember or did
not know and he said to Ubayy: "Your have lied," to which
Ubayy retorted; "Rather, you have lied."
A
person who heard the exchange was astounded and said to Ubayy: "Do
you call the Amir al-Muminin a liar?" "I have greater honor
and respect for the Amir al-Muminin than you," responded Ubayy
RA ," but he has erred in verifying the Book of God and I shall
not say the Amir al-Muminin is correct when he has made an error
concerning the Book of God." "Ubayy is right,"
concluded Umar.
Ubayy
gave an idea of the importance of the Quran when a man came to him
and said, "Advise me," and he replied: "Take the Book
of God as (your) leader (imam). Be satisfied with it as (your) judge
and ruler. It is what the Prophet has bequeathed to you. (It is your)
intercessor with God and should be obeyed..."
After
the demise of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace,
Ubayy RA remained strong in his attachment to Islam and his
commitment to the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet. He was
constant in his ibadah and would often be found in the mosque at
night, after the last obligatory Prayer had been performed, engaged
in worship or in teaching. Once he was sitting in the mosque after
Solah with a group of Muslims, making supplication to God. Umar RA
came in and sat with them and asked each one to recite a dua. They
all did until finally Ubayy's turn came. He was sitting next to Umar.
He felt somewhat over-awed and became flustered. Umar prompted him
and suggested that he say: "Allahumma ighfir lanaa. Allahumma
irhamnaa. O Lord, forgive us, O Lord, have mercy on us."
Taqwa
remained the guiding force in Ubayy's RA life. He lived simply and
did not allow the world to corrupt or deceive him. He had a good
grasp of reality and knew that however a person lived and whatever
comforts and luxuries he enjoyed, these would all fade away and he
would have only his good deeds to his credit. He was always a sort of
warner to Muslims, reminding them of the times of the Prophet, of the
Muslims' devotion to Islam then, of their simplicity and spirit of
sacrifice. Many people came to him seeking knowledge and advice. To
one such person he said.
"The
believer has four characteristics. If he is afflicted by any
misfortune, he remains patient and steadfast. If he is given
anything, he is grateful. If he speaks, he speaks the truth. If he
passes a judgment on any issue, he is just."
Ubayy
RA attained a position of great honor and esteem among the early
Muslims. Umar RA called him the "sayyid of the Muslims" and
he came to be widely known by this title. He was part of the
consultative group (mushawarah) to which Abu Bakr, as Khalifah,
referred many problems. This group was composed of men of good sense
and judgment (ahl ar-ray) and men who knew the law (ahl al-fiqh) from
among the Muhajirin and Ansar. It included Umar RA, Uthman RA, Ali
RA, Abdur Rahman ibn Awf RA, Muadh ibn Jabal RA, Ubayy ibn Kab RA and
Zayd ibn Harith RA. Umar RA later consulted the same group when he
was Khalifah. Specifically for fatwas (legal judgments) he referred
to Uthman, Ubayy and Zayd ibn Thabit.
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| The Tomb of Ubayy ibn Kaab |
Because
of Ubayy's RA high standing, one might have expected him to have been
given positions of administrative responsibility, for example as a
governor, in the rapidly expanding Muslim state. (During the time of
the Prophet in fact he had performed the function of a collector of
sadaqah.) Indeed, Ubayy once asked
"What's
the matter with you? Why don't you appoint me as a governor?" "I
do not want your religion to be corrupted" replied Umar RA.
Ubayy was probably prompted to put the question to Umar RA when he
saw that Muslims were tending to drift from the purity of faith and
self-sacrifice of the days of the Prophet SAW . He was known to be
especially critical of the excessively polite and sycophantic
attitude of many Muslims to their governors which he felt brought
ruin both to the governors and those under them. Ubayy RA for his
part was always honest and frank in his dealings with persons in
authority and feared no one but God. He acted as a sort of conscience
to the Muslims.
One of
Ubayy's RA major fears for the Muslim ummah was that a day would come
when there would be severe strife among Muslims. He often became
overwhelmed with emotion when he read or heard the verse of the
Quran." "Say: He (Allah) has power to send calamities on
you, from above and below, or to cover you with confusion in party
strife, giving you a taste of mutual vengeance, each from the other."
(Surah al-An'am, 6: 65)
He
would then pray fervently to God for guidance and ask for His
clemency and forgiveness. Ubayy RA died in the year 29 AH during the
caliphate of Uthman RA.
