Islamic Character

A grievance at home should not mean desertion to the enemy Kaab ibn Malik, having failed to join in the expedition to Tabuk, explains that the Prophet announced the expedition just when the dates were ripening and it was a great pleasure to sit in the shade. “I was lethargic in my preparations, but it occurred to me that having all the necessary means at my command I could set out whenever I pleased. The time came for the army to set out, but I was still not ready to go. I met the Prophet on his return from Tabuk and he asked me why I had failed to join the campaign. Unable to tell a lie, I admitted that I had no excuse; I had been quite capable of making the journey. The Prophet then gave orders that no one was to speak to me, nor to Hilal ibn Umayyah and Murarah ibn Rabie. This state of affairs went on and on for fifty days. The Qur’an described the agony of those days: “ ... when the earth, vast as it is, was straitened for them and their own souls were straitened for them till they knew there was no refuge from God except in Him.” (9:118) Kaab recalls how, at that time a Nabataeian, who had come from Syria to Madinah on business, met him in the streets and gave him a letter from Ghassanid chieftain. The letter, enveloped in a silken cloth, read: “I have learned how you are being oppressed by your master. May God release you from a place where you are in disgrace and your talents are wasted. Come to us and we will give you a place of honour. Kaab ibn Malik promptly threw this letter into the fire without replying to it. After fifty days, Almighty God accepted his repentance and forgave him. (AL-BUKHARl, SAHIH)