5. Would you like to meet him outside the institution? (cont.)

There came to him those who had lagged behind, making excuses for their actions and swearing oaths. They were about eighty-odd people. The Messenger of Allah accepted their excuses at face value and sought forgiveness for them, leaving their innermost secrets to Allah. Be concerned about others Ka'b bin Malik also came. When he greeted him, the Prophet looked at him. He smiled at him, the smile of one who is angry. Ka'b walked towards him and sat in front of him. The Prophet said to him: "What made you lag behind? Did you not buy a ride for yourself?" Meaning: your riding beast. He replied: 'Indeed, I did!' The Prophet asked: "Then, what kept you behind?" Ka'b said: "O Messenger of Allah, if I were to have sat in front of anyone in the world other than you, I would have saved myself from his anger by making an excuse. I have been given the power of persuasion. But by Allah, I know that if I were to tell you a lie today in order to attain your pleasure, then Allah would soon make you angry with me anyway, and if I were to speak the truth, then surely you would be upset with me, but I would hope that because I spoke the truth, Allah would forgive me. O Messenger of Allah, by Allah, I do not have any excuse. By Allah, I had never been stronger nor wealthier than I was when I remained behind!" Ka'b remained silent. Thereupon, the Prophet turned to his Companions and said: "He has indeed spoken the truth. Get up (O Ka'b) and wait until Allah decides your case." Ka'b got up and left the mosque, dragging his feet, feeling remorse and being grief stricken, not knowing what Allah would decide for him. When the people saw this, a group from amongst them followed him and began to censure him. They said: "By Allah! We have not known you to have committed a sin before this. Though, you are a poet, you failed to make excuses to the Messenger of Allah like the rest of those who lagged behind! You could have made an excuse by which he would have been pleased with you and sought forgiveness for you, so that Allah may have forgiven Be concerned about others you.' Ka'b said: "They continued to censure me so much that I considered returning to the Prophet to inform him that I had lied. But I then asked: 'Is there anyone else who has had the same experience?' Someone replied: 'Yes. Two men also said what you said and were told what you were told.' I asked: 'Who are they?' They said: 'Murarah bin al-Rabi' and Hilal bin Umayyah.' These were two righteous men who had witnessed the battle of Badr − men whom I thought could be examples for me. I therefore said: 'By Allah, I will never return to the Prophet to retract what I have said and belie myself!" Thus Ka'b walked along, broken inside and full of sadness, until he reached home, where he remained. Not much time had passed after this when the Prophet forbade the people from speaking to Ka'b and his two Companions. Ka'b said: "After this, people completely changed their attitude towards us and would shun us. If I were to go out to the marketplace, no one would speak to me. The people became estranged from me as if I never knew them. It was as though even the walls had become estranged from us, as if these weren't the walls we were familiar with and the earth that we knew had also become a stranger. The two companions of mine would sit in their homes and weep night and day. They would never show their faces. They would busy themselves with worship as if they were monks. As for me, then I was the youngest and the firmest of the three. I would go out and attend the prayers with the Muslims and roam around the marketplaces, yet, nobody would speak to me. Be concerned about others "I would enter the mosque and approach the Messenger of Allah and greet him, then be left wondering to myself if he even moved his lips to return my greeting or not. I would pray close to him, looking at him stealthily. When I became busy with prayer, he would turn to me. When I turned to him, he would turn away from me." Days went by and pain led to more pain. Ka'b was once considered a noble man amongst his people and a leading poet. He was known amongst kings and princes. His poetry circulated amongst the great so much that they would long to meet him. Yet here he was in Madinah amongst his own people, and no one would speak to or even look at him, so much so that the tragedy was gruelling and the estrangement became almost impossible to bear.