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

Still, there was to come to him another test… One day, as he was roaming around the marketplace, there came a Christian from Syria. He said: "Who can take me to Ka'b bin Malik?" The people pointed to Ka'b, so he came to him and gave him a letter from the King of Ghassan. How strange! From the King of Ghassan! Therefore, his news must have reached Syria, so much so that the King of the Ghassanites showed concern for him! How amazing! What exactly did the King want from him? Ka'b opened up the letter and read: "To proceed: O Ka'b bin Malik! It has reached me that your companion has turned cold towards you and distanced you from him. You do not deserve loss or ruin, or to be disgraced. So join us, and we would give you consolation." When he finished reading the letter, he said: "To Allah we Be concerned about others belong! The people of disbelief have now shown interest in me! This is indeed a great calamity and evil!" He then went with the letter immediately to an oven, set it alight, and burned it. Ka'b did not consider the king's offer for a moment. Yes, the doors were opened up to him to the kings' palaces and the mansions of the great who would invite him to honour and companionship, whilst the city of Madinah around him censured him and people frowned in his face. He would greet people, yet none would return his greeting. He would ask, yet none would respond. Despite that, he did not turn to the disbelievers. The devil failed to shake him or to make him a slave to his desires. He simply tossed the letter into the fire and let it burn. Thus the days passed, one by one, until a whole month went by. Ka'b remained in this state as the boycott continued to grow heavier around his neck and the pressure continued to increase. Neither did the Messenger pardon him, nor did revelation descend decreeing anything in this matter. When forty days had passed, a messenger from the Prophet came to Ka'b, knocking on his door. Ka'b went out to him, hoping that he might have come with concessions, only to find the messenger saying: "The Messenger orders that you distance yourself from your wife." He said: "Should I divorce her?" He said: "No, but keep your distance from her and do not approach her." Thereupon, Ka'b went to his wife and said: "Go back to your family and stay with them until Allah decrees for this matter." The Prophet sent the same message to his two companions. So the wife of Hilal bin Umayyah came to him and said: "O Messenger of Allah, Hilal bin Umayyah is a weak old man. Will Be concerned about others you give me permission to serve him?" He replied: "Yes, but do not let him approach you." The woman said: "O Prophet of Allah, he is not even able to move for anything he needs. He is still very depressed and cries, night and day, since the day he did what he did." The days became very difficult for Ka'b and the boycott became so unbearable for him that he began to re-examine his faith. He would try to speak to the Muslims, but they would not respond to him. He would greet the Messenger of Allah but would not hear a response. So where should he have gone? Whom should he have consulted? Ka'b said: "When the calamity had gone on for far too long, I went to Abu Qatadah, who was my cousin and the most beloved of people to me. I found him in his garden. I scaled the wall, entered and greeted him, but by Allah, he did not return my greeting. I said: 'I beseech you, by Allah, O Abu Qatadah, do you know that I love Allah and His Messenger?' He remained silent. I then said: 'O Abu Qatadah, do you know that I love Allah and His Messenger?' He remained silent. I then said: 'I beseech you, by Allah, O Abu Qatadah, do you know that I love Allah and His Messenger?' He then said: 'Allah and His Messenger know best." When Ka'b heard this response from his cousin and the dearest of all people to him, it was as if he could no longer tell if he was a believer or not. He could not bear what he had heard. His eyes filled with tears.He climbed over the wall,went back to his house and remained therein, looking here and there, confined within the walls of his house. He had no wife to accompany him, nor a relative to console him. Be concerned about others Fifty nights had passed since the Prophet forbade the people to speak to them. On the fiftieth night, it was revealed to the Prophet in the last third of the night that the repentance of the three men had been accepted.