Home Hadith Hadith 4472
I heard Ka`b bin Malik talking about the story of the battle of Tabuk when he remained behind, "By
Allah, I do not know anyone whom Allah has helped for telling the truth more than me since I
mentioned that truth to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) till today, I have never intended to tell a lie. And Allah
revealed to His Apostle: "Verily! Allah has forgiven the Prophet, the Muhajirin............ and be with
those who are true (in words and deeds)." (9.117-119) (See Hadith No. 702 Vol 5).
Sahih al-Bukhari Book 65, Hadith 200
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I heard Ka`b bin Malik who was one of the three who were forgiven, saying that he had never
remained behind Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) in any Ghazwa which he had fought except two Ghazwat Ghazwat-
Al-`Usra (Tabuk) and Ghazwat-Badr. He added. "I decided to tell the truth to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) in the
forenoon, and scarcely did he return from a journey he made, except in the forenoon, he would go first
to the mosque and offer a two-rak`at prayer.
The Prophet (ﷺ) forbade others to speak to me or to my two companions, but he did not prohibit speaking
to any of those who had remained behind excepting us. So the people avoided speaking to us, and I
stayed in that state till I could no longer bear it, and the only thing that worried me was that I might
die and the Prophet (ﷺ) would not offer the funeral prayer for me, or Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) might die and I
would be left in that social status among the people that nobody would speak to me or offer the
funeral prayer for me. But Allah revealed His Forgiveness for us to the Prophet (ﷺ) in the last third of the
night while Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) was with Um Salama. Um Salama sympathized with me and helped me in
my disaster. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, 'O Um Salama! Ka`b has been forgiven!'
She said, 'Shall I send someone to him to give him the good tidings?' He said, 'If you did so, the
people would not let you sleep the rest of the night.' So when the Prophet (ﷺ) had offered the Fajr prayer,
he announced Allah's Forgiveness for us. His face used to look as bright as a piece of the (full) moon
whenever he was pleased. When Allah revealed His Forgiveness for us, we were the three whose case
had been deferred while the excuse presented by those who had apologized had been accepted. But
when there were mentioned those who had told the Prophet (ﷺ) lies and remained behind (the battle of
Tabuk) and had given false excuses, they were described with the worse description one may be
described with. Allah said: 'They will present their excuses to you (Muslims) when you return to
them. Say: Present no excuses; we shall not believe you. Allah has already informed us of the true
state of matters concerning you. Allah and His Apostle will observe your actions." (9.94)
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who was one of those who used to write the Divine Revelation: Abu Bakr sent for me after the
(heavy) casualties among the warriors (of the battle) of Yamama (where a great number of Qurra'
were killed). `Umar was present with Abu Bakr who said, `Umar has come to me and said, The people
have suffered heavy casualties on the day of (the battle of) Yamama, and I am afraid that there will be
more casualties among the Qurra' (those who know the Quran by heart) at other battle-fields, whereby
a large part of the Quran may be lost, unless you collect it. And I am of the opinion that you should
collect the Quran." Abu Bakr added, "I said to `Umar, 'How can I do something which Allah's
Apostle has not done?' `Umar said (to me), 'By Allah, it is (really) a good thing.' So `Umar kept on
pressing, trying to persuade me to accept his proposal, till Allah opened my bosom for it and I had the
same opinion as `Umar." (Zaid bin Thabit added:) `Umar was sitting with him (Abu Bakr) and was
not speaking. me). "You are a wise young man and we do not suspect you (of telling lies or of
forgetfulness): and you used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). Therefore, look for
the Quran and collect it (in one manuscript). " By Allah, if he (Abu Bakr) had ordered me to shift one
of the mountains (from its place) it would not have been harder for me than what he had ordered me
concerning the collection of the Quran. I said to both of them, "How dare you do a thing which the
Prophet has not done?" Abu Bakr said, "By Allah, it is (really) a good thing. So I kept on arguing with
him about it till Allah opened my bosom for that which He had opened the bosoms of Abu Bakr and
`Umar. So I started locating Quranic material and collecting it from parchments, scapula, leaf-stalks
of date palms and from the memories of men (who knew it by heart). I found with Khuza`ima two
Verses of Surat-at-Tauba which I had not found with anybody else, (and they were):--
"Verily there has come to you an Apostle (Muhammad) from amongst yourselves. It grieves him that
you should receive any injury or difficulty He (Muhammad) is ardently anxious over you (to be
rightly guided)" (9.128)
The manuscript on which the Quran was collected, remained with Abu Bakr till Allah took him unto
Him, and then with `Umar till Allah took him unto Him, and finally it remained with Hafsa, `Umar's
daughter.