Ala-Maududi
(9:118) And He also relented towards the three whose cases had been deferred.[118]When the earth, for all its spaciousness, became constrained to them, and their own beingsbecame a burden to them, and they realized that there was no refuge for them from Allah exceptin Him; He relented towards them that they may turn back to Him. Surely, it is Allah Who is MuchForgiving, Ever Merciful.[119]
118. These three were among those who came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) to present theirexcuses for staying behind. More than eighty of them were hypocrites, who put forward lameexcuses and the Prophet (peace be upon him) accepted these and let them go. Then came the turnof these three, who were true believers, and they confessed their fault plainly. Therefore theProphet (peace be upon him) postponed the decision of their case and ordered the Muslims not tohave any social relations with them till the decision of their case came from Allah. This versewas sent down to decide their case.
In this connection it should be kept in mind that the case of these three was different from thecase of the seven mentioned in E.N. 99. They had inflicted the punishment on themselves beforethey were called to account for their fault.
119. The three whose condition has been described in this verse, were Kaab bin Malik, Hilal binUmayyah and Murarah bin Rubai. They were sincere believers, as has been stated above, and hadmade many sacrifices and given proofs of their sincerity before this. The last two had takenpart in the battle of Badr also, and therefore their faith was above every kind of suspicion.Though Kaab had not taken part in the battle of Badr, he had accompanied the Prophet (peace beupon him) in every other expedition. But in spite of all these services, they were severelypunished for the negligence they had shown on the critical occasion of the Tabuk expedition,when all the able-bodied Muslims were commanded to go forth to Jihad.
When the Prophet (peace be upon him) came back from Tabuk, he ordered the Muslims to break awaycompletely from them; so much so that they should not even respond to their greetings. Afterforty days of this boycott their wives also were ordered to have nothing to do with them. Inshort, they were reduced at Al-Madinah to the same sad plight which has been described in thisverse. At last, after a boycott of fifty days, this verse was sent down to announce theirforgiveness.
The story of the above-mentioned boycott has been described in detail by Kaab bin Malik, who wasone of the three. When he became old and blind, he himself told his story to his son, Abdullah,who used to accompany him everywhere. As this story is an excellent lesson for all, it is givenbelow in Kaab’s own words:
“When the Prophet (peace be upon him) urged upon the people to get ready for Jihad, I made up mymind to make preparations for this. But when I went home, I became negligent, saying to myself,“There is no hurry. When the time comes I will readily make preparations and start forthwith”.In this way I went on putting off my preparations till the time came when the army was going tostart on the expedition. As I had made no preparations for the journey, I said to myself, “Itdoes not matter. I will be able to join the army in a couple of days during the journey”. Butagain the same negligence prevented me from putting my intention into practice. At last nooccasion was left for me to join the army. To add to my misery my conscience pricked me over andover again that the people with whom I had stayed behind in Al-Madinah were either thehypocrites or those Muslims who were old or otherwise unfit for Jihad.
When the Prophet (peace be upon him) came back from Tabuk, he, as usual, said two rakats ofprayer in the mosque. Then he sat there to meet the people. At first, the hypocrites, whosenumber was a little more than eighty, came to him and offered lame excuses on solemn oaths. TheProphet (peace be upon him) listened to the false story of each of them and accepted theirapparent excuses and left the decision about their hearts to Allah, saying, “May Allah forgiveyou”. Then it was my turn to put forward my excuse. I went forward and uttered my salutations.He smiled and said, “Well, what kept you behind?” I hesitated for a moment. By God, I would haveinvented one excuse or the other to satisfy any man of the world, for I am well versed in theart of conversation. But here was the Prophet (peace be upon him) who was demanding anexplanation from me. I believed that even if I succeeded in satisfying him by making a falseexcuse, Allah will inform him of the truth of the case and I shall again incur his displeasure.On the other hand, if I told the truth, I expected that Allah would forgive me, even though Iwere to incur his displeasure for the time being. So I replied, “I have no excuse for stayingbehind. I was in every way able to go forth (to Tabuk)”. At this the Prophet (peace be upon him)remarked, “This is the man who has told the truth”. Then turning to me, he said, “Go and waittill Allah decides your case”.
I rose from there and took my seat among the people of my own clan. They at once began to teaseand reprove me because I had made no excuse. At this, I was tempted to go and make some falseexcuse. But when I came to know that there were also two good people (Murarah bin Rubai andHilal bin Umayyah), who had told the same thing that I had, I felt satisfied and stuck to thetruth.
After this the Prophet (peace be upon him) issued a general order that no one should have anykind of talk with us. The other two confined themselves to their houses but I used to go out ofmy house and say my prayers in congregation and walk through the bazaars. As nobody spoke to me,it appeared to me that I was a foreigner in some strange city where I had no acquaintances. WhenI attended the mosque, I would utter the usual salutations and wait in vain for a response fromthe Prophet (peace be upon him). I would turn stealthy looks at him to read his thoughts inregard to me, but he would turn his eyes away from me, though he had been looking at me while Iwas engaged in prayer. As this condition became intolerable for me, one day I went to see AbuQatadah who was a cousin of mine and a friend from childhood. I climbed over the wall of hisgarden and uttered my salutations, but even he did not make any response to it. Then I said, “OAbu Qatadah! I ask you to tell me on oath whether I love or do not love Allah and HisMessenger”. But he remained silent. Again I repeated the question but he kept silent. I askedhim on oath to answer my question. Then he merely replied, “Allah and His Messenger know best”.At this my eyes were filled with tears, and I came back.
Another incident happened during those days. Once I was passing through the bazaar, when a Syriancame to me and gave me a letter wrapped in silk. This was from the king of Ghassan and read likethis: We have come to know that your leader is persecuting you these days. As you are not anignoble person, we will not leave you to rot there. Therefore come to us and we will honor you(as you deserve). I said to myself, “Here is another hard trial for me”. Then I threw the letterinto the burning oven.
The boycott continued for forty days, when a man brought this message from the Prophet (peace beupon him) that I should separate from my wife. I asked whether I should divorce her but was toldthat I should only separate from her. Accordingly I said to my wife, “Go to your parental homeand wait till a decision comes from Allah.”
On the fiftieth day, when after the morning prayers, I was sitting in a state of utter despair onthe top of my house, all of a sudden someone cried aloud, “O Kaab bin Malik! please accept mycongratulations.” Hearing this, I fell prostrate to the ground before Allah, for I understoodthat the command of my forgiveness had come. After this, people began to pour in, each trying toforestall the other in congratulating me on the acceptance of my repentance. I rose and wentdirectly to the Mosque. I noticed that the face of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was glowingwith happiness and in response to my salutations, he said, “I congratulate you on this: it isthe best day of your life.” I said, “Is this forgiveness from you or from Allah?” He replied,“It is from Allah.” Then he recited these verses (117-118). I asked, “O Messenger of Allah! Doesmy repentance require that I should give the whole of my property in charity?” He replied, “Keepa part of it, for it will be better for you.” Accordingly, I kept my property at Khaibar formyself and gave all the rest in charity. Then I solemnly pledged that I would stick to the truththroughout rest of my life, for Allah had forgiven me in return for the truth I had told. Thatis why I have never uttered a word against reality intentionally up to this time and hope andexpect that Allah will protect me from lies in future as well.
This story contains many lessons, and every believer should impress these on his mind and heart.
The first and foremost lesson we learn from this story is that the matter of the conflict betweenIslam and kufr is so important and delicate that we should take the greatest possible care to beon our guard in regard to this. Not to mention the case of one who takes active part on the sideof kufr, if a Muslim shows the least negligence even inadvertently in taking part on the side ofIslam once in his life; and that, too, not with any evil intention, he is liable to lose all thelifelong services and devotions rendered by him in the cause of Islam. That was why such asevere action was taken even against those worthy people who had done great deeds of valor inthe battles of Badr, Uhd, Ahzab and Hunain, and whose sincerity and faith were absolutely abovesuspicion.
The second thing, which is as important as the first, is that one should never consider lightlyany negligence in the performance of a duty, for this often misleads one to commit an offensethat is counted among heinous sins. The fact that one did not commit the offense with any evilintention cannot save one from punishment.
Lastly, this story presents the true spirit of the society that had been evolved out under theleadership of the Prophet (peace be upon him). On the one side, there were the hypocrites whosetreacherous deeds were quite well known to all. They offered lame excuses which were acceptedwithout demur for nothing better could be expected from them. On the other side, let us take thecase of Kaab bin Malik, who was a tried believer, and whose sacrifices were above every kind ofsuspicion. He did not invent any false story to justify himself but confessed his fault quiteplainly and clearly. But in contrast to the hypocrites, a severe chastisement was inflicted onhim, not because there was any suspicion about his faith but because a sincere believer like himhad behaved in a way in which only a hypocrite could behave. Thus the chastisement was meant toremind them: “You are the salt of the earth. But if you, too, become tasteless, from where willthen salt be obtained?”
There is another noteworthy side of the matter. The part played by the leader and the followerand the Muslim society in this incident is unique. The leader inflicts the most severepunishment but with the feelings of affection and without any tinge of anger or hatred in it. Itis like the punishment which a father gives to his son. It is always understood that thepunishment is given for the good of the son, who knows that as soon as he mends his ways, hewill regain the fatherly love. And the follower sets an excellent example of obedience undervery trying circumstances. He suffers hard from the severity of the chastisement but neverthinks of rebelling against the leader because of any false personal or clannish pride; nay, hedoes not cherish in his heart any complaint against his beloved leader, but begins to love himeven more than before. During this saddest period of his life the only thing he yearns for is alook of affection from his leader. For he is like a famine-stricken farmer whose only hope isthe piece of cloud which he sees floating in the sky.
Now let us have a glimpse of the Muslim society, which displayed the greatest discipline and thehighest moral spirit that had ever been shown by any society. No sooner does the leader orderthe boycott than the whole community becomes a stranger to the follower not only in public butalso in private. So much so that his nearest relatives and closest friends do not even speak tohim; nay, his own wife leaves him alone. He implores them on oath to tell him if they suspectedhis sincerity, but even his lifelong companions make a point-blank refusal, saying that heshould ask Allah and His Messenger for that testimony. But in spite of the show of this strictdiscipline, the moral spirit of the community is so high and so pure that not a single persontries to take advantage of the position of the fallen brother by adding insult to his injury;nay, everyone feels sorry for his brother in disgrace, and is important to embrace him as soonas he is forgiven. That is why the people run in haste to tell him the good news.
The above is the model of the righteous community that the Quran aims.
This background makes it plain why Allah not only forgave them but also manifested His kindness;gentleness and compassion in His forgiveness to these people. It was because of their sinceritywhich they proved during the fifty days of their chastisement. Had they shown arrogance afterthe commission of their offense and retaliated by taking angry and hostile actions as does everyselfworshiper whose pride is wounded: had they behaved during their boycott in a manner as ifthey would break away from the community but never bow down before it: had they passed thisperiod in spreading dissatisfaction in the community and gathering around them all thedisgruntled people in order to organize a strong opposition against the leader, then they wouldhave most certainly been expelled from the community, as if to say, “Go you now and worship theidol of yourself, for henceforth you will never be given any opportunity for exerting to raisethe word of Allah”. But these three did not adopt this way though it was open to them. On thecontrary, they took a different way, as has been seen, and proved that Godworship had destroyedevery idol that might have remained hidden in their hearts: that they had dedicated themselvesentirely to the exertion in the Way of Allah: that while joining the Islamic community they hadburnt their boats to make it impossible for themselves to go back anywhere: that they would putup with every kind of treatment but would remain in the community and die as a member of it andwould scornfully reject any offer of an honorable place outside it; and would rather beardisgrace in it. That was why they were again taken in the community with the same honor asbefore. This is the explanation of the kind words of forgiveness: “Then He turned to them, thatthey might repent.” In these concise words, the Quran has depicted the true picture of thematter. The Master had at first turned away His attention from His three servants but when Hesaw that they had not left His door but had remained there with broken hearts, He again turnedto them in appreciation of their fidelity so as to bring them back into the fold.