Seerah of Prophet Muhammad 89 - Story of Ka'b b. Malik ~ Dr. Yasir Qadhi | 3rd September 2014

(Cont.) The Story of Ka'b ibn Malik RA (With Sh. YQ's Commentary)

 

We continue the story of Ka'b ibn Malik. He was one of the three people who was honest enough to say, "Ya Rasulullah we simply did not obey the commandment to go for jihad - we have no excuse other than we were lazy," so the Prophet PBUH told them they should be boycotted. 50 days went by and then the command came that their wives should leave them and go elsewhere. So all the wives left other than the wife of Hilal as she wanted to take care of him and feed him, otherwise he may have died in those 10 days because of his grief (he was just sitting next to the wall crying non-stop). Ka'b was told, "Why don't you ask for your wife," but he said, "What excuse do I have, I am a young man."

So he narrates: "One day when I was in the state that Allah described me."

He is referencing the Quran: Allah says in the Quran:

وَعَلَى الثَّلَاثَةِ الَّذِينَ خُلِّفُوا حَتَّىٰ إِذَا ضَاقَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ الْأَرْضُ بِمَا رَحُبَتْ وَضَاقَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ أَنفُسُهُمْ وَظَنُّوا أَن لَّا مَلْجَأَ مِنَ اللَّهِ إِلَّا إِلَيْهِ ثُمَّ تَابَ عَلَيْهِمْ لِيَتُوبُوا ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ

"For those three who were left behind, until the whole world seemed to condense on them even though it's so vast, and they realized there is no way to save yourself from Allah except by going to Allah." [9:118]

So this is the description Allah gave of them in the Qur'an. So he said, "One day in this state, completely depressed, I had prayed Fajr on my rooftop." This shows us he was so depressed he stopped going to the masjid and the marketplace. So difficult it was he didn't even leave his house. He continues, "I was just sitting there worried about myself, when finally I heard somebody who had gone to the top of Jabal al-Sela (the mountain you see when you exit the Masjid al-Nabawi) cry out, 'Ya Ka'b ibn Malik, be happy!' As soon as I heard this I fell down in sajdah realizing there is only one reason for happiness." Indeed, happiness for what? There's only one thing: Allah's help had come. The Prophet PBUH had announced Allah had forgiven Ka'b, Murara and Hilal after Fajr.


And Ka'b said, "The people came to congratulate us; some people rushed out to my two companions. A horseman came galloping towards me in haste, and the man on the mountain, his voice reached me first but the one who came on the horse riding he came to convey me in person. And I was so happy I gifted him the clothes on my back and that's all I had at the time." This means in the 50 days he had gotten rid of all his money in sadaqa. He said initially that, "I had more wealth than I ever had" - but in these 40-50 days he spent all this wealth. Why? He doesn't say but clearly to give in sadaqa. And the guy came all the way rushing to give the good news, and he was so happy he gave the clothes on his back. Also, this shows us the genuine love the sahaba had for each other. So much so that when they heard Allah had forgiven the three companions they rushed to them to congratulate them. They genuinely wanted good for each other. They aren't even from the same tribe - it's just another sahabi, and Ka'b is so happy he gifted the clothes on his back.

This also shows the poverty of the sahaba. Wallahi if one of us was to be gifted a worn thobe, we would be insulted. But the sahaba were so poor, and this is the general rule among the sahaba, that being gifted a used thobe is a big deal. As we know most of the sahaba only had one garment. Even the Prophet PBUH only possessed two garments. The point is to be gifted a thobe was such a big deal. Then he said, "I did not have any other thobe, so I had to knock on my neighbor's door and borrowed a garment from him to go to the Prophet PBUH." This literally shows us in these 50 days the house wealth is completely gone. He doesn't even have clothes to wear. And Ka'b rushed to the masjid and said, "The people began to receive me in batches - wherever I went they would congratulate me and give me glad tidings at the acceptance of Allah's repentance. And when I entered the masjid of the Prophet PBUH, I saw the Prophet PBUH and all the people around him." This shows this was a festival for all the sahaba. Wallahi imagine this - what does it have to do with the rest of the sahaba that Allah has forgiven these three people? But, when you have that type of love, when your brother has been saved you feel you've been saved. So everyone is rejoicing and celebrating.

Ka'b said, "I saw the Prophet PBUH in the middle of the masjid, and Talha ibn Ubaydillah stood up to rush to greet me, and he shook hands with me. By Allah out of all the Muhajirun he was the only one who did this, and I will never forget this gesture from Talha." The fact that Talha stood up, Ka'b remembers this; subhan'Allah, one act of good you will change a persons heart for the rest of his life. Just a word of comfort, a handshake, etc. It does the world of good at times of distress. And when is Ka'b narrating this? 40 years after it happened, yet, he remembers Talha stood up.

Then he said, "I greeted the Prophet PBUH and his face became bright with joy like the full moon." This phrase we find in many hadith; notably in the hadith of Jabir. And the Prophet PBUH said, "Be happy Ka'b for you have been given the best news since your mother gave birth to you." Why? Because Allah has announced and accepted his repentance. So the Prophet PBUH said, "Be happy and rejoice for the best day ever since your mother gave birth to you." Ka'b said, "Oh messenger of Allah, is this from you or from Allah?" And the Prophet PBUH said, "No it is from Allah." This shows us again and again, the sahaba made a clear distinction between the Prophet PBUH and Allah. Ka'b is saying, "Is it your forgiveness, or is it Allah's?" This again demonstrates a crucial point: The status of the Prophet PBUH. So Ka'b is saying, "Who is this from that I should be happy?" And the Prophet PBUH says, "From Allah."

Ka'b said when he sat in front of the Prophet PBUH he said, "Ya Rasulullah because Allah has accepted my repentance I will give up ALL my possessions for the sake of Allah." What's left? Property, land, etc. What did the Prophet PBUH say?, "Keep some of your wealth with you, that is better for you." So Ka'b said, "Very well I shall keep my share of Khaybar." Remember the ghanima of Khaybar was the largest fortune the sahaba ever got other than Hunayn - but of course at Hunayn the Ansar got nothing. This shows us we shouldn't act on raw emotion. We have to think wisely. Ka'b is so happy he thinks he should give everything up; but here we have the wisdom of the Prophet PBUH saying, "No calm down keep some of your wealth with you and your family." What about some of the sahaba such as Abu Bakr who gave everything for the sake of Allah, leaving nothing at all at home? The response to this is easy: That is why he is Abu Bakr. None of the other sahaba, even Umar, did not do. We have not and will not reach that level. It's foolish to give all our money away to the poor, and make our family poor at the same time. This is not what Islam teaches. Rather the Prophet PBUH told Ka'b to keep sufficiently for your family and give the rest for the sake of Allah.

We also learn that when something good happens to us, we should give charity to thank Allah. When a child is born you give sadaqa equal to the weight of the child's hair i.e. a small amount of charity. So our tradition tells us whenever something good happens we should give for the sake of Allah. Then Ka'b says, "Allah has saved me by telling the truth, so as a part of my tawba, I promise never to tell any lie as long as I live." So he makes a promise to Allah - then he tells his son (who is in the chain of narration), "Wallahi, I don't know any Muslim whom Allah tested more with lying than me, but I remembered my promise and thus I haven't told a lie intentionally to this day, and I hope Allah will save me for the remaining of my days." We can assume this hadith is when he is around 75 years old, and he just has a year left; so he hasn't told a lie for 40 years yet through his humbleness he is saying, "May Allah protect me for the remainder of my life." He's already such an old man, but still there's always this humility. Also notice he said, "I never intentionally told a lie" - even in this we see his humility and caution in that he is thinking maybe he told a lie by mistake.

Ka'b goes on and says, "Allah revealed the verse in the Quran that:

لَّقَد تَّابَ اللَّهُ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ وَالْمُهَاجِرِينَ وَالْأَنصَارِ الَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوهُ

"Allah has accepted/forgiven the Prophet and the Muhajirun and those who are with him." [9:117]"

Ka'b said, "Wallahi Allah has never bestowed upon me a blessing greater than Islam other than that day I didn't lie to the Prophet PBUH, because if I had lied I would have been destroyed like the hypocrites, because Allah described the hypocrites with the worst description." Ka'b quotes the Quran (Surah al-Tawba). And again we will review Surah al-Tawba to find all the gems of Tabuk. So Allah says, "They shall swear to you when you come back to Madinah (that they have an excuse) just so that you turn away from them." So Allah says, "Turn away from them." Notice it is beautiful: Allah is saying they want you to turn away, but Allah is commanding the Prophet PBUH to turn your mercy away from them. Then Allah says, "They are filthy, and they shall be in the fire as a punishment for what they do. Allah does not guide the fasiq people," (verse 95-96). Notice again Ka'b is attributing the good to Allah. The Muslim attributes all good to Allah, the one who doesn't believe in Allah attributes the good to himself.

Ka'b said, "We, the three people, were the ones whom gave no excuse to the Prophet PBUH. As for us he told the people to leave us, and this is the reference in the Quran (Surah al-Tawba, verse 118)." So Ka'b is explaining the verse; he is doing tafsir of the verse. He is saying the verdict of the three people was disconnected to the verdict of all the others. The normal translation is, "As for the three who were left behind, they were cut off." Ka'b is correcting this misunderstanding: He is saying their verdict was suspended i.e. they were in limbo. As for the munafiq they were not in limbo because the Prophet PBUH outwardly accepted their excuse but left their affair to Allah. So the correct translation is, "As for the three on whom no verdict was made, they were cut off," - that is the reference to Ka'b and the other two. So the reference isn't them remaining behind in the actual ghazwa Tabuk, but it's the fact that the Prophet PBUH did not make a decision about them.

 

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More About Ka'b ibn Malik RA

 

Note, Ka'b was amongst the 2-3 most famous poets of Madinah. Hassan ibn Thabit, his poetry is more famous to us because Hassan specialized in a genre of poetry we are more known to i.e. attacking the Quraysh. But Ka'b ibn Malik's poetry was not of the attacking type - Hassan's genre was attacking the opposition. But Ka'b's genre was enticing the Muslims to be more brave and steadfast in the battlefield. And his poetry is well known. So he is amongst the same group of elite poets as Hassan ibn Thabit. Also Ka'b ibn Malik was the one who substituted his armor for the armor of the Prophet PBUH in one battle so people would think he is the Prophet PBUH. Therefore a lot of the mushrikun targeted and attacked him - as a result he was wounded 11 different times through spears and arrows. This is Ka'b ibn Malik. He lived a long life through the period of Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali, and he eventually died in the reign of Muawiyah at the age of 77. From the books of seerah we know he became blind in his old age (and from this long hadith). Note this hadith is muttafaq alayh, in Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn Ishaq, etc. It's interesting Imam Bukhari puts this hadith in the Chapter of Tabuk but imam Muslim puts it in the Chapter of Tawba (Book of Repentance). So this hadith is beautiful because it makes us optimistic about tawba (repentance), that someone who commits a major sin can be forgiven. And indeed it was a major sin because it was fard ayn for Ka'b to go. He directly disobeyed the Prophet's PBUH command; the fact that one can still be forgiven is the main point.

 

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Points of Benefit From the Story of Ka'b ibn Malik RA

The story is one of the famous stories of the seerah; in addition to some of the benefits derived above, let us discuss the benefits from different angles:

Of the benefits we can derive:

1. The permissibility of narrating the stories of the sinners and repenters. There is a popular genre of 'so and so was a singer and he repented and became a qari of the Quran.' We are all happy that masha'Allah this happens. The point being, some of the stricter scholars frown on these stories and say, "Why are quoting the stories of the sinners? Stick with the Quran and sunnah." But we say, the Quran and sunnah is the ultimate, nothing can compete with it. But it allows us to occasionally narrate these type of stories. And we like to hear such stories because it gives us hope of Allah's forgiveness. And it's something to relate to - these are people who live amongst us. Stricter scholars say these stories should not be related and have valid arguments for this position. However one can mitigate them by saying the stories should be put in perspective; don't base all of your hopes on these people, etc.

2. We learn the permissibility to narrate your achievements without boasting. The evidence is when Ka'b listed out in the beginning he was at Aqaba, he gave the bay'ah, he fought in every battle except Badr, etc. So he's telling his son his entire CV. There is nothing wrong with telling someone the good Allah has blessed with you, as long as your intention is right. Allah says in the Quran, "As for the blessings Allah has given you, tell the people your blessings." So you are allowed to tell somebody of a positive you've done to encourage them. For example to say, 'Alhamdulillah, I've memorized Surah al-Baqarah.' If you're saying this to get praise, then there's no point. However if you're doing it to encourage the person to say, "If I can do it, you can do it," then the intention is right. We must be careful to be factual and have humility. Ka'b said, "I participated in all the battles except Badr" - he wants to make sure he clarified he didn't fight at Badr.

3. No matter how noble your past, it doesn't mean your future will be noble. If you look at Ka'b's CV before Tabuk, who would've imagined he would disobey a direct command of the Prophet PBUH. He was one of just 70 sahaba who gave the bay'ah at Aqaba. This is the elite of the Ansar, to accept Islam before the Hijrah. He is the one who took the armor of the Prophet PBUH and endured 11 different attacks. Who would have imagined this might happen? We have in the du'a of Ibrahim AS enough of this warning: While he's building the Ka'bah he is making the du'a, "O Allah make sure my children and I do not worship idols." He's scared of not worshiping an idol! So you should always be humble about your future.

4. It's permissible to narrate one's sins to others, as long as it's done with the right intention. We must cover up the sins of others, as for our own sins, we have the right to narrate them if there is a moral. If there is no moral, then we bring Allah's wrath. Our Prophet PBUH said, "All of my ummah shall be forgiven except those who boast of their sins." This is so common in the ummah: People boast, "I was with so-and-so, I did this, I did that", etc. This is a complete lack of Iman. If however someone says, "Yes I used to drink alcohol," etc. but then he warns the people, this is fine as we learn from the hadith of Ka'b.

5. The sacrifice of the sahaba, and the obedience they had to the Prophet PBUH. Imagine 20,000 obeying the call of the Prophet PBUH, giving up their agriculture, walking in the July heat in the desert from Madinah all the way to Tabuk. How many remained behind? Just 3 (of the sahaba). What is the obedience rate? 3 out of 20,000 disobeyed, so 0.001%. Those types of statistics are unparalleled. When the Prophet PBUH says, "Go forth," the whole ummah goes forth. This shows us the love and Iman the sahaba had.

6. We also see again the Prophet PBUH took constant precautions. Because it was such a difficult journey in the case of Tabuk, he told them exactly where they are going. He gave them time to prepare; he told them to arrange their matters for their family and crop before they go. This shows us the reality of the difficulty of Tabuk and the reality of preparing for the sake of Allah. It is foolish to go forth in any endeavor whether it's a battle or anything, and say, "Allah will take care of me." No. Rather, Allah will take care of you, when you take care of yourselves and put your trust in Him. This is precisely what the sahaba did.

7. Also notice as our Prophet PBUH said, feeling guilty is the essence of tawba. This whole hadith, we can sense how guilty Ka'b felt, especially the phrase that he says to his son, "Oh how I wish I prepared and made it with them." Notice he is saying this 40 years later, yet still in his heart, even though he knows he is forgiven, but still 40 years later he is telling his son, "How I wish I didn't have to go through that." This is the sign of genuine tawba - when you feel guilty for the sins, "Why did I do that." Even if we know for a fact that Allah has forgiven us, still you feel guilty.

8. Also we see the dangers of delaying and procrastination. The mu'min is NOT lazy. And every time you feel like postponing something for tomorrow, we must remember the story of Ka'b. Days went by and he kept on saying, "Yes tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow" until finally the Prophet PBUH left and he said, "Okay, today I'll do it" but today also nothing, then the next day the same thing, and after that it was too late. So don't delay - we must act immediately.

9. The simplest and most important lesson is that of always telling the truth. In Sahih Bukhari and Muslim, it is narrated that the Prophet PBUH said, "I oblige upon you the command of speaking the truth, because it leads to piety, and piety leads to Jannah. And a man continues to speak the truth, until Allah writes him as a siddiq. And I warn you against lying for lying leads to evilness, and evilness leads to Jahannam. And a person continues to lie until he is written in the eyes of Allah as a liar." Hadith in Bukhari and Muslim.

So we must always speak the truth. Even when the Prophet PBUH was joking, he would speak the truth. The Prophet PBUH once said to a sahaba to write down everything he says, but a sahaba said, "Sometimes you joke with us." At this the Prophet PBUH held his tongue and said, "Write because I swear by the One whose Hands is my ruh, nothing comes from this except the truth." Even his jokes the Prophet PBUH told the truth. For example when an old lady came to him and said, "Make du'a to enter Jannah." The Prophet PBUH said, "Oh my aunt don't you know that old ladies don't go to Jannah." And she began to wail - but the Prophet PBUH smiled and said, "Allah will convert you into a young lady and then enter you into Jannah." And there are other hadith where he is joking with a truth. The Prophet PBUH never ever said a lie.

10. Making excuses for good deeds is the sign of hypocrisy. The munafiqun just made excuses - so making excuses for performing good deeds is not a good sign; it's not a sign of Iman.

11. Pleasing Allah will eventually make mankind pleased with you. And pleasing mankind at the expense of Allah, you will lose both mankind and Allah. Ka'b said, "Ya Rasulullah I could earn your happiness but Allah will expose me and you will eventually hate me." The Prophet PBUH said, "Whoever seeks the pleasure of Allah even if it means getting the people angry at him, shall gain both the pleasure of Allah and the people. And whoever gains the pleasure of the people by displeasing Allah, will never gain the pleasure of Allah or the people." There are times when speaking the truth and standing alone is a very difficult thing. It's so much easier to go with the flow, "What will the people say." But in the story of Ka'b, he became beloved to Allah and His messenger and all of us. Look at the munafiqun, they are despised by Allah and by us to this day.

12. We also see the importance of following righteous people at times of doubt. Look to what pious people are doing; when Ka'b's tribesman said, "Just go and make an excuse." What did he say?, "Did anyone else say what I said?" and they said, "Yes so-and-so." He said, "They mentioned two righteous men who had participated in Badr." Thus at times of difficulty and doubt we must turn to the people of knowledge.

13. It is the sunnah of the Prophet PBUH and our sunnah that no matter what someone looks like outwardly, we judge people by what they say, and we leave their affair to Allah. Everyone knew the hypocrites are lying; Ka'b said, "I was walking around Madinah and I could only see the hypocrites." Everyone knows who the hypocrites were. Yet when they came and made their excuse, the Prophet PBUH accepted it. If this is case of the Prophet PBUH, how about us? We leave intentions to Allah.

14. Note though it is not un-Islamic to have a perception of a person who has a bad reputation without verbalizing it. Clearly the Prophet PBUH and sahaba knew the hypocrites were lying, but did they say it? No. This is very simple: When you know someone is a fraud/regular liar, and then he comes and gives you excuses, who will you believe? The proven criminal or the guy who has a positive track record? Clearly the latter. But you don't pronounce a verdict outwardly. There is a famous hadith that the Prophet PBUH said, "Isa AS once saw a man steal. So he said to the man, 'Why did you steal?' So the man said, 'Wallahi, I didn't steal.' So Isa AS said, 'I will believe in Allah and disbelieve in what my eyes saw.'" Isa AS saw him steal - but the man mentioned Allah's name, so Isa AS said, "I'll say my eyes were wrong." We take this as etiquette - when someone is swearing, etc. then we let Allah judge.

15. We also learn that if you have something in your heart about your brother, you must express it frankly. When Ka'b came to the Prophet PBUH, Ka'b knew the Prophet PBUH was angry. What did the Prophet PBUH ask?, "Didn't you have a camel?" What does that show? The Prophet PBUH feels in his heart, 'What is your excuse,' and he expresses it. This shows us that when you have something in your heart, you should let it out. Just say it and let the person defend himself. How many times have we confronted someone with a fact, only to realize after hearing the other side, the 'fact' is wrong.

16. Also, and this is a constant throughout the seerah, the Prophet PBUH is just a human. He does not forgive, he does not control heaven and hell, etc. And any one who studies the seerah simply cannot hold any extremist view. Thus the notion the Prophet PBUH is some medium to get through to Allah, this is completely wrong. The sahaba interacted with him directly, but even they did not put him on the pedestal that some Sufis/Barelvis put him on. It's not possible for them to hold these views because they see him and his life. We see this in Ka'b story when he says, "Is this forgiveness from you or from Allah?"

17. We also see that eloquence can be very dangerous. There are so many evidences for this. The Prophet PBUH narrated, "Some speech is almost like magic." Bukhari. It means just like magic can make things appear and disappear, similarly speech can turn black into white, the good appear evil, etc. Ka'b says this, "If I wanted to, I could have done it." The Prophet PBUH says, "You come to me with your disputes (about property), and perhaps some of you are more persuasive in arguing your case than the other one so I find myself toward him. But he knows that he is lying. So let that person realize, if I give the verdict to him, let him realize what I'm giving to him is actually a piece of Jahannam." Meaning, Allah obviously knows, but that lying person might convince you. But you can never convince Allah. Thus the hadith clearly shows speech can be very persuasive. And it's so true today; we see how each group is justifying what they are doing. How the extremists, how Israel, how USA and its foreign policy, etc. It's so easy to manipulate the minds of people. This is what the Prophet PBUH is telling us.

18. Being harsh is sometimes needed. And again we see this throughout the seerah. The image we have of the Prophet PBUH that he always forgave is good but not true. You cannot run a civilization and be a leader where everything is always forgiven. There has to be a line and a balance. Anyone who says otherwise is not in politics. Thus the religion of 'turning the other cheek' is the last civilization to turn the other cheek. This is the reality. The general rule is kindness and forgiveness but you must sometimes take a stance, as in the case of the Prophet PBUH with Ka'b.

19. Every pain and suffering, Allah uses it to cleanse us of our sins. Thus with the right intention and attitude, every pain is to our advantage on the day of Judgement.

20. It is of the etiquette of the Quran and sunnah that we indicate certain activities in implied wording. When the wives of the sahaba were told not to 'go close' to their husbands, explicit language was not used. The Prophet PBUH said to the wife of Hilal, "Make sure he doesn't come close to you." We know what the meaning of this is, but there's no need to be explicit. And this is of the etiquette of the Muslim. In the Quran Allah says, "When one of you comes from the restroom," i.e. Allah doesn't mention what happened in the restroom. Allah says, "When you touch women," and the reference is understood. If however the situation is called for, then yes you are explicit. And we have cases where the Prophet PBUH was extremely explicit in certain narrations.

21. The general rule of Allah is that victory comes at the darkest hour; at the lowest point of desperation. If you wait to that point, then victory shall come. Just like when you feel you can't take it anymore, it comes. So the mu'min is always patient and aware victory is around the corner.

 

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Fiqh Benefits From the Story of Ka'b ibn Malik RA

Fiqh benefits

1. The permissibility of non-Muslims entering Makkah and Madinah for a legitimate reason. We believe non-Muslims can never enter Makkah and Madinah. This is not true. The majority opinion that has been acted upon for most of Islamic history except now in the modern era (even now it happens but not explicitly - the umbrellas of the haram in Madinah were designed by Germans) is that non-Muslims can enter Makkah/Madinah. And we learn this clearly from the story of Ka'b. The Nabati was a Christian and he had a letter for Ka'b from the Ghassanid emperor. So in the time of the Prophet PBUH there is this Christian buying and selling inside Madinah.

2. This gives another benefit: You can buy and sell from people of other faiths.

3. The permissibility of entering a semi-private property as long as one is sure the owner would not mind entering such an area. The reference here is of course to Ka'b entering his best friends garden. Ka'b said he, "Jumped over the wall." In many Muslim lands there still is a lawn/opening in the front and friends and relatives can come in at any time to this front room. But they know they don't go beyond the curtains. Still to this day there are societies like this. In some cultures after Asr you can literally walk into your friends house, and there will be tea and people there, etc. You don't have to announce your visit - it's understood it's an open sitting. This is that sort of thing; there are areas that are semi private. Ka'b's cousin knows and allows Ka'b to come into the garden, so Ka'b doesn't knock on the door. It's understood this isn't the inner house, it's a place the cousin doesn't mind Ka'b coming uninvited.

4. The sajdah of shukr. This isn't explicitly mentioned in a hadith of the Prophet PBUH i.e. "When something good happens, fall down in sajdah." But the concept is mentioned in the Quran and sunnah. Here we have the story of Ka'b; he's on his rooftop and as soon as he hears the good news, he falls into sajdah. Therefore it's sunnah to do this, even though the Prophet PBUH didn't directly command it. And that sajdah does not need wudu. You fall into sajdah in any state you are in. Do you have to say Allah-u-akbar? Minor difference of opinion. Better to just say it.

5. It is permissible to shout out good news to the whole community. Good news is public; we have the man screaming from the mountain of Ka'b forgiveness.

6. It's permissible to stand up and greet someone for a legitimate reason as long as it's not habit. We learn this from Talha ibn Ubaydillah who stood up to greet Ka'b. The Prophet PBUH said, "Whoever loves that people stand up for him, let him be prepared to go to the Fire of Hell" - yes this is authentic. But just reading this hadith and thinking, "I will never ever stand for anyone," is dangerous. Rather there is a hadith in Bukhari the Prophet PBUH stood up to greet his daughter when she entered the house out of joy of seeing her. Similarly when Sa'd was coming after the Battle of the Banu Qurayza, the Prophet PBUH told the Ansar, "Stand up to greet your leader." So where are we allowed to stand? Scholars have written books on this. You are not allowed to stand up when the person has made it a culture or habit to stand up. If you are forced to stand during court, etc. then it's fine. However occasionally you are allowed to: If you haven't seen someone for a long time, and he's coming back from a journey, you can stand up and greet him.

 

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The Battle of Tabuk is the final battle of the Prophet PBUH, and there are so many incidents in here, we will discuss Tabuk for at least three more episodes. 

090 - Battle of Tabuk 3