In The Name of Allaah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.

Ka’b [may Alaah be pleased with him] said:

We spent fifty nights in this very state whilst people were forbidden from speaking to us. It was on the morning of the fiftieth night that I performed my Fajr prayer and was sitting on one of the roofs of our houses. And I was in fact sitting in that very state which Allah [The Mighty and Majestic] described about us in these words that “the earth, vast as it is, was straitened and my soul was straitened to me”, and thus I heard the voice of an announcer from the peak of the hill of Sal saying at the top of his voice, “Ka’b Bin Malik, there is glad tidings for you”. I fell down in prostration and came to realise that there was (a message of) relief for me. Allah’s Messenger had informed the people that Allaah has accepted our repentance as he performed the Fajr prayer. So the people went on to give us glad tidings and some of them went to my friends in order to give them the glad tidings and a person galloped his horse and came from the tribe of Aslam and his horse reached me more quickly than his voice. And when he came to me whose voice I heard, he gave me the glad tidings. I took off my clothes and clothed him with them because of he brought the good news to me and, by Allah, I possessed nothing else (in the form of clothes) than these two on that occasion, and I asked one to lend me two clothes and dressed myself in them. I came to Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) and on my way I met groups of people who greeted me because of (the acceptance of) repentance and they said, “Here is a greeting for you for your repentance being accepted by Allah”. (I moved on) until I came to the Masjid and Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) had been sitting there amongst people. So Talha Bin Ubaidullah got up and rushed towards me and he shook hands with me and greeted me and, by Allah, no person stood up (to greet me) from amongst the emigrants except him. Ka’b said that he never forgot (this good gesture of) Talha. Ka’b further said: I greeted Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) with Assalamu Alaykum and his face was glistening because of delight, and he said, “Let there be glad tidings and blessings for you, the like of which (you have neither found nor you will find, as you find today) since your mother gave your birth”. I said, “O Allah’s Messenger! Is this acceptance of repentance from you or from Allah?” He said, “No, (it is not from me), it is from Allah”. And it was common with Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) that as he was happy his face brightened up and it looked like a part of the moon and it was from this that we recognised it (his delight). As I sat before him, I said, “Allah’s Messenger, am I allowed to give in charity my wealth for Allah’s sake and for the sake of His Messenger (ﷺ)?” Thereupon Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “Keep some wealth with you as it is better for you”. I said, “I shall keep with me that part (of my wealth) which fell to my lot (on the occasion of the expedition of) Khaibar”.

Al-Allaamah Rabee Bin Haadi Al-Mad’khali [may Allaah preserve him] stated: He came to Allaah’s Messenger [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] not to lie to him by way of an excuse, but to utter the truth whilst filled with it, because falsehood had been removed from him and truth had settled in the depths of his soul. So, Allaah’s Messenger [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] said, “What kept you behind; did you not buy a riding beast for Jihaad and prepare for it?” Ka’b said, “O Allaah’s Messenger! If I sat with someone else other than you from the people of the world, I would have avoided his wrath with an excuse, and indeed I am able to argue, but – by Allaah – I know that if I tell you a false story today which makes you pleased with me, Allaah would soon make you angry with me. And if I tell you a truthful story, you will find in it that I hope for Allaah’s final judgement. By Allaah, I had no excuse. I had never been in a stronger or easier situation than I was when I lagged behind”. Allaah’s Messenger [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] said, “As for this one, indeed he has spoken the truth, so get up until Allaah passes a judgement about you”. And his brothers, Muraarah Bin Ar-Rabee and Hilaal Bin Umayyah apologised with the same sincere excuse, and Allaah’s Messenger [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] said the same to them as he said to Ka’b.

Then Allaah’s Messenger [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] commanded the Muslim community to ostracise and boycott them, so they fulfilled the command of Allaah’s Messenger [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] precisely, including those closest to them, in obedience to Allaah and His Messenger. The revelation and the boycott continued, and the trial and difficult test carried on for fifty days. Then news reached the king of Ghassan- the Christian, who thought that he has found an opportunity to win over Ka’b and invite him to join him, in order to honor and console him; but Kab’s belief in Allaah and His Messenger, and his esteemed soul, refused to respond to this satanic trick, and he realised that this was also a test; then relief came to them – in the morning after fifty nights- by way of Allaah’s forgiveness for them, and they were – as Ka’b said [may Allaah be pleased with him] – in that situation which Allaah mentioned that “my soul and the vast earth became straitened to me”. Then Muhammad’s companions [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] were filled with joy and happiness due to the forgiveness Allaah bestowed upon their brothers, and Allaah and the Messenger being pleased with them. The carriers of glad tidings raced with one another, some of them walking, then slowing down, then ascending Mount Sila, and raising one’s voice resoundingly, so that the voice would precede another rider who was competing him eagerly to precede (in delivering the glad tidings).

Then Ka’b went to Allaah’s Messenger and on his way the Messenger’s companions met him, group by group, to congratulate him. He found Allaah’s Messenger [peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him] with a face like the moon- shining with happiness; so the Messenger said him, “Let there be glad tidings and blessings for you, the like of which (you have neither found nor you will find, as you find today) since your mother gave your birth”. And how can this not be when it is the fact that through truthfulness Allaah saved him from devastating destruction, whilst those who took refuge in lies, made sinful oaths and twisting realities fell into its furnace? Allaah is the Greatest! This day was better for him than his pledge of allegiance to Islam, and the support he gave in the pledge of Aqaba- the pledge which he considered to be more beloved to him than participating in the Battle of Badr. Due to his great happiness regarding his repentance, his awareness regarding this repentance and deep awareness regarding this blessing, he emphasized this in a manner done by one who is thankful for the blessing Allaah has bestowed on him; so he said, “O Allah’s Messenger! Am I allowed to give in charity my wealth for Allah’s sake and for the sake of His Messenger?” The enticing wealth that was one of the reasons for his failure to perform Jihad! This is another proof regarding the sincerity of his repentance and being serious in that. So, Allaah’s Messenger, the one full of kindness and mercy, said to him, “Keep some wealth with you”. What did he do? He left the wealth in Medina, which withheld him from the military expedition in path of Allaah, and kept his share of the Khaybar expedition, which perhaps had nothing to do with the incident that led to his alienation (for a period of fifty days). [https://www.mimham.net/tan-1308-82 paraphrased]

To be continued…InShaaAllaah