Hazrat Thabit Ibn Qays (RA)
Hazrat Thabit ibn Qays
(RA) was a chief of the Khazraj tribe and had a considerable influence in
Yathrib. He was known for the sharpness of his mind and the power of his eloquence.
It was because of this that he became the spokesman and orator of the Prophet
(SAW) and Islam. He became a Muslim at the hands of Musab ibn Umayr. When the
Prophet (SAW) arrived in Madinah after the historic Hijrah, Hazrat Thabit ibn
Qays (RA) and a great gathering of horsemen gave him a warm and enthusiastic
welcome. He (RA) acted as their spokesman and delivered a speech in the
presence of the Prophet (SAW) and his companion, Hazrat Abu Bakr as-Siddique
(RA). He began by giving praise to God Almighty and invoking peace and
blessings on His Prophet and ended up by saying: "We give our pledge to
you, O Messenger of God, that we would protect you from all that we protect
ourselves, our children and our wives. What would then be our reward for
this?"
The speech was meaningful
of words spoken at the second Pledge of Aqabah and the Prophet's reply as then
was the same: "Al-Jannah - Paradise!" When the Yathribite heard the
word "al-Jannah" their faces beamed with happiness and excitement and
their response was: "We are pleased, O Messenger of God! We are pleased, O
Messenger of God ." From that day on the Prophet (SAW made Hazrat Thabit
ibn Qays (RA) his Khatib, just as Hazrat Hassan ibn Thabit was his poet.
A great speaker
When delegations of Arabs
came to him to show off their brilliance in verse and the strength of their oratory
skills which the Arabs took great pride in, the Prophet (SAW) would call upon Hazrat
Thabit ibn Qays (RA) to challenge their speakers and Hassan ibn Thabit to vaunt
his verses before their poets. In the Year of the Delegations, the ninth after
the Hijrah, tribes from all over the Arabian Peninsula came to Madinah to pay
homage to the Prophet, either to announce their acceptance of Islam or to pay
jizyah in return for the protection of the Muslim state. One of these was a
delegation from the tribe of Tamim who said to the Prophet (SAW):
"We have come to
show our handiness to you. Do give permission to our our Khatib to speak."
The Prophet (SAW), smiled and said: "I permit your Khatib. Let him
speak." Their orator, Utarid ibn Hajib, got up and held forth on the
greatness and achievements of their tribe and when he was finished the Prophet
(SAW) send for Thabit ibn Qays and said: "Stand and reply to him."
Thabit arose and said: "Praise be to God Whose creation is the entire
heavens and the earth wherein His will has been made manifest. His Throne is
the extent of His knowledge and there is nothing which does not exist through
His grace. "Through His power He has made us leaders and from the best of
His creation He has chosen a Messenger who is the most honorable of men in
lineage, the most reliable and true in speech and the most excellent in deeds.
He has revealed to him a book and chosen him as a leader of His creation. Among
all creation, he is a blessing of God.
"He summoned people
to have faith in Him. The Emigrants from among his people and his relations who
are the most honorable people in esteem and the best in deeds believed in him.
Then, we the Ansar were the first people to respond (to his call for support).
So we are the Helpers of God and the ministers of His Messenger." Thabit
was a believer with a profound faith in God. His consciousness and fear of God
was true and strong. He was especially sensitive and cautious of saying or
doing anything that would incur the wrath of God Almighty.
He was having a God-fearing and apologetic
heart
One day the Prophet (SAW) saw him looking not
just sad but dejected and afraid. His shoulders were hunched and he was
actually recoiling from fear. "What's wrong with you, O Abu
Muhammad?" asked the Prophet. "I fear that I might be destroyed, O
Messenger of God," he said. "And why?" asked the Prophet.
"God Almighty," he said, "has prohibited us from desiring to be
praised for what we did not do but I find myself liking praise. He has
prohibited us from being proud and I find myself tending towards vanity."
This was the time when the verse of the Quran was revealed: "Indeed, God
does not love any arrogant boaster."
The Prophet (SAW) then
tried to calm his anxieties and alleviate his fears and eventually said to him:
"O Thabit, aren't you pleased to live as someone who is praised, and to
die as a martyr and to enter Paradise?" Thabit's face beamed with
happiness and joy as he said: "Certainly, O Messenger of God."
"Indeed, that shall be yours," replied the noble Prophet (SAW).
There was another
occasion when Hazrat Thabit (RA) became sad when the words of the Quran were
revealed: "O you who believe! Raise not your voices above the voice of the
Prophet and neither speak loudly to him as you would speak loudly to one
another, lest all your deeds come to naught without your perceiving it."
On hearing these words, Hazrat
Qays (RA) kept away from the meetings and gatherings of the Prophet in spite of
his great love for him and his hitherto constant presence in his company. He
stayed in his house a/most without ever leaving it except for the performance of
the compulsory Salat. The Prophet (SAW) missed his presence and evidently asked
for information about him. A man from the Ansar volunteered and went to
Thabit's house. He found Hazrat Thabit (RA) sitting in his house, sad and
dejected, with his head bowed low. "What's the matter with you?"
asked the man. "It's bad," replied Hazrat Thabit. "You know that
I am a man with a loud voice and that my voice is far louder than that of the
Messenger of God (SAW). And you know what has been revealed in the Quran. The
only result for me is that my deeds will come to goose egg and I will be among
the people who go to the fire of hell."
The man returned to the
Prophet (SAW) and told him what he had seen and heard and the Prophet (SAW)
instructed him to return to Thabit and say: "You are not among the people
who will go to the fire of hell but you will be among the people of
Paradise." Such was the extremely good news with which Hazrat Thabit ibn
Qays (RA) was blessed. The incidents showed how alive and sensitive he was to
the Prophet and the commands of Islam and his readiness to observe the letter
and the spirit of its laws. He subjected himself to the most stringent
self-criticism. His was a God-fearing and contrite heart which trembled and
shook through the fear of God.
May God bless His soul!
