The Life of the Prophet Muhammad by Ibn Kathir - Volume 2 of 4

130 THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD
(SAAS) at alLCAqaba, in the medial days of the ia~hr$~ when God granted them
honour, ensured victory for the Prophet and glory for Islam and its people, and
cast down idolatry and its supporters.
"Ma'bad b. Ka'b b. Mali& related to me, that his brother 'Ahd Allah b. Ka'b, one
of the most learned of the ansar, told him that his father Ka'b told him as follows,
having been one of those who was present at al-'Aqaba and pledged allegiance
there to the Messenger of God (SAAS). He stated, 'We left in the company of
those of our people who were polytheists; we had prayed and received religious
instruction. With us was al-Bar2 b. Mabtir, our elder and leader. When we had
headed out on our journey from Medina, al-Bar21 said, "I've had an idea, and I
wonder whether or not you will agree with me on it." We asked what it was and he
replied, "I think I will not leave this building - meaning the ka'ba - to my back. I
shall pray towards it." We commented, "We've not heard that our Prophet
(SAAS) never prays in any other direction than towards Syria33 (i.e. Jemsdem).
We don't want to contradict him."
"' He replied, "I am going to pray towards it."
""'Well, we will not," we told him.
"'When time for prayer came we did face towards Syria, while he prayed in
the direction of the ka'ba until we reached Mecca. We criticized hi
for persisting
in doing this. Upon reaching Mecca, he told me, "Nephew, let's go off to the
Messenger of God (SAAS), and ask him about what I've been doing on this journey.
The disapproval I have seen in you has somewhat disturbed me."
"'So off we went, asking the whereabouts of the Messenger of God (SAAS).
We had not seen him prior to that. We met a Meccan and asked after him, and
he replied, "Do you know him?" "No," we replied. "Then do you know
alLCAbhas b. al-Muccalih, his uncle?" "Yes," we told him, for we did know
al-'Abb~. He often came to us on business trips. The Meccan told us, "If you
go to the mosque, he will he sitting next to al-'Ahh~s."
"'So we went in the mosque and there was al-'Ahbas sitting with the
Messenger of God (SAAS) by his side. We made greetings then sat down facing
him. The Messenger of God (SAAS) asked al-'Abb~, "Do you know these two
men, Aha al-Fadl?" He replied, "Yes; this is al-Bar2 h. Macmnr, his people's
leader, and this is Ka'b b. Mdik."'"
The account proceeds, ''T swear, I'll never forget what the Messenger of God
(SAAS) then said: "You mean the poet?" "Yes," he replied.
"'Then al-Bar2 b. Ma'mnr addressed him, "0 prophet of God, I have come
on this journey having been given guidance to Islam by God Almighty. I had the
32. During the pre-Islamic pilgrimage season, the tnshriq days, those between the l lth and the
13th of Dhu al-Hijja, were apparently given aver to eating, drinking, and sensual pleasure. The
rnshriq days were later incorporated into Islam, without, however, the aforementioned practices of
the jahilryya.
33. Lit. "Greater Syria". Jerusalem was often referred to as a(-Sham, Syria, because it was a
part of what was then Greater Syria.