Thabit ibn Qais radiya Llahu ‘anhu

He is Sayyidina Thabit ibn Qais ibn Shammas al Ansari al Khazraji radiya Llahu ‘anhu, the spokesperson of the Ansar. He is one of the senior Sahabah who Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam guaranteed Jannat. He was martyred in the Battle of Yamamah in the khilafah of Sayyidina Abu Bakr al Siddiq radiya Llahu ‘anhu in the year 12 A.H.

Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said:

نعم الرجل ثابت بن قيس بن شماس

Thabit ibn Qais ibn Shammas is a wonderful man.[1]

He participated in Badr and all the major battles.

و عن أنس أن ثابت بن قيس جاء يوم اليمامة و قد تحنط و لبس ثوببن أبيضين فكفن فيهما و قد انهزم القوم فقال اللهم إني أبرأ إليك مما جاء به هؤلاء و أعتذر من صنيع هؤلاء بئس ما عودتم أقرانكم خلوا بيننا و بينهم ساعة فحمل فقاتل حتى قتل و كانت درعه قد سرقت فرآه رجل في النوم فقال له إنها في قدر تحت إكاف بمكان كذا و كذا و أوصاه بوصايا فنظروا فوجدوا الدرع كما قال و أنفذوا وصاياه

Anas reports:

Thabit ibn Qais advanced on the Day of Yamamah after embalming himself and wearing two white garments, with which he was later shrouded. The Muslims had faced a setback so he exclaimed, “O Allah, I exonerate myself from what these people (i.e. Kuffar) have done and I excuse myself from the action of these (i.e. Muslims). Evil indeed is the manner in which you confronted your opponents in battle. Leave us and them for a while.”

He then attacked ferociously and fought bravely until he tasted martyrdom.

His armour had been stolen so a man saw him in a dream. He told him that it is in a pot under a saddle at a certain spot. He also made few bequests to him. They searched for it and found the armour just as he had explained and they processed his bequests.[2]

Al Hakim reports with his isnad to Muhammad ibn Ishaq:

استشهد ثابت بن قيس بن شماس يوم اليمامة و كان أبو بكر قدمه على الأنصار مع خالد بن الوليد رضي الله عنه

Thabit ibn Qais ibn Shammas was martyred on the Day of Yamamah. Abu Bakr had given him authority over the Ansar together with Khalid ibn al Walid radiya Llahu ‘anhu.[3]

He then narrates few ahadith in his biography. One of them is as follows:

عن عبد الرحمن بن يزيد بن جابر قال حدثني عطاء الخراساني قال قدمت المدينة فأتيت ابنة ثابت بن قيس فذكرت قصة أبيها قالت لما نزلت لَا تَرْفَعُوْا أَصْوَاتَكُمْ جلس أبي يبكي فذكرت الحديث و فيه فلما استشهد رآه رجل فقال إني لما قتلت انتزع درعي رجل من المسلمين و خبأه فأكب عليه برمة و جعل عليها رحلا فائت الأمير فأخبره و إياك أن تقول هذا حلم فتضيعه و إذا أتيت المدينة فقل لخليفة رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم إن علي من الدين كذا و كذا و غلامي فلان عتيق و إياك أن تقول هذا حلم فتضيعه فأتاه فأخبره الخبر فنفذ وصيته فلا نعلم أحدا بعد ما مات أنفذت وصيته غير ثابت بن قيس رضي الله عنه

From ‘Abdul Rahman ibn Yazid ibn Jabir who said―’Ata’ al Khurasani narrated to me saying:

I arrived in Madinah and went to the daughter of Thabit ibn Qais who narrated her father’s incident. She said: “When the verse do not raise your voices[4] was revealed, my father sat down crying …” and mentioned the rest of the hadith. It appears therein:

After he was martyred, a man saw him (in a dream). He said, “When I was killed, a Muslim man took my coat of mail and hid it. He covered it with a pot and placed a saddle on top of it. So approach the Amir and inform him of it. And beware of saying that this is a dream, thus disregarding it. And when you arrive at Madinah, tell the khalifah of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam that I have a debt of such and such an amount and my certain slave is free. And beware of saying that this is a dream, thus disregarding it.”

In compliance, he approached him and informed him of the dream, and Abu Bakr executed his bequest. We do not know of anyone whose bequest was executed after his death besides Thabit ibn Qais radiya Llahu ‘anhu.[5]

His sons Muhammad, Yahya, and ‘Abdullah were all killed on the tragic Day of Harrah.

On the authority of al Zuhri:

أن وفد تميم قدموا و افتخر خطيبهم بأمور فقال النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم لثابت ابن قيس قم فأجب خطيبهم فقام فحمد الله و أبلغ و سر رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم و المسلمون بمقامه

The delegation of Tamim arrived and their speaker boasted over few matters. So the Nabi salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam told Thabit ibn Qais, “Stand up and answer their speaker.”

Accordingly, he stood up, praised Allah, and accomplished the task par excellence. Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and the Muslims were pleased with his stance.[6]

Glad tidings for him is established in one narration:

فعن ثابت عن أنس بن مالك قال لما نزلت هذه الآية يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِيْنَ آمَنُوْا لَا تَرْفَعُوْا أَصْوَاتَكُمْ فَوْقَ صَوْتِ النَّبِيِّ إلى قوله وَأَنْتُمْ لَا تَشْعُرُوْنَ و كان ثابت بن قيس بن الشماس رفيع الصوت فقال أنا الذي كنت أرفع صوتي على رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم حبط عملي أنا من أهل النار و جلس في أهله حزينا فتفقده رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم فانطلق بعض القوم إليه فقالوا له تفقدك رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم ما لك فقال أنا الذي أرفع صوتي فوق صوت النبي و أجهر بالقول حبط عملي و أنا من أهل النار فأتوا النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم فأخبروه بما قال فقال لا بل هو من أهل الجنة قال أنس و كنا نراه يمشي بين أظهرنا و نحن نعلم أنه من أهل الجنة فلما كان يوم اليمامة كان فينا بعض الانكشاف فجاء ثابت بن قيس بن شماس و قد تحنط و لبس كفنه فقال بئسما تعودون أقرانكم فقاتلهم حتى قتل

From Thabit―from Anas ibn Malik who reports:

After this verse was revealed: O you who have believed, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet or be loud to him in speech like the loudness of some of you to others, lest your deeds become worthless while you perceive not, Thabit ibn Qais ibn al Shammas had a loud voice―so he said: “I was the one to raise my voice to Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. My deeds have become worthless and I am from the inmates of Hell.”

He thus sat in his house, filled with grief. Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam enquired about him so some people went to him and told him, “Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was looking for you, what is the matter?”

He explained, “I am the one raising my voice above the Nabi’s salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam voice and being loud to him in speech. My deeds have become worthless and I am from the inmates of Hell.”

They came to the Nabi salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and informed him of what he said. Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam remarked, “Never, rather he is from the inhabitants of Jannat.”

Anas says, “We used to see him walking in our midst knowing with conviction that he is from the dwellers of Jannat. When the Day of Yamamah came, we suffered a slight setback. Thabit ibn Qais ibn Shammas came, after embalming himself and wearing his shroud, and said, “Evil indeed is the manner you countered your opponents in battle.” He then fought them until he was killed.[7]

NEXT⇒ Jafar ibn Abi Talib radiya Llahu ‘anhu

[1] Musnad Ahmed, Hadith: 9421; al Adab al Mufrad, Hadith: 337; Sunan al Tirmidhi, Hadith: 3795. Hafiz Ibn Hajar classified its isnad hassan in al Isabah, vol. 1 pg. 395.

[2] Al Mustadrak, vol. 3 pg. 260. Al Hakim commented, “Sahih according to the standard of Muslim but they have not documented it.” Al Bukhari has documented the original story without mentioning his martyrdom and the armour incident in Sahih al Bukhari, Hadith: 2690.

[3] Margin of al Mustadrak, vol. 3 pg. 259.

[4] Surah al Hujurat: 2.

[5] Al Mustadrak, vol. 3 pg. 261.

[6] Siyar A’lam al Nubala’, vol. 2 pg. 562; al Sirah, vol. 2 pg. 562; Siyar A’lam al Nubala’, vol. 1 pg. 311, Tahdhib al Tahdhib, vol. 2 pg. 11.

[7] Musnad Ahmed, Hadith: 12422 and the wording is his; Sahih al Bukhari, Hadith: 4565; Sahih Muslim, Hadith: 119 with more conciseness.

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