Ep. 13: Ata b. Abi Rabah | Our Models – The Heroes We Want to Be

Allah (SWT) has provided us with many beautiful examples and models that we can look up to in every aspect of our lives. The history and tradition of Islam is rich with these examples. The last of the kings of Banu Umayyah’s name was Sulayman bin Abdul-Malik. He was not the last in the chain of those kings, but he was the last in the chain of those kings who would pass the kingship down to their sons. He later made Umar bin Abdul-Azeez the khalifa, who was not his son. Sulayman bin Abdul-Malik came for hajj, and as he was performing the rites of hajj, he went and started looking for someone. He asked his men, “Where is ‘he’?” His guards responded by saying, “He is over there.” Sulayman went, and his two young boys followed him. They reached a place in Al-Masjid Al-Haram where they saw a man standing. This man, who was standing in his salah, did not look prominent from any angle or perspective – he was short, thin and not very attractive. He had a flat nose and dark skin with short, curly here and a sunnah cap that stuck to his head wearing thick clothing. The king came and sat down, and there were many people seated behind him waiting for him to finish salah so they could ask him questions. The king also sat down amongst those people. People volunteered to move out of the way for the king, but he told his guards to step back and that they were in such a place where everyone is equal and there is no difference between the king and the subject in this masjid. When the man finished his salah, he turned around and started answering questions. The king also came and said his salaam, and the man replied to him evenly and did not give him much importance or reverence. The king asked him questions pertaining to hajj and the man responded with detailed answers to every question. He kept asking until he was done, and afterwards, thanked the man, got up and left. As they were leaving, people started announcing, “No one is allowed to give fatwah here in Masjid al-Haram except for Ata ibn Abi-Rabah. As long as he is here, no one is allowed to tell anyone a verdict of any matter of deen.

The boys, as they were heading away, asked their father, “Your men just announced that no one can give fatwah here except for this ‘Ata’, but we saw you sitting with this man who looked like a slave and you spent so much time and importance with him. He hardly paid any attention to you.” Sulayman said, “My sons, that was Ata ibn Abi-Rabah. This is why I tell you to learn the knowledge of deen. Because of knowledge, a person who is of lowly origins or of ordinary origins becomes a nobleman, and the one that nobody knows becomes the source of attention for everyone, so much so that Allah (SWT) gives them even greater honor and respect than the kings themselves.” Who was this man? He was actually a boy who grew up in slavery. He was owned by a woman in Makkah, and as he was growing up, he had divided his time into three portions. One part of the day was serving the woman who was his owner and looking after her affairs. The second portion was dedicated to his ibadah – he used to go to Masjid Al-Haram and perform his zikr and tilawah. The third portion was for learning knowledge, where he would sit with whoever he could find and learn from them. Like this, he did as he was growing up. He had extreme discipline in his schedule and would not do anything until he was finished with the work from his owner, and right away, he would dedicate himself to his worship and then knowledge. Like this, year after year he spent. A time came when his master saw that he was so dedicated and disciplined that she said, “I would like this man to become a source of knowledge for myself.” One day, she freed him and said, “You are free for the sake of Allah (SWT). I know that you will do great things.” He went straight to the masjid and stayed there for some 20 odd years. He stayed there with the remainders of the sahaba (RA), including and especially Abdullah ibn Abbas. He spent the next two decades absorbing from them whatever he could until the time came where he was looked at, by en large, as the heir of Abdullah ibn Abbas (RA) in his knowledge of Qur’an and deen. In fact, any book of tafsir that you pick up today references the positions and statements of sahaba and tabi’een in their tafsir will always have the name of Ata ibn Abi-Rabah over and over again. You cannot pick up a book of hadith from the six authentic compilations or others without finding the name of Ata ibn Abi-Rabah. There is not one book of fiqh that sources the positions of the early jurists but that it would have the time of Ata ibn Abi-Rabah.

Originally, he was a slave without money or anything, but Allah (SWT) gave him this status because of his dedication to Allah (SWT) and knowledge. A time came where he would go to the kings and advise them. One person, who was a young boy at the time, says, “I followed my father to the castle of Hisham, and there was a man on a donkey. He looked so helpless and destitute and his appearance was so unattractive that, when I looked at him, I started laughing. My father told me to be quiet and told me that the man I was laughing at was the greatest Alim of all of Hijaz and the greatest Adam of the era. They asked permission to go in and my father went in with him. After some time, I asked what had happened, to which he said, ‘I was only granted admission into that castle because of him. When we got there, the king called him closer until he made him sit down on his throne, right beside him, and asked him what he could do to be of service. He started talking about the needs of people and said, ‘The people of the haram are in poor conditions. You need to spend money on them.’ The king immediately told his men to write it down and asked what else he could do. He kept listing off different areas that were poor and the king kept telling his men to write down his requests. The king said, “Anything else?” and Ata replied, “Yes. Bring in yourself the fear of Allah (SWT) and prepare for the life after death. You were created alone and you will die alone. You will be raised on the Day of Judgement alone and you will have to give account alone. All of these people in your court – none of them will be with you.’ This broke the king down into tears and Ata ibn Abi-Rabah got up and left. After some time, someone chased after him with a bag of gold coins with the king saying, ‘Please take this.’ He replied, ‘What do you think I am? My reward is with Allah (SWT).’”

This was an example of someone who gained not only fame, but honor and reverence in the hearts of everyone through his connection and dedication to Allah (SWT). May Allah (SWT) enable us to follow in the footsteps of these people.