Kaab bin Malik reported,

Kaab was among those who witnessed al-Aqaba and pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ there. He said:We set out with the pilgrims of our people who were polytheists, though we had already prayed and gained understanding of the religion. With us was Bara bin Marur, our elder and our chief. When we set out on our journey and left Medina, Bara said to us, "Listen, by Allah, I have formed an opinion, and by Allah I do not know whether you will agree with me on it or not."We asked him, "What is it?"He said, "I have decided not to keep this structure, meaning the Kaabah, behind my back, but to pray facing it."We replied, "By Allah, we have heard that our Prophet prays only toward Syria, and we do not wish to differ from him."He said, "I shall pray facing it."We told him, "But we will not do so."So whenever the time of prayer came, we prayed toward Syria while he prayed toward the Kaabah, until we arrived in Mecca. My brother said, we had criticized him for what he was doing, but he refused to do otherwise.When we reached Mecca, he said to me, "Nephew, go to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and ask him about what I have done on this journey of mine. By Allah, something has troubled me about it, seeing how you all have differed from me."So we went out asking about the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, for we did not know him and had never seen him before. We met a man from the people of Mecca and asked him about the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He asked, "Do you know him?"We said, "No."He asked, "Do you know his uncle Abbas bin Abdul-Muttalib?"We said, "Yes." We knew Abbas, for he used to come to us regularly as a merchant.He said, "When you enter the mosque, he is the man sitting with Abbas."So we entered the mosque, and there was Abbas seated with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ beside him. We greeted them and sat down with him. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to Abbas, "Do you know these two men, Abu Fadl?"He replied, "Yes. This is Bara bin Marur, the chief of his people, and this is Kaab bin Malik."By Allah, I shall never forget what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "The poet?"He answered, "Yes."Then Bara bin Marur said, "Prophet of Allah, I set out on this journey of mine and Allah guided me to Islam. I came to the view that I should not keep this structure behind my back, so I prayed facing it. But my companions opposed me in that, until something of it troubled me. What do you think, Messenger of Allah?"He said, "You were upon a qibla, had you been patient with it."So Bara returned to the qibla of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and prayed with us toward Syria. His family claim that he prayed toward the Kaabah until he died, but it is not as they say. We know better about him than they do.He said, we then set out for the pilgrimage, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ appointed for us al-Aqaba on the middle of the days of Tashriq. When we had finished the pilgrimage and the night came that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had appointed for us, with us was Abdullah bin Amr bin Haram, Abu Jabir, one of our chiefs. We had been concealing our affair from those of our polytheist people who were with us. We spoke to him and said, "Abu Jabir, you are one of our chiefs and one of our nobles. We do not wish for you to remain in what you are in and become firewood for the Fire tomorrow." Then I called him to Islam and informed him of the appointment of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He embraced Islam, attended al-Aqaba with us, and was made one of the leaders.He said, we slept that night with our people in our camp until a third of the night had passed. Then we went out from our camp to the appointment of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, slipping out stealthily like sand grouse, until we gathered together in the ravine near al-Aqaba. We were seventy men, and with us were two of their women, Nusayba bint Kaab, Umm Umara, one of the women of Bani Mazin bin al-Najjar, and Asma bint Amr bin Adi bin Thabit, one of the women of Bani Salama, who is Umm Mani.He said, we gathered in the ravine awaiting the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, until he came to us, and with him that day was his uncle Abbas bin Abdul-Muttalib. Abbas at that time was still on the religion of his people, but he wished to be present at his nephew's affair and secure the matter for him.When we sat down, Abbas bin Abdul-Muttalib was the first to speak. He said, "People of Khazraj," for the Arabs used to call this clan of the Ansar, both the Aws and the Khazraj, by the name Khazraj, "Muhammad is one of us, as you know. We have protected him from those of our people who hold the same view about him as we do. He stands in honor among his people and protection in his land. Yet he insists on joining you and going over to you. So if you see that you will fulfill what you have called him to and will protect him from those who oppose him, then take up what you have committed yourselves to. But if you intend to surrender him and abandon him after he has gone out with you, then leave him now, for he is in honor and protection among his own people and his land."We said, "We have heard what you have said. Speak, Messenger of Allah, and take for yourself and for your Lord whatever you wish."So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ spoke, recited from the Quran, called to Allah , and made Islam attractive. Then he said, "I take your pledge that you will protect me from whatever you protect your women and your children from."Then Bara bin Marur took his hand and said, "Yes, by the One who sent you with the truth, we shall protect you from whatever we protect our garments from. So take our pledge, Messenger of Allah ﷺ, for we are men of war and men of arms, inherited from generation to generation."While Bara was speaking to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Abu al-Haytham bin al-Tayyihan, an ally of Bani Abd al-Ashhal, interjected, "Messenger of Allah, between us and certain men, meaning the Jews, there are bonds, and we shall be severing them. So is it possible that, if we do this and then Allah grants you victory, you will return to your people and leave us?"The Messenger of Allah ﷺ smiled and then said, "Rather, blood for blood and ruin for ruin. I am of you and you are of me. I shall fight whomever you fight and make peace with whomever you make peace with."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then said, "Bring out to me twelve chiefs from among you who shall be responsible for their people." So they brought out twelve chiefs, nine from the Khazraj and three from the Aws.As for Mabad bin Kaab, he related to me in his account from his brother, from his father Kaab bin Malik, who said, the first to strike his hand on the hand of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was Bara bin Marur, then the rest of the people followed.When we had pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Satan cried out from the top of al-Aqaba in the loudest voice I have ever heard, "People of the Jababib," meaning the dwellings, "are you with the blameworthy one and the apostates with him? They have agreed to make war on you."Ali, meaning Ibn Ishaq, said, what the enemy of Allah is saying is, "Muhammad."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "This is the demon of al-Aqaba, the son of Azyab. Listen, enemy of Allah. By Allah, I shall deal with you."Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Return to your camps."Abbas bin Ubada bin Nadla said to him, "By the One who sent you with the truth, if you wish, we shall fall upon the people of Mina tomorrow with our swords."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, "I have not been commanded to do that."So we returned and slept until morning. When morning came, the leaders of Quraysh came to us in our camps and said, "People of Khazraj, it has reached us that you have come to this companion of ours to take him out from among us, and that you have pledged allegiance to him to make war on us. By Allah, there is no people of the Arabs we would more dislike to have war break out between us and them than you."The polytheists from our people who were there began to swear to them by Allah that nothing of the sort had happened and that they knew nothing of it. They were truthful, for they did not know what we had done. We looked at one another.Then the people stood up, and among them was Harith bin Hisham bin al-Mughira al-Makhzumi, wearing a new pair of sandals. I said, intending as it were to align myself with what the people were saying, "Are you not able, Abu Jabir, you who are one of our chiefs, to acquire a pair of sandals like those of this young man of Quraysh?"Harith heard this and took them off, then threw them to me, saying, "By Allah, you shall wear them."Abu Jabir said, "By Allah, you have offended the young man, so return his sandals to him."I said, "By Allah, I shall not return them. By Allah, it is a good omen. By Allah, if the omen proves true, I shall strip him of them."This is the account of Kaab bin Malik concerning al-Aqaba and what he witnessed of it.

حدثنا يعقوب قال حدثنا أبي عن ابن إسحاق قال فحدثني معبد بن كعب بن مالك بن أبي كعب بن القين أخو بني سلمة أن أخاه عبيد الله بن كعب وكان من أعلم الأنصار حدثه أن

أباه كعب بن مالك

وكان كعب ممن شهد العقبة وبايع رسول الله ﷺ بها قال خرجنا في حجاج قومنا من المشركين وقد صلينا وفقهنا ومعنا البراء بن معرور كبيرنا وسيدنا فلما توجهنا لسفرنا وخرجنا من المدينة قال البراء لنا يا هؤلاء إني قد رأيت والله رأيا وإني والله ما أدري توافقوني عليه أم لا قال قلنا له وما ذاك قال قد رأيت أن لا أدع هذه البنية مني بظهر يعني الكعبة وأن أصلي إليها قال فقلنا والله ما بلغنا أن نبينا يصلي إلا إلى الشام وما نريد أن نخالفه فقال إني أصلي إليها قال فقلنا له لكنا لا نفعل فكنا إذا حضرت الصلاة صلينا إلى الشام وصلى إلى الكعبة حتى قدمنا مكة قال أخي وقد كنا عبنا عليه ما صنع وأبى إلا الإقامة عليه فلما قدمنا مكة قال يا ابن أخي انطلق إلى رسول الله ﷺ فاسأله عما صنعت في سفري هذا فإنه والله قد وقع في نفسي منه شيء لما رأيت من خلافكم إياي فيه قال فخرجنا نسأل عن رسول الله ﷺ وكنا لا نعرفه لم نره قبل ذلك فلقينا رجل من أهل مكة فسألناه عن رسول الله ﷺ فقال هل تعرفانه قال قلنا لا قال فهل تعرفان العباس بن عبد المطلب عمه قلنا نعم قال وكنا نعرف العباس كان لا يزال يقدم علينا تاجرا قال فإذا دخلتما المسجد فهو الرجل الجالس مع العباس قال فدخلنا المسجد فإذا العباس جالس ورسول الله ﷺ معه جالس فسلمنا ثم جلسنا إليه فقال رسول الله ﷺ للعباس هل تعرف هذين الرجلين يا أبا الفضل قال نعم هذا البراء بن معرور سيد قومه وهذا كعب بن مالك قال فوالله ما أنسى قول رسول الله ﷺ الشاعر قال نعم قال فقال البراء بن معرور يا نبي الله إني خرجت في سفري هذا وهداني الله للإسلام فرأيت أن لا أجعل هذه البنية مني بظهر فصليت إليها وقد خالفني أصحابي في ذلك حتى وقع في نفسي من ذلك شيء فماذا ترى يا رسول الله قال لقد كنت على قبلة لو صبرت عليها قال فرجع البراء إلى قبلة رسول الله ﷺ فصلى معنا إلى الشام قال وأهله يزعمون أنه صلى إلى الكعبة حتى مات وليس ذلك كما قالوا نحن أعلم به منهم قال وخرجنا إلى الحج فواعدنا رسول الله ﷺ العقبة من أوسط أيام التشريق فلما فرغنا من الحج وكانت الليلة التي وعدنا رسول الله ﷺ ومعنا عبد الله بن عمرو بن حرام أبو جابر سيد من سادتنا وكنا نكتم من معنا من قومنا من المشركين أمرنا فكلمناه وقلنا له يا أبا جابر إنك سيد من سادتنا وشريف من أشرافنا وإنا نرغب بك عما أنت فيه أن تكون حطبا للنار غدا ثم دعوته إلى الإسلام وأخبرته بميعاد رسول الله ﷺ فأسلم وشهد معنا العقبة وكان نقيبا قال فنمنا تلك الليلة مع قومنا في رحالنا حتى إذا مضى ثلث الليل خرجنا من رحالنا لميعاد رسول الله ﷺ نتسلل مستخفين تسلل القطا حتى اجتمعنا في الشعب عند العقبة ونحن سبعون رجلا ومعنا امرأتان من نسائهم نسيبة بنت كعب أم عمارة إحدى نساء بني مازن بن النجار وأسماء بنت عمرو بن عدي بن ثابت إحدى نساء بني سلمة وهي أم منيع قال فاجتمعنا بالشعب ننتظر رسول الله ﷺ حتى جاءنا ومعه يومئذ عمه العباس بن عبد المطلب وهو يومئذ على دين قومه إلا أنه أحب أن يحضر أمر ابن أخيه ويتوثق له فلما جلسنا كان العباس بن عبد المطلب أول متكلم فقال يا معشر الخزرج قال وكانت العرب مما يسمون هذا الحي من الأنصار الخزرج أوسها وخزرجها إن محمدا منا حيث قد علمتم وقد منعناه من قومنا ممن هو على مثل رأينا فيه وهو في عز من قومه ومنعة في بلده قال فقلنا قد سمعنا ما قلت فتكلم يا رسول الله فخذ لنفسك ولربك ما أحببت قال فتكلم رسول الله ﷺ فتلا ودعا إلى الله عز وجل ورغب في الإسلام قال أبايعكم على أن تمنعوني مما تمنعون منه نساءكم وأبناءكم قال فأخذ البراء بن معرور بيده ثم قال نعم والذي بعثك بالحق لنمنعنك مما نمنع منه أزرنا فبايعنا يا رسول الله ﷺ فنحن أهل الحروب وأهل الحلقة ورثناها كابرا عن كابر قال فاعترض القول والبراء يكلم رسول الله ﷺ أبو الهيثم بن التيهان حليف بني عبد الأشهل فقال يا رسول الله إن بيننا وبين الرجال حبالا وإنا قاطعوها يعني العهود فهل عسيت إن نحن فعلنا ذلك ثم أظهرك الله أن ترجع إلى قومك وتدعنا قال فتبسم رسول الله ﷺ ثم قال بل الدم الدم والهدم الهدم أنا منكم وأنتم مني أحارب من حاربتم وأسالم من سالمتم وقد قال رسول الله ﷺ أخرجوا إلي منكم اثني عشر نقيبا يكونون على قومهم فأخرجوا منهم اثني عشر نقيبا منهم تسعة من الخزرج وثلاثة من الأوس وأما معبد بن كعب فحدثني في حديثه عن أخيه عن أبيه كعب بن مالك قال كان أول من ضرب على يد رسول الله ﷺ البراء بن معرور ثم تتابع القوم فلما بايعنا رسول الله ﷺ صرخ الشيطان من رأس العقبة بأبعد صوت سمعته قط يا أهل الجباجب والجباجب المنازل هل لكم في مذمم والصباة معه قد أجمعوا على حربكم قال علي يعني ابن إسحاق ما يقوله عدو الله محمد فقال رسول الله ﷺ هذا أزب العقبة هذا ابن أزيب اسمع أي عدو الله أما والله لأفرغن لك ثم قال رسول الله ﷺ ارفعوا إلى رحالكم قال فقال له العباس بن عبادة بن نضلة والذي بعثك بالحق لئن شئت لنميلن على أهل منى غدا بأسيافنا قال فقال رسول الله ﷺ لم أومر بذلك قال فرجعنا فنمنا حتى أصبحنا فلما أصبحنا غدت علينا جلة قريش حتى جاءونا في منازلنا فقالوا يا معشر الخزرج إنه قد بلغنا أنكم قد جئتم إلى صاحبنا هذا تستخرجونه من بين أظهرنا وتبايعونه على حربنا والله إنه ما من العرب أحد أبغض إلينا أن تنشب الحرب بيننا وبينه منكم قال فانبعث من هنالك من مشركي قومنا يحلفون لهم بالله ما كان من هذا شيء وما علمناه وقد صدقوا لم يعلموا ما كان منا قال فبعضنا ينظر إلى بعض قال وقام القوم وفيهم الحارث بن هشام بن المغيرة المخزومي وعليه نعلان جديدان قال فقلت كلمة كأني أريد أن أشرك القوم بها فيما قالوا ما تستطيع يا أبا جابر وأنت سيد من سادتنا أن تتخذ نعلين مثل نعلي هذا الفتى من قريش فسمعها الحارث فخلعهما ثم رمى بهما إلي فقال والله لتنتعلنهما قال يقول أبو جابر أحفظت والله الفتى فاردد عليه نعليه قال فقلت والله لا أردهما قال والله صلح والله لئن صدق الفأل لأسلبنه فهذا حديث كعب بن مالك عن العقبة وما حضر منها