Senior Jeopardy 2025 - Level 3 & 4
UBAYY IBN KA'B
The Master of all Reciters
O Abu Mundhir! Which verse of the Book of God is the greatest?" asked the Messenger of God, Allah bless him and give him peace. "Allah and His Messenger know best," came the reply. The Prophet repeated the question and Abu Mundhir replied:
"Allah, there is no god but He, the Living the Self-Subsisting. Neither slumber overtakes him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on earth, ..."
And most likely he went on to complete the Verse of the Throne (Ayat al-Kursi). The Prophet smote his chest with his right hand in approval on hearing the reply and with his face beaming with happiness, said to Abu Mundhir. "May knowledge delight and benefit you, Abu Mundhir." This Abu Mundhir whom the Prophet congratulated on the knowledge and understanding which God had bestowed on him was Ubayy ibn Kaab (Allah be pleased with him) one of his distinguished companions and a person of high esteem in the early Muslim community.
Ubayy ibn Ka’ab, was an Ansāri, from khazraj and the sub-tribe of Banu Najjar. He was one of those companions, who was literate, even before Islam. He accepted Da’waa of Mus’ab bin Umair (Allah be pleased with him) and attended the second pledge of Aqaba and paid allegiance to Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace). Ubayy ibn Ka‘b was the first person among the Helpers (Ansār) of Medina to record the Divine Revelation, and, therefore, became one of the most famous scribes of the Glorious Qur’ān. Aided by his brilliant intellectual abilities, he acquired competence and proficiency in recitation of the Glorious Qur’ān and made enormous progress in other fields of Islamic sciences.
Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:, Take the Qur'ān from four people. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, Salim Mawla Abi Hudhayfa, Mu'adh ibn Jabal and Ubayy ibn Ka'b. He also said, the best of them in the recitation of the Qur'ān is Ubayy ibn Ka'b; and the best of them in understanding halal and haram, meaning Fiqh (jurisprudence), is Mu'adh ibn Jabal; and the best of them in understanding inheritance laws and by extension property laws and some of the very complicated areas of Fiqh when it comes to the mathematical transactions is Zayd ibn Thabit.
Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) specifies Ubayy as the greatest reciter amongst them. In another narration the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, The best of my nation in the recitation of the Qur'ān is Ubayy ibn Ka'b. Some historians mentioned that Ubayy would complete the recitation of the entire Qur'ān at least every eight days. Ubayy (Allah be please with him) was one of the selected few who committed the Qur’ānic revelations to writing and had a Mushaf (a copy of the glorious Qur'ān) of his own. He acted as a scribe for the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), writing letters for him.
Ubayy enjoyed a special honor with regard to the Qur’ān. Anas ibn Malik (Allah be please with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said to Ubayy ibn K’ab: Allah has ordered me to recite to you: "Those who disbelieve. (Surah al-Bayyinah:98). Ubayy asked: ‘Has He (Azza-wajal) mentioned my name?’ The Prophet said, ‘Yes’. Upon hearing that, Ubayy started weeping.” [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]
After the demise of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), Ubayy remained strong in his attachment to Islam and his commitment to the Qur’ān and the Sunnah of the Prophet. He was constant in his worship and would often be found in the Mosque at night, after the last obligatory prayer had been performed, engaged in worship or in teaching.
Ubayy attained a position of great honor and esteem among the early Muslims. Umar (Allah be pleased with him) called him the “Sayyid (Master) of the Muslims” and he came to be widely known by this title. He was part of the consultative group to which Abu Bakr (Allah be pleased with him), as the Khalifa (leader of the Muslims), referred many problems. This group was composed of men of good sense and judgment (Ahl ar-Ra’y) and men who knew the law (Ahl al-Fiqh) from among the Muhajirin (the migrants from Mecca) and Ansār. It included Umar, Uthman, Ali, Abdur Rahman ibn Awf, Mu’adh ibn Jabal, Ubayy ibn Ka’b and Zaid ibn Haaritha (Allah be pleased with them all). ‘Umar later consulted the same group when he was Khalifa; specifically for Fatwas (legal judgments), he referred to ‘Uthman, Ubayy and Zaid ibn Thaabit (Allah be pleased with them).
One of Ubayy’s major fears for the Muslim Ummah was that a day would come when there would be severe strife among Muslims. He often became overwhelmed with emotion when he read or heard the verse of the Qur’ān: “Say: He (Allah) has power to send calamities to you, from above and below, or to cover you with confusion in party strife, giving you a taste of mutual vengeance, each from the other.” (Surat al-An’am 6:65). He would then pray fervently to Allah for guidance and ask for His clemency and forgiveness. Ubayy ibn Ka'b passed away during the caliphate of Uthman ibn Affan.
"Allah, there is no god but He, the Living the Self-Subsisting. Neither slumber overtakes him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on earth, ..."
And most likely he went on to complete the Verse of the Throne (Ayat al-Kursi). The Prophet smote his chest with his right hand in approval on hearing the reply and with his face beaming with happiness, said to Abu Mundhir. "May knowledge delight and benefit you, Abu Mundhir." This Abu Mundhir whom the Prophet congratulated on the knowledge and understanding which God had bestowed on him was Ubayy ibn Kaab (Allah be pleased with him) one of his distinguished companions and a person of high esteem in the early Muslim community.
Ubayy ibn Ka’ab, was an Ansāri, from khazraj and the sub-tribe of Banu Najjar. He was one of those companions, who was literate, even before Islam. He accepted Da’waa of Mus’ab bin Umair (Allah be pleased with him) and attended the second pledge of Aqaba and paid allegiance to Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace). Ubayy ibn Ka‘b was the first person among the Helpers (Ansār) of Medina to record the Divine Revelation, and, therefore, became one of the most famous scribes of the Glorious Qur’ān. Aided by his brilliant intellectual abilities, he acquired competence and proficiency in recitation of the Glorious Qur’ān and made enormous progress in other fields of Islamic sciences.
Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:, Take the Qur'ān from four people. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, Salim Mawla Abi Hudhayfa, Mu'adh ibn Jabal and Ubayy ibn Ka'b. He also said, the best of them in the recitation of the Qur'ān is Ubayy ibn Ka'b; and the best of them in understanding halal and haram, meaning Fiqh (jurisprudence), is Mu'adh ibn Jabal; and the best of them in understanding inheritance laws and by extension property laws and some of the very complicated areas of Fiqh when it comes to the mathematical transactions is Zayd ibn Thabit.
Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) specifies Ubayy as the greatest reciter amongst them. In another narration the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, The best of my nation in the recitation of the Qur'ān is Ubayy ibn Ka'b. Some historians mentioned that Ubayy would complete the recitation of the entire Qur'ān at least every eight days. Ubayy (Allah be please with him) was one of the selected few who committed the Qur’ānic revelations to writing and had a Mushaf (a copy of the glorious Qur'ān) of his own. He acted as a scribe for the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), writing letters for him.
Ubayy enjoyed a special honor with regard to the Qur’ān. Anas ibn Malik (Allah be please with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said to Ubayy ibn K’ab: Allah has ordered me to recite to you: "Those who disbelieve. (Surah al-Bayyinah:98). Ubayy asked: ‘Has He (Azza-wajal) mentioned my name?’ The Prophet said, ‘Yes’. Upon hearing that, Ubayy started weeping.” [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]
After the demise of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), Ubayy remained strong in his attachment to Islam and his commitment to the Qur’ān and the Sunnah of the Prophet. He was constant in his worship and would often be found in the Mosque at night, after the last obligatory prayer had been performed, engaged in worship or in teaching.
Ubayy attained a position of great honor and esteem among the early Muslims. Umar (Allah be pleased with him) called him the “Sayyid (Master) of the Muslims” and he came to be widely known by this title. He was part of the consultative group to which Abu Bakr (Allah be pleased with him), as the Khalifa (leader of the Muslims), referred many problems. This group was composed of men of good sense and judgment (Ahl ar-Ra’y) and men who knew the law (Ahl al-Fiqh) from among the Muhajirin (the migrants from Mecca) and Ansār. It included Umar, Uthman, Ali, Abdur Rahman ibn Awf, Mu’adh ibn Jabal, Ubayy ibn Ka’b and Zaid ibn Haaritha (Allah be pleased with them all). ‘Umar later consulted the same group when he was Khalifa; specifically for Fatwas (legal judgments), he referred to ‘Uthman, Ubayy and Zaid ibn Thaabit (Allah be pleased with them).
One of Ubayy’s major fears for the Muslim Ummah was that a day would come when there would be severe strife among Muslims. He often became overwhelmed with emotion when he read or heard the verse of the Qur’ān: “Say: He (Allah) has power to send calamities to you, from above and below, or to cover you with confusion in party strife, giving you a taste of mutual vengeance, each from the other.” (Surat al-An’am 6:65). He would then pray fervently to Allah for guidance and ask for His clemency and forgiveness. Ubayy ibn Ka'b passed away during the caliphate of Uthman ibn Affan.