Ma'bad ibn Ka'b ibn Malik

Ma'bad ibn Ka'b ibn Malik al-Ansari al-Salami al-Madani, a trustworthy Successor of the third generation-layer, son of the Companion-poet Ka'b ibn Malik and brother of Abd Allah ibn Ka'b, his father's guide; he transmitted the account of the Aqaba night from his brother from their father ^{1 2}.

His father Ka'b ibn Malik al-Ansari, the poet, was one of the nuqaba' of the Aqaba night and protagonist of the famous repentance story; his brother Abd Allah ibn Ka'b was among the most learned of the Ansar and led his father when the old man went blind ². Ma'bad was the youngest of the brothers ¹.

Ibn Ishaq writes: "Ma'bad ibn Ka'b told me that his brother Abd Allah — one of the most learned of the Ansar — related to him that their father, who had witnessed the Aqaba, said: we went out among our people's pilgrims having prayed and studied, and al-Bara' ibn Ma'rur our elder and chief was with us," and he tells the story of the Aqaba night at length ³. Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, al-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah all narrate from him, as the Tahdhib's register shows ¹.

Ibn Hibban listed him in al-Thiqat; the Tahdhib register fixes him as trustworthy, third layer ¹.

Ma'bad ibn Ka'b was the son of the Companion-poet whose repentance God accepted; through his brother Abd Allah he passed down their father's account of the Aqaba pledge — one of the most reliable reports of early Medina.

• His place in the Tahdhib is 10/224; the Dhahabi–Ibn Hajar register in the composite scan is at p. 1050.
• Ibn Ishaq's narration from him is explicit in al-Isaba (entries of al-Bara' ibn Ma'rur and Abu Ubada); he has no stand-alone entry in the scan because he is a Successor, not a Companion.