Messenger of Allah صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم asked, “O Ubayy! What prevented you from responding to me?”

He replied, “O Messenger of Allah صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم! I was performing salah.”

So, he said, “Have you not read the words of Allah Almighty:

یٰۤاَیُّہَا الَّذِیۡنَ اٰمَنُوا اسۡتَجِیۡبُوۡا لِلّٰہِ وَ لِلرَّسُوۡلِ  اِذَا دَعَاکُمۡ  لِمَا یُحۡیِیۡکُمۡ ۚ

Translation from Kanz al-Īmān: O believers! Present yourselves upon the call of Allah and His Messenger when the Messenger calls you for such a thing (e.g. faith, or the Quran, or Jihad, or martyrdom, etc.) which will give you life.^[1]

Sayyidunā Ubayy رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ said, “I have read this verse. I will not repeat this in the future [i.e. I will respond to you صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم even if I am in salah].”

The beloved Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم then said, “Would you like for me to teach you a Sūrah the likes of which has neither been revealed in the Tawrah nor the Injīl nor the Zabūr and which is not like the other Sūrahs of the Quran?”

He said: “Yes, O Messenger of Allah صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم!”

The Messenger of Allah صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم then asked, “What do you recite in your prayer?”

Sayyidunā Ubayy b. KaꜤb رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ responded by reciting Sūrah al-Fātiḥah.

Upon this, the Messenger of Allah صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم said, “By the One in Whose power is my soul! The likes of it have neither been