Battle of Tabuk
It has been stated above that the areas north of Arabia,
adjoining the current Syria and Jordan were loyal to the Roman
Empire. The leaders of the Arab tribes who lived there also
had their loyalties with the Roman king. The influence and
establishment of Islam in these regions and the acceptance of
Islam by some leaders was not a matter to be ignored by the
most powerful government in the world. Heraclius knew that if
the prophet who had gained power in Arabia was the same whose
arrival had been announced in sacred books, his success was
written on the wall and he would destroy his kingdom too.
However, due to pressure from his courtiers and priests, he
could not gather courage to accept Islam and adopted a path of
political conflict. In 9 AH, he started collecting his armies
in Syria in order to stop any further successes of the Muslims
and to intimidate them. Wishing to proceed towards Madinah, he
gained support from loyal tribes of Lakhm, Jadhdham, Ghassan
and ‘Amilah and sent the vanguards of his army to the Balkans.
The Prophet (sws) found out about his aims and selected
northern Arabia for combat. That place was very far from
Madinah and the climate very hot, hence special considerations
were required for the preparation for battle. The Prophet (sws)
appealed to Muslims to donate whatever they could afford:
funds, weapons, animals for riding and then come out to war
with full preparation. This was necessary so that Muslims not
consider this as an ordinary exercise but as a major
confrontation between Islam and its enemy forces.
Preparations for the Battle
The Prophet’s appeal had desired results. Sincere Muslims
spent more than they could afford in this jihad. Narratives
related to this battle state that Abu Bakr Siddiq (rta) gave
everything in his house for this mission and when the Prophet
(sws) asked him what was left, he answered that God and His
Messenger remained in his house. ‘Umar (rta) thought that he
would supersede Abu Bakr (rta) in giving in the way of God and
brought half of what was in his house. When he found that Abu
Bakr (rta) had given everything that he had possessed, he
realized that he could not surpass him. Uthman (rta), whose
generosity was demonstrated by his enthusiasm and energy in
such cases gave equipment and provisions for one third of the
army. Women handed over their jewellery to pay for the
preparations. The poorest of the poor companions, who could
barely earn for an evening meal, gave barley and wheat as food
for the journey. Some people who did not have animals to ride
on came to the Prophet (sws) requesting him to provide them so
that they could take part in the battle. Since the available
resources did not allow for this provision, the Prophet (sws)
made his apologies and these men returned, dejected. Seeing
their sorrow, some wealthy companions made animals available
to them; but even then, many men were not able to take part in
the journey.
Narratives state that the Asharites sent Abu Musa Ash‘ari to
the Prophet (sws), asking him to provide them with animals.
When he arrived, he found the Prophet (sws) expressing his
displeasure over some matter. When Abu Musa stated his
request, he said that, by Allah, he could not make this
provision. In view of the Prophet’s displeasure, Abu Musa
returned to his people, considerably depressed and informed
them of the situation. A while later, Bilal (rta) called him
and when he went, the Prophet pointed towards some camels and
said: “Take this pair, and this one and this one. Take them to
your friends and tell them that Allah has made provision for
animals for you to ride on.” Abu Musa obeyed his orders and
told his companions that the Messenger of God had given orders
for them to ride those animals but that, by Allah, he would
like to suggest that from among those who had heard him
earlier, one person would go with him to the Prophet (sws), to
ensure that he had not assigned a wrong statement to the
Prophet (sws). The people went and reminded the Prophet (sws)
that when he had refused to give the animals, he had sworn by
Allah. Did he forget his oath when he had given away the
animals? The Prophet (sws) answered that when he takes an oath
and then later finds a better solution, he atones for breaking
it and adopts the better way.
The order for every Muslim to come out for battle was thus:
“Come out, whether you are light or heavy.” The words light
and heavy indicate that they applied to every man: the rich
and poor, armed or unarmed, cavalry man or foot soldier. Other
tribes and Arabs had also been mobilized for this battle.
Hence, the real demand was that everyone should offer his
services for this trumpet call and not care if he possessed
any provisions or riding animals. It was enough to present
oneself for this service to demonstrate one’s loyalties. But
the period of the battle became one of great trial for many
people. It was high summer and harvests were ready. This was
the best time to cut the crops and store them. People would
have found a way to fight against the intense heat and to
postpone the handling of the harvest had the battle been
closer. But here they faced a journey of hundreds of miles.
Along with other dangers, they would require many weeks just
to arrive at their destination. In view of these factors, the
weak faith and hypocrisy of the hypocrites became evident at
that time.
One of the groups openly suggested that it was not wise to
proceed to battle and hence, the mission should be postponed.
If people insisted on going, there was a danger that many
Muslims would die of the heat. Some people tried to create
fear of the Roman army in an attempt to cool down the
enthusiasm for jihad. The leader of the hypocrites, ‘Abdullah
ibn Ubayy went to the extent of saying that it was no game to
go out in that weather and face the Romans; he feared that
those who went to Tabuk would be tied in chains and thrown in
mountains. The people of that group tried to de-motivate
sincere Muslims. When people presented their support for the
jihad and the giver gave more wealth, they accused him of
insincerity. If the giver was a poor man, they ridiculed his
modest offering. At times, this cacophony became so loud that
they even made fun of the instructions of God and His and His
Messenger. When they were reprimanded for this, they said that
they were just joking and it was nothing serious.
It was observed at that time that many people made requests to
be exempted from going to war on the basis of different
excuses. They swore while explaining their difficulties. The
Prophet (sws) understood that these were made-up stories, but
he accepted their excuses. Many of such people were those
whose hypocrisy had already been revealed earlier. Hence their
attitude was understandable: they were not ready to take part
in a difficult journey for jihad and, at the same time, also
wanted permission from the Prophet (sws) so that no blame come
to them later. Some among them made their religiosity a reason
for their absence. According to them, staying away from their
families could become a great trial for their faith and
morality. All of them were wealthy and in full health and were
able to participate in jihad. The barriers for them were the
long journey, the excessive heat and the fact that they would
be encountering the Roman army which was the most disciplined
and trained army of its time and which had recently defeated
the very strong army of Persia. Also, there were not many
chances of winning war booty. Who would then disturb their
luxurious and comfortable life? Thus hypocrites continued to
go to the Prophet (sws) with applications for permission to
stay away. However, they appointed some men of their own to
spy on the Muslims during the journey.
From narratives of the Battle of Tabuk, it seems that the
People of the Book who had suffered at the hands of the
Muslims and who had been exiled were responsible for inciting
the Romans against the Muslims. They motivated them to play
their role and save their religion. The religious leaders held
positions of influence at the King’s court and convinced him
to help his co-religionists. The People of the Book prepared a
conspiracy to communicate and keep in contact with the
hypocrites by building a mosque in the suburbs of Madinah. The
purpose of this was to gather the hypocrites at one place and
develop a cohesive conspiracy. The mosque would have created
differences among Muslims and been a centre for spies. The
hypocrites built the mosque in Qaba to meet these objectives.
To obtain formal acceptance of this mosque, they requested the
Prophet (sws) to go there and inaugurate it by leading the
first prayer. It was a busy time and because of preparations
for the battle, the Prophet (sws) excused himself because of
his extremely busy schedule and the event was postponed until
after Tabuk.
It had been made compulsory for every able-bodied Muslim man
to participate in the battle; thus it was not acceptable for
anyone to remain behind. However, there were some sincere
Muslims who could not leave with the main army. They thought
they would join the army later, but afterwards, they could
not, either because of their laziness or because they became
busy in other work. Some Muslims did join the army but the
remaining did not and thus joined the ranks of those who had
remained behind to avoid the battle deliberately. Three Ansars
belonging to the early Muslims: Ka‘b ibn Malik (rta), Hilal
ibn Umayyah (rta) and Murrah ibn Rabi‘ (rta) were among them.
They had made great sacrifices for their faith in the past,
but subsequently, they were not part of the army due to
laziness and were unaware of their mistake in view of their
earlier sacrifices.
The Prophet (sws) in Tabuk
At the time of departure from Madinah, ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy
played the same game which he had at the Battle of Uhud. He
came out with his army but when the Prophet (sws) gave
instructions to march, he retreated along with his soldiers,
saying that he did not wish to expose his people to danger.
According to narratives, the army which arrived at Tabuk
included 30,000 soldiers and 10,000 horses. The Prophet (sws)
waited at the border of Syria for three weeks for the Romans
to arrive, but it seems that the Roman army was discouraged
because of the Prophet’s courageous arrival with ten times the
size of the army at the Battle of Mutah and they decided not
to confront the Muslims. It is also possible that Heraclius
thought that since the Prophet of Arabia would, in any case,
take over his kingdom, he lost courage and decided to lengthen
his rule by not sending his army to fight against the Prophet
(sws). The Prophet (sws) stayed at Tabuk for three weeks and,
after gaining many political successes, announced return to
Madinah. This return took place in 9th AH.
Conquests and Peace Treaties
During his stay at Tabuk, the Prophet (sws) sent Khalid ibn
Walid (rta) to attack Dumah al-Jandal. Its Christian ruler,
Akidar surrendered and requested amnesty. Khalid (rta)
arrested him and took him to the Prophet (sws), who made a
contract of peace after taxing him and writing up an
agreement. The significance of Dumah al-Jandal was that it
controlled the routes to both Syria and Iraq. Other rulers of
northern Arabia who were subjects of the Byzantine state
became afraid of the presence of Muslims in the region. They
preferred to develop peaceful relations with the Muslims and
decided to stop supporting the Byzantines. The king of Aylah,
Junah ibn Rubah, accompanied by individuals from the regions
of Jarba’ and Adhrah came to the Prophet (sws). The Prophet (sws)
levied a tax on him and wrote up the peace agreement.
According to narratives from Abu ‘Ubayd, the Prophet (sws)
sent another letter to Heraclius, in which he again invited
him to Islam, saying that if he accepted Islam, he would have
the same rights as that of other Muslims and would need to
follow the same obligations which they did according to the
shari‘ah. If this was not acceptable to him, he may accept to
pay a tax and agree on peace. Otherwise, he was not to
intervene between his people and Islam. They were to be
allowed to accept Islam if they wished to, or else pay a tax.
At that time, it was clear that the great power was not
willing to accept the leadership of the Arabs. Therefore, the
letter was never answered. Had it been, there would been some
mention of the same in the annals of history.
The mission of Tabuk had established the awe of Muslims within
the northern Arab states and Romans regions outside. Hence,
many tribes of Syria and the Banu Bakr ibn Wa’il and the Banu
Taghlib who were settled close to the borders of Iraq made a
peace agreement based on tax twice that of the amount of zakah.
Hardened Attitude with the Hypocrites
During the journey of Tabuk, the Prophet (sws) was given
instructions to leave his soft behaviour with hypocrites and
be hard on them. He was informed that the mission had made a
clear distinction between sincere Muslims and those who
remained attached to Islam merely for personal gains, and that
matters would proceed henceforth on this basis. In the light
of these instructions, when he was close to Madinah on the
return journey, he told the companions that unless he gave
permission, no one was to speak with any hypocrite nor to
attend any of their gatherings. When, therefore, at Dhu Awan
which was a place close to Madinah, the hypocrites came to
greet them, the Muslims followed these orders. Then the
Prophet (sws) gave responsibility to ‘Asim ibn ‘Adi al-‘Ajlani
and Malik ibn al-Dakhsham al-Salimi to demolish the mosque
that had been built by the hypocrites and to set fire to its
rubble so that the centre of conspiracy would end forever. In
this manner, the fort of the enemies of Islam was shattered to
the ground. Similarly, the Prophet (sws) treated the sincere
Muslims who had remained behind with extreme coldness. They
were so overcome with embarrassment that life became
impossible for them. Some of them tied themselves to the
pillars of Masjid-i Nabawi, to express their penitence and
desire for forgiveness. They resolved that they would free
themselves only after receiving pardon. Three early
companions, Ka‘b ibn Malik (rta), Hilal ibn Umayyah (rta) and
Murarah ibn Rabi‘(rta) were boycotted socially until they
became penitent and received pardon. At this time, some
companions desirous of pardon and forgiveness demonstrated
incomparable sacrifice in seeking acceptance of their prayers.
One companion, Abu Lubabah (rta) came to the Prophet (sws),
saying that he would like to relinquish his house in the way
to God because its comforts and luxury had restrained him from
going to jihad. He would also give up all of his wealth to God
and His Messenger. The Prophet (sws) said that he should give
only one-thirds in the way of God and ask Him for forgiveness.
Some of the villagers living around Madinah did not think it
necessary to be penitent and continued to give excuses and
avoid responsibility. Those among the hypocrites who came to
present excuses were told that they were not believed and that
God had already informed Muslims that their excuses were lame
ones. They would swear upon their loyalty but were informed
that their behaviour would be kept in mind for the future and
their actions would present proof of their loyalty. Those,
whose hypocrisy was in no doubt, were not considered to be
worthy of any relaxation. They were not to be taken for jihad
in future even if they offered to go and were to be told
clearly that since they were satisfied with remaining at home
even during the public call for jihad, they would not be
allowed now. Their participation in any battle against enemies
of Islam was not acceptable. They would give explanations and
swear oaths of commitment, but were to be told that God knew
their actions well and had also told the Muslims. Therefore
they were not to be trusted. Hence their attitude would be
decisive towards God Himself.
Impact of the Battle of Tabuk
On the whole, the lack of participation of the worst of
hypocrites in the battle of Tabuk benefitted Muslims in that
no trouble was created during the journey, of the sort which
had occurred during earlier missions and in which the Ansars
and Muhajirs had come to swords with each other. There were
some spies of the hypocrites, but they could not take the risk
of creating a problem without a cohesive group of their own.
The second advantage was that the hypocrites were clearly
identified. The future policy for them was made so strong that
they could not hide themselves, let alone remain on their
earlier dual policy through which they had fanned chaos and
trouble to weaken Muslims. The third big advantage of Tabuk
was that the weaknesses in the character of sincere Muslims
too became clear and could be corrected. At that stage,
neutral accountability of early Muslims also opened their
eyes. They assessed their own weaknesses and corrected
themselves. Similarly the Bedouin Muslims realized that they
had not made any preparations to become true Muslims and just
by getting their names registered as Muslims believed that
they had fulfilled their obligations to Islam. The higher
obligations towards their faith were something else without
which they could not provide any service for their religion.
These benefits of the battle of Tabuk were internal. On the
external front, the invitation of Islam spread far and wide in
northern Arabia. Its Arab tribes were attracted to Islam and
the oppressed people under the Romans began to observe an
alternate political power that could challenge the rule of the
Romans any time. These people could, therefore, have
expectations from them in their need to be rid of the
oppressive regime of the Romans.
The army of Islam had left for the battle of Tabuk on 1st
Rajab, 9th AH. This was the month of April. They returned
towards the end of Shawwal.
(Translated by Nikhat Sattar)
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