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The Campaign of Tabuk | Year 9AH

A short while after the conquest of Makkah growing rumours began tospread in Madinah thatHeraclius had advanced a year’s salary to his

army in view of a lengthy campaign against Madinah. However, theProphet was also expecting his armies to open up Syria to slam and so hetoo set about mustering by far the largest and best equipped army which hehad led!"his time there was no attempt at secrecy with Muhammad ordering eventhe Makkans and the allied tribes to send at once to Madinah all theiravailable armed and mounted men for the Syrian campaign!"he season was always a hot one, but that year there was a drought and theheat was more oppressive than usual! "hese were testing times for the

believers with many of the hypocrites approaching the Prophet with variousexcuses to stay behind! "here were however three men of good faith, #a$bibn Malik and two other, who did not deliberately decide to remain home,nor did they proffer excuses% but it seemed to them so undesirable to leaveMadinah with the rest of the army that they put off preparations until thelast minute when it dawned on them that it was too late!"he army arrived at al Hi&r where the rock'hewn remains of "hamud stood,and the Prophet commanded the army to dismount for watering and a brief rest! "hen, when the army reached the spring of "abuk they encamped fortwenty days! t was evident that the rumours of danger from the (y)antines

had been unfounded% perhaps the news of the Muslim army$s approach hadalready reached the (y)antines who had withdrawn to the safety of their

vicinity! "he Prophet chose not to pursue the (y)antines, but insteadinvited all of the tribes to &oin in allegiance to the Muslims!(efore the Muslim army was to return, the Prophet intended to put to astop any future attack, and so, he sent #halid ibn al *alid with fivehundred cavalrymen to deal with +kaydir, the hristian king of -umah

who was suspected of preparing to launch an attack as soon as the(y)antine forces could return! "he rest of the army was commanded toreturn to Madinah!#halid hurried to -umah and, discovering that the king was out on ahunting trip with his brother, sought to attack them decisively, and killedHassan, the king$s brother, while capturing +kaydir! However, #halid wasunable to penetrate the city, but by threatening to kill +kaydir the city

yielded! After sei)ing two thousand camels, eight hundred goats, fourhundred loads of grain, and four hundred coats of arms, #halid broughtthem, together with his captive, #ing +kaydir, to Madinah! n Madinah



+kaydir was offered slam to which he converted! +pon his submission to.od, he was reinstated as the king of his people and an ally of theProphet! Upon the army’s return, those who failed to enlist cameforth to offer their excuses. Many a Hypocrite presented his excuse%the Prophet listened and let them go free pending .od$s final &udgment!However, there were three believers who truthfully stated their reasons%#a$b ibn Malik, Murarah, and Hilal! "he Muslims were ordered to boycottthem for fifty days after which they were forgiven by divine decree andreintegrated within the community to the &oy of the Muslims! Lessons & Wisdoms

After the recent conquest of Makkah the Prophet was certain that .od would open up Syria to his armies% and whether because he thought the

time had come or whether because he wished to give his troops sometraining for the inevitable northern campaign, he now announced anexpedition against the (y)antines, and set about mustering by far thelargest and best equipped army which he had led!"he /uran discusses the (attle of "abuk in more detail than any otherconflict of the prophet$s life! n many respects the battle was quiet unique toany other! "he season was always a hot one, but that year there was adrought and the heat was more oppressive than usual! t was also the time

when much ripe fruit was to be eaten, so that there were two reasons for not wanting to take part in the expedition% and a third reason was the

formidable reputation of the imperial army! "he /uranic narrativeconcerning the battle contains the following themes01! "he great error on the part of those who stayed behind from theexpedition! .od not only obliged the Muslim community to participate inthe battle but also reproached those who did not! 2ven the prophet was

warned of being overly forgiving to those who had stayed behind!3! .od spoke of the difficult nature of the battle and the severe hardship itentailed calling the battle 4"he time of -istress5!6! .od reproached the hypocrites for mocking those who gave seemingly

little in charity! n the eyes of .od what is great is not the amount butrather the sincerity and giving according to ones means!7! Part of the revelation spoke of the 4seven weepers$ 8 five needy Helpersand two bedouins 8 whom the prophet turned reluctantly away because he

was not able to provide military equipment to them and so they parted withtears filling theirs eyes!



9! "hough no fighting actually took place the :omans perception of the Arabs had now changed drastically! "hey were previously looked upon asinsignificant and unworthy of a challenge! onversely the Arabs had alwaysfeared the :omans as a mighty superpower! (ut all that changed with the

battle of "abook, when :oman forces fled from the Muslim army, the Arabs began to reali)e that it would be the Muslims that would soon defeat them! As a result many of the christian tribes around the "abook area broke off their alliances with the :omans and formed treaties with the Muslims!;! "he strategy of the prophet in seeking out a non'Arab military targetreinforces the notion of the universality of his message' "he goal of theprophet and his followers is to spread slam to the furthest parts of the

world!he heart!rending story of "a’# $#n Mali% was narrated #y noneother than himself in a lengthy, though wholly eloquent narrative! t is

full of great wisdoms and lessons01! "he greatest lesson #a$b learnt was mentioned at the end of his narration,4(y .od, after He guided me to slam, He never bestowed on me a blessingas immense as guiding me to be truthful to the messenger% for by not lying, was saved from being destroyed<5! He learnt that the only path to safety in this life and the next was through honesty% regardless of the possible direconsequences! =or this reason it makes a telling tale for educating children!3! n accepting the excuses of the hypocrites, although they were nothing

but lies, the prophet taught us to only &udge by what is visible to us on theoutside! As for what is in the hearts, Allah is the only >udge! "he rulings of

this life are based on what appears to us, as for the reward or punishmentof the hereafter, it is the result of what lies in the hearts!6! "he powerful effect a publicly orchestrated boycott has in reformingindividuals! "he prophet would employ every allowable means to helpcultivate and reform his society, even if it meant temporarily severing tiesof kinship! t should be dully noted that large scale boycotting of this naturecan only be employed in communities with similar grounding in slam asthat of the Muslim community in Madinah at the time of the prophet!7! "he &oyful manner in which the Muslims received their three brethren

illustrates the difficulty and discomfort they endured in having to censuretheir fellow companions! ?et they all obeyed the prophetic command, eventhe wife of #a$b ibn Malik and his dearest friend Abu /ataadah would show animosity towards him! t was the strong ties of brotherhood, a faith'based

bond, upon which the fabric of society was made!9! #a$b$s reaction upon receiving the letter from the hristian king .assaan

bears testimony to his faith and loyalty to the prophet!



"he day a believer receives glad tidings of forgiveness from .od is a day of immense &oy% for #a$b it was the best day of his life and he fell intoprostration when he first heard it! "he entire community participated incongratulating he hree’, because such a blessing from .od outweighsany other worldly blessing and the disciples of the prophet understood this

best! "he prophet$s statement to #a$b, 4:e&oice for this is the best day youhave had since the day your mother gave birth to you5 indicates that it waseven better than the day on which he converted to slam! We learn from the story three ways in which a Muslim can offerthan%s to 'od upon receiving a favour from Him. 1@ "o perform the prostration of thankfulness which can also be done whenone is saved from a calamity 3@ :ewarding the bearer of glad tidings, as#a$b gave him his set of clothes

6@ "o give money in charity! (dicts & )ulingn the year ;6B, the ninth year of the slamic calendar, Ha&& was madeobligatory upon the muslims!"he prophet ordered that no polytheist would ever enter Makkah again, norcould a male or female undress and circumambulate the #a$bah!n this year there was an incident in which the prophet prayed behindCAbdur :ahman bin CAwf as a way of honoring him! "he scholars derivefrom this the permissibility of a more qualified person opting to be led by

one of a lesser standing for a certain reason!"he prophet sent out his first ever )akat collectors in this year! "hefollowing verse was revealed in the /uranic chapter al'Hu&arat relating toan incident that took place between one of the collectors and the tribe of

banu al'mustaliq0 ?ou who have faithD if a deviator brings you a report, scrutini)e it carefully in case you attack people in ignorance and so come to greatly regret what

you have done!

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