Tabuk

Part oneThe hardest summer

By 9 AH the Prophet ﷺ was the strongest leader in Arabia. Makkah was Muslim, the tribes of Hunayn had been broken, and the Muslim community was larger than at any time before. It was in this moment of confidence that he called Madinah to its hardest march.

News had come that the Byzantines, whose lands lay to the north, were gathering forces on the border. Whether or not the reports were exact, the Prophet ﷺ chose to meet any danger early and far from Madinah. In earlier campaigns he had often kept his destination secret. This time he named it, because the road was long and the people needed to prepare for it.

It was the worst time of year to make such a march. The heat was fierce, the dates in Madinah's orchards were ripening, and Tabuk lay about seven hundred kilometres away across open desert. Many people did not want to leave their harvest and their shade.

The Prophet ﷺ asked the Muslims to give toward the army, and they answered. Uthman ibn Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) provided a large share of the equipment. Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) brought everything he owned. Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) brought half of what he had. Women gave their jewellery. The hypocrites found fault with every gift. When a rich man gave a great deal, they said he was showing off. When Abu Aqil (may Allah be pleased with him), a poor labourer, brought a single measure of dates he had earned by hauling water through the night, they mocked it and said Allah had no need of so little. The Quran answered them for both. Some poor men came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked to join, but there were no animals left to carry them. They went away in tears, and the Quran speaks of them.

Some others made excuses, and the Quran names such people as hypocrites. They said the weather was too hot. The Quran answered that the fire of Jahannam is hotter.

About thirty thousand men eventually set out, the largest army the Muslims had ever raised. They suffered badly from thirst and from the heat, and the march earned the name Expedition of Hardship. On the way they passed the ruined homes of Thamud, the people of Salih (peace be upon him), whom the Quran describes as destroyed for their arrogance. The Prophet ﷺ told his Companions not to linger there and to take no water from its wells. Some who had stayed behind caught up later. On the road, the Companions saw a lone rider coming out of the shimmering heat, and the Prophet ﷺ said he hoped it was Abu Khaythamah. It was. He had come home to cool shade, food and his family, and had turned around, saying it was not right for him to rest while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was out in the sun and wind. When they reached Tabuk, they found no Byzantine army waiting. The reports had either been exaggerated or the enemy had drawn back.

The Prophet ﷺ stayed at Tabuk for about twenty days. During this time the local rulers came to him. The ruler of Ayla, a port on the Red Sea, made a treaty, agreeing to pay a tax and receiving protection. Similar agreements were made with other towns along the northern road. The Prophet ﷺ also sent Khalid ibn al-Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) with a force to Dumat al-Jandal, and its ruler came to terms. The northern frontier of Arabia had been secured without a major battle.

Before the march, a group of men who professed Islam but doubted it had built a mosque near Madinah as a cover for their plotting, and they had asked the Prophet ﷺ to pray in it. On the way home, informed by revelation, he refused, and the building was pulled down.

Part twoThree who stayed behind

Not everyone who stayed in Madinah was a hypocrite. Three Companions had fallen behind out of ordinary delay, and they were not forgiven easily. They were Ka'b ibn Malik, Murarah ibn ar-Rabi' and Hilal ibn Umayyah (may Allah be pleased with them).

Ka'b was a man of standing who had pledged himself to the Prophet ﷺ at Aqabah before the hijrah. He later told the story of that day himself. When the army left, he planned to follow in a day or two, and kept putting it off. Soon it was too late.

When the Prophet ﷺ returned, the hypocrites who had stayed behind came to him with excuses, and he accepted what they said outwardly and left the rest to Allah. Ka'b decided to tell the truth. He told the Prophet ﷺ that he had no excuse. The Prophet ﷺ told him to wait for Allah's judgement.

Then the Muslims were told not to speak to the three men. For fifty days they were left in silence. Ka'b's own friends and cousins would not greet him. He later said that even the familiar streets of Madinah seemed strange to him. During this time, a message reached him from a king in the north who invited him to leave the Muslims and come to him. Ka'b recognised it as a test and burned the letter.

On the fiftieth day, revelation came to say that Allah had accepted their repentance. A rider galloped up a hill and shouted the news to Ka'b. People ran to congratulate him. He said it was the best day of his life. In gratitude he offered his wealth in charity, and the Prophet ﷺ told him to keep part of it. He resolved never to speak anything but the truth again.

Much of Surah at-Tawbah (9) speaks to the events of Tabuk.

From the Quran

لَّقَد تَّابَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَى ٱلنَّبِىِّ وَٱلْمُهَـٰجِرِينَ وَٱلْأَنصَارِ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّبَعُوهُ فِى سَاعَةِ ٱلْعُسْرَةِ مِنۢ بَعْدِ مَا كَادَ يَزِيغُ قُلُوبُ فَرِيقٍ مِّنْهُمْ ثُمَّ تَابَ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ بِهِمْ رَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ ۝١١٧ وَعَلَى ٱلثَّلَـٰثَةِ ٱلَّذِينَ خُلِّفُوا۟ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا ضَاقَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْأَرْضُ بِمَا رَحُبَتْ وَضَاقَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ أَنفُسُهُمْ وَظَنُّوٓا۟ أَن لَّا مَلْجَأَ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ إِلَّآ إِلَيْهِ ثُمَّ تَابَ عَلَيْهِمْ لِيَتُوبُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ ۝١١٨ يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَكُونُوا۟ مَعَ ٱلصَّـٰدِقِينَ ۝١١٩

¹¹⁷Allah has certainly turned in mercy to the Prophet as well as the Emigrants and the Helpers who stood by him in the time of hardship, after the hearts of a group of them had almost faltered. He then accepted their repentance. Surely He is Ever Gracious and Most Merciful to them. ¹¹⁸And ˹Allah has also turned in mercy to˺ the three who had remained behind, ˹whose guilt distressed them˺ until the earth, despite its vastness, seemed to close in on them, and their souls were torn in anguish. They knew there was no refuge from Allah except in Him. Then He turned to them in mercy so that they might repent. Surely Allah ˹alone˺ is the Accepter of Repentance, Most Merciful. ¹¹⁹O believers! Be mindful of Allah and be with the truthful.

A rider galloped up a hill and shouted the news to Ka'b.

More on How to Muslim

• guide.howtomuslim.orgHow to give sadaqahGiving in Allah's way, as the Companions gave for Tabuk.

WatchThe lecture for this chapter

Lecture Sapience InstituteIntellectual Seerah, Part 21: Tabuk & The Death of The Prophet ﷺ (opens on YouTube)

The mapWhere it happened

• Madinah
• Tabuk
• Ayla
• Dumat al-Jandal

This map is a simple sketch to help you picture where events took place. Positions, distances and borders are approximate, so please use it for reference only, not as an accurate map.

SourcesSources for this chapter