There are expeditions in the Seerah that are remembered for what happened during the fighting. Tabuk is remembered for what happened before the fighting, on the road and in Madinah while the army was on its way. No battle took place at Tabuk. The Byzantine army that was reportedly mobilising withdrew before the confrontation could occur. But the expedition to Tabuk revealed more about the community of the Companions ﵃, about their faith, their weaknesses and their repentance, than many a battle could have done. It was the last great expedition of the Prophet ﷺ, and the Quran treats it more extensively than any other expedition.
The Context
After the opening of Makkah and the battle of Hunayn, delegations from all over Arabia had found their way to Madinah. Tribe after tribe sent representatives to accept Islam and to swear allegiance to the Prophet ﷺ. The ninth year after the Hijrah is known as the year of delegations. The Arab world had made its choice.
But beyond Arabia lay another world. The reports reaching the Prophet ﷺ were unsettling. Heraclius, the emperor of Byzantium, was said to have assembled a great army in the border regions of Syria, with the support of the Arab vassal tribes of the Ghassan. The cause was perhaps the battle of Mu’tah, which had shown the Byzantines that the Islamic state was prepared to push out to its frontiers. Now, the reports said, they were preparing a counter-stroke.
The conditions for an expedition were severe. It was the hottest time of the year. The dates were on the point of being harvested, and the people wanted to remain at home. The distance to Tabuk, in the north-west of the Arabian Peninsula, was greater than that of any expedition the Muslims had previously undertaken. And unlike earlier expeditions, this time the Prophet ﷺ disclosed his destination, so that the Companions ﵃ could prepare properly for what would be a long and difficult journey.
The Call and the Responses
The Prophet ﷺ called for participation and asked those of his Companions ﵃ who had means to contribute to the equipping of the army. The responses revealed the true state of the community.
Uthman ibn Affan ﵁ outfitted three hundred camels with their full equipment at his own expense, and added a hundred horses. He laid the contributions before the Prophet ﷺ.
Prophet ﷺ: (Raises his hands in du’a) O Allah, be pleased with Uthman, for I am pleased with him. O Allah, forgive Uthman whatever he has hidden and whatever he has shown.
Abu Bakr ﵁ brought everything he possessed.
Prophet ﷺ: What have you left for your family, O Abu Bakr?
Abu Bakr al-Siddiq ﵁: Allah ﷻ and His Messenger.
Umar ibn al-Khattab ﵁ brought half of his wealth, convinced that this time he would surpass Abu Bakr ﵁.
Umar ibn al-Khattab ﵁: (To himself) Today I shall surpass Abu Bakr.
Prophet ﷺ: What have you left for your family, O Umar?
Umar ﵁: Half of my wealth.
(Umar ﵁ understood then that he would never surpass Abu Bakr ﵁)
Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf ﵁ brought two hundred ounces of silver. Ordinary Companions ﵃ brought what they could spare. A group of poor men who had nothing to offer came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked for mounts. When the Prophet ﷺ told them he had nothing for them, they turned away weeping.
وَلَا عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ إِذَا مَآ أَتَوۡكَ لِتَحۡمِلَهُمۡ قُلۡتَ لَآ أَجِدُ مَآ أَحۡمِلُكُمۡ عَلَيۡهِ تَوَلَّوۡاْ وَّأَعۡيُنُهُمۡ تَفِيضُ مِنَ ٱلدَّمۡعِ حَزَنًا أَلَّا يَجِدُواْ مَا يُنفِقُونَ
Nor is there blame upon those who came to you that you might give them mounts, and you said: I find nothing on which to mount you, and they turned away while their eyes overflowed with tears, in sorrow that they could find nothing to spend.
Surah At-Tawbah: 92
Set against this sincerity stood the hypocrites, who brought one excuse after another to remain at home. They had grown in number as the Islamic state had grown stronger, men who sought the benefits of the community without bearing its obligations. The Prophet ﷺ accepted their excuses outwardly, but Allah ﷻ disclosed their real condition in the verses revealed during and after the expedition.
The Hypocrites and the Mosque of Harm
Before the army set out, a group of hypocrites built a mosque in the quarter of Quba, close to the first mosque the Prophet ﷺ had founded after his arrival in Madinah. They asked him to inaugurate the new mosque by performing prayer in it. The Prophet ﷺ said he would do so on his return. On the way, the revelation came down.
وَٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّخَذُواْ مَسۡجِدٗا ضِرَارٗا وَكُفۡرٗا وَتَفۡرِيقَۢا بَيۡنَ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ وَإِرۡصَادٗا لِّمَنۡ حَارَبَ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ مِن قَبۡلُۚ وَلَيَحۡلِفُنَّ إِنۡ أَرَدۡنَآ إِلَّا ٱلۡحُسۡنَىٰۖ وَٱللَّهُ يَشۡهَدُ إِنَّهُمۡ لَكَٰذِبُونَ
And those who have taken a mosque for harm, for disbelief and for division among the believers, and as a place of lookout for those who had earlier waged war against Allah and His Messenger. They will surely swear: we wished only what was good. And Allah bears witness that they are liars.
Surah At-Tawbah: 107
Upon his return, the Prophet ﷺ ordered the mosque to be torn down and burned. It was called Masjid al-Dirar, the Mosque of Harm, and its name was preserved in the Quran as a warning.
The March
The army set out in the heat. The conditions were so severe that the expedition was later called Jaysh al-Usrah, the Army of Hardship. Men shared dates, sometimes one date per man per day. The water ran out. Camels were slaughtered for the moisture in their stomachs.
Companions ﵃: (Reporting to the Prophet ﷺ) O Messenger of Allah, the water is gone. There is nothing left.
Prophet ﷺ: (Asks for the last drop of water in a waterskin, places his hands in it and makes du’a)
(Water flows out from between his fingers until everyone has drunk and the waterskins are filled)
Mu’adh ibn Jabal ﵁: By Allah, this is better than anything on earth.
Along the way, a man fell behind, too weak to march any further. His camel had given out under him.
Companions ﵃: O Messenger of Allah, so-and-so has been left behind.
Prophet ﷺ: Leave him. If there is good in him, Allah ﷻ will bring him to you. If it is otherwise, Allah ﷻ has rid you of him.
(The man reaches the army later by his own efforts)
Prophet ﷺ: (To the man) What held you back?
Man: My camel, O Messenger of Allah.
Prophet ﷺ: Whoever obeys Allah ﷻ and His Messenger is not held back.
Arrival at Tabuk
The army reached Tabuk after a long and exhausting march. There was no trace of the Byzantine army. The reports of a mobilised Byzantine force were either exaggerated, or Heraclius had decided to avoid the confrontation after what he had seen at Mu’tah. The Prophet ﷺ remained twenty days at Tabuk and during that time concluded treaties with the rulers of the border regions.
Yuhanna ibn Ru’bah, the ruler of Aylah on the Gulf of Aqaba, came in person to the Prophet ﷺ and concluded a treaty under which he paid an annual tribute and received protection. The inhabitants of Adhruh and Jarba concluded similar treaties. The presence of the army at Tabuk, even without a battle, confirmed the reach of the Islamic state up to the borders of Byzantium.
The Three Who Stayed Behind
Among the Companions ﵃ who had remained in Madinah was a group of men who had no excuse but had nonetheless not gone. Most of them were hypocrites who lied about their reasons. But three men were sincere: Ka’b ibn Malik ﵁, Murarah ibn al-Rabi ﵁ and Hilal ibn Umayyah ﵁. They had no excuse. They had stayed behind out of postponement, neglect, and the temptation of the heat and the harvest. And they knew it.
When the Prophet ﷺ returned, the hypocrites came with their excuses. He accepted their statements outwardly and left their inner condition to Allah ﷻ. But the three sincere men came without excuse.
Ka’b ibn Malik ﵁: (Narration) When I saw the Prophet ﷺ, he was smiling the smile of one who is angry. When I sat before him he asked: why did you stay behind? Did you not buy a riding-beast?
Ka’b ﵁: O Messenger of Allah, by Allah, if I were sitting before anyone other than Allah ﷻ I would think that I could escape his displeasure with an excuse. But by Allah, I know that if I tell you a lie today with which you are pleased, Allah ﷻ will soon make you angry with me. And if I tell you the truth and you are angry, I hope for the forgiveness of Allah ﷻ. I had no excuse. By Allah, I had never been stronger or wealthier than when I stayed behind.
Prophet ﷺ: This man has spoken the truth. Go, until Allah ﷻ judges concerning you.
The Prophet ﷺ ordered the community to break off all contact with the three men. For fifty days no one spoke to them. Even their wives were kept at a distance. The earth, vast as it was, felt narrow to them.
Ka’b ibn Malik ﵁: (Narration) The earth changed for me. The earth I had known was no longer the same earth. Fifty nights passed in this way. On the forty-ninth night I prayed on the roof of my house. Then I heard a voice from Mount Sal: O Ka’b ibn Malik, good news.
(Ka’b ﵁ falls into sujud out of gratitude)
(The Prophet ﷺ receives the revelation of their forgiveness during the Fajr prayer and makes it known)
Prophet ﷺ: (To Ka’b ﵁ when he comes in) Good news, O Ka’b. The best day that has dawned upon you since your mother bore you.
Ka’b ﵁: Is this from you, O Messenger of Allah, or from Allah ﷻ?
Prophet ﷺ: No, from Allah ﷻ.
(Ka’b ﵁ falls into sujud)
Allah ﷻ revealed concerning them:
وَعَلَى ٱلثَّلَٰثَةِ ٱلَّذِينَ خُلِّفُواْ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا ضَاقَتۡ عَلَيۡهِمُ ٱلۡأَرۡضُ بِمَا رَحُبَتۡ وَضَاقَتۡ عَلَيۡهِمۡ أَنفُسُهُمۡ وَظَنُّوٓاْ أَن لَّا مَلۡجَأَ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ إِلَّآ إِلَيۡهِ ثُمَّ تَابَ عَلَيۡهِمۡ لِيَتُوبُوٓاْۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ
And concerning the three who were left behind, until the earth, despite its vastness, was straitened for them, and their souls were straitened within them, and they thought that there was no refuge from Allah except in Him. Then He turned to them so that they might repent. Indeed, Allah is the Accepter of repentance, the Most Merciful.
Surah At-Tawbah: 118
Ka’b ibn Malik ﵁ later related that one of the things he was most proud of in his life was that he had told the Prophet ﷺ the truth on that day, when a lie could have spared him everything. And he swore that he would never deceive Allah ﷻ again as long as he lived.
The Meaning of Tabuk
Tabuk was the last expedition of the Prophet ﷺ. No battle was fought, but its meaning was great. The Islamic state had shown that it was prepared to march to the borders of the greatest military power of its time, in the hottest period of the year, with insufficient supplies and over a distance no Arab army had previously covered. Heraclius had chosen not to fight. That choice was, in itself, a recognition.
But the deepest meaning of Tabuk did not lie in geopolitics. It lay in what the expedition exposed about the community: the sincerity of Abu Bakr ﵁ who gave everything, the tears of the poor men who had nothing to give but wanted to, the honesty of Ka’b ibn Malik ﵁ who chose truth above ease, and the forgiveness of Allah ﷻ that descended upon those who repented. The Quran preserved all of this in Surah At-Tawbah, the longest and weightiest surah on the relations between faith and hypocrisy, between sincerity and calculation, between those who carry the community and those who only profit from it.
The Prophet ﷺ would not march out to battle again after Tabuk. What followed was something else: the Farewell Sermon, the final lesson, the end of a mission that had changed the world.