(292)

GHAZWAh OF TABŪK

One trading caravan from Syria spread a rumor in al-Madinah that the Caesar of Rome, Heracles, was planning to attack al-Madinah and the Christian tribe, Banū-Ghassan, Banū-Lakhm, Banū-Qazm and Banū-Amilah were gathering under his flag. Banū-Ghassan, they said, had converted their territory, Syria, as a cantonment to mobilize the armies of Rome and Syria. They also said that the reconnoitering troops have reached as close as the area of Balqa’. The Prophet (a.s) on the basis of these reports started the preparations to meet the enemy. He ordered the Muslims to prepare for stopping the advancing enemy. All the wars that the Muslims fought were inside the country and they had not faced any external opponent. This campaign was to be fought on foreign soil, and was against a distant Emperor whose conquests extended to Persia and beyond. On hearing the Prophet’s orders, the men, instead of feeling the thrill of the prospective battles, were crestfallen. The reason for this mood was that they were facing a drought of late and only during the current season, the crop was good and nearing harvest. They were not in a mood to travel leaving behind their ready crops. Besides, the summer heat was severe and harsh for travel through the desert. In such circumstances, the Muslims started making excuses to avoid going on the campaign. The Holy Qur’an says about these persons:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَا لَكُمْ إِذَا قِيلَ لَكُمْ انفِرُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ اثَّاقَلْتُمْ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ أَرَضِيتُمْ بِالْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا مِنْ الْآخِرَةِ .

“O People who embraced the Faith! When you are asked to start in the way of Allah, your feet became embedded in the ground. Are you happy with this life instead of the Hereafter? (9:38)”

When pressure mounted over the Muslims with admonishing, Verses, and they saw no way out other than joining the contingent, then some willingly and others not so willingly got ready to go. Some others malingered and stayed back at their homes. The Prophet (a.s) took help from within al-Madinah and other areas to get together a contingent of 30,000 men and

(293)

during the month of Rajab 9H left al-Madinah and their first halt was at Thaniyyat al-Wida`. `Abdullah ibn Ubay, with his men, too was with the contingent and camped in the low-lying area of Thaniyyat al-Wida`. When the Prophet (a.s) advanced with the army, Ibn Ubay returned to al-Madinah with his men.

After a major number of the Muslims leaving al-Madinah, the hypocrites who remained back and those who returned from the way, in the event of the defeat of the Muslim army, which `Abdullah Ibn Ubay expected, they planned to invade the Prophet’s home and loot it and send away the members of his family from al-Madinah. There was also danger from people who had not as yet embraced Islam and were defeated in the battles that they fought with them. Such people might see an opportunity to plunder the properties and assets of the Muslims. In these circumstances, it was the demand of farsightedness that a person should be left in al-Madinah who could face any eventuality with courage and control things from going awry. Therefore, the Prophet (a.s) decided to leave behind `Ali (a.s) whose fear was already embedded in the hearts of the Arabs because of his recent successes in the battles. The hypocrites of al-Madinah did not like this arrangement. When they were unable to find any excuse, they said:

“The Prophet (a.s) considering him a burden, has left him behind!”[1]

`Ali (a.s) who was continuously winning in the battles with the infidels, was feeling for being dropped from the contingent going for the new Campaign. When he heard this taunt from the hypocrites, he could not control himself and put on the arms and started moving behind the army at some distance. After sometime, he caught up with them and went to the presence of the Prophet (a.s). He complained to the Prophet (a.s) that the hypocrites say that he was left behind because he would be a burden during the campaign. The Prophet (a.s) said that they were liars and I am leaving you behind in al-Madinah because the administration there should be either with me or with you. He also said that in his Ahl al-Bayt and in his Ummah, he was his successor. He added:

“Are you not happy that you have the same relationship with me as Harūn (a.s) had with Mūsa (a.s). The only difference is that there will be no prophet after me.”[2]

(294)

Hearing this, `Ali (a.s) happily went back to al-Madinah. And the Prophet (a.s) proceeded with the army towards the border of Syria. The ruins of the Tribes of Thamūd were on the way. When they reached the place, the Prophet (a.s) asked his men not to take any water from the wells there, neither for ablutions nor for drinking purpose. When his eyes fell on the ruins, he hid his face with a cloth and rode his camel faster to leave the place behind as soon as possible. The next day the Muslims ran short of water. They came to the Prophet (a.s) and told him that if they were allowed to take water on the way, this situation of scarcity would not have arisen. The Prophet (a.s) lifted his hands for prayer and before his prayer was over, dark clouds appeared on the horizon and copious rain started. The men drank it and stored in their containers.

The journey through the dry deserts was very tiring. Fifteen to twenty persons had to share one camel or horse. They rode on these animals in turns. They had to trudge through the desert more on foot than astride any animal. For eating, they got no more than dry bread and water was very scarce. Those who were unable to bear the hardship, they started returning back. Whenever the Prophet (a.s) was informed of the deserters, he used to say,” If they have virtue in them, they will come back to join us. If not, it will be lesser burden on our heads!” Abū-Dharr fell behind because his camel was very emaciated and was unable to keep pace with others. People told the Prophet (a.s) that even Abū-Dharr had deserted. About him, too the Prophet (a.s) said that if he had virtue in him, he would join back the caravan. When Abū-Dharr saw that the camel was unable to go any further, he took away his baggage from its back and started moving forward on foot. Some people of the army saw him coming at a distance. They started speculating who the person could be who was walking all alone. The Prophet (a.s) said it must be Abū-Dharr. When the men strained their eyes a little, they confirmed it was he! The Prophet (a.s) said:

“May Allah have mercy on Abū-Dharr that he is coming alone, he will die in loneliness and will be raised on the Day of Judgment alone.”[1]

When the army reached Tabūk, they struck camp there. For long distances, there was not any sign of the Roman troops. The Prophet (a.s) camped there for twenty days, but from no direction, there was any sign of approaching

(295)

armies. The information given by the Syrian traders was wrong. In this time, the Prophet (a.s) sent delegations to the chiefs of the tribes in the area inviting them to embrace Islam or start paying the jizyah. The chief of Ayla, Yawhanna ibn Rawbah came to the Prophet (a.s) and struck a truce at a jizyah of 300 Dinar. Similarly, the Christians of tribes of al-Jarba’, Adhruh and al-Muqanna too entered into agreements to pay jizyah. The chief of Dawmat al-Jandal, Ukaydar ibn `Abd al-Malik was brought in captivity. He too accepted to pay jizyah and was released. When the Prophet (a.s) was satisfied that there was no sign of the enemy Roman troops, he ordered his men to return to al-Madinah. There is a valley, al-Mushaqqaq, lying between Tabūk and al-Madinah. At that place, there is a spring from where water was coming at a very slow rate. He ordered that those who reached earlier than him should not drink water from the spring. But some men, who arrived there earlier, drank the little water that had accumulated from the spring. When the Prophet (a.s) arrived there, he found that the pit of the spring was empty of water. He asked the men about who arrived there first. The men took the names of the first arrivals. The Prophet (a.s) asked them if they were not warned not to drink the water before he arrived. Al-Tabari writes:

“Then the Prophet (a.s) cursed them.”[1]

The Prophet (a.s), noticing the scarcity of water, held his palms under the oozing water and the palms were full of it, he offered a prayer. And the water from his hand he poured into the pit. The prayer was answered and the spring started yielding water copiously. Everyone of the army quenched his thirst.

On the return journey, another sad event happened. When they reached `Uqbah Dhul-Fatr, they thought that the passage through the hills was tortuous and difficult. If the animals became restless, there was a likelihood of their falling into the ravines. The Prophet (a.s) announced that no one should take that route until his camel goes. But some persons conspired that they will disturb the Prophet’s camel to cause an accident. The Prophet (a.s) was astride his camel and Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman was holding the rope in the front, and `Ammar ibn Yasir was at the back. With the lightning they saw twelve riders, with faces covered, proceeding towards the ravine Hudhayfah pointed this out to the Prophet (a.s), and he reprimanded the group. Hudhayfah and `Ammar pushed back those twelve camels. The Prophet (a.s) asked Hudhayfah who these persons were. He expressed his ignorance. The Prophet (a.s) said that they were the hypocrites and will ever remain so. They

(296)

came with a view that they wanted to disturb my camel and cause its fall in the ravine. Then the Prophet (a.s) told the names of all the twelve culprits to Hudhayfah and asked him to keep the information a secret. But despite this warning, the information got revealed to some people. Once Imam al-Hasan (a.s) told Mu`awiyah ibn Abi-Sufyan:

“You will recall the day when some persons wanted the camel of the Prophet to fall into the ravine and these persons were twelve in number and one of them was Abū-Sufyan.”[1]

When the Prophet (a.s) was proceeding towards Tabūk, some deceptive persons came to him and said that they had constructed a mosque so that the diseased and disabled, who are unable to go long distances to the other mosques offer prayers there. They requested him to visit their mosque and offer prayer there. The Prophet (a.s) said that he was on an important journey then, and would visit the mosque some other time. When he returned from his journey to Tabūk and reached Dhi-`Awan near al-Madinah, the following verse was revealed:

وَالَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا مَسْجِدًا ضِرَارًا وَكُفْرًا وَتَفْرِيقًا بَيْنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَإِرْصَادًا لِمَنْ حَارَبَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَلَيَحْلِفُنَّ إِنْ أَرَدْنَا إِلَّا الْحُسْنَى وَاللَّهُ يَشْهَدُ إِنَّهُمْ لَكَاذِبُونَ .

“And those who built a masjid to cause harm and for unbelief and to cause disunion among the believers and an ambush to him who made war against Allah and His Messenger before; and they will certainly swear: We did not desire aught but good; and Allah bears witness that they are most surely liars. (9:107)

The Prophet (a.s) ordered Malik ibn Dakhsham and Ma`an ibn `Adi to dismantle that mosque.

The expedition to Tabūk was a very trying experience for the Muslims. They had to travel through the scorching heat of the desert leaving behind the gardens and the green fields. Only those were steadfast who preferred the Rewards of the Hereafter to the comforts of this life. Those who had accepted Islam to enjoy the power and pelf that they thought it will give them, were unable to bear the hardships of the journey and complained about it. The hypocrites therefore deserted the army at various stages and left a proof of their mindset. So far, they were able to hide their infidelity in the thick veneer

(297)

of hypocrisy. But now they were exposed. Therefore, this campaign is also called the disclosing campaign because it exposed the veneer of the hypocrites and they faced shame and ignominy. Even if they wanted to keep their hypocrisy in wraps at that moment, they could not have done it. They could have hidden their hypocrisy only if they had boldly come out of their homes, faced all the hardships of the journey and remained steadfast with the Prophet (a.s) all through the campaign. They could not do it, and thus they were exposed!

Ghazwah of Tabūk is the only campaign of the Prophet (a.s) in which `Ali (a.s) did not participate. But this was not because he did not want to be there in the war. It was the decision of the Prophet (a.s) to leave him behind in al-Madinah to take care of things that he would do while present there. This too was a responsibility like the jihad that `Ali (a.s) performed well. He maintained the law and order in al-Madinah efficiently and effectively.

Whenever the Prophet (a.s) traveled out of al-Madinah he appointed someone to take charge of the administration of the city. The person used to be given the position of an ordinary governor or administrator. But `Ali’s appointment was of a different nature. He told him that his status, in the eyes of the Prophet (a.s), was the same as that of Harūn (a.s) for Mūsa (a.s). Harūn (a.s) was the caliph and Successor of Mūsa (a.s)! The Holy Qur’an therefore says about the prayer of Mūsa (a.s):

وَاجْعَلْ لِي وَزِيرًا مِنْ أَهْلِي هَارُونَ أَخِي اشْدُدْ بِهِ أَزْرِي وَأَشْرِكْهُ فِي أَمْرِي.

“And give to me an aider from my family Harūn, my brother Strengthen my back by him and associate him (with me) in my affair. (20:29-32)”

The Prophet (a.s) terming `Ali (a.s) as the equivalent of Harūn (a.s) proved that as Harūn (a.s) was the Caliph and Vicegerent of Mūsa (a.s) so was `Ali (a.s) his own Vicegerent. Saying that Mūsa (a.s) nominated Harūn (a.s) his successor for a short while, and so was the appointment of `Ali (a.s) temporary is not correct. But the question arises, why Mūsa (a.s) did not appoint anyone else instead of Harūn (a.s)? The answer is that he was the most superior and the most competent to be the successor and the vicegerent of Mūsa (a.s). So was `Ali (a.s) the most superior and the most competent to be the Prophet’s Caliph and Vicegerent!