Asalam alaykum warahmatullah wabarakatuhu! TODAYS ANSWER(50):The last battle in which the Prophet(SAW) took part in was the BATTLE OF TABUK! Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) or may be Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: On the day of the battle of Tabuk, the Muslims were hard pressed by hunger and they asked Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam): O Messenger of Allah, grant us permission to slaughter our camels to eat and use their fat. He (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) accorded permission. On this `Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) came and said: O Messenger of Allah, if it is done, we shall suffer from lack of transportation. I suggest you pool together whatever has been left and supplicate Allah to bless it. Allah will bestow His Blessing upon it. Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) agreed and called for leather mat and had it spread out, and asked people to bring the provisions left over. They started doing it. One brought a handful of corn, another brought a handful of dates, a third brought a piece of bread; thus some provisions were collected on the mat. Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) invoked blessings, and then said, Now take it up in your vessels. Everyone filled his vessel with food, so that there was not left a single empty vessel in the whole camp. All of them ate to their fill and there was still some left over. Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) said, Any slave who meets Allah, testifying there is no true god except Allah, and that I am His Messenger, without entertaining any doubt about these (two fundamentals), will not be banished from entering Jannah. [Muslim] BATTLE OF TABUK The lofty and strong fort, which had been built by the side of a spring on the road leading from Hijr to Damascus in the border area of the territory of Syria, was called Tabuk. In those times Syria was one of the colonies of the Eastern Roman Empire. Its capital was Constantinople. Its frontier people were the followers of Christianity and the chiefs of the districts were satellites of the Ruler of Syria who himself took orders directly from the Roman Emperor. The rapid penetration and expansion of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula and the brilliant conquests by the Muslims in the Hijaz were being noticed in areas beyond the Hijaz, and were making their enemies tremble and think of ways and means to check this tide. The fall of the Government of Makkah, the adoption of Islam by the prominent chiefs of the Hijaz, and the bravery and sacrifices of the Muslim warriors, made the Roman Emperor decide to launch a surprise attack on the Muslims with the help of a well-equipped army, because he felt his empire to be in grave danger on account of the extraordinary influence and expansion of Islam. He was very much afraid of the increase in the military and political power of the Muslims. In those days Rome was the only powerful adversary of Iran and possessed the greatest political and military strength. It was very proud on account of the victories which it had achieved against Iran and the defeat which it had inflicted on the Iranian army. The Roman army, which consisted of 4000 mounted soldiers and infantry-men and was equipped with the armour of the latest model available in those times, encamped in the frontier strip of Syria. The tribes residing in the border areas (like the tribes of Lakham, Amilah, Ghassan and Jazam) also joined them and the vanguard of the army advanced up to Balqa.[624] News about the encampment of a group of the Roman soldiers in the frontier strip of Syria reached the Prophet through the caravans, which were travelling between the Hijaz and Syria in connection with trade. He found no alternative except to give a reply to the aggressors with a big army and to protect, from the surprise attacks of the enemy, the religion, which had spread at the cost of the lives of the dear ones of Islam, and of his personal sacrifices, and had since taken root, and was about to spread throughout the world. This unpleasant news reached him at a time when the people of Madina had not yet properly collected their produce, and the dates were about to ripen, and Madina and its suburbs were, so to say, in the grip of a sort of famine. However, for the godly persons the spiritual life and the protection of high ideals, and jihad in the path of Allah are preferable to everything else. INVITING WARRIORS AND PROCURING EXPENSES OF WAR The Prophet was aware to some extent of the capability and experience of the enemy and was sure that besides necessitating spiritual capital (viz. faith in Allah and fighting for the sake of Allah), victory in this battle also depended on a big army. Keeping this fact in view he sent men to Makkah as well as to the areas adjoining Madina to invite Muslims to fight in the path of Allah and also to ask well-to-do Muslims to provide for the expenses of war by making payment of zakat. Soon after the proclamation made by the Prophet, 30,000 persons declared their readiness to participate in the battle and gathered in the camping ground of Madina (Thaniyya tul Wida). The expenses of war were provided by collecting zakat. Out of these 30,000 men, 10,000 were mounted soldiers and the remaining 20,000 were infantry-men. Later the Prophet ordered that every tribe should choose a standard for itself.[625] PERSONS OPPOSED TO PARTICIPATION IN THE BATTLE The Battle of Tabuk was the best occasion on which the self-sacrificing persons and the pretenders and hypocrites could be recognized, because general mobilization was ordered when the weather was very hot and the business community of Madina was ready to harvest the palm-dates. Refusal of some of them, on various pretexts, to take part in the battle cast off the veil from their real faces and Quranic verses were revealed condemning their action. All these verses are contained in Surah al-Tawbah. Some persons declined to take part in this sacred jihad for the following reasons: 1. When the Prophet proposed Jadd bin Qays, who was an influential man, for joining the army against the Romans, he replied thus: I have a fanatical attachment with women. I am, therefore, afraid that I may chance to see Roman women and may not be able to control myself. On having heard this childish excuse of his the Prophet decided to leave him alone and to contact others. Jadd was condemned by Allah in this verse: Some of them ask you, Make us exempt from taking part in the battle and do not try to tempt us by telling what we may gain from the battle; many people have died in the battle. Hell certainly encompasses the unbelievers. (Surah al-Tawbah, 9:49). 2. The hypocrites: those persons, who had ostensibly embraced Islam but had, in fact, no interest in it, were preventing the people on different pretexts from taking part in this jihad. At times they put forth the excuse that the weather was very hot. The Divine revelation replied to their objection in these words: Say: The fire of Hell is much severer in heat, if they but understood. (Surah al-Tawbah, 9:81). There were some persons who frightened the Muslims of participation in this battle and said: The Arabs are not competent to fight with the Romans and consequently all the participants in the battle will be tied with ropes and sold in the free markets .[626] Discovery of the centre of espionage in Madina: The great leader of Islam attached great importance to intelligence reports and half of his victories were the result of prior information about the conditions of the enemies and the mischief-mongers. By this means he nipped many of their satanic deeds and anti-Islamic schemes in the bud. A report was received by the Prophet that the house of a Jew named Suwaylam had become the centre of anti-Islamic activities and the hypocrites gathered there and chalked out schemes to prevent the Muslims from participating in this sacred jihad. The Prophet therefore, decided to frighten the conspirators in such a way that they might not entertain any such satanic thoughts in future. He ordered Talhah bin Ubaydullah to go with some brave companions and set the house of Suwaylam on fire while their meeting was in progress. As directed by the Prophet, Talhah set the house on fire when the conspirators were busy discussing anti-Islamic plans. All of them ran away from the flames of fire and one of them injured his foot. This action was so effective that it served as a great lesson to the hypocrites for the future.[627] A group of persons who shed tears: some of the companions of the Prophet, who were very keen to take part in this sacred jihad came and requested him to provide them facilities for the journey so that they could discharge that sacred religious duty. When the Prophet told them that he did not possess any animal for riding which he might place at their disposal, they wept bitterly and tears trickled down their faces. If there were some persons amongst the companions of the Prophet who conspired or indulged in hindrances or coined excuses, there were also others amongst them, who were anxious to participate in jihad, which at times costs one ones life, and non-participation in it made them weep bitterly. In the terminology of history these persons are called criers and the Quran makes a mention of their faith in these words: Those who come to you (Muhammad) asking to be taken to the battle, but you cannot find the necessary means for them, are exempt from the duty of fighting for the cause of Allah, even though they leave you with their eyes flooded with tears because of not being able to help the cause of Allah. (Surah al-Tawbah, 9:92).[628] 3. Another group consisted of persons like Kab, Hilal and Mararah who had full faith in Islam and were also desirous of participating in jihad, but as they had not yet collected their produce they decided that after collecting the produce they would join the warriors of Islam. In the terminology of the Holy Quran (vide Surah al-Tawbah, 9:118) they are the same three violators who were severely reprimanded by the Prophet on return from Tabuk and the rebuke administered to them also served as an example for others. ALI DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN THIS BATTLE One of the distinctions of the Commander of the Faithful is that he accompanied the Prophet and was his standard-bearer in all Islamic battles except in the Battle of Tabuk, he stayed in Madina and did not participate in jihad under the orders of the Prophet himself. The Prophet took this decision, because he knew very well that the hypocrites and some persons from amongst Quraysh were seeking an opportunity to bring about disorder and topple the newly established Islamic Government in his absence. Tabuk was the farthest point to which the Prophet travelled in connection with the battles in which he participated. He realized perfectly that it was possible that during his absence anti-Islamic groups might create disturbance and might call their sympathizers from different places to join them for the success of their nefarious schemes. Hence, although he had nominated Muhammad bin Maslamah to act as his representative in Madina during his absence, he also said to Ali: You are the guardian of the Ahl al-Bayt and my kinsfolk and the group of the Muhajirs, and none except myself and you is suited for this task. The stay of the Commander of the Faithful in Madina upset the conspirators very much, because they realized that they could not put their schemes into practice in the presence of Ali who was continuously vigilant. Hence, in order to ensure the exit of Ali from Madina, they decided upon another plan and circulated the rumour that the Prophet had asked Ali very earnestly to take part in jihad but the latter had declined to participate in this sacred battle on account of the very long journey and excessively hot weather. In order to contradict these people Ali saw the Prophet and placed the matter before him. At this moment the Prophet uttered his historical sentence which is a clear proof of Alis Imamate and his immediate succession as Caliph after the demise of the Prophet. He said: O my brother! Return to Madina, because none is more suited to preserve the dignity and position of Madina than myself and you. You are my representative amongst the Ahl al-Bayt and my kinsfolk. Dont you feel happy when I say that your relationship with me is similar to the one which existed between Harun and Musa except that no prophet will come after me. Just as Harun was the immediate successor of Prophet Musa you are my successor and Caliph after me.[629] THE ARMY OF ISLAM PROCEEDS TOWARDS TABUK The usual practice of the Prophet was that, while performing a journey to chastise a people, who obstructed the advancement of Islam, or intended to attack the Muslims, or had evil designs against them, he did not make his aims and objects known to the officers and the soldiers, and made the army march through comparatively unfrequented routes. Thus he did not let the enemies become aware of his intentions and came upon them absolutely unawares.[630] However, in order to rout the Roman forces, who had collected on the frontiers of Syria to attack the Muslim territories, he made his aim clearly known to all concerned on the very day the general mobilization was proclaimed. The point in doing so was that the mujahids (warriors) should become aware of the importance of the journey and the hardships involved on the way, and should carry sufficient provisions with them. Furthermore, in order to strengthen the army of Islam, the Prophet was obliged to seek help from the tribes of Tamim, Ghatfan and Tayyi and they were residing at far-off places from Madina. In view of this the Prophet wrote letters to the chiefs of these tribes and also wrote a letter to Atab bin Usayd, the young Governor of Makkah, and invited the tribes as well as the Makkans to partake in this sacred jihad[631] as extension of such a general invitation was not possible secretly. Hence it was necessary that he should make the particulars of the expedition and its importance clearly known to the chiefs of the tribes so that they might place sufficient provisions and animals for riding at the disposal of their mujahids. MARCH PAST OF THE ARMY BEFORE THE PROPHET The day for the departure of the army of Islam arrived. On that day the Prophet reviewed his troops in the army headquarters of Madina. The magnificent scene of the march past of the faithful and self-sacrificing men who had preferred, for the sake of their objective, hardships and death to comfort and worldly gains with enthusiasm and faith, impressed the audience. At the time of departure the Prophet addressed the soldiers to strengthen their morale, and explained to them his aim in ordering general mobilization. Then the soldiers proceeded towards the prescribed route. THE STORY OF MALIK BIN QAYS After the army of Islam had marched off Malik bin Qays returned to Madina from his journey. It was very hot on that day. He found that loneliness prevailed over Madina and came to know about the departure of the soldiers of Islam. In the meantime he arrived in his garden and saw that his beautiful wife had erected a shade for him. He cast a glance at the attractive face of his wife and also stared a little at the food and water which she had prepared for him. Thereafter he thought of the painful difficulties of the Prophet and his companions who were proceeding to perform jihad in the path of Allah and to face death in such a hot weather. Then he decided not to avail of the water and food prepared by his wife or the shade erected by her but to ride his animal immediately, and join the army of Islam as early as possible. He, therefore, turned to his wife and said: It is not at all fair that I should take rest under this shade along with my spouse and eat delicious food, and drink cold and wholesome water, whereas my master should be proceeding for jihad in such scorching heat. No. This doesnt accord with justice and the rules of friendship, and faith and sincerity dont permit me to do so. He said these words, picked up some small provisions for the journey and went his way. On the way he met Umar bin Wahab, who, it would appear, lagged behind the Islamic army, and both of them reached the Prophet when he was at Tabuk.[632] READ MORE:ummah/forum/showthread.php?248205-The-Battle-of-Tabuk
Posted on: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 19:47:02 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015