Tabuk-The Test Of Faith
News of the growing power of the Muslims, as more and more of Arabia
followed the Prophet (pbuh), eventually reached Heraclius, Emperor of
the Eastern Roman Empire. The Romans saw the uniting of the Arabs in
Islam as a possible threat to their Empire and the Emperor's advisors
and generals, therefore, decided that the best thing to do would be
to
attack the Muslims from the north and east at the same time and
destroy Islam once and for all.
Two years had passed since Heraclius had told them of the Prophet's
letter asking them to submit to Islam, but just as then, they were in
no mood now to listen to such ideas. When the Prophet (pbuh) heard of
the Romans' plans, he decided that it would be better to meet the
Roman army in Tabuk,
some 500 kilometers form Medinah on the route to Syria, than to await
an attack on Medinah. One reason for this decision was that the
Prophet (pbuh) felt that if the Muslims were defeated at Medinah, the
city as well as the army would be taken, which would mean the end of
Islam. This was a very hard decision for him to make because not only
was Tabuk a very long way away, but it was also harvest time and a
particularly hot year. Added to this was the fact that the enemy had
an enormous army. Now at this time there were some people living in
Medinah who were not true believers. They were called 'hypocrites'
because they pretended to believe but hid what was truly in their
hearts. When the Prophet (pbuh) invited everyone to war, these
hypocrites tried to create fear and doubt among the Muslims, saying
'How can we hope to defeat the Romans whose great empire stretches
over vast areas of the world? And even if we could, we will not get
the chance because the long journey and the heat will defeat us
first.
In any case,
our crops and fruits are ready to be harvested; how can we leave
them?
We will be ruined if we do!'

All that the hypocrites said severely tested the Muslims. Who would
continue to fight for his religion against such odds? Who would have
the courage to give his wealth to help equip an army? This test of
faith would indeed show who the true Muslims were. On this question,
Allah revealed the following verse:
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
"O you who believe! What aileth you that when it is said unto you: Go
forth in the way of Allah, you are bowed down to the ground with
heaviness. Do you take pleasure in the life of the world rather than
in the Hereafter? The comfort of the life of the world is but little
in the Hereafter". (Koran lx.38)
To form and equip an army the Prophet (pbuh) needed a great deal of
money and despite all that the hypocrites had said, many Muslims,
especially the Prophet's close friends,
were willing to help. 'Uthman Ibn 'Affan, for instance, generously
provided horses and arms for ten thousand soldiers and Abu Bakr gave
all that he had in the world. 'Umar, too, gave a great deal, and in
this way the Prophet (pbuh) was able to equip an army of forty
thousand soldiers.
Finally everything was ready but just as they were about to leave,
seven more men came to the Prophet (pbuh) to ask if they could go
with
him. Unfortunately, he had to refuse because there were no animals
for
them to ride. The seven men were so upset that they wept as they
left.
With nothing more to be done, the army moved off, but just then
several spare camels were found. On learning of this, the Prophet
(pbuh) sent for the seven men, who were overjoyed to find that they
could join him in his fight.


By now the Romans had heard that the Muslims were coming out to meet
them. They felt even more sure of victory when they heard this
because
they believed that it would be quite impossible for an army to cross
a
waterless desert in the scorching summer sun.
Even if by some miracle the Muslims succeeded, they would be so
exhausted that it would be easy to defeat them.
As it happed the heat was so intense and the journey so difficult
that
several Muslims did turn back. The Prophet (pbuh) and most of the
others, however, continued until they finally ran out of water. The
expedition now seemed hopeless as the men grew thirstier and
thirstier. The Prophet (pbuh) prayed to Allah for help and, as he
finished his prayer, the first drops of rain came splashing down. The
rain continued to fall until all the Muslims had drunk their fill.
That night they slept soundly for the first time in days, refreshed
by
the water and confident that Bilal would wake them as usual for the
dawn prayer. But Bilal slept so deeply that he did not wake up. It
was
the first time that the Muslims had missed a prayer and they were
very
upset. The Prophet (pbuh), however, was not angry with Bilal and told
the Muslims that they need not be upset because they had not
intentionally missed the prayer.
The Prophet (pbuh) and his army continued their trek across the
desert
and finally arrived at the oasis of Tabuk. When they got there,
however, they were surprised to find that the Roman army had
retreated
in fear on hearing of the miraculous crossing of the desert by the
Muslims. The Prophet (pbuh) waited at the oasis for a while but when
it became apparent that the Romans were not going to fight, he gave
the order to return home. The enemy was not pursued because the
Prophet (pbuh) only fought when attacked. The long march to Tabuk had
been yet another test of faith for the Muslims. Even so, there were
still some among those who made that heroic journey who were
hypocrites, pretending to be sincere while being enemies of Islam in
their hearts. No one could have suspected that anyone who had made
that journey across the desert with the Prophet (pbuh) would be an
enemy of his.
Realizing this,


several hypocrites plotted to kill the Prophet (pbuh) by pushing him
off the top of a high, rocky passage that ran between the mountains
of
'Aqabah. Before the army reached this rocky passage, however, Allah
warned the Prophet (pbuh) about this wicked plan. The Prophet (pbuh),
therefore, ordered the entire army to travel through the valley while
he and his two guards went by way of the cliff. As the plotters
approached, he shouted to them so that they could see that he knew of
their plan, whereupon they quickly ran back to the army and tried to
hide among the rest of the soldiers.
Later, the Prophet (pbuh) gathered his followers around him and told
them what had happened. He picked out the men who had plotted against
him and even told them the exact words they had spoken to each other.
Some of the Prophet's companions said that these men should be
killed,
but the Prophet (pbuh) forgave them. As soon as he arrived back in
Medinah, the Prophet (pbuh) went to the mosque and prayed. Many of
the
hypocrites and the lukewarm who had not gone with him to Tabuk came
to
give their reasons for not having done so.