SOME OF THE tribes still suffered from the delusion that the rise of Islam was transient like a cloudburst, whose shower would be stemmed before long. It was necessary to warn or even threaten such people before they took an opportunity to clench their fist at the Muslims. The expedition of Tabūk[1] had the desired effect on such lukewarm tribes, in much the same way as the conquest of Makkah had gone a long way in clearing away the clouds of opposition. This expedition against the Byzantine Empire whose might and magnificence was well known to the Arabs, virtually meant that the Muslims were ready to fling down the gauntlet even to the greatest power of the day. The esteem in which the Arabs held the Byzantines, whom they called Romans, is well illustrated by Abū Sufyān’s remark after he had seen Heraclius rendering honour to the Apostle’s letter sent through Dihyah ibn Khalifah al-Kalbi. He had heard Heraclius say that he, too, expected a prophet to be born. Abū Sufyān had then got up, as he related later on, rubbing his hands and saying that the affair of Ibn Abī Kabshah[2] (i.e. the Prophet) had become so great that the king of the Romans dreaded him. Abū Sufyan further said that he was then convinced that the Apostle would ultimately emerge victorious and this was how Islam took root in his heart.[3]
The Arabs could not then dream of attacking the Byzantine Empire. Rather, they either feared a Byzantine invasion or did not consider themselves so significant as to be coveted by any great power. Whenever the Muslims of Madīnah were faced with a grave danger or felt their safety compromised, their minds went to the attack of Ghassān who were under East Syria and Caesar. What ‘Umar said during the affair of Iliyā’, which took place in the beginning of 8 AH, throws sufficient light on the state of affairs in those days. He says that he had an Anṣāri friend with whom he had arranged that one of them should alternately remain in attendance upon the Prophet and inform the other about the incidents happening in his absence. ‘Umar further says that in those days they were alarmed by a rumour that the Ghassānid King intended to invade Madīnah and were thus constantly agitated by it. Once, when his Anṣāri friend came to his house and knocked at his door asking him to open it, ‘Umar enquired of his friend if the Ghassānids had attacked Madīnah.[4]
Byzantine was in the ascendant in those days. Its armies had, under Heraclius, dealt a death blow to the Persian forces and carried their arms to the Persian capital. The glorious victory was celebrated by the Emperor’s stately march from Himṣ[5] to Iliyā’[6] in the seventh year of the hijrah. Heraclius himself carried, in the guise of a penitent pilgrim, the True Cross retrieved from the Persians while carpets were spread and rose water sprinkled beneath his feet all over the path by the people who went forth to meet their hero with tears and acclamations. Hardly two years had passed after this splendid victory of the Emperor of the Romans, when the Apostle led an army to face him. The Apostle’s daring venture made such a deep impression on the minds of the Arabs that it would be no exaggeration to claim that the expedition of Tabūk served as a prelude to the conquest of Syria during the reign of Abū Bakr and ‘Umar. The expedition of Tabūk really ignited the train of victories which eventually made the Muslims masters of Syria.
What was the starting point of this expedition? It is related that the Apostle got reports of Byzantine forces converging on the northern frontiers of Arabia with the intention of mounting an attack on the Muslims. Ibn Sa’d and Wāqidi are on record that the Apostle was informed by the Nabataeans that Heraclius, after stocking a year’s provisions for his army and drafting the pro-Byzantine tribes of the Lakhm, Judhām, ‘Āmilah and Ghassān under his banner, intended to come upon him and that his advance columns had already reached Balqā’.
Even if we ignore this report, it can hardly be said that the purpose of the expedition was to strike terror into the neighbouring power which was a potential source of danger to the rising power of Islam. The Apostle intended to warn the Byzantines that they should not consider the Muslims weak nor should they take any precipitate action to violate their territorial sovereignty. The expedition was thus a warning sign since one with insufficient strength would not shake his fist at a great power nor could one take the risk of descending on its borders. It is certain, at all events, that the true purpose of the expedition was what the revelation, (revealed during the expedition of Tabūk) in this connection has explained in these words:
O you who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are near to you and let them find harshness in you, and know that Allāh is with those who keep their duty (unto Him).[7]
This objective was more than achieved as was subsequently borne out by the far-reaching consequences of the expedition. No retaliatory action was taken, nor were any Byzantine detachments moved to their borders to drive back the Muslim army. The Emperor, exhausted by his Persian campaigns, remained an impotent spectator to the raid on his confederate border tribes or perhaps he thought it fit to wait and see before taking up arms against the new power rising in the East.
The pro-Byzantine Christian tribes in northern Arabia were impressed by the first rattle of the new Arabian power. This was a great advantage accruing from the expedition of Tabūk for it made these tribes shift their allegiance from Constantinople to Madīnah which eventually led them to the acceptance of the religious aspect of the Islamic power. The expedition also went a long way to drive home the reality that the rise of Islam was not a momentary success, fated to burst like a bubble, as some of the Arabs had assumed, but that it was solid as a rock with a great future lying ahead of it. In fact, severance of the ties between these border tribes and Byzantium served as a precedent before they could pay attention to Islam, the new source of power and strength which was taking root and raising its head in their own homeland. The divine revelation too makes an allusion to this aspect of the expedition in a verse of Surah at-Tawbah:
Nor step they any step that angers the disbelievers, nor gain they from the enemy a gain, but a good deed is recorded for them therefore.[8]
The battle of Mu’tah was still fresh in the minds of the Byzantines who had failed to humble the Muslim army in spite of their vastly superior numbers. The Muslims, on the other hand, having once measured swords with the Byzantines, had overcome their traditional terror of the impregnable Roman legions.
In short, the expedition of Tabūk was a landmark in the life of the Prophet as well as in the onward march of the Islamic mission for it had a far-reaching effect on the future course of events leading to the glorious conquests of Islam that were yet to come.
THE TIME OF EXPEDITION
The Tabūk campaign was undertaken in the month of Rajab, 9 AH.[9] It was the time when the date crop had ripened and the shade of the trees was pleasant. The Apostle undertook a long journey for the Tabūk expedition and traversed deserts and arid plains to face an enemy vastly superior in numbers. As the Muslims were then passing through a period of drought, the Apostle told the Companions beforehand, unlike on previous occasions that he intended to attack the Byzantines so that they might make suitable preparations.[10]
The hypocrites fell out on different pretexts. They either disliked strenuous war against the powerful enemy or disliked to go out in the oppressive heat. They even doubted the truth and had little interest in fighting for the sake of God, so they refrained from accompanying the Apostle on this occasion. Such disaffected persons were admonished by God in this wise:
Those who were left behind rejoiced at sitting still behind the messenger of Allāh, and were averse to striving with their wealth and their lives in Allāh’s way. And they said: Go not forth in the heat! Say: The heat of hell is more intense of heat, if they but understood.[11]
ENTHUSIASM OF THE MUSLIMS
The Apostle took particular care to make preparations for the expedition. He urged the affluent Companions to donate handsomely to the campaign with the result that many a well-to-do Companion made lavish contributions to it. ‘Uthmān spent one thousand dinārs on the force known as the brigade of distress or Jaysh al-‘Usr and the Apostle invoked God’s blessings for him. A number of Companions who were unable to raise money for their mounts asked the Apostle to help them. As, however, their requests could not be met for want of funds, the Apostle expressed his inability to fulfil their requests and they returned disconsolate and disheartened. Some of them were so sorrow-stricken and depressed that God sent down the revelation exempting them from the duty of joining the expedition:
Nor on those (is any blame) whom, when they came to you (asking) that you should mount them, you did say: I cannot find whereon to mount you. They turned back with eyes flowing with tears, for sorrow that they could not find the means to spend.[12]
There were still others who could not make up their mind to participate in the campaign although their indecision was not because of any doubt or misgivings.
THE ARMY’S DEPARTURE FOR TABŪK
The Apostle set out from Madīnah for Tabūk with an army 30,000 strong. In no other expedition to Tabūk had such a large number of men shouldered arms. Before the departure, the Apostle ordered the men to pitch their camp at Thaniyât al-Wadā’. He put Muhammad ibn Maslamah al-Anṣāri in charge of Madīnah and left behind ‘Ali to look after his family. When ‘Ali complained to the Apostle that the hypocrites were going about spreading false rumours about him, he replied, “Are you not content ‘Ali that you are to me as Harūn[13] was to Mūsā,[14] except that there will be no prophet after me?”[15]
When the Apostle made camp in al-Hjir, the land of Thamūd, he told the Companions that it was the country of those who were being tortured for their sins. He said, “If you enter the houses of those who did wrong to themselves, enter tearfully with the fear that you might also meet the same fate that befell them.”[16] He also instructed his men, “Do not drink any of its water nor use it for ablutions. If you have used any for dough, then feed it to the camels and eat none of it.”
The journey was extremely arduous; the scarcity of water added to the misery of the army. When the men complained to the Apostle about their distress, he prayed to God and a cloud sent down torrents until every man had quenched his thirst and stored enough water to meet his needs.[17]
DEMORALISED HYPOCRITES
Some of the hypocrites kept company with the Apostle. While the Muslim army was on its way to Tabūk, one of them said to another, alluding to the Apostle, “Do you think that the executioners of the Romans will deal with you in the same way as the Arabs do? By God, we seem to see you bound with ropes tomorrow.”[18]
TREATY OF PEACE WITH AYLAH’S RULER
Yuḥannah ibn Ruʿbah, the governor of Aylah called upon the Apostle at Tabūk. Yūḥannah made a treaty of peace and also paid the poll-tax (jizyah). Similarly the people of Jarbaʿ and Adhrah paid the tax, and in return they were all granted peace as well as a guarantee for the safety of their territory and their ships and caravans by land and sea. The treaties were signed by the Apostle and delivered to the parties. The Apostle received Yūḥannah cordially showing him due respect.[19]
BACK TO MADĪNAH
Byzantium did not stir. When the Apostle saw that there was no movement of troops by the enemy who seemed to have abandoned the border towns, he gave orders for the return march. The objective of the expedition having been achieved, the Prophet did not consider it necessary to advance further into enemy territory to carry on hostilities. Only one Christian chieftain, Ukaydir ibn Abd al-Malik, who was the ruler of Dūmat al-Jandal[20] and enjoyed the patronage of the Byzantines, was reported to be harbouring hostile designs. The Apostle sent Khalid with five hundred troops who captured Ukaydir and brought him to the Apostle. The Prophet, however, spared his life on the condition that he surrendered unconditionally and agreed to pay the poll-tax.[21]
After staying for a few nights in Tabūk, the Apostle returned to Madinah.[22]
FUNERAL OF A POOR MUSLIM
Abdullah Dhū ‘l-Bijādayn died at Tabūk. He had been very eager to accept Islam but his tribesmen had prevented him from converting. At last they turned him out with only one coarse sheet of cloth in which he repaired to call upon the Apostle. By the time he came to the Apostle the sheet of cloth had been torn into two pieces, one of which was used by him as a loincloth and the other he had wrapped over him. He was known as Dhū ‘l-Bijādayn from the day he appeared before the Apostle in that condition.
When he died at Tabūk the Apostle took part in his burial along with Abū Bakr and ‘Umar. By the light of a torch that someone held aloft, a grave was dug for him and the Apostle himself went down into it to lay him at rest. While Abū Bakr and ‘Umar let down the corpse of Abdullah Dhū ‘l-Bijādayn, the Apostle said to them, “Bring your brother nearer to me.” After the Apostle had arranged ‘Abdullah in his niche, he said, “O God, I am pleased with him; be Thou pleased with him!” ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ūd used to say thereafter, “Would that I had been the man in that grave.”[23]
TRIAL OF KA’B IBN MĀLIK
Among those Muslims who had stayed behind in the expedition of Tabūk, not because of any doubt or disaffection, were Ka’b ibn Malik, Murārah ibn ar-Rabī’ and Hilāl ibn Umayyah. All of them had accepted Islam in the earlier stage of the Prophet’s mission and undergone hardships for the sake of their faith. Murārah ibn ar-Rabī’ and Hilāl ibn Umayyah had also taken part in the battle of Badr. In fact, none of them had ever been remiss in accompanying the Apostle in the previous battles, and, therefore, their failure to do so in the expedition of Tabūk could have been brought about only by the Will of Providence which perhaps wanted to set another example of severe trial to test the strength of their faith for the benefit and example for the coming generations. They had been held back on this occasion partly on account of indolence and indecision and partly, because of their placing reliance on worldly means and objects, or, perhaps, they had not given thought to the urgency of the matter as it deserved. These are common human failings which have very often let down those who have been second to none in the sincerity of their faith in God and the love of His Apostle. In fact, this is the moral so pointedly illustrated by these words of Ka’b ibn Mālik.
Every day I would go out to get ready for the journey so that I might leave with them, but I would come back having done nothing. I would say to myself, ‘I can do that whenever I want to’, but continued procrastinating until the time for departure came and the Apostle of God left with the Muslims. And I had still not made necessary preparations. I thought that I could go after a day or two and then catch up with them. I went to make the preparations after they had left but again returned without having done what was necessary. Day after day passed, until I became sluggish while the army had gone far ahead at full speed. I still thought of leaving Madīnah to overtake them and I wish that I had done so, but I did not.[24]
All the three Companions were called upon to prove, in a way unknown in the annals of any religion, the sincerity of their faith in God and their love for the Apostle. It was undoubtedly, an excruciating trial of their loyalty to Islam, of their perseverance and tenacity, in times of ease as well as in difficulty, in cheer as well as in despondency.
There is also not the least doubt that all these true-spirited Companions spoke the truth when the hypocrites had offered excuses for justifying their absence from the expedition.
The incident as related in the traditions, on the authority of Ka’b ibn Mālik, continues with a narrative bespeaking his sincerity:
Those who had stayed behind came and began to make excuses with oaths. There were about eighty of them and the Apostle accepted their pleas, administered oaths to them and asked divine forgiveness for them, leaving what they had concealed in their hearts to God. Then I came and saluted him and he smiled as one who is angry. He said, “Come nearer.” I went and sat before him. Then he asked, “What had kept you back? Did you not purchase a mount?” I replied, “By God, it was exactly so. O Apostle of God, were I sitting with anyone else in the world I would have thought of offering some excuse for saving myself from his anger for I know how to argue and justify myself but, true to God, I know that if I were to satisfy you by telling a lie, God will soon make you angry with me. And if I displease you now by telling the truth, I have hopes that God will pardon me in the end. Honest to God, I have no excuse at all and I was never stronger and richer than when I stayed behind.
The hour of trial came at last. The Apostle forbade everyone to speak to the three who had made a clean breast. Such were those Muslims, who knew nothing but to listen and obey the Apostle, that not even the members of their own families would address a word to these men. All the three felt forsaken and abandoned, as if they were alone in an alien country. They endured it for fifty nights. Murārah ibn ar-Rabi and Hilāl ibn Umayyah shut themselves up in their houses, lamenting and shedding tears all the while. Kāʿb ibn Mālik was, however, young and sturdy. He would go out and join the prayers with others, roam about in the market, but nobody seemed willing to keep company or talk to him.
But the aloofness did not cause to increase the distance between them and the Apostle of God. Nor was there any diminution in the loving regard that the Apostle had for them. The admonition by the Apostle rather gave rise to a still more acute longing in them to regain the affection of the Prophet. The narration of Kāʿb ibn Mālik, which bears the savour of the plain truth, goes on to say:
And I would go to the Apostle and salute him when he sat with others after the prayer, thinking whether his lips had moved in returning my salutation or not. Then I would pray near him and see him with half an eye. I marked that he fastened his eyes on me when I was busy in prayers but he turned away from me as soon as I tried to take a look at him.
The wide world seemed to have closed in on these men. Kāʿb ibn Mālik relates about the behaviour of one whom he considered to be his inseparable friend.
When the harshness of the people became unbearable, I scaled the wall of Abū Qatādah’s orchard and went to him. He was my cousin and held dearest by me. I greeted him but, by God, he did not even return my salutation. I said: “O Abū Qatādah, I adjure you by God, do you not know that I love God and His Apostle?” But he still kept quiet, so I repeated my question again. He remained silent for a while and then said: “God and His Apostle know best!” At that my eyes gave way to tears and I jumped back over the wall.[25]
The ordeal, however, did not come to a close at that. The ban was extended to their wives and the three were ordered to separate themselves from their wives, though without divorcing them. All of them obediently yielded to the command.
The faith and loyalty and firmness of Kaʿb ibn Mālik was brought to a yet more delicate and crucial test when the king of Ghassān tried to angle him with a silver hook. He was the ruler of a kingdom that had exercised a deep influence upon the Arabs. The Arab nobles and chieftains vied with one another to enter the circle of his entourage, or even to be invited to attend his court, and eminent poets composed splendid eulogies in the honour of Ghassānid kings.[26] A Nabataean courier of the king contacted Kaʿb ibn Mālik when the Apostle’s aloofness and the coolness of the people to him had become agonising enough to drive him mad. The courier delivered him a letter from the king in which he had written: “We have learnt that your master has treated you badly. God has not destined you to be humiliated and wasted, so come to us and we shall deal kindly with you.”
Kaʿb took the letter as a challenge to his integrity. His conscience smote him to the point of provoking his love for God and His Apostle, and so he took the letter to an oven and burnt it.
Their test was over at last. None of the three was found wanting. Then came the revelation from God that illustrated their personal example to make it a general lesson, good for all times to come. They had demonstrated by their action that solace and refuge could not be found by fleeing from God, but rather only in coming back to Him. The spacious earth of God had become straitened for them; in their own souls they had a feeling of constraint, but they did not sway from the right path. Then it was that God forgave them and took them back into His grace. But a noteworthy feature of the verses revealed on this occasion was that the Most Gracious God did not make a mention of the repentance of these three persons lest they might feel singled out and humiliated. Their penitence was spoken of after mentioning the contrition of the Apostle and other Mūhājirīn and Anṣār who had been ready and willing to take part in the expedition. The revelation goes to show that whatever sufferings and hardships they had endured had raised their degree in the spiritual world.
Allāh has turned in mercy to the Prophet, and to the Mūhājirīn and the Anṣār who followed him in the hour of hardship. After the hearts of a party of them had almost swerved aside, then turned He unto them in mercy. Lo! He is full of pity, merciful toward them. And to the three also (did He turn in mercy) who were left behind, when the earth, vast as it is, was straitened for them, and their own souls were straitened for them till they bethought them that there is no refuge from Allāh save toward Him. Then turned He unto them in mercy that they (too) might turn (repentant unto Him). Lo! Allāh! He is the Relenting, the Merciful.[27]
THE EXPEDITIONS AT A GLANCE
The expedition of Tabūk, which took place in the month of Rajab, 9 AH, was the last campaign during the lifetime of the Apostle. The number of his battles was twenty-seven while he is reported to have sent out sixty forays and expeditions[28] although no fighting had taken place in many of them.
Never in the history of human conflict had any conqueror shed so little blood and been crowned with such a remarkable success. In all these battles only 1,018 persons,[29] Muslims as well as non-Muslims lost their lives. But it would be to attempt the impossible to hazard any guess as to how much blood of the ferocious Arabs was saved from being spilled or how many souls escaped degradation and debasement because of this minimal loss of human life. Such was the public tranquillity and orderliness resulting from the Apostle’s campaigns that a female pilgrim would go from Hirah to Makkah and return after circumambulating the Kā’bah without any fear in her heart, save the fear of God.[30] Another report says that the women from Qadissiyya “Went alone on their dromedaries for pilgrimage to Makkah without the least anxiety or fear.”[31] This was the country in which, from the time immemorial, fights and forays, battles between nomadic tribes and raids on one another’s flocks and property had been accepted unquestionably as a part of the desert life. Even the caravans of neighbouring powerful kingdoms dared not cross the country in pre-Islamic days without powerful escorts and guides.
The campaigns of the Apostle were warranted by two universal truths enunciated in the Qur’ān. One of these says that “Persecution is worse than slaughter”[32] and the other declares that “There is life for you in retaliation, O men of understanding.”[33] These twin principles, which refused to acquiesce in wrongdoing and urged to strive for the defence of honour and justice, soon established peace and order at the cost of little labour and time on the part of Muslims. This was achieved under the benevolent and altruistic guidance of the Apostle who was ever vigilant to secure the well-being and enlightenment of the enemy, instead of allowing the satisfaction of vindictive feelings to become the objective of his campaigns. Whenever the Apostle sent out any detachment on forays or brought battle to the enemy he invariably issued strict instructions to his men to be God-fearing and kind to the friends as well as foes. The directions he once gave to his troops were:
I ask you to fear God and to be considerate to the Muslims with you. Fight in the Name of God and slay those in his Name who have disbelieved Him. Neither should you break your promise, nor pilfer the spoils, nor kill any child or woman or a man infirm and old or a priest who has withdrawn to seclusion. Never lay your hands on a date palm, nor chop down a tree, nor yet pull down any building.[34]
The success of these campaigns of the Apostle can be judged from the fact that within a brief period of ten years more than a million square miles was won for Islam: the Islamic state expanded at an average rate of some 274 square miles daily at the cost of one martyr a month.[35] This respect for human life is unequalled in the annals of man. The truth of this assertion is amply borne out if the losses of these campaigns are placed by the side of casualties in the last two world wars, the first of which was fought from 1914 to 1918 and the second from 1939 to 1945. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica 6,400,000 persons lost their lives[36] in the first war and the number of casualties in the second ranged between 35 and 60 million.[37]
Yet, neither of these two blood stained wars can claim to have done any good to humanity nor did they solve any of the world’s problems.
The ecclesiastical tribunal known as the Inquisition established by the Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages for the trial and punishment of heretics is reported to have taken a toll of 12 million lives.[38]
The pilgrimage was enjoined in the year 9 AH.[39] The Apostle sent Abū Bakr in command of the pilgrims. The polytheists were, during the year, at their pilgrimage stations.[40] Abū Bakr led a party of three hundred Muslim pilgrims from Mādinah.
The opening verses of Sārah at-Tawbah[41] were revealed after the pilgrims had left for Makkah. The Apostle sent for Ali and charged him to proclaim the verses at Minā when all the pilgrims had assembled there after performing the sacrifice. It signified the end of idolatry in Arabia for no idolater was allowed to perform the hajj or to go round the Ka’bah in a nude state after that year. The divine revelation also laid down that if the Apostle was obliged to fulfil any obligation under a treaty with the polytheists it would be discharged up to a stipulated period after which the compact would be considered dissolved.
Ali went forth on the Apostle’s camel and overtook Abū Bakr en route, who asked ‘Ali if he had come to give orders to him or convey them. ‘Ali replied that he had only been charged to convey orders to him. Thereafter both went on to Makkah where Abū Bakr managed the arrangements for hajj. When the day of sacrifice came,’Ali proclaimed what the Apostle had ordered.[42]
***
[1] Tabūk is half-way between Madinah and Damascus lying to the south-east of Aylah, the biblical Elath or Aqabah. Saqūt writes, quoting Abū Zayd, in the Mu’jam al-Buldan that Tabūk is the fourth stop on the road from Hijr to Syria. It is reported that the Prophet Shu’ayb was sent to the people living there. Tabūk is at a distance of six days journey from the Red sea and lies between two mountains known as Hismā and Sharawrā (Dā’irât al-Ma’ārif il ‘l-Bustāni). It is now a military cantonment in the district of Madinah at distance of 700 km. from it.
[2] Abū Sufyān used the name sarcastically since a man of that name belonging to Khuzā’ah had given up idol worship, or perhaps, someone going by that name was among the forefathers of the Prophet (Majma’a Bihar al-Anwār).
[3] Bukhārī.
[4] Bukhārī and Muslim.
[5] Emessa or Edessa.
[6] Elath or ‘Aqabah.
[7] Qur’ān 9:123.
[8] Qur’ān 9:120.
[9] It is difficult to determine the dates of the Tabūk campaign according to the solar calendar. Some of the Prophet’s biographers have computed that Rajab, 9 AH coincided with November as computed by Habib ar-Rahmān Khān in his Miftāḥ al-Taqwim. ‘Allāmah-Shibil also holds this view. But the internal evidence furnished by reliable hadith included in the Ṣahjhayn and other trustworthy books of hadith shows that the expedition was undertaken in the summer season. Ka’b ibn Malik says: “God’s Messenger undertook it in extreme heat, facing a long journey, desert country and a teeming enemy.” Musā ibn ‘Uq-bah describes the journey to have been undertaking during “autumn nights in severe heat when people take shelter under the date-palm trees…” Also, the pleas of the hypocrites and its contradiction in Surah at-Tawbah: “And they said: Go not forth in the heat! Say: The heat of the hell is more intense of heat, if they but understood,” leaves no doubt that the journey was undertaken during the summer season. Be that as it may, the internal evidence is so strong and irrefutable that it cannot be brushed aside, as certain historians have done, to hold the view that the expedition was undertaken in November instead of July-August, merely for the reason that it is now difficult to compute the dates given by the earlier biographers with the Gregorian calendar.
[10] Ṣahjhayn, on the authority of Ka’b ibn Malik.
[11] Qur’ān 9:81.
[12] Qur’ān 9:92.
[13] Aaron.
[14] Moses.
[15] Bukhārī: Gazwah Tabūk.
[16] Zād al-Maʿad, vol. II, pp. 3-4; Ibn Hishâm, vol. II p. 522.
[17] Ibn Hishâm, vol. II p. 522.
[18] Ibid. p. 522.
[19] Ibid. pp. 525-26.
[20] Dūmat al-Jandal was a populous town near Tabūk where the Arabs used to go to transact business in olden times. Dūma had been forsaken and was deserted when Ukaydir again developed the town and started olive plantations. The town thus regained its past importance. The place enclosed by a surrounding wall had a strong fort, which made it an important outpost at the northern border. The town was populated chiefly by the tribe of Kalb and Ukaydir was known as the king of the town. He professed Christianity.
[21] Ibn Hishām, vol. II, p. 526.
[22] Ibid. p. 527.
[23] Ibn Hishām, vol. II, pp. 527-8.
[24] Bukhārī: Kitāb al-Maghāzī.
[25] Bukhārī.
[26] Hassān ibn Thābit and other poets have immortalized the Ghassānid kings through their glowing eulogies.
[27] Qur’ān 9: 117-18.
[28] Estimate by Ibn al-Qayyim (Zād al-Ma’ād).
[29] Qādi Muhammad Sulaymān Mansūrpūri gives this figure after a detailed study in Rahmat lī ‘l-Ālamīn).
[30] Bukhārī: ‘Alāmāt an-nubuwwah.
[31] Ibn Hishām, vol. II, p. 58′.
[32] Qur’ān 2:119.
[33] Qur’ān 2:179.
[34] Wāqidi, on the authority Zayd ibn Arqam in connection with the expedition of Mu’tah.
[35] Brig. Gulzár Ahmad, The Battles of the Prophet of Allāh, Karachi, (1975), p. 28.
[36] Encyclopedia Britannica (1974) vol. 19, p. 966.
[37] Ibid, p. 1013.
[38] John Devenport: Apology for Mohammad and the Qur’an.
[39] There are some scholars who hold the view that the command of hajj was received in the 6 AH. Shaykh Muḥammad al-Khudari takes this view in the Tarikh at-Tashri al-Islami (p. 52).
[40] Ibn Hishām, vol. II, p. 543.
[41] Qur’an 9 ff.
[42] Ibn Hishām, vol. II, pp. 543-46.
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