Holy Battle of Tabuk

[ابوالوليد المسلم]

Holy Battle of Tabuk

Hosam Ibn `Abdul-`Aziz Al Jibrin





Praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the earth and Lord of heaven. He made the world an abode of action and not an abode of reward, and I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. He created the heavens and the earth in six Days and His Throne was on the water, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger, the Seal of the Prophets and the example of the pious, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him and his family and his honourable companions.


Afterwards,
I advise myself and you to fear Allah the exalted. for, it is the best thing to eliminate the fear of the graves, fear of the Day of Resurrection, and fear of crossing the Sirat (the Bridge across Hellfire). "O you who believe, be patient, compete with each other in patience, and guard your frontiers, and fear Allah, so that you may be successful". [Al Imran: 200.]


Brothers in Islam:
People suffer and feel very comfortable in the hot weather, even though the houses, mosques and markets all are air-conditioned.


Friends, we will ponder over a prophetic incident that occurred in extreme heat.


In the month of Rajab of the 9th year of the Muslim calendar, Prophet (peace be upon him) commanded his companions to prepare for the invasion of the Romans, when he was informed that the Romans had gathered in the Sham(Sriya) to wage war against the Muslims.


And this command for preparation was at the time of intense heat and when the fruits were ripe and the people loved to stay with fruits and their shadows.


prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) urged people to give and spend in the way of Allah. well-doer people strive to excel in this field, Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) brought a thousand dinars and poured them into the lap of the Prophet, (peace be upon him) Then the prophet said: " Whatever 'Uthman does after today will not harm him".


Umar gave in charity half of his money, Abu Bakr gave in charity with all of his money, and Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf came with a lot of money, and Uthman gave three hundred camels in charity including their saddles, water-skins, and articles. and others came with a lot of money, and the women s their jewellery as much as they could. (May Allah be pleased with them).


Abu Masood (may Allah be pleased with him) said: we were commanded to give charity (despite the fact.) We used to carry loads on our backs. Abu 'Aqil donated half a saa(. And there another man came with more than this. The hypocrites said: Verily Allah does not need the charity of this, and the second one has done nothing but only made a show (of his charity). Then this verse was revealed." Those who scoff at the voluntary givers of charity among the believers as well as those who cannot find anything (to give) but with their hard labour".Altaba:79).


Thus, neither rich nor poor was safe from their evil and wickedness.


Hypocrites built a mosque to gather to make a conspiracy there. and they asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to pray in it. They pretend to help the weak so that the mosque can be near to the village more than the prophet's mosque. Then the verse was revealed to expose them. "And (there are) those who have built a mosque to cause harm (to Islam) and to promote infidelity and to create dissension among the believers and to provide a station for one who has been at war with Allah and His Messenger even before. They will certainly swear (and say), “We intended to do nothing but good.” Allah testifies that they are liars."[Al-taba:107].


And when the Muslims prepared to go out, a group of the hypocrites said: Do not go out in the heat. Then the verse was revealed: "Those who were left behind were happy with their sitting back to the displeasure of the Messenger of Allah, and they disliked carrying out Jihad (holy battle) in the way of Allah with their wealth and lives, and they said, “Do not march in this hot weather.” Say, “The fire of Jahannam(hellfire) is much more intense in heat,” only if they could understand".


Meanwhile, some poor believers came to prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)asking for a carrier so that they could ride over it. When the prophet excused them their eyes shed tears with grief, even though they were not sinners because of their inability. Allah said: "Nor (is there any blame) on those who, when they came to you so that you might provide them with a carrier (that they could ride for Jihad ) and you said (to them), “I find no carrier to give to you”, went back with their eyes flowing with tears in grief, because they had nothing to spend"[Al-taba:92].


The Prophet, (peace and blessings be upon him), appointed Ali bin Abi Talib as successor, (caliph). 'Ali said to him: "O Messenger of Allah! You leave me behind with women and children?" So the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to him: "Are you not pleased that you should be in the position with me that Harun was with Musa? Except that there is no Prophethood after me?"


Then the Prophet( peace and blessings be upon) set out and with him, there were thirty thousand or more companions and ten thousand horses. There was a lack of carriers even two or three companions used to ride over one camel. , and when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), passed by Al-Hijr, the residence of Samud,- which is near the residence of Al-Ula today - he said: "Do not enter (the dwelling places) of these people unless you enter weeping, but if you weep not, then do not enter upon them, lest you be afflicted with what they were afflicted with."(Sahih al-Bukhari:4702). After that, the Prophet covered his face with his sheet cloth while he was on the camel-saddle.


And he commanded the Companions to throw the fodder that they had prepared from the water of the nation punished by Allah for their camels and he also ordered to pour the water out and said to take water from the well where camels used to come.


And a man of the hypocrites said about Companions: I have not seen much of our fellows who always aspire to eat and tell lies the most and they are coward at the time of battle. And Makhshin bin Humaayr said: Do you think the executioner of Al-Asfar is like the Arabs who fight with each other? By God, tomorrow, we would beat you tieing you in ropes to terrify believers. Then the verse was revealed: "And if you ask them, they will say, “We were just chatting and having fun.” Say, Is it of Allah and His verses and His Messenger that you were making fun of?. Make no excuses. You became disbelievers (by mocking Allah and His Messenger) after you had professed Faith. If We forgive some of you (who repent and believe), We shall punish others (who carry on their hypocrisy), because they were guilty".[Al-tauba:65-66].


It is narrated that Mukhshin repented and was killed as a martyr on the day of al-Yamamah.


When they reached Tabuk, they did not find anyone there; Because, when the Romans were informed of the march of this army, they preferred to withdraw from war so that they could protect themselves. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), did not feel the need to follow them inside their lands, and he stayed there around twenty nights.


Dwellers of "Aila" came to the prophet and reconciled. and the people of "Jarba" and "Udhrah" came to him, and settled their differences and agreed to pay Tex. Then prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) wrote a letter for them. After that, the prophet returned to Medina and ordered to demolish and put into the fire the mosque which was built by hypocrites.


When the prophet approached Madina, He said: "There are some men in Al-Madinah who are with you wherever you march and whichever valley you cross. They asked the Apostle of Allah(ﷺ) how can they be with us when they are still in Madinah? He replied “They were declined by a valid excuse.”(Sunan Abi Dawud: 2508).


In another narration: "They share the reward with you" [Muslim].

Second sermon

Praise belongs to Allah...
Afterwards,
Dear brothers in Islam,


we will present here some benefits gained from the above speech:
1- In this incident, the virtues of the companions of the prophet, their interest in doing charity and their sacrifices of money and soul are mentioned.


2- hypocrisy is a very dangerous thing. and in "Surat Bara’a", many verses exposed their hypocrisy.


3- competition for good is permissible in Islaam. when Umar( May Allah be pleased with him)came with half of his money, he said: Today I am ahead of Abu Bakr!


4-Virtues of some companions, including the Khulafa e rashideen (the Rightly-Guided Caliphs), had been shown.


5- Beware of mockery of the believers and of the evil consequences of that, as Allah the Almighty made it the mockery of Allah, His signs and His Messenger.


6- Maliciousness of the hypocrites, their great wickedness and their plots were exposed. It was also known that they swear to do good while they are liars. Allah the Almighty mentioned their attributes in the Qur’an and did not declare their names so that Muslims can avoid them. The names change over time and people differ, but the attributes are always the same.


7- If one passes by inhabitants of the nations punished by Allah the Almighty, He should pass by there crying and taking advice.


8- Uniting hearts and being together is a great goal. Because one of the purposes of the Al-Girar Mosque was the separation between the believers. (to create dissension among the believers) [al-Tawbah: 107].


9- Good intentions in work is highly important. Because Allah the Almighty rewarded those who could not go with Muslims for an excuse.


10- Mocking the believers is a way of hypocrites, and rumouring and creating fear among the people is another way of hypocrites.


Then send peace and salutations...