Rajab The Month For The Great Battle Of Tabuk

Rajab is famous for its remarkable events and also, it is one of the holy months in Islam. In today’s topic let us talk about the major event in the holy month of Rajab, which has much importance and a place in Islamic History. It is the well-known Battle of Tabuk. Let’s have a brief discussion on that.

The battle of Tabuk also got another name in history, It is also famous for the expedition of Usra. The expedition was initiated by Prophet Muhammad SAW in the month of October of 630 AD. This was the force of 30,000 Islamic Soldiers. Geographically it was a march towards the north of Tabuk and was near to the Gulf of Aqaba. This part is currently known as northwestern Saudi Arabia.

Pre Battle Scenario

There was the news of the Byzantinian attack so Muhammad SAW asked Arabs to gather against them but many of them denied participating. Forces marched towards the Gulf of Aqaba in October 630, it was 9th of the Rajab. This was a large expedition and the difference about this battle is Ali Ibn Abi Talib did not participate in this battle due to Prophet’s SAW instructions. He held command at Medina.

This was the stay of almost 20 days at the place of Tabuk. Prophet Muhammad SAW scouted the area and met with different local chiefs and made alliances over theirs. Byzantine’s army did not appear during this period. So the prophet of Islam decided to return back to the medina. It is mentioned in oxford encyclopedia of the Islamic world,

“This show of force demonstrated his intention to challenge the Byzantines for control of the northern part of the caravan route from Mecca to Syria” (oxford encyclopedia of the Islamic world).

Surah Tuba And Battle of Tabuk

“The second discourse (vv., 38-72) was sent down in Rajab A.H. 9 or a little before this, when the Holy Prophet was engaged in making preparations for the Campaign, of Tabuk. In this discourse, the Believers were urged to take an active part in Jihad, and the shirkers were severely rebuked for holding back their wealth and for hesitation to sacrifice their lives in the way of Allah because of their hypocrisy, weak faith or negligence.” (Tafheem ul Quran)

A Detailed Overview in the Light of Surah Tauba

It began before the victory of Makkah. The reason was the conflict with the Romans. The slaughtering of the 15 among the group of people assigned for the Treaty of Hudaibiyah was one of the other reasons. Just ka’ab bin Umair Ghifari could save his life.

Shurahbll bin Amr, a Christian governor of Busra also put to death Haritli bin Umair who was the ambassador of Prophet Muhammad SAW. Now the action was necessary to respond to such brutality. So Prophet SAW sent 3000 Muslim soldiers in Jamadi-ul-Ula A. H. 8 to the border of Syria. When they reached Ma’an, they learned that Shurahbll bin Amr was marching to fight them with a 100 thousand army men and on the other hand Ceasar’s brother Theodore also marched with the same number of the army men. With the grace of almighty Allah Muhammad’s SAW, limited soldiers won the war over this huge army, giving Islamic campaign a boost.

This was a signal to the powers of Rome that Islam is about to conquer their rule.

Farvah bin ‘Amral Juzami, a commander of the Arab Armies of the roman empire embraced Islam, which was astonishing for the Caesar, late Caesar asked him to choose between Islam and his death. So he chooses Islam over the fellowship of the Roman Army and was martyred later.

Caesar decided to launch a military campaign against the Arabs 9 A.H. as he was in a rage after the defeat at M’utah. Hypocrites also tried their best to see the defeat of Islam by the hands of Caesar, about which there are verses of Surah Tauba, clearly mentioning their hypocrisy.

All the gatherings in Arabia completely understood the grave outcomes of this basic choice. The hypocrites were waiting for the consequence of the Campaign, for they had placed all their trust in the destruction of Islam by the Romans. The ‘scoundrels’ additionally believed it to be their last possibility of smashing the intensity of Islam by inward insubordination if the Muslims endured an annihilation in Syria. They had, in this manner, utilizing the Mosque made by them to bring forth plots and had utilized every one of their plans to render the Campaign a disappointment. On the opposite side, the genuine Believers likewise acknowledged completely that the destiny of the Movement for which they had been applying their most extreme throughout the previous 22 years was currently remaining in a precarious situation. On the off chance that they indicated fearlessness on that basic event, the entryways of the entire external world would be tossed open for the Movement to spread. In any case, in the event that they demonstrated shortcoming or weakness, at that point all the work they had done in Arabia would – end in smoke.

To put it plainly, the Holy Prophet walked out towards Syria in Rajab A. H. 9, with thirty thousand warriors for the reason for Islam. The conditions where the campaign was embraced might be decided from the way that the number of camels with them was little to the point that a large number of them were obliged to stroll by walking and to sit tight for their turns for a few needed to ride at once on every camel. To add to this, there was the consuming warmth of the desert and the intense deficiency of water. Be that as it may, they were lavishly remunerated for their firm purpose and genuine adherence to the reason and for their constancy even with those incredible challenges and hindrances.

At the point when they showed up at Tabuk, they discovered that Caesar and his partners had pulled back their soldiers from the boondocks and there was no foe to battle with. In this manner, they won an ethical triumph that expanded their glory complex and, that as well, without shedding a drop of blood.

Right now, is appropriate to call attention to that the general impression given by the history specialists of the campaigns of the Holy Prophet about the Campaign of Tabuk isn’t right. They relate the occasion in a manner as though the updates on the gathering of the Roman armed forces close to the Arabian outskirts was itself bogus. The truth of the matter is that the Caesar had started to assemble his armed forces, yet the Holy Prophet prevented him and showed up on the scene before he could make full arrangements for the intrusion. In this way, accepting “prudence is the better piece of valor,” he pulled back his militaries from the outskirts. For he had not overlooked that the 3,000 contenders for the reason for Islam had rendered defenseless his military one hundred thousand in number at M’utah. He proved unable, subsequently, even with a multitude of 200,000, set out to battle.

The Battle is still remembered by history and will last long till the end of time. The message of the battle also signals our attention towards the truth that it is not the quantity or the equipment that matters but the genuine adherence, Eeman, and trust in almighty are all which matters the most.

Battle of Badr, Battle of Tabuk are the few proofs for that.