Sirah
The Expedition to Tabuk
The wells of Tabuk in north-west Arabia, Rajab 9 AH
9 AH / 630 CE
Educational historical reconstructionWhere
Tabuk, on the wells of the north-western road toward Syria
28.3838, 36.5662 · View on OpenStreetMap
Background
In Rajab of the ninth year after the Hijra (630 CE), on reports of a Byzantine massing on the Syrian frontier, the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) called for a march to the far north-west, the largest force he ever assembled, by the reports some thirty thousand. The Qur'an calls it 'the hour of hardship' (sa'at al-'usra, Q 9:117), and the tradition remembers the expedition as the 'army of hardship' (jaysh al-'usra): it was mounted in the scorching heat, in a season of drought and ripe dates, with scarce provisions and mounts, and the believers were urged to spend all they could in its support. Surat al-Tawbah (Q 9) is largely concerned with this expedition: the exposure of the hypocrites (munafiqun) who made excuses to stay behind, and the famous case of the three sincere believers, Ka'b ibn Malik and two others (radiyallahu 'anhum), who stayed without excuse, were boycotted, and were finally forgiven by the revelation of Q 9:118, an episode narrated at length by Ka'b himself in Sahih al-Bukhari (4418). The army reached the wells of Tabuk; no Byzantine force appeared, and after about twenty days the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) struck treaties with the Christian and Jewish chiefs of the northern border towns, Ayla, Jarba, Adhruh, who agreed to pay tribute (jizya) under protection, and returned without a battle. Tabuk was the last major expedition he led in person, and it secured the northern approaches. This scene depicts the great encampment at the wells on the empty frontier road, the heat haze, the watering place, the bloodless standoff and the treaties, without depicting the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or any Companion, in the Sirah tier.
What you see
Open, harsh country far to the north-west of Madinah, dry gravel plains and distant bare ranges on the road toward Syria, shimmering in heat haze. The distance from home and the emptiness are the point: a march to the edge of the Roman sphere.
A cluster of wells and water-troughs marks the halt, the springs of Tabuk, the goal of the march, where the great host watered and camped on the frontier.
A very large army has encamped, but the road ahead is empty, no enemy has come to meet it. The expected Byzantine massing did not appear; the scene is an immense mobilisation that ends in a tense, bloodless standoff and treaties, not a battle.
This is the 'army of hardship' (jaysh al-'usra): mounted in the scorching season of drought and ripe harvest, with scarce provisions and mounts, the believers urged to give all they could. It is remembered for the strain of the journey and the sifting of sincere from hypocrite.
Northern frontier detail, treaties being struck with the chiefs of the border towns (Ayla, Jarba, Adhruh) who came to terms and agreed to pay tribute (jizya) rather than fight, their envoys at the camp's edge.
The latitude is unmistakably northern: cooler, higher, far from the palms of the Hijaz, on the long caravan road that climbs toward the Roman provinces of Syria. This is the farthest north the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) personally led an expedition.
Primary sources
The Qur'an, Surat al-Tawbah (9:117-118 and the Tabuk passages): The 'hour of hardship', the hypocrites' excuses, and the forgiveness of the three who stayed behind. The interpretive frame of the expedition.
Sahih al-Bukhari (the hadith of Ka'b ibn Malik, 4418): The long first-person narration of staying behind from Tabuk, the boycott, and the Qur'anic forgiveness, the heart of the Sunni account of the expedition's testing.
Ibn Hisham, al-Sira al-Nabawiyya (Ibn Ishaq recension): The narrative of the march, the hardship, the reach to Tabuk, and the treaties with the northern chiefs.
al-Waqidi, Kitab al-Maghazi (early 9th c.): Detailed maghazi account of the numbers, the route, and the treaties of Ayla, Jarba, and Adhruh; used with caution on figures.
al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa-al-Muluk (9th-10th c.): Sunni historical synthesis of the year 9 AH and the Tabuk expedition.
Further reading & cross-references
Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, al-Rahiq al-Makhtum (20th c.): Modern Sunni synthesis for the chronology, the hardship, and the northern treaties.
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