The Return from Tabuk

Upon reaching there, it was discovered that there was very little water in the spring of Tabuk. It was not enough to meet the needs of the army.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ took some of the water into his blessed hand, placed it in his mouth, and then rinsed his mouth over the opening of the spring.

The spring immediately began to gush forth and became completely full.

In this way, everyone quenched their thirst.

At that time, the surrounding area was completely barren.

“O Mu‘adh! If your life lasts long enough, you will see this area become a land of gardens and greenery.”

That is, you will see the surrounding land covered with gardens.

The historian, Allamah Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr al-Andalusi, writes that he had seen that region, and the entire area was filled with gardens.

One night, before reaching the region of Tabuk, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ went to sleep. In the morning, he woke up late, and by the time he awoke, the sun had risen to approximately the height of a spear.

Before this, during the night, the Prophet ﷺ had instructed Hazrat Bilal رضي الله عنه to remain awake and keep watch and to wake everyone at the time of Fajr.

Hazrat Bilal رضي الله عنه sat leaning against something. By coincidence, he too fell asleep and remained asleep.

Thus, the time for the prayer passed.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to Hazrat Bilal رضي الله عنه:

“Did I not tell you to wake us at the time of Fajr?”

Hazrat Bilal رضي الله عنه replied:

“O Messenger of Allah! The same thing that caused you to become unaware caused me to become unaware as well.”

That is, he too had fallen asleep.

The Prophet ﷺ ordered that the camp be moved from that place, and afterward the Fajr prayer was performed. In other words, this was a missed prayer that was subsequently made up.

During the journey to Tabuk, the water once again ran out at a certain place.

When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was informed of this, he instructed Hazrat ‘Ali and Hazrat az-Zubayr رضي الله عنهما:

“Go and search somewhere for water and bring it.”

Both of these Companions went from there and sat down beside the road.

Soon, they saw an old woman approaching from a distance.

She was riding a camel. She had lowered both her feet on either side of the camel and had filled water-skins with water.

They asked her for some water.

She said:

“My family and I need this water more than you do. My children are orphans.”

They said to her:

“Come with us, along with your water, to the Messenger of Allah.”

Hearing this, she said:

“Which Messenger of Allah? That magician who is called irreligious? In that case, it is better that I do not go to him.”

Upon hearing her response, Hazrat ‘Ali and Hazrat az-Zubayr رضي الله عنهما brought her to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ against her will.

When the Noble Messenger ﷺ saw them bringing the old woman in this manner, he said to them:

“Leave her.”

He then said to the woman:

“Will you allow us to use your water? Your water will remain preserved in exactly the same quantity as you brought with you.”

The old woman replied:

“Very well.”

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then said to Hazrat Abu Qatadah رضي الله عنه:

“Bring a container.”

He brought a container.

The Prophet ﷺ opened the woman’s water-skin and took a small amount of water from it into the container.

Then the Prophet ﷺ placed his blessed hand into it and said to the people:

“Come close to me and begin taking water.”

The Companions رضي الله عنهم saw that the water was gushing forth from the container like a spring.

It appeared as though the water was flowing from the fingers of the Prophet ﷺ.

Everyone began taking water from the container.

They drank it, gave it to their animals to drink, and then filled their empty containers.

Eventually, all the animals had drunk their fill, all the containers had been filled, and the water was still bubbling and overflowing in the same container.

The Prophet ﷺ then poured the water back into the woman’s water-skin and closed its opening.

He then said:

“Bring whatever you have with you.”

The Prophet ﷺ spread out a piece of cloth.

The Companions brought meat, dates, and other things for her.

The Prophet ﷺ gave all of it to her and said:

“We have not taken anything from your water. Take all these things with you and feed them to your orphaned children.”

The woman was astonished.

She had witnessed the entire scene with her own eyes. She had never seen anything like it in her life.

When she reached home, her family members said:

“You have taken a very long time.”

She then told them the entire incident.

The people of the settlement also came to know about this event.

Eventually, the old woman came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with the people of her settlement.

She and the members of her tribe recited the Kalimah and accepted Islam at the hands of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

During the Battle of Tabuk, on one occasion the food supplies ran out.

The situation became so difficult that if a single date was obtained, an entire group would sit around it.

Each person would suck on it in turn and then pass it on to the next person.

Eventually, the people said:

“If you permit us, we will slaughter our camels and eat them.”

Hazrat ‘Umar al-Faruq رضي الله عنه said:

“O Messenger of Allah! If you give permission for this, the riding animals will be depleted.

Instead, tell them that whoever has anything left should bring it.

Then you should pray for blessing in this food.”

So this was done.

A cloth was spread out.

Whoever had anything brought it.

When all the food had been gathered on the cloth, the Prophet ﷺ prayed for blessing in it and said:

“Now fill your own containers from this food.”

Everyone began filling their containers.

Everyone ate until they were satisfied and also filled their containers.

There was not a single container in the entire army that remained unfilled.

After reaching Tabuk, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stayed there for ten to fifteen days.

The Romans had become frightened of the Muslim army, so they did not come forward to confront it.

Thus, no battle took place at Tabuk.

During this period, the Prophet ﷺ continued performing shortened prayers, that is, the prayer of a traveler, in which the four obligatory rak‘ahs of Zuhr, ‘Asr, and ‘Isha are performed as two rak‘ahs each.

Eventually, the journey back from Tabuk began.

On the way, several hypocrites plotted to push the Noble Messenger ﷺ into a ravine and kill him.

However, Allah Almighty informed the Prophet ﷺ of their plot through revelation.

Thus, their conspiracy failed.

There was still one day’s journey remaining before reaching Madinah, and the Islamic army was camped at a place called Dhu Awan, when a command came from Allah Almighty to demolish Masjid Dirar.

This mosque had been built by the hypocrites.

They wanted to make this mosque a center for their conspiracies.

When the Noble Messenger ﷺ had departed for Tabuk and passed by this mosque, those hypocrites had requested that he ﷺ perform two rak‘ahs inside it.

At that time, the Prophet ﷺ had said:

“I will pray there when I return.”

But upon the return journey, Allah Almighty informed him of their conspiracy.

Therefore, the Noble Messenger ﷺ instructed the Companions:

“Go to that mosque and, before the very people who built it, set it on fire and demolish it.

Those who built this mosque are great wrongdoers.”

The Companions obeyed the command.

This was done between Maghrib and ‘Isha.

The mosque was completely levelled to the ground.

When the Noble Messenger ﷺ entered Madinah with his army, he said:

“This is a pure and peaceful city.

My Lord has made it prosperous.

This city removes the impurities of its inhabitants just as a blacksmith’s furnace removes the impurities from iron and purifies it.”

Then, regarding Mount Uhud, he said:

“This is the mountain of Uhud. It loves us, and we love it as well.”

During this journey, some people had been reluctant to go along.

As soon as the Noble Messenger ﷺ entered Madinah, he ordered:

“Do not speak to these people, nor sit with them, until I give you permission.”