Mouood Mouood English Edition
The Battle of Hunayn
Now the most tribes of Arabia had turned Muslims except two tribes; Thaqeef and Hawazin. They were strong enough and had resided about Ta’if, a country place in the east and north east of Mecca. When they knew that the Muslims had conquered Mecca, they decided to attack it before the Prophet would declare war against them. The matter was reported to the Prophet (S) by the spies; therefore he set out towards them with a strong army of twelve thousand men.
Some other Arab families joined Thaqeef and Hawazin. They were about thirty thousand men accompanied by their households and cattle. They came to a wide area named Hunayn. The Muslims had to pass a narrow valley to get to Hunayn. The enemy came down from the rear mouth of the valley and hid themselves behind big stones and rocks in the slopes.
When the Muslims came in sight, the enemy attacked them by a shower of stones and arrows.
Consequently the Muslims were frightened. They escaped and left the Prophet alone.
Only a few ones; ‘Ali (as), Abbas, the Prophet’s uncle, ibn Harith, the Prophet’s cousin, Al-Fadhl ibn Abbas and Abdullah ibn Mas’ud stood against the enemy before the Prophet (S). The historians mentioned that forty warriors had been killed by ‘Ali(S).
A gigantic man, mounting on a red camel and trying from behind to send the Muslims into troubles, came to face ‘Ali (as). ‘Ali (as) at first cut off his camel’s leg and then halved him into two by his sword.
The Prophet (S) and his uncle Abbas called repeatedly upon the runaways to come back to the field. They came back and forced the enemy to retreat and to run away towards Ta’if.
The Muslims gained great spoils; forty thousand sheep, twenty-four thousand camels, a good quantity of silverwares and six thousand persons as captives.
The Muslims chased the runaway enemy unto Ta’if but they had to waste a long time in order to conquer its strong fort. Hereon, they, according to the Prophet’s command, went back to Medina for performing other essential affairs.
The Battle of Tabouk
When Islam appeared there were two great powers on this side of the earth; the Romans and the Persians.
The Roman soldiers were well experienced in the wars and at the same time, they had won the war against Iran. Syria and the eastern parts of the Mediterranean were the colonies of Rome, under the Byzantine rule. There was a fortress at the boundary between Syria and the land of Hijr named Tabouk, which the Prophet of Islam had come to conquer it.
The quick growth and the splendid conquests of the Muslims in Arabia had made the Emperor of Rome seek a remedy to stem the tide of Islam’s progress. He was afraid especially of Muhammad’s influence upon people. Therefore the Romans decided to harass the Muslims in order to be safe from their troubles. Such news was carried to Medina by some commercial caravans.
The Prophet sent someone to Mecca and about Medina to call every one, who had faith in God, to gather in Medina in order to be ready for the war. This invitation gained ready acceptance of the Muslims. About thirty thousand persons gathered to fight the enemy.
This expedition was very difficult for the Muslims because the weather was too hot and they had to go for a long distance through a torrid zone to Tabouk where the Romans encamped. It was also the time of harvest and they would have to harvest their farms’ products.
There were some hypocrites among the Prophet’s companions, who used to injure the Muslims by sabotage. They tried to discourage people with various excuses, like the hotness, the too far distance and the huge numbers of the enemy, but their attempt was in vain.
When they knew that the Prophet had decided to set out to the battlefield, they planned to rush upon his house in Medina during his absence. The Prophet (S) perceived their plan and determined to leave ‘Ali (as) as his successor in Medina to safeguard his family. The Prophet got ready for the task of Tabouk.
The hypocrites were displeased with the stay of ‘Ali (as) in Medina; therefore they began to spread false rumors such as that ‘Ali was ordered to take part in this troublesome war but he refused because this war was really insupportable and that the Prophet (S) was displeased with him.
‘Ali (as), in order to rebut this accusation, told the Prophet (S) of what they rumored and asked him to let him go to the war.
The Prophet said to ‘Ali (as): “O my brother, go back to Medina because nobody else is well-qualified to keep Medina safe except I and you. You are to take care of my house during my absence.” Then he added: “Are you not satisfied to be to me as Aaron was to Moses? But there will be no prophet after me.”
This Prophet’s word is also one of the main arguments of the Shia in proving the immediate succession of Imam ‘Ali after the Prophet’s death.
Finally the Prophet’s men, with troubles beyond endurance, arrived at Tabouk. It was a surprise to them when they saw no enemy soldiers in and about Tabouk.
They thought that that the enemy might go back or that the whole information that the Prophet was told of was false.
The Prophet (S) stopped there about twenty days and received no news about the enemy. At the same time he was in contact with the chieftains of various tribes and he made treaty with them, because they were mostly Christians and it was possible that the Romans would make use of them in the future.
The Prophet, after consulting with his companions, came back towards Medina.
Although some hypocrites resolved upon killing him on his way back by stampeding his camel in the slope of a valley, their plan was surfaced and the Prophet saved his life.
Although this expedition did not get any result but it made everyone understand that the power of Islam had got to an extent that the Muslims could fly to arms and defy the great powers like the Romans. Consequently many headstrong chiefs of the Arab tribes came near the Prophet and resigned themselves to God and believed in him.
On the other hand the Muslims proved by experience that they could resist difficulties when they would set out to conquer Syria in the future.
Declaration of Immunity for the Idolaters
At the end of the ninth year of Hijrah, Gabriel came down from the Heaven with some verses of the Holy Qur’an and hereby the Prophet was ordered to send someone to Mecca in order to inform the people of the purport of the verses, which had four orders to be declared.
The verses are:
1-“(This is a declaration of) immunity by Allah and His apostle towards those of the idolaters with whom you made an agreement”.
2-“So go about in the land for four months and know that you cannot weaken Allah and that Allah will bring disgrace to the unbelievers”.
3-“And an announcement from Allah and His apostle to the people on the day of the greater pilgrimage that Allah and His apostle are free from liability to the idolaters; therefore if you repent, it will be better for you, and if you turn back, then know that you will not weaken Allah; and announce painful punishment to those, who disbelieve”.
4-“Except those of the idolaters with whom you made an agreement, then they have not failed you in anything and have not backed up any one against you, so fulfill their agreement to the end of their term; surely Allah loves those who are careful (to their duty)”.
5- “So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them, surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful”.
The Charter was as follows:
1-It was forbidden for the idolaters to go nakedly around the Kaabah.
2-The idolaters would not have the right to enter into the sacred places.
3-No one of the idolaters would have the right to take part in the ceremonies of the greater Hajj.
4-The lives and the wealth of those, who have concluded the peace contract and have not broken their promises, would be protected until the end of the contract.
The Prophet sought after Abu-Bakr and gave him the verses of the Holy Qur’an enclosed with the charter to announce them to the unbelievers of Mecca. He set out towards Mecca with forty persons. Then Gabriel came down and said to the Prophet: “O Muhammad, either you yourself or the nearest one to you of your family ought to perform this task.”
The Holy Qur’an says:
“Nor does he (the Prophet) speak out of desire. It is naught but revelation that is revealed, the Lord of Mighty Power has taught him”. (53:3-5)
