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In this episode of the Seerah (life of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him), we discuss the events of the Battle of Tabuk.

Many of the hypocrites did not join the Prophet in this expedition, but there were also a few devout Muslims who got left behind. There were no doubts about their sincerity or faith. They kept procrastinating about joining the Prophet until it was too late.

Tabuk was hundreds of miles north of Medina so this was going to be a long journey. Along the way, several interesting things happened.

The Muslims passed through the ruins of Thamud. Some of the hypocrites who did partake in the expedition were caught sowing fear and doubt into the Muslims. However, at least one of them took the opportunity to change his ways.

As it turned out, the fears of a Byzantine invasion were overblown. There was very little fighting to be done in Tabuk. The Prophet did forge new alliances with some of the local Christian Arab tribes in the region.

On their way back to Medina, the Prophet also had to deal with the Masjid of Dissent. This was a mosque built by some of the hypocrites. They said their intentions were good, but the Quran said otherwise.

Finally, the Prophet had to deal with those devout Muslims who did not partake in the expedition. Among these was the righteous Muslim, Ka’b ibn Malik. We’ll go further into his story in the next episode, InshaAllah.