Battle of Tabouk

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Battle of Tabouk

Date	October 630 CE
Location	Tabouk, Hijaz
Result	Indecisive

Combatants

Commanders

Strength

30,000

Unknown

Campaigns of Muhammad
Badr – Banu Qaynuqa – Uhud – Banu Nadir – The Trench – Banu Qurayza – Hudaybiyyah – Khaybar – Mu'tah – Mecca – Hunayn – Autas – Ta'if – Tabouk

Byzantine-Arab Wars
Mutah – Tabouk – Dathin – Firaz - Qarteen – Bosra – Ajnadayn – Marj-al-Rahit – Fahl - Yarmouk – Hazir – Aleppo – Iron Bridge - Nikiou – 1st Constantinople – Syllaeum – That Al-Sawari – Carthage – 2nd Constantinople – Akroinon

The Battle of Tabouk (also called the Battle of Tabuk) is said to have taken place in October AD 630. According to Muslim sources the followers of Muhammad were heavily outnumbered by the army of the Roman Empire. Tabouk is in present-day northwestern Saudi Arabia.

The battle of Tabouk is alleged to have taken place in the 9th year of the Muslim calendar. According to the Ar-raheeq Al-makhtum, a modern Islamic hagiography of Muhammad written by the Indian Muslim author Saif ur-Rahman Mubarakpuri, Heraclius, then Emperor of the Byzantine empire, had decided that reducing the growing Muslim power had become an urgent necessity and the conquest of Arabia should, in his opinion, be achieved before the Muslims became too powerful to conquer and raise troubles and unrest in the adjacent Arab territories. According to the Muslim accounts, the Byzantine Emperor mustered a huge army of Byzantine soldiers and pro-Roman Ghassanid tribes to launch a decisive military attack against the Muslims. There is no evidence of any of these claims from any non-Muslim source.

A magnified rumor of the danger threatening Muslim life was carried to Makkah by some Nabateans who traded from Syria to Medina. They carried rumors of Heraclius' preparations and the existence of an enormous army said to number anywhere from forty thousand to several hundred thousand besides the Lukham, Judham and other tribes allied to the Byzantines.

Muhammad thought that if he tarried or dealt passively with the situation the Byzantines would be able to invade the Muslim-controlled provinces and even get as far as Medina. This would create the most awful impression of Islam among newly conquered tribes as well as of the Muslims' military credibility.

When Muhammad had made up his mind and took his final decision, he ordered some of his companions to get ready for war and sent for the Meccans and the other Arab tribes asking for their assistance he left his Cousin/companion Ali to govern the city in his absence.

Muhammad marched northwards to Tabouk. The army that numbered thirty thousand fighters was a great one, when compared with the previous armies of Islam. Muslims had never marched with such a great number before.

After arriving at Tabouk and camping there, Muhammad's army was prepared to face the Byzantines. However the Byzantines were not at Tabouk. According to Muslim scholars, upon learning of Muhammad's march north, the Byzantines and their allies withdrew without a fight. However, there is no evidence that the Byzantine Army ever moved to attack the Muslims and evidence for this battle only exists in the Muslim tradition.

It is sometimes claimed that this "battle" brought, in itself, credit to the Muslim forces that had gained military reputation in the remote lands of the Arabian Peninsula.

The only gains achieved by Muhammad's forces were the allegiance and payment of the jizyah tribute by the local tribes that were threatened. The head of the jizyah, Yahna bin Rawbah came to Muhammad and made peace with him, paying him this tribute

Muhammad gave each tribe a letter of guarantee, similar to Yahna's, in which Arab histories claim he said:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

This is a guarantee of protection from Muhammad to Yahna bin Rawbah and the people of Allah; their ships, their caravans on the land and sea shall have custody of Muhammad , he and whosoever are with him of Ash-Sham people and those of the sea. Whosoever contravenes this treaty, his wealth shall not save him; it shall be the fair prize if him that takes it. Now it should not be lawful to hinder the men from any springs which they have been in the habit of frequenting, nr from any journeys they desire to make, whether by sea or by land.

The strategic long term consequence of the battle was that many Arab tribes now abandoned the Byzantines and joined with Muhammad, enlarging the Muslim state.

Neither side inflicted heavy casualties on each other, because no battle took place.