Volume 8 Surah 9 - Enjoy Islam

Al-Tawbah (The Repentance) | THE EARTH’S SUFFOCATING EXPANSEsituation and requested him to provide them with some transport. The Prophetexplained that he had nothing available. All the horses and camels were allotted toother people and he had none left. The seven men went back to their homes withtears in their eyes. They were made entirely helpless by their poverty.Two of the seven men, `Abd al-Raĥmān ibn Ka`b and `Abdullāh ibn Mughaffil,were still in tears when they met a man called Yāmīn ibn `Umayr. He asked themwhy they were crying and they told them that they were prevented from joining thearmy by their poverty and the fact that the Prophet did not have any spare camels togive them. He offered them a camel of his own to share between them and also gavethem some dates to eat on their journey. Thus they were able to join.Another report speaks of another man among the seven, `Ilbah ibn Zayd. Thatnight, knowing he could not join the army, he prayed for a long while. He reflectedon the situation and tears sprang to his eyes. Then he addressed God with thisemotional prayer: “My Lord, You have commanded us to go on jihād and You haveencouraged us not to abandon this duty. Yet You have not given me what I need inorder to be able to go on this campaign. Your Messenger cannot give me any meansof transport. I, therefore, give in charity to every Muslim any right which I holdagainst him for a wrong he has done to me, whether in matters of money or self orhonour.”The following morning, the man joined the dawn prayers as he always did. TheProphet asked, “Where is the man who was charitable last night?” Nobody replied.The Prophet repeated the question and said, “Let this man stand up.” `Ilbah stood upand explained to the Prophet what he had done. The Prophet said, “By Him Whoholds my soul in His hand, this has been credited to you as zakāt accepted by God.”The Prophet then ordered the Muslims who joined him to march. There wereabout 30,000 in the army, made up of the people of Madinah and the bedouin tribesin the surrounding area. A few individuals among the Muslims did not join thearmy, although they did not entertain any doubt about the truth of Islam, or theirduty to be in the army. Among these were Ka`b ibn Mālik, Murārah ibn al- Rabī` andHilāl ibn Umayyah, [these were the three whose cases will be discussed in detailshortly] and also Abū Khaythamah and `Umayr ibn Wahb al-Jumaĥī. The Prophetordered his forces to encamp at a place called Thaniyyat al-Wadā`, just outsideMadinah, while Abdullāh ibn Ubayy, known as the chief of the hypocrites,encamped with his followers separately a short distance apart. One report by IbnIsĥāq suggests that his group was claimed to be of similar strength, but this washighly unlikely. Other reports confirm that those who actually stayed behind wereless than one hundred. When the Prophet moved on, `Abdullāh ibn Ubayy stayedbehind along with other hypocrites.224