This unpleasant news reached him at a time when the people...

This unpleasant news reached him at a time when the people of Madina had not yet properly collected their produce, and the dates were about to ripen, and Madina and its suburbs were, so to say, in the grip of a sort of famine. However, for the godly persons the spiritual life and the protection of high ideals, and jihad in the path of Allah are preferable to everything else.

Inviting Warriors And Procuring Expenses Of War The Prophet was aware to some extent of the capability and experience of the enemy and was sure that besides necessitating spiritual capital (viz. faith in Allah and fighting for the sake of Allah), victory in this battle also depended on a big army.

Keeping this fact in view he sent men to Makkah as well as to the areas adjoining Madina to invite Muslims to fight in the path of Allah and also to ask well-to-do Muslims to provide for the expenses of war by making payment of zakat. Soon after the proclamation made by the Prophet, 30,000 persons declared their readiness to participate in the battle and gathered in the camping ground of Madina (Thaniyya tul Wida'). The expenses of war were provided by collecting zakat.

Out of these 30,000 men, 10,000 were mounted soldiers and the remaining 20,000 were infantry-men. Later the Prophet ordered that every tribe should choose a standard for itself.[^2] Persons Opposed To Participation In The Battle The Battle of Tabuk was the best occasion on which the self-sacrificing persons and the pretenders and hypocrites could be recognized, because general mobilization was ordered when the weather was very hot and the business community of Madina was ready to harvest the palm-dates.

Refusal of some of them, on various pretexts, to take part in the battle cast off the veil from their real faces and Qur'anic verses were revealed condemning their action. All these verses are contained in Surah al-Tawbah. Some persons declined to take part in this sacred jihad for the following reasons: When the Prophet proposed Jadd bin Qays, who was an influential man, for joining the army against the Romans, he replied thus: "I have a fanatical attachment with women.

I am, therefore, afraid that I may chance to see Roman women and may not be able to control myself". On having heard this childish excuse of his the Prophet decided to leave him alone and to contact others.