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{{Short description|630 military campaign in the early Muslim period}}
[[File:First Islamic State under Prophet Muhammad, ca. 632.png|thumb|315x315px|Map of Muslim conquests (Tabuk included)]]
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{{Campaignbox Rise of Islam}}
The '''Expedition of Tabuk''' ({{Langx|ar|غَزوَة تَبوك||}}; ''Ghazwat Tabūk''), also known as the '''Campaign of Hardship''' (''Ghazwat al-ʿUsrah''), was a military campaign that was initiated by the [[Prophets and messengers in Islam|Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad]] in October 630 CE (Rajab AH 9), in response to reports of a potential [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] invasion of northern Arabia. He led a force of as many as 30,000<ref name="Nafziger13">{{citation |author1=George F. Nafziger |author2=Mark W. Walton |title=Islam at War: A History |publisher=[[Praeger Publications|Praeger Publishers]] |year=2003 |page=13}}</ref><ref name="OxfordIslam">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Muḥammad |last1=Welch |first1=Alford T. |author-link1=Alford T. Welch |last2=Moussalli |first2=Ahmad S. |editor-given1=John L. |editor-surname1=Esposito |editor-link1=John Esposito| url = http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195305135.001.0001/acref-9780195305135-e-0550?rskey=xq9Xo4&result=5 |encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World |publisher= Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-19-530513-5 }}</ref> north to [[Tabuk, Saudi Arabia|Tabuk]], near the [[Gulf of Aqaba]], in present-day northwestern [[Saudi Arabia]].<ref name="OxfordIslam"/> Although no direct battle occurred, the campaign was significant for asserting Muslim presence in the region and securing strategic alliances.

== Background ==
After the Muslim victory at the [[Battle of Hunayn]] in the [[Muhammad after the conquest of Mecca|aftermath of the conquest of Mecca]], the political landscape of Arabia shifted in favour of the emerging [[First Islamic state]]. Reports were received by the Prophet Muhammad that the [[Byzantine Empire]],<ref name="Nafziger13" /> under [[Emperor Heraclius]], was mobilising troops in the [[Levant]], supported by their Arab Christian client tribes such as the [[Ghassanids]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hitti |first=Philip K. |date=1957-04-01 |title=Muhammad at Medina. By <i>W. Montgomery Watt</i>. (New York: Oxford University Press. 1956. Pp. xiv, 418. $6.75.) |url=https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr/62.3.605 |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=62 |issue=3 |pages=605–606 |doi=10.1086/ahr/62.3.605 |issn=1937-5239|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Historians differ on the accuracy of these reports. According to [[al-Tabari]], it was believed that Heraclius had stationed a large force at Balqa in southern Syria.<ref>{{Cite web |last=al-Tabari |others=Translated by Landau-Tasseron |title= |script-title=ar:Tārīkh al-Rusul wa al-Mulūk |trans-title=History of the Prophets and Kings |url= |access-date= |website=}}</ref> Some modern scholars, however, suggest that this intelligence may have been exaggerated or even unsubstantiated.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Crone |first=Patricia |date=1983-04-01 |title=Fred Mcgraw Donner. <i>The Early Islamic Conquests</i>. (Princeton Studies on the Near East.) Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1981. Pp. xviii, 489. $35.00 |url=https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr/88.2.440 |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=88 |issue=2 |pages=440–442 |doi=10.1086/ahr/88.2.440 |issn=1937-5239|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== Mobilization and march ==
In response, Muhammad called for a mobilisation. The campaign was undertaken during a time of severe heat and drought, testing the resolve of the Muslim community. The Quran refers to this expedition as the Campaign of Hardship,{{Cite quran|9|117}} noting the difficulties faced and the initial reluctance of some companions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Berg |first=Herbert |date=2021-12-23 |title=Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, Selections from The Comprehensive Exposition of the Interpretation of the Verses of the Qurʾān. Translated by Scott C. Lucas |url=https://doi.org/10.7817/jaos.141.4.2021.br014 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=141 |issue=4 |pages=996 |doi=10.7817/jaos.141.4.2021.br014 |issn=2169-2289|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The army comprised approximately 30,000 men, including 10,000 cavalry—the largest force yet assembled by the Muslims.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lings |first=Martin |title=Muhammad: his life based on the earliest sources |date=2006 |publisher=Inner Traditions |isbn=978-1-59477-153-8 |location=Rochester, Vt |pages=309}}</ref> Wealthy companions such as [[Uthman]] contributed substantial financial and material support. [[Ibn Hisham]] records that Uthman equipped one-third of the army and donated 1,000 gold dinars.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ibn Ishaq |first=Translated by A. Guillaume |url=https://archive.org/details/TheLifeOfMohammedGuillaume |title=Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah - The Life of Muhammad Translated by A. Guillaume |date=2002 |pages=186}}</ref>

The army marched northward over 700 km to Tabuk, near the [[Gulf of Aqaba]], close to the modern border of Saudi Arabia and Jordan in October 630 (Rajab AH 9).<ref name="OxfordIslam" /><ref name="Gabriel197">{{citation |author=Richard A. Gabriel |title=Muhammad: Islam's First Great General |page=[https://archive.org/details/muhammadislamsfi00rich/page/197 197] |year=2007 |url=https://archive.org/details/muhammadislamsfi00rich/page/197 |publisher=[[University of Oklahoma Press]] |isbn=978-0-8061-3860-2 |url-access=registration}}</ref> It was his largest and last military expedition.<ref name="OxfordIslam" /> [[Ali ibn Abi Talib]], who participated in several other expeditions of Muhammad, did not participate in Muhammad's Tabuk expedition upon Muhammad's instructions, as he held command at [[Medina]].<ref name="OxfordIslamAli">{{cite encyclopedia |year=2009 |title=ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib |encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195305135.001.0001/acref-9780195305135-e-0049?rskey=xq9Xo4&result=1 |last=Sachedina |first=Abdulaziz |author-link=Abdulaziz Sachedina |editor-surname1=Esposito |editor-given1=John L. |isbn=978-0-19-530513-5 |editor-link1=John Esposito}}</ref>

== At Tabuk ==
Upon arrival, Muhammad spent twenty days at Tabuk, scouting the area, making alliances with local Christian and Arab tribes, including the rulers of Aylah (modern [[Aqaba]]), [[Jarba]], and [[Adhruh]], who agreed to pay [[jizya]] in return for protection.<ref name="Gabriel197" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ibn Sa'd |first= |url=https://archive.org/details/kitab-al-tabaqat-al-kabir-ibn-sad-s.-moinul-haq-h.-k.-ghazanfar-2 |title=Kitab Al Tabaqat Al Kabir |date=1967 |others=Translator by S. Moinul Haq, H. K. Ghazanfar |volume=2 |pages=203}}</ref> With no sign of the Byzantine army,<ref name="OxfordIslam" /> he decided to return to Medina.<ref name="Nafziger13" /> There is no evidence that a Byzantine army was deployed in the region at the time, leading some scholars to conclude that the threat was either misperceived or that the Byzantines withdrew upon learning of Muhammad’s advance.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Poonawala |first=Ismail |title=Byzantine–Muslim Relations. |url=https://doi.org/10.1163/ejb1573-3912_3 |access-date=2025-05-23 |website=Encyclopaedia of Islam |edition=2nd}}</ref> Though Muhammad did not encounter a Byzantine army at Tabuk, according to the ''Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World'', "this show of force demonstrated his intention to challenge the Byzantines for control of the northern part of the caravan route from [[Mecca]] to [[Syria (region)|Syria]]".<ref name="OxfordIslam" />

== Return to Medina ==
The expedition ended without combat, but it had lasting consequences. On returning to [[Medina]], Muhammad was welcomed by those who had remained behind. The expedition solidified Muhammad’s leadership and discouraged future Byzantine involvement in Arabia.{{cn|date=July 2025}}

Moreover, it exposed the hypocrisy of certain individuals who had refused to participate. The Qur’an censures them in several verses, particularly in ''[[Surat at-Tawbah]]'', where they are referred to as the "hypocrites" (''munāfiqūn'').{{Cite quran|9|81|end=96}}

==See also==
*[[List of expeditions of Muhammad]]
*[[Military career of Muhammad]]
*[[Muhammad as a general]]
*[[Hadith of position]]
*[[Arabian Peninsula]]
**[[Hejaz]]
**[[Midian]]

==References==
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[[Category:630]]
[[Category:7th century in the Byzantine Empire]]
[[Category:Campaigns led by Muhammad|Tabouk]]
[[Category:Military campaigns]]