Battle of Tabuk

Mujahid and several others said, "This Ayah was revealed concerning the battle of Tabuk. They left for that battle during a period of distress. It was a year with little rain, intense heat and scarcity of supplies and water." Qatadah said, "They went to Ash-Sham during the year of the battle of Tabuk at a time when the heat was intense. Allah knew how hard things were, and they suffered great hardship. We were told that two men used to divide a date between themselves. Some of them would take turns in sucking on a date and drinking water, then give it to another man to suck on. Allah forgave them and allowed them to come back from that battle." Ibn Jarir reported that `Abdullah bin `Abbas said that `Umar bin Al-Khattab was reminded of the battle of distress (Tabuk) and `Umar said, "We went with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in the intense heat for Tabuk. We camped at a place in which we were stricken so hard by thirst that we thought that our necks would be severed. One of us used to go out in search of water and did not return until he feared that his neck would be severed. One would slaughter his camel, squeeze its intestines and drink its content, placing whatever was left on his kidney. Abu Bakr As-Siddiq said, `O Allah's Messenger! Allah, the Exalted and Most Honored, has always accepted your invocation, so invoke Allah for us.' The Prophet said,

«تُحِبُّ ذَلِكَ؟»

Commentary

In the comments on verse 102: وَآخَرُ‌ونَ اعْتَرَ‌فُوا (And there are those who admitted...), it was said that following the general call of Jihad at Tabuk which required all Muslims to join in, the people of Madinah had split into five groups. Two of them were of those who elected to stay behind without any valid excuse, a detailed description of which has appeared in previous verses. Here, in the present verses, three kinds of sincere believers have been mentioned. First were those who responded to the call of Jihad instantly. They have been identified in the initial sentence: اتَّبَعُوهُ فِي سَاعَةِ الْعُسْرَ‌ةِ (who followed him in the hour of hardship) of verse 117. The second group was of those who hesitated during the early stage but recovered soon and got ready for Jihad with other participants. They have been described in the sentence: كَادَ يَزِيغُ قُلُوبُ فَرِ‌يقٍ مِّنْهُمْ (after the hearts of a group of them were about to turn crooked) of the same verse (117).