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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

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Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

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An Abridgment of the Prophetic Biography (Seerah),

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Authored by Sheikh Musa ibn Rashid al-'Azimi,

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May Allah preserve him.

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The Ninth Year of the Hijrah:

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The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sends out his zakat collectors.

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When the crescent moon of al-Muharram in the ninth year of the Hijrah appeared,

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The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) dispatched his workers to collect zakat

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Across all the lands that had embraced Islam.

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Ibn Sa'd stated in his *Tabaqat*:

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"When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) sighted the crescent of al-Muharram

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In the ninth year of his emigration,

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He sent out the zakat collectors to gather zakat from the Arabs."

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And Ibn Ishaq said:

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"The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) dispatched his governors and zakat collectors

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To all the territories that had submitted to Islam.

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He sent al-Muhajir ibn Abi Umayyah ibn al-Mughirah (may Allah be pleased with him) to Sana'a,

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Where al-'Ansi rebelled against him while he was stationed there.

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He sent Ziyad ibn Labid al-Bayadi (may Allah be pleased with him) to Hadramawt,

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And 'Adi ibn Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him) to Tayy and Banu Asad.

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He sent Malik ibn Nuwayrah to Banu Hanzalah,

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And divided the zakat collection of Banu Sa'd between two men of their tribe:

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Dispatching al-Zibriqan ibn Badr (may Allah be pleased with him) over one region,

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And Qays ibn 'Asim (may Allah be pleased with him) over another.

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He sent al-'Ala' ibn al-Hadrami (may Allah be pleased with him) to Bahrain,

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And 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) to Najran.

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He sent Rafi' ibn Makith (may Allah be pleased with him) to Juhaynah,

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And 'Amr ibn al-'As (may Allah be pleased with him) to Banu Fazarah.

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He sent al-Dahhak ibn Sufyan al-Kilabi (may Allah be pleased with him) to Banu Kilab,

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And 'Uyaynah ibn Hisn to Banu Tamim.

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He sent Buraydah ibn al-Husayb (may Allah be pleased with him) to Aslam and Ghifar,

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And 'Abbad ibn Bishr (may Allah be pleased with him) to Sulaym and Muzaynah.

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He sent Ibn al-Lutbiyyah al-Azdi to Banu Dhubyan,

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And al-Walid ibn 'Uqbah (may Allah be pleased with him) to Banu al-Mustaliq."

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An Important Note:

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It is worth noting that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)

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Did not dispatch all of these noble Companions at one single time

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In al-Muharram of the ninth year of the Hijrah;

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Rather, the dispatch of some was deferred until those tribes they were sent to actually embraced Islam.

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This is corroborated by what appears in the narration of Ibn Ishaq:

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Namely, that among the collectors dispatched by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) over their people's zakat

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Was 'Adi ibn Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him),

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Whereas 'Adi's conversion to Islam

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Took place only after the Prophet (peace be upon him) sent 'Ali to demolish al-Fuls,

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An idol belonging to the tribe of Tayy,

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Which occurred in Rabi' al-Akhir of the ninth year of the Hijrah.

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The Prophet's Warning Against Embezzling Zakat:

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The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) warned his Companions against misappropriating zakat funds.

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Abu Dawud narrated in his *Sunan* with an authentic chain of transmission

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On the authority of Abu Mas'ud al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:

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"The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) appointed me as a zakat collector,

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Then he said:

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'Go forth, Abu Mas'ud!

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Let me not find you on the Day of Resurrection coming with an embezzled zakat camel upon your back,

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Grunting because you wrongfully took it!'

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Abu Mas'ud replied:

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'In that case, I will not go.'

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Thereupon the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:

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'Then I shall not compel you.'"

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The Expedition of Tabuk,

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Also known as the Expedition of Hardship (al-'Usrah):

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The Expedition of Tabuk took place in the month of Rajab

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In the ninth year of the Hijrah,

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And it was the last military expedition led by the Prophet (peace be upon him) in person.

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Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar stated in *Fath al-Bari*:

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"The Expedition of Tabuk

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Occurred in the month of Rajab in the ninth year,

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Prior to the Farewell Pilgrimage,

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Without any disagreement."

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Imam Ahmad narrated in his *Musnad* and al-Tirmidhi in his *Jami'* with an authentic chain

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On the authority of Ka'b ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:

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"I never stayed behind from any expedition the Prophet (peace be upon him) undertook,

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Until the Expedition of Tabuk,

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Which was the last campaign he ever led."

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Al-Hakim narrated in *al-Mustadrak* with a good chain of transmission

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On the authority of Jabir ibn 'Abdillah (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said:

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"The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) fought in twenty-one military expeditions;

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I took part alongside him in nineteen of them,

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And the very last campaign the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) led was Tabuk."

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The Cause of the Expedition:

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Scholars have cited the motive behind the Expedition of Tabuk along the following lines:

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First:

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Ibn Sa'd stated in his *Tabaqat*:

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"Word reached the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) that the Byzantines had massed massive armies in the Levant,

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That Heraclius had provisioned his troops for a full year,

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That the tribes of Lakhm, Judham, 'Amilah, and Ghassan had rallyingly allied with him,

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And that they had pushed their vanguards as far as al-Balqa'.

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Consequently, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) summoned the people to march out."

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I say:

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This reason is strongly supported

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By what Imam al-Bukhari narrated in his *Sahih*

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On the authority of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:

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"Those around the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had submitted to him,

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And none remained except the Ghassanid king in the Levant,

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Whom we feared might launch an attack against us."

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In another wording in the two *Sahih* collections,

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'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

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"We had been talking among ourselves that Ghassan was shoeing their horses to attack us."

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I say:

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Perhaps the arrogance of the Byzantines and Ghassanids toward the Muslims

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Was triggered by the outcome of the Battle of Mu'tah,

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Where the Byzantines and Ghassanids were shaken by the Muslims' resolve;

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Thus, they sought to exact vengeance against the Muslims,

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So the Prophet (peace be upon him) preempted them.

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Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir favored this view in his Tafsir,

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Saying:

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"He campaigned against them to retaliate and take retribution against those who had slain his Companions at Mu'tah,

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And Allah knows best."

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Second:

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Carrying out the divine command of jihad in the cause of Allah Almighty.

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Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir stated:

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"The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) resolved to fight the Byzantines

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Because they were the nearest people to him,

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And the most entitled to be called to the truth

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Owing to their closer affinity to Islam and its adherents;

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For Allah Almighty has said:

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“O ye who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are near to you, and let them find harshness in you, and know that Allah is with those who keep their duty (unto Him).” (9:123)

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'...and know that Allah is with the righteous.'

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And he added in his Tafsir:

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'And His saying, Exalted is He:'

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“Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, and forbid not that which Allah hath forbidden by His messenger, and follow not the Religion of Truth, until they pay the tribute readily, being brought low.” (9:29)

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“Fight against such of those who have been given the Scripture as believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, and forbid not that which Allah hath forbidden by His messenger, and follow not the Religion of Truth, until they pay the tribute readily, being brought low.” (9:29)

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The Gravity of the Situation:

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The two Shaykhs narrated in their *Sahih*s on the authority of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:

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"We were in constant dread of a king among the Ghassanid kings,

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As it was reported to us that he intended to march against us,

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So our hearts were filled with apprehension concerning him."

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This demonstrates the critical gravity of the threat the Muslims faced from the Byzantines and Ghassanids.

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What compounded the hardship was that the Expedition of Tabuk

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Came during a period of severe distress for the people,

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Marked by drought across the land and scorching summer heat.

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Ibn Ishaq narrated from his teachers:

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"The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) ordered his Companions to prepare to march against the Byzantines

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At a time of extreme hardship among the people,

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Intense heat,

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And drought in the land,

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Just as the fruit had ripened,

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When the people wished to remain with their produce and shade,

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Loathing to depart under the harsh conditions of that season."

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The Prophet (peace be upon him) as the Commander:

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The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) evaluated these circumstances

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With a far deeper and wiser strategic insight than all of that.

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He recognized that had he hesitated or held back from confronting the Byzantines and Ghassanids in these decisive conditions,

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Leaving the Byzantines and Ghassanids to freely roam the regions under Islamic authority and influence,

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And march directly upon Medina,

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It would have inflicted the direst consequences upon the Islamic call

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And upon the military standing of the Muslims.

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For paganism, which was drawing its last breath

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After receiving a crushing blow at the Battle of Hunayn,

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Would have been revived once again;

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And the hypocrites, who were waiting to stab the Muslims in the back with their daggers,

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Would strike while the Romans and Ghassanids launched a ferocious frontal assault against the Muslims.

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This would have undone much of the monumental effort he and his Companions had expended in spreading Islam,

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Squandering the gains they had achieved after bloody conflicts

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And relentless, successive military patrols,

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Causing all these achievements to come to naught.

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The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) understood all of this thoroughly;

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Hence, he resolved to undertake,

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Despite the prevailing adversity and hardship,

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A decisive expedition in which the Muslims would confront the Byzantines and Ghassanids at their own borders,

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Granting them no respite to advance into the lands of Islam.

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An Abridgment of the Prophetic Biography (Seerah).

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May Allah grant him healing.