Miracle at the Spring of Tabuk
Hazrat Mu‘az (ra) bin Jabal narrates: “In the year when the Battle of Tabuk took place, we also left with the Holy Prophet (sa) and the Holy Prophet (sa) would join the Zuhr and Asr prayers and also the Maghrib and Isha prayers. One day, the Holy Prophet (sa) read the prayers slightly later. He came out and led the Zuhr and Asr prayers and then returned to his residence. He then came out again and led the Maghrib and Isha prayers. The Holy Prophet (sa) then stated, ‘Tomorrow, you will, InshAllah, reach the springs of Tabuk.’”
To clarify, it does not mean that the Holy Prophet (sa) led all four prayers together; rather, he joined the Zuhr prayer with the Asr and read it at the very last moments of when Asr can be offered and similarly offered the Maghrib and Isha prayer at the earliest time when Maghrib can be offered. In any case the Holy Prophet (sa) stated:
“Tomorrow when the sun has fully risen, you will reach the spring of Tabuk. (The Holy Prophet (sa) estimated that they would roughly reach during the day.) Whoever among you reaches it should not touch its water or drink from it until I arrive.”
The narrator states, “Upon arriving, two individuals had already reached before us and there was a very small stream of water coming from it, almost as thin as the lace of a shoe. The Holy Prophet (sa) asked both these individuals if they had touched the water and they both replied that they had taken water from it and also drank from it.”
The Holy Prophet (sa) admonished them both, asking why they had taken some water despite the fact that he had forbidden them from doing so; and he continued to say to them that which Allah willed. The narrator says that little by little, people began taking water out of the spring until some water had accumulated in a bowl – there was only a small stream of water. The narrator says that the Holy Prophet (sa) washed both hands in the bowl and washed his face as well. Then he took the water and poured it back into the spring, meaning he washed his face whilst standing by the stream and the excess water fell back into the spring. Upon this, the spring began flowing rapidly; when the Holy Prophet (sa) washed his face and hands in the spring and the excess water fell back into the spring, what was once a light stream began to quickly flow and people were able to drink to their fill. Then the Holy Prophet (sa) said, “O Mu‘az! If you live long enough, you will see this place become filled with gardens.”
(Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-Faza‘il, Bab fi Mu‘jazat al-Nabi, Hadith 706)
According to the books of Ahadith, we learn that this miracle occurred when the Holy Prophet (sa) had just arrived in Tabuk. According to Sirat Ibn Hisham this event took place on the way back from Tabuk, in a valley named Mushaqaq.
(Ibn Hisham, al-Raud al-Anf fi Tafsir al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah, Ghazwat Tabuk fi Rajab Sanah Tis‘ [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 2001], 821-822)
Imam Malik (rh) has also mentioned this incident in his book, Muwatta. Whilst explaining this Hadith, Muhammad bin Abdul Baqi Zarqani writes that Abu Waleed Waji states that this was a prophecy which had already been fulfilled and the Holy Prophet (sa) specifically mentioned Hazrat Mu‘az (ra) because he had moved to Syria and that was where he passed away. The Holy Prophet (sa) was informed through revelation that Hazrat Mu‘az (ra) would see this place and through the blessings of the Holy Prophet (sa), that valley would become a place full of trees and gardens.
Allamah ibn Abdul Barr relates that Ibn Waddaha states that he visited the entire area surrounding that spring. He found the lushness and greenery of its trees to the extent that perhaps it would remain so until the end of time, which was exactly as the Holy Prophet (sa) had prophesied.
(Sharh Zurqani ala al-Muwatta, Vol. 1, p. 436, Kitab Qasr al-Salah fi al-Safar, Bab al-Jam‘ baina al-Salatain, Dar Ihya al-Turath al-Arabi, Beirut, 1997)
It is written in Atlas Seeratun Nabawi that “one of the government officials in Tabuk said, ‘Until two years ago, this spring was continuously flowing for 1,375 years. Then tube wells were dug in areas at a lower altitude, and thus the water from this spring moved towards the tube wells. After being distributed among 25 tube wells, this spring has only just dried up.’ Afterwards, he took us to a tube well where we saw a four-inch pipe was installed and water was flowing from it with great force, without the use of any machine. We were told that the other tube wells were similar to this one. It is due only to the blessings from the miracle of the Holy Prophet (sa) that there is such an abundance of water in Tabuk, that apart from Medina and Khaybar, we have not seen as much water anywhere else. In fact the reality is that the amount of water in Tabuk is even more than these two places. Due to this water, gardens are being planted everywhere in Tabuk, and according to the prophecy of the Holy Prophet (sa), Tabuk is filled with gardens, which continue to increase by the day.”
(Atlas Sirat Nabawi, p. 431, Dar al-Islam, 1424 AH)