Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) or may be Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: On the day of the battle of Tabuk, the Muslims were hard pressed by hunger and they asked Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam): "O Messenger of Allah, grant us permission to slaughter our camels to eat and use their fat". He (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) accorded permission. On this `Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) came and said: "O Messenger of Allah, if it is done, we shall suffer from lack of transportation. I suggest you pool together whatever has been left and supplicate Allah to bless it.'' Allah will bestow His Blessing upon it. Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) agreed and called for leather mat and had it spread out, and asked people to bring the provisions left over. They started doing it. One brought a handful of corn, another brought a handful of dates, a third brought a piece of bread; thus some provisions were collected on the mat. Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) invoked blessings, and then said, "Now take it up in your vessels". Everyone filled his vessel with food, so that there was not left a single empty vessel in the whole camp. All of them ate to their fill and there was still some left over. Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) said, "Any slave who meets Allah, testifying there is no true god except Allah, and that I am His Messenger, without entertaining any doubt about these (two fundamentals), will not be banished from entering Jannah.'' [Muslim]

Commentary: This Hadith mentions a miracle of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) and the effect of his prayer by means of which a small quantity of food sufficed the whole army. The exact number of Muslims who took part in the battle of Tabuk is not mentioned in any reliable account. Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar has stated, with reference to some narratives of Fath Al-Bari mentioned in connection with the biography of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) and the wars he had fought in the way of Allah, that they numbered thirty to forty thousand men.

Although these figures are open to question but one can safely infer from these figures that their number was very large. According to Sahih Al-Bukhari: "A large number of Muslims participated with the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) in this war. Their number was so large that they could not be described in a register. It was difficult for the Prophet (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) to discover who was absent except that he was informed about him by Allah.'' (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Kitab Al-Maghazi, Bab Ghazwah Tabuk, Hadith Ka`b bin Malik). This extract goes to prove that although the number of Muslims who took part in this war was very large the provisions weighing a few seers only sufficed for them all.

We also learn from this Hadith that one who is blessed with the Grace of Allah, can offer advice to a person who is superior to him on this account. Similarly, the one who is superior in virtue should listen to the advice of those who are inferior to him because there is every possibility that their advice may offer something better. It does not harm either of them. Neither does it detract from the superiority of the superior nor can it be regarded an affront of a junior.