The Hour of Difficulty

There was no fighting, because when the Romans heard of the advance of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), Allah put fear in their hearts. So, subḥān Allāh, they did not come forward, even though they had better preparation, larger numbers and stronger weapons; but they were afraid to meet the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in actual battle. And therefore the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) stayed there and waited for them, and nobody came; and during that time the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) opened a few towns, made agreements with others, and took jizyah from them. So it was a very successful ghazwah, even though no fighting was involved. It was very difficult; it was a test for the Muslims, as has been mentioned. Allah (ʿazza wa jall) says:

Allah has already forgiven the Prophet and the Muhājirūn and the Anṣār who followed him in the hour of difficulty — the hour of difficulty is the Battle of Tabūk — after the hearts of a party of them had almost inclined to doubt, because of the difficulty; and then He forgave them; indeed, He was to them Kind and Merciful. So now one can see that the closing chapters are being reached, because forgiveness is something that comes towards the end. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is being told, and the Muslims are being told, that Allah has forgiven the Messenger of Allah and the Muhājirūn and the Anṣār who followed him in the hour of difficulty. So Allah has given them tawbah and accepted their tawbah; and this means that the end of the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was approaching — because that is something we do at the end of an act of ʿibādah: we ask Allah (swt) for forgiveness, istighfār.