Tabuk expedition: pacts with Christian Ayla and Dumat al-Jandal
630 – 631
Place: tabuk · coming soon
28.397, 36.579 · On the map
TRADITIONAL (Ibn Ishaq, al-Waqidi). The texts of the treaties are transmitted, not original documents.
Islamic tradition says that on the Tabuk campaign in 630, Christian and Jewish communities of the north — Yuhanna ibn Ru'ba of Ayla (Aqaba), and later the Christian ruler Ukaydir of Dumat al-Jandal — made treaties to pay tribute in return for protection. These are the first agreements between the Muslim community and Christians under its rule.
People named here
- Muhammad
- Yuhanna ibn Ru'ba
- Ukaydir ibn 'Abd al-Malik
Links
People and office
In
Treaties with the Christians of Ayla and Dumat (traditional).
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traditional
Sequence
In
Ghassanids: Christian Arab kings for Byzantium (al-Jabiya)
Muhammad's northern campaigns (Mu'ta 629, Tabuk 630) met Ghassanid-allied Christian Arabs.
contemporary_with
traditionalIn
Heraclius returns the True Cross to Jerusalem
Heraclius in Jerusalem and Muhammad's Tabuk campaign both fall in 630.
contemporary_with
attested
Sources
- Wikipedia: Expedition of Tabuk
Wikipedia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0). Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasul Allah, trans. A. Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad (OUP 1955) — insider tradition, compiled c. 750, recension of Ibn Hisham d. 833
Internet Archive (lending record). Accessed 2026-11-11.