‘Ulba bin Zayd cried because he couldn’t assist the Prophet ﷺ during the Battle of Tabuk- so he gave his ‘honour’ as a charity!!!

What did ‘Ulba bin Zayd bin Harithah do when he had nothing to give in order to support the Prophet ﷺ during the Battle of Tabuk and had no riding animal to join the battle!?

– وقام عُلْبةُ بنُ زيدٍ فصلّى مِن الليلِ وبكى، وقال: اللهمَّ إنَّك قد أمَرْتَ بالجهادِ ورغَّبْتَ فيه، ثم لم تَجعَلْ عندي ما أتقوّى به مع رسولِك، ولم تَجعَلْ في يدِ رسولِك ما يَحمِلُني عليه، وإنِّي أتصدَّقُ على كلِّ مسلِمٍ بكلِّ مَظلِمةٍ أصابني فيها مِن مالٍ أو جسَدٍ أو عِرْضٍ، ثم أصبَح مع الناسِ، فقال النبيُّ ﷺ: أين المتصدِّقُ هذه الليلةَ؟ فلم يقُمْ إليه أحدٌ، ثم قال: أين المتصدِّقُ فَلْيقُمْ؟ فقام إليه فأخبَره، فقال النبيُّ ﷺ: أبشِرْ؛ فوالذي نفسُ محمَّدٍ بيدِهِ، لقد كُتِبتْ في الزكاةِ المتقبَّلةِ.

شعيب الأرنؤوط (١٤٣٨ هـ)، تخريج زاد المعاد ٣/٤٦٣ • صحيح

And ‘Ulba bin Zayd stood at night in prayer and cried. He said, “O Allah! You have ordered us to go to Jihad and encouraged me towards it, but then you did not provide me with the means for it, nor did You Give Your Messenger a riding animal to transport me.

I wish to donate to all Muslims (the compensation and rewards I received for) whatever wrongs may have befallen me, whether in money, in
bodily harm or in honour.”

Next morning he arose with the rest and the Messenger of Allah asked, “Where is he who spent the night giving charity?” No one got up. He
next said, ‘Let the man who made the charity get up now.’ He (‘Ulba) then
stood and informed him.

Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Rejoice! By Him in whose hand is my soul, you have been recorded amongst those having made charity that was accepted by Allah!”

See Ibn Hajr in Al-Isabah 2/500. Shaikh Shuaib Al-Arnauut said that the narration is Sahih in Za’ad-Ul-Ma’ad 3/463. Shaikh Al-Albani declared the narration trustworthy in his checking of Fiqh-us-Seerah by Al-Ghazali. Also see Dr.Mahdi Rizqullah Ahmed’s book ‘As-Seerah An-Nabawiyyah Fee Dau-il Masadir Al-Asliyyah’, vol.2, page 765, english translation by Darussalam Publishers,Riyadh. Translation adapted by Abu Muaaz Mohammed Manna from Professor Trevor Le Gassick’s english rendering of As-Sirah An-Nabawiyyah of Ibn Kathir, vol.4, page 5.

Note: ‘Ulba is not the son of the famous Zayd bin Harithah who was the freed slave of the Prophet ﷺ (Dr.Mahdi Rizqullah Ahmed’s ‘As-Sirah An-Nabawiyyah Fee Dau-il Masadir Al-Asliyyah, vol.2, page 765).

والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله و على آله و صحبه أجمعين…