The Campaign of Badr
On one expedition, the Quraishite caravan on route to Syria had escaped the Muslims. The Muslims were in wait for its return. Some scouts of
the Muslims saw the caravan, led by Abu Sufyan himself, pass by them, and hurriedly
informed the Prophet of it and its size. If this caravan were intercepted, it
would have an economic impact of great measure, one which would shake the
entire society of the Meccans. The Muslim scouts reported that the caravan would
be halting at the wells of Badr, and the Muslims now prepared themselves to
intercept it.
News of these preparations reached Abu Sufyan on his
southward journey, and he sent an urgent message to Mecca that an army should
be dispatched to deal with the Muslims. Grasping the catastrophic consequences
if the caravan were intercepted, they immediately rounded as much power as
possible and departed to encounter the Muslims. On way to Badr, the army
received news that Abu Sufyan managed to escape the Muslims by driving the
caravan to an alternative route along the seashore. The Meccan army, numbering
about a thousand men, persisted to Badr in order to teach a lesson to the
Muslims, dissuading them from attacking any caravans in the future.
When the Muslims came to know of the advance of the
Meccan army, they knew that a daring step must be taken in the matter. If the
Muslims did not encounter them at Badr, the Meccans would continue undermine
the cause of Islam with all their ability, possibly even proceeding to Medina desecrating lives property and wealth there. The Prophet, may the mercy and
blessings of God be upon him, held and advisory meeting to determine the course
of action. The Prophet did not want to lead the Muslims, especially the
Helpers who were the far majority of the army and were not even bound by the
Pledge of Aqaba to fight beyond their territories, into something they did not
agree to.
A man from the Helpers, Sa’d ibn Mu’aadh stood
reaffirmed their devotion to the Prophet and the cause of Islam. From his
words were the following:
“O Prophet of God! We believe in you and we bear
witness to what you have vouchsafed to us, and we declare in unequivocal terms
that what you have brought is the Truth. We give you our firm pledge of
obedience and sacrifice. We obey you most willingly in whatever you command
us, and by God Who has sent you with the Truth, if you were to ask us to plunge
into the sea, we will do that most readily, and not a man of us will stay
behind. We do not grudge the idea of encounter with the enemy. We are
experienced in war and we are trustworthy in combat. We hope that God will
show you through our hands those deeds of valor which will please your eyes. Kindly
lead us to the battlefield in the Name of God.
After this show of extreme support and love for the
Prophet and Islam by both the Emigrants and the Helpers, the Muslims, numbering
a little over 300, made their way as best they could to Badr. They had only
seventy camels and three horses between them, so the men rode by turns. They
went forward to what is known in history as al- Yawm al-Furqan, the Day
of Discrimination; discrimination between light and darkness, good and evil,
right and wrong.
Preceding the Day of the battle, the Prophet spent the
whole night in prayer and supplication. The battle was fought on 17 Ramadan in
the second year of the Hijra; 624 C.E. It was customary for the Arabs to start
the battles with individual duels. The Muslims gained an advantage in the
duels, and some notaries of the Quraish had been killed. The Quraish enraged,
the fell upon the Muslims in order to exterminate them once and for all. The
Muslims kept a strategic defensive position, which in turn produced heavy
losses for the Meccans. The Prophet was beseeching His Lord with all his might
by this time, extending his hands so high that his cloak fell off his shoulders.
At that point, he received a revelation promising of the help of God:
“…I will help you with a thousand of the angels one behind
another in succession.” (Quran 8:9)
Upon hearing the good news, the Prophet ordered the
Muslims took an offensive. The great army of Quraish was overwhelmed by the
zeal, valor and faith of the Muslims, and after facing heavy losses, they could
do nothing but flee. The Muslims were left alone on the field with a few
doomed Meccans, amongst them the arch-enemy of Islam, Abu Jahl. The Quraish
were defeated and Abu Jahl was killed. The promise of God came true:
“Their multitude will be defeated, and they will turn their
backs (in flee).” (Quran 54:45)
In this, one of the most decisive battles in human
history, the total casualties were between only between seventy and eighty.
Mecca reeled under the shock, where Abu Sufyan was left as
the dominant figure in the city, and he knew better than anyone that the matter
could not be allowed to rest there. Success breeds success, and the bedouin tribes,
never slow to assess the balance of power, were increasingly inclined towards
alliance with the Muslims, and Islam gained many new converts in Medina.
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