Battle of Badr:
First Battle of Islam at Badr in Self-Defense,
Location
: Badr is located about 80 miles from Madina
When
the battle was fought : Friday, 17th Ramadan 2 AH, 13th March 624 AD.
Muslim
Army: 313 men, mainly infantry with 2 horses & 70 camels
Mushrikeen
Army: 1000 men, mainly riders with 100 horses and 700 camels
Muslim
martyrs: 14
Mushrikeen
killed: 72
Result: Battle won by Muslims
Sura Aal-e-Imran 3:123 & 124
The emigration
of Prophet Muhammad (saw) to Madina had turned the enemies from Makkah
more aggressive and they constantly kept on thinking how they could coup d'état
him, and put an end to Islam. The Makkans and their allies started to bring
their raids to the very outskirts of Madina, destroying the fruit trees of the
Muslims and carrying away their flocks.
Hence, the Battle of Badr is one of the greatest and most
famous battles of Islam. For the first time the followers of the new faith were
put into a serious test. This was a key battle in the early days of Islam and
proved to be a turning point in Islam's struggle with its oppressive opponents,
amongst them the Quraish in Makkah. And those who participated in it enjoyed a special
distinction amongst the Muslims.
In the middle of Jamadi-ul-Awwal of the second
year of migration a report was received in Madina that a caravan was going from
Makkah to Syria under the leadership of Abu Sufyan and Prophet Muhammad (saw)
went up to Zatul Ashirah to pursue the caravan and stayed there till the
beginning of the following month, but could not lay hands on it.
One of the commendable policies adopted by Prophet
Muhammad (saw) in all the battles was that he used to collect information about
the strength of the enemy and his location. The information received was as
under:
- It is a big
caravan and all Makkans have shares in its merchandise.
- The leader of
the caravan is Abu Sufyan and there are about forty persons who guard it.
- The merchandise
is loaded on one thousand camels and its value is about fifty thousand
dinars.
As Quraish had impounded the property of Muslim Muhajirs
residing in Madina, it was only appropriate that the Muslims should also
confiscate their merchandise and if they persisted in withholding the property
of the Muhajirs Muslims on account of their enmity and stubbornness, the
Muslims should, as a punitive measure, divide their merchandise amongst
themselves as war treasure.
Prophet Muhammad (saw) stood up and said: "What is
your view in the matter?"
Hazrat Miqdad (RA) stood up and said: "O Prophet of
Allah! Our hearts are with you and you should act according to the orders given
to you by Allah (SWT). By Allah! We shall not tell you what Bani Israel told
Musa (AS). When Musa (AS) asked them to perform Jihad they said to him: 'O
Musa! You and your Lord should go and perform Jihad and we shall sit here'. We,
however, tell you quite the reverse of it and say: Perform Jihad under the
auspices of the blessings of Allah (SWT) and we are also with you and shall
fight".
Prophet Muhammad (saw) was very much delighted to hear Hazrat
Miqdad's words and prayed for him.
Prophet Muhammad (saw) left Madina with 313 men
in the month of Ramadan of the second year of migration to confiscate
the property of Quraish encamped by the side of the well of Badr.
While going to Syria Abu Sufyan had realized that Prophet
Muhammad (saw) was pursuing his caravan. He was, therefore, careful at the time
of his return and enquired from other caravans whether Prophet Muhammad (saw)
had occupied the trade routes. It was reported to him that Prophet Muhammad
(saw) had left Madina along with his companions and might be chasing the
caravan of Quraish.
Abu Sufyan refrained from proceeding further. He did not
see any alternative except to inform Quraish about the forthcoming danger to
the caravan. In the meantime Abu Sufyan, changed the course of the caravan and
covering two stages of the journey at a time, took it out of the zone of
influence of Islam. He also appointed a man to go and inform Quraish that the
caravan had been saved from attack by the Muslims and they should, therefore,
return to Makkah and leave it to the Arabs to settle the affairs with Prophet
Muhammad (saw).
The news of the escape of Abu Sufyan's caravan circulated
amongst the Muslims. Those who had greedily kept an eye on the merchandise were
very much disturbed by this development. Allah (SWT) revealed the following
verse to strengthen their hearts:
Allah has promised to grant your victory over one of the
two bands (the caravan and those who had come to defend it), but you wished to
fight the one that was unarmed. He sought to fulfill His promise and to defeat
the unbelievers, so that truth should triumph and falsehood be uprooted, though
the wrongdoers wished otherwise. (Surah al-Anfal, 8:7)
As opposed to the suggestion of Abu Sufyan, Abu Jahl
insisted that they should go to the region of Badr, stay there for three days,
kill camels, drink wine and hear the entertainer girls sing so that their
valour might reach the ears of the Arabs and they should have a high regard for
them forever.
The fascinating words of Abu Jahl made Quraish wait at
that place and halt at an elevated point in the desert behind a dune. Heavy
rain made movement difficult for them and kept them from proceeding further.
On the 17th of Ramadan of the second year of
migration (2AH or 624 CE) Quraish descended, early in the morning, from behind
the sandy mound into the desert of Badr under the leadership of Abu Jahl. When
Prophet Muhammad (saw) saw them he raised his face to the sky and said: "O
Allah! Quraish are up, with pride and arrogance, to fight against You and to
deny Your Prophet! Send the aid which You have promised me and destroy them
today!"
It was an old custom of the Arabs that in the beginning
of a battle single combats were resorted to, and later general fighting began.
Three famous warriors of Quraish came out of their ranks
and challenged for a fight. They were two brothers Utbah and Shaybah, sons of
Rabiyyah, and Walid bin Utbah and all of them were fully armed. They roared and
ran their horses in the field and called their opponents to fight. Three brave
men from amongst the Ansars named Awf, Ma'uz and Abdullah Rawahah came out of
the ranks of the Muslims. Utbah, however, realized that they were from Madina
and said to them: "We have nothing to do with you". Then a man (from
amongst Quraish) shouted: "O Muhammad! Send our equals to fight with
us!" Prophet Muhammad (saw) turned his face to Ubaydah, Hamzah and
Ali and said: "Get up". The three brave men covered their heads and
faces and of they went to the battlefield. All the three persons introduced
themselves. Utbah accepted all of them for a combat and said: "Yes, you
are our equals".
Some say that in this combat each warrior fought with his
rival of the same age. Ali, who was the youngest of them, met Walid (maternal
uncle of Mu'awiyah), the middle-aged amongst the Muslims (Hamzah) faced Utbah
(maternal grandfather of Mu'awiyah) and Ubaydah, who was the oldest amongst the
Muslim combatants fought with Shaybah, who was oldest from the other side. Ibn
Hisham, however, says that the opponent of Hamzah was Shaybah and that of
Ubaydah was Utbah.
Historians
write that Hazrat Ali (RA) and Hazrat Hamzah (RA) killed their opponents in the
very first moment and then hurried to help Ubaydah and killed his adversary as
well.
As a consequence of the warriors of Quraish being killed
general attack started, and Quraish began attacking in groups. Prophet Muhammad
(saw) ordered that the Muslims should refrain from attacking and should prevent
the advance of the enemy by means of archery.
The character of Prophet Muhammad (saw), whose posture in
the battlefield was described by Imam Ali, the Commander of the Faithful, is as
follows: "Every time when fighting became intense we took refuge with
Prophet Muhammad (saw). None of us was nearer to the enemy than he".
Then Prophet Muhammad (saw) returned to the seat of
command and with his heart overflowing with faith, turned his face to the
Almighty and said: "O Lord! If this group is thrashed today, none else
will worship you on the face of the earth."
Then Prophet Muhammad (saw) picked up some dust and
throwing it towards Quraish, said: "May your faces be mutated!" Thereafter
he gave orders for general attack.
Allah had helped you at Badr, when you were a
contemptible little force: Then fear Allah in order to show your gratitude.
When you did say to the believers: Does it not suffice you that your Creator
should help you with three thousand angels sent down. (Surah al-e-Imran,
3:123-124)
The signs of victory of the Muslims began to appear soon.
The enemies were stricken with terror and began to flee. The Muslims, who were
fighting with the help of their faith, and knew that both killing and being
killed were blessings of Allah (SWT), were perfectly undaunted and nothing
stopped their advance.
Bilal, the Ethiopian, was a slave of Umayyah ibn Khalaf
in the past. As Bilal had embraced Islam while he was a slave, Umayyah ibn Khalaf
used to torture him severely. In order to make him abjure Islam he used to make
him lie on hot sand during the summer season and placed a big stone on his
chest. Even in that condition Bilal used to say: 'Ahad! Ahad! Ahad!' (Allah is
One, Allah is One, Allah is One). The Ethiopian slave suffered a good deal
until Hazrat Abu Bakr purchased and set him free.
In the Battle of Badr Bilal's eyes fell on Umayyah ibn
Khalaf and he realized that Abdur Rahman wanted to favour him. He, therefore,
cried aloud: "O friends of Allah! Umayyah ibn Khalaf is one of the chiefs
of unbelievers. He should not be allowed to live". The Muslims encircled
Umayyah ibn Khalaf from all sides and put him and his son to death.
Abdullah ibn Masud, a companion of Prophet Muhammad (saw),
was the first person to openly recite Glorious Qur'an in front of a
gathering. He participated in all the battles of Prophet Muhammad (saw) but was
so short that even when he stood up among people who were sitting, he would not
rise above them! It was for this reason that in the battle of Badr, he
requested Prophet Muhammad (saw): "I do not possess the strength to fight
in the battle of Badr; can you assign me some task by means of which I too can
attain the same reward as those who fight?"
"Look amongst the dying infidels and if you happen
to find anyone of them still alive, kill them," Prophet Muhammad (saw)
replied.
Abdullah ibn Masud narrates: "As I moved in the
midst of people who seemed to be dead, I came to Abu Jahl, the most unyielding
enemy of Prophet Muhammad (saw). He still had some life left in him.
"I thank Allah (SWT) that He has humiliated
you," I said as I sat on his chest. Abu Jahl opened his eyes and grunted,
"Woe unto you! Who has been victorious?" "Victory is for Allah
and His Prophet, and it is for this reason that I shall kill you," I
replied, placing my foot on his neck.
With great arrogance, he cried, "O' tiny shepherd!
You have placed your foot on a very exalted place. Do you know that nothing is
more painful for me than to be killed by a dwarf like you. Oh! Why did not one
of the sons of Abdul Muttalib kill me?"
I severed his head from his body and appeared before
Prophet Muhammad (saw). "Glad news to you, O' Prophet of Allah! This is
the head of Abu Jahl."
"Abu Jahl was more sinful and worse than Firawn
of the time of Musa (as). When Firawn was convinced that he would perish, he
believed in Allah (SWT), whereas when Abu Jahl became certain of his awaiting
destiny, he called upon al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat to save him," Prophet
Muhammad (saw) remarked later.
Many Muslim historians believe that in the Battle of Badr
single combats and collective attacks continued till midday and the battle came
to an end after noontide, when Quraish fled and some of them were captured. The
martyrs of Badr were buried in a corner of the battlefield. Their graves still
exist and devoted Muslims visit them to offer their respects. After burying the
martyrs Prophet Muhammad (saw) performed afternoon prayers at that place and
came out of the desert of Badr before sunset.
In this battle fourteen men from amongst the Muslims were
martyred. As regards Quraish seventy of them were killed and seventy others
were taken as prisoners.
The forces of truth and falsehood faced each other for
the first time in the Valley of Badr. The number of the army of truth did not
exceed 313 whereas the army of falsehood was three times as big as that. The
Muslims were not properly equipped. Their means of transport consisted of about
seventy camels and a few horses, while the enemy had come with full strength to
knock down Islam, consisting of 1000 strong men with 700 camels and 100 horses.
In spite of all this, however, truth was victorious and the enemy returned to
Makkah after having sustained heavy losses.
Abu Lahab who had not participated in this
battle of Badr and had sent someone else in his own place was sitting by the
well of Zamzam. Suddenly people brought the news that Abu Sufyan had arrived.
Abu Lahab said: "Tell him to see me as early as possible". Abu Sufyan
came, sat by the side of Abu Lahab and gave a detailed account of the
happenings at Badr. Agitation and fear struck Abu Lahab's heart like
lightening. After burning in high fever for seven days he died of some
mysterious disease.
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