The Battle of Badr
The Source: www.islaam.com/hadhramaut.info - 27/08/2010
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Qur'an: Al-i-Imran 3:123–125 (Yusuf Ali). “Allah had helped you at Badr, when ye were a contemptible little force; then fear Allah; thus May ye show your gratitude. Remember thou saidst to the Faithful: "Is it not enough for you that Allah should help you with three thousand angels (Specially) sent down?§ "Yea, - if ye remain firm, and act aright, even if the enemy should rush here on you in hot haste, your Lord would help you with five thousand angels Making a terrific onslaught.”
It is the first battle of the Muslims, led by the Prophet Mohammed PBUH and his fellowers against Quraish disbelievers,
This battle took place on Ramadan the 17th, in the 2nd year after hijra,
in fact the Prophet PBUH got informed from his sources that a trade caravan belonging to Quraish; led by " Abu Sofiane Ibno Harb" has left Syria to return to Mecca, with less than 40 guards, of course the caravan had to get across the muslims to get to its destination and the prophet PBUH planned to attack this caravan as a revenge from Quraish's discrimination and prosecution against Muslims.
Muhammad gathered an army of 313 men, the largest army the Muslims had put in the field yet, he commanded the army himself and brought many of his powerful men including Hamzah and future Caliphs Abu Bakr, Umar, and Ali. They also brought seventy camels and two horses, However, many early Muslim sources, including the Qur'an, indicate that no serious fighting was expected,
As "Abu Sofiane" was approching "Hidjaz" he was tracking information from other travellers about the conditions on the road, as he was supposed to protect Quraish's money and properties in the caravan, once he found out about the Muslim plan to attack them he sent a messenger called "Domdom Ben Amr Alghaffary" to macca to inform them that Mohammed PBUH was planning to take their properties which rose a large wave of anger in Quraish, this led them to send about 900-1000 men and a hundred knights to protect the caravan and beat the Muslims.
Sometime later the Prophet PBUH recieved news stating that the caravan was changing its destination and it was coming in one of the following days. In the meanwhile "Abu Sofiane" sent someone to Macca to tell them that there was no need for help and his caravan was saved, but "Abou djahl" was still angry and decided to attack the Muslims in the Valley of Badr not caring whether there was a need for that or not.
Prophet Muhammad PBUH gathered the muslims and said: Allah just sent this verse: "Behold! Allah promised you one of the two (enemy) parties, that it should be yours: Ye wished that the one unarmed should be yours, but Allah willed to justify the Truth according to His words and to cut off the roots of the Unbelievers;" Al-A'raf 8:7
Rasoolullah (saws) could have easily ordered the believers to fight and they wouldn't have hesitated to comply, but, he (saws) wanted to emphasize to his followers that they should fight out of conviction and iman and to teach us a lesson in the process. He gathered his followers to conduct shura (consultation). Many of the muhajireen ( the Muslims who emigrated from Mecca to Medinah) spoke up, using the most eloquent of words to describe their dedication. But there was one of the sahabah whom all the others envied for his statement to Rasoolullah (saws). He, Miqdad ibn al Aswad, rose up in front of the crowd and said, 'Ya Rasoolullah! We will not say to you like Bani Israel said to Musa, 'Go you and your Lord and fight, we are here sitting (waiting).' (surat al maa'idah). Go by Allah's blessing and we are with you!" And so Rasoolullah (saws) was very pleased, but in his greeat wisdom, he waited silently, and some among the Muslims knew what he intended. So far only the muhajiroon had given their consent, but it was the Ansar (the Muslims who lived in Medinah and welcomed the Muslims into their city) who had the most to loose in this stake and it was not a part of the pledge (that Rasoolullah had taken from the Ansar at ‘Aqabah) for the Ansar to fight with the Muslims in foreign territory. So, the great leader of the Ansar, Sa'd ibn Mu'adh spoke up, "Ya Rasoolullah! Maybe you mean us." Rasoolullah (saws) responded in the affirmative. Sa'd proceeded to give a beautiful speech in which he said, among many things: "O Messenger of Allah, we have believed in you and we believe that you are saying the truth. We give you, based on that, our covenant to listen to and obey you.....By Allah, the One Who sent you with the truth, if you were to enter the sea, we would rush into it with you and not one of us would stay behind...May Allah show you in our actions what will satisfy your eyes. So march with us, putting our trust in Allah's blessings." Rasoolullah (saws) was very pleased by this and said, “Forward and be of cheer, for Allah has promised me one of the two (the caravan or the battle), and by Allah, it is as if I now saw the enemy lying prostrate.”
However, the Muslims still hoped to avoid a pitched battle and continued to march towards Badr.
the disbelievers have by now arrived to the valley of Badr and rushed towards it while the Muslims came slowely and built a cabin for the Prophet (PBUH). Rasoolullah (saws) spent the whole night preceeding the battle in prayer and supplication even though he (saws) knew that Allah (swt) had promised him victory.
The Muslim Plan was to settle by a well in Badr and destroy all the other wells in order to prevent Quraish from apeasing their thirst. Before the battle started, Quraish sent three of their soldiers to the Muslims: ‘Utbah ibn Rabi’a, Al-Waleed ibn ‘Utbah and Shaybah ibn Rabi’a and asked for three men from the Muslims to beat them, three of the Ansars stepped forward and the soldiers from Quraish shouted: "O Muhammed send us our opponents from our people, our cousins!" the Prophet chose ‘Ubaidah ibn al Harith, Ali (Rasoolullah’s cousin) and Hamza (Rasoolullah’s uncle) and the Muslim warriors were the victorious ones. The fighting intensified, and many more duels broke out. In the midst of all of this, Rasoolullah (saws) continued to supplicate his Lord. He (saws) said, “O Allah! Should this group (of Muslims) be defeated today, You will no longer be worshipped.”Abu Bakr witnessed this incessant supplication so He said to Rasoolullah (saws), “O Rasoolullah, you have cried out enough to your Lord. He will surely fulfill what He has promised you.”
The response of Allah was immediate as Allah (swt) sent thousands of angels to help the Muslims in their Battle, The Prophet could see Djibril and the other angels fighting and protecting the Muslims.
This is how the battle ended with the Muslim Victory and the disbelievers' defeat. The disbelievers lost about 70 men while the Muslims lost 14 Martyrs, the prophet Muhammed took 4000 Dh for each prisoner of war after a consultation he had with abou bakr as-seddik.
The Muslim victory was due to their faith (Iman) and trust to Allah, they were prosecuted and oppressed by Quraish and it was time for Islam to take the lead, to show which is right,
The Battle of Badr is one of the few battles explicitly discussed in the Qur'an. It is even mentioned by name as part of a comparison with the Battle of Uhud.
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