| The Battle of Badr |
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| Prophet Muhammad as Commander - Prophet Muhammad as Commander | |||||
| Written by Fethullah Gulen | |||||
| Wednesday, 22 February 2006 | |||||
Page 1 of 3 The Quraysh always felt their trade route to Syria under serious threat because of the Muslim concentration in Madina. They first threatened the Madinans, in a letter addressed to ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul, to kill their males and enslave their females unless they expelled God’s Messenger from Madina. The Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, put a timely end to the mischief which Ibn Ubayy inclined to cause.
Besides, when Sa‘d ibn Mu’adh went to Makka to perform minor pilgrimage (Umrah), he was stopped at the entrance of the Ka’ba and prevented from performing circumambulation. Also, the Makkans quite regularly sent invading parties. In such circumstances, the Muslims were left no choice but to gain and consolidate control over that trade route in order to force the Quraysh and other tribes unfriendly to the Muslims to reconsider their hostile policy. It was also time for the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, to give a lesson to the Quraysh and the tribes allied to them, as well as the Jews and hypocrites in Madina, that it was impossible for them to bar the spread of Islam, let alone eradicate it from the hearts of people and the surface of the earth. The front or pact of polytheism and unbelief would undoubtedly surrender to the light of Islam. It was, at last, at the beginning of 624, two years after the Hijra that a large caravan of the Quraysh, escorted by no more than 40 security guards en route to Makka from Syria, arrived at a place within reach of the Muslims. Fearing that the Muslims would attack their caravan, Abu Sufyan, the leader of the caravan, rushed a messenger to Makka and sought help and reinforcements. This caused an uproar through Makka. The leading chiefs of the Quraysh decided to wage war on the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, and about 1000 fighters moved out of Makka with much pomp and show. They had decided to deal a crushing blow to the rising power of the Muslims. They also wanted, as always, to terrorize the neighbouring tribes so as to ensure the safety of their trading caravans in the future. God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, who always kept himself abreast of developments which had any bearing on his mission, realized that if an effective step was not taken right then, the preaching of Islam might suffer a blow from which it might be very difficult for it to recover. Had the Quraysh taken the initiative and launched an attack on Madina, it might have put an end to the existence of the small Muslim community in that town. Even if the Quraysh restricted themselves to taking their caravan to Makka safely by dint of their military strength, this would have adversely affected the political and military prestige of the Muslims. Once their prestige had been undermined, their lives, property and honour would have been jeopardized. Having decided to use the resources available to him, the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, left Madina. Although he may have been intent upon a decisive battle with the Quraysh, most of the Muslims desired to capture the caravan. In order to inform his Companions of the situation, the Prophet gathered them and told them that the trading caravan of the Quraysh was in the north whereas the invading Quraysh army was in the south and moving towards Madina. He also informed them that God had promised the Muslims that they would be able to seize any of the two parties they wished (al-Anfal, 8.7) Now it was for them to make the choice whether they wished to attack the trading caravan or the approaching army. Aware of the Prophet’s intention, Miqdad ibn ‘Amr, one of the Emigrants, replied as follows: O Messenger of God! Proceed as God has commanded you to. We are with you wherever you go, even as far as Bark al-Ghimad. We shall not say as the Children of Israel said to Moses: ‘Go forth, you and your Lord, and fight, We shall remain here sitting!’ We rather say: ‘Go forth, you and your Lord, and fight, and we shall fight on your side as long as the eyelid of any one of us keeps moving.’ (1) 1. I. Sa‘d, Tabaqat, 3.162. |
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