Battle of Badr Chapter Two
THE BATTLE OF BADR CHAPTER TWO
O you who have believed, when you meet those who disbelieve advancing [for battle], do not turn to them your backs [in flight].
And whoever turns his back to them on such a day, unless swerving [as a strategy] for war or joining [another] company, has certainly returned with anger [upon him] from Allah, and his refuge is Hell - and wretched is the destination. Al-Qur'aan 8:15-16
Consultations before battle.
1. Miqdad 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. By Allah! We shall not tell you what Bani Israel told Musa.
When Musa 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 and we are also with you and shall fight".
The Prophet was very much pleased to hear Miqdad's words and prayed for him.
2. The views which were expressed had an individual aspect. However, the main object of holding consultations was to find out the viewpoint of the Ansar. Until and unless they co-operated, it was not possible to take a final decision. Hence, the Prophet repeated his words to find out the views of the Ansar and said: "Make your views known to me".
Sa'd bin Ma'az Ansari stood up and said: "Do you mean us?" The Prophet replied in the affirmative. Thereupon Sa'd said: "O Prophet of Allah! We have faith in you and testified that your religion is a true one, and we have promised and agreed that we will obey you and stick to all the decisions taken by you.
We swear by the Almighty Allah Who has appointed you to the prophetic mission that if you go into the sea (i.e. the Red Sea) we shall follow suit and none of us shall lag behind in following you. We are not at all afraid to face the enemy. It is possible that we may render services and make sacrifices in this regard which may brighten your eyes. In obedience to the command of Allah you may send us to any place you consider fit".
The words of Sa'd made the Prophet extremely happy and the inauspicious shadow of despair disappeared in the face of invigorative rays of hope, steadfastness, patience and forbearance in the path of the target.
The words of Sa'd were so exciting that the Prophet gave immediate orders to move and said: "Move and I give you good tidings that you will either come across the caravan and confiscate the goods or you will fight against the forces which have come to help the caravan. I can now see the defeat of Quraysh and find that they have suffered heavy losses".
The Muslim army proceeded under the command of the Prophet and encamped near the wells of Badr.
Battle.
In the spring of 624, Muhammad received word from his intelligence sources that one of the richest trade caravans of the year, commanded by Abu Sufyan and guarded by thirty to forty men, was travelling from Syria to Mecca[citation needed]. Because of the caravan's size, or perhaps because of the previous failures to intercept a caravan, Muhammad gathered an army of over 313 men, the largest army the Muslims had ever put in the field. The goods contained in the caravan were the belongings of the Muslims which were taken by the Meccans following the migration to Madinah.
The march to Badr.
Muhammad's forces included Abu Bakr, Umar, Ali, Hamza, Mus`ab ibn `Umair, Az-Zubair bin Al-'Awwam, Ammar ibn Yasir, and Abu Dharr al-Ghifari. The Muslims also brought seventy camels and two horses, meaning that they either had to walk or fit three to four men per camel. However, many early Muslim sources indicate that no serious fighting was expected, and the future Caliph Uthman stayed behind to care for his sick wife Ruqayyah, the daughter of the Prophet. Salman the Persian also couldn't join the battle, as he was still not a free man.
Many of the Quraishi nobles, including Amr ibn Hishām, Walid ibn Utba, Shaiba, and Umayah ibn Khalaf, joined the Meccan army. Their reasons varied: some were out to protect their financial interests in the caravan; others wanted to avenge Ibn al-Hadrami, the guard killed at Nakhlah; finally, a few must have wanted to take part in what was expected to be an easy victory against the Muslims.[ Amr ibn Hishām is described as shaming at least one noble, Umayah ibn Khalaf, into joining the expedition.
By this time Muhammad's companions were approaching the wells where he planned to either waylay the caravan, or to fight the Meccan army at Badr, along the Syrian trade route where the caravan would be expected to stop or the Meccan army to come for its protection. However, several Muslim scouts were discovered by scouts from the caravan[18] and Abu Sufyan made a hasty turn towards Yanbu.
The Muslim plan.
[Remember] when you asked help of your Lord, and He answered you, "Indeed, I will reinforce you with a thousand from the angels, following one another."
That He should establish the truth and abolish falsehood, even if the criminals disliked it.
[Remember, O believers], when Allah promised you one of the two groups - that it would be yours - and you wished that the unarmed one would be yours. But Allah intended to establish the truth by His words and to eliminate the disbelievers. Al-Qur'an Sura Anfal 8:7-9
Behold! Allah Promised Me that He would definitely help me. I'm taking an oath by Allah's Excellent Name, Here will be the grave of Abu Jahl, and here will lay Utba ibn Rabi'ah (Prophet mentioned 14 different unbeliever leaders' names and signed they graves before the battle). —Muhammad - Sahih Muslim
When the word reached the Muslim army about the departure of the Meccan army, Muhammad immediately called a council of war, since there was still time to retreat and because many of the fighters there were recent converts (called Ansar or "Helpers" to distinguish them from the Quraishi Muslims), who had only pledged to defend Medina. Under the terms of the Constitution of Medina, they would have been within their rights to refuse to fight and leave the army. However, according to tradition, they pledged to fight as well, with Sa'd bin 'Ubada declaring, "If you [Muhammad] order us to plunge our horses into the sea, we would do so." However, the Muslims still hoped to avoid a pitched battle and continued to march towards Badr.
By 11 March both armies were about a day's march from Badr. Several Muslim warriors (including, according to some sources, Ali) who had ridden ahead of the main column captured two Meccan water carriers at the Badr wells. Expecting them to say they were with the caravan, the Muslims were horrified to hear them say they were with the main Quraishi army. Some traditions also say that, upon hearing the names of all the Quraishi nobles accompanying the army, Muhammad exclaimed "Mecca hath thrown unto you the best morsels of her liver." The next day Muhammad ordered a forced march to Badr and arrived before the Meccans.
The Badr wells were located on the gentle slope of the eastern side of a valley called "Yalyal". The western side of the valley was hemmed in by a large hill called 'Aqanqal. When the Muslim army arrived from the east, Muhammad initially chose to form his army at the first well he encountered. Hubab ibn al-Mundhir, however, asked him if this choice was divine instruction or Muhammad's own opinion. When Muhammad responded in the latter, Hubab suggested that the Muslims occupy the well closest to the Quraishi army, and block off the other ones. Muhammad accepted this decision and moved right away.
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Battle of Badr
Part of the Muslim-Quraish Wars
Date 13 March 624 CE/17 Ramadan, 2 AH
Location: At the wells of Badr, 80 miles (130 km) southwest of Medina
Result: Decisive Muslim victory
Belligerents: Muslims of Medina and Quraish of Mecca
Commanders and leaders of the Muslims Prophet Muhammad-may Allaah bless him and grant him peace- Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib, Ali ibn Abi Talib.
Commanders and leaders of the Quraysh Abu Jahl, Utba ibn,Rabi'ah, Umayyah ibn Khalaf, Hind al-Hunnud.
Strength: Muslims: 313 Infantry & Cavalry: 2 Horses and 70 camels
Quraysh: 950 Infantry & Cavalry: 100 Horses and 170 Camels
Muslims Casualties and losses: 14 killed.
Quraysh: 70 killed and 70 captured.
In the spring of 624, Muhammad received word from his intelligence sources that one of the richest trade caravans of the year, commanded by Abu Sufyan and guarded by thirty to forty men, was travelling from Syria to Mecca[citation needed]. Because of the caravan's size, or perhaps because of the previous failures to intercept a caravan, Muhammad gathered an army of over 313 men, the largest army the Muslims had ever put in the field. The goods contained in the caravan were the belongings of the Muslims which were taken by the Meccans following the migration to Madinah.
Background.
Muhammad was born in Mecca around 571 CE into the Quraish tribe. In 622, to escape persecution of Muslims by the Meccans, Muhammad and many of his followers migrated from Mecca to the neighboring city of Medina. This migration is called the Hijra.
Following the Hijra, tensions between Mecca and Medina escalated and hostilities broke out in 623 when the Muslims began a series of raids on Quraishi caravans in order to economically pressurize Mecca who's chief's were plotting and gaining allies against Medina . Since Medina was located just off Mecca's main trade route, the Muslims were in an ideal position to do this. Even though many Muslims were Quraish themselves, they believed that they were entitled to such raids because the Meccans had expelled them from their property, homes and tribes, a serious offense in hospitality-oriented Arabia.[6] It also provided a means for the Muslim community to carve out an independent economic position at Medina, where their political position was far from secure.[citation needed] The Meccans obviously took a different view.Their caravns had always been under protection since many tibes saw them as the "Custodians" or "Keepers" of "The House of God" and they saw the Muslim raids as banditry at best, as well as a potential threat to their livelihood and prestige.
In late 623 and early 624, the Muslim ghazawāt grew increasingly brazen and commonplace. In September 623, Muhammad himself led a force of 200 in an unsuccessful raid against a large caravan. Shortly thereafter, the Meccans launched their own "raid" against Medina, although its purpose was just to steal some livestock which belonged to the Muslims. In January 624, the Muslims ambushed a Meccan caravan near Makhlah, only forty kilometers outside of Mecca, killing one of the guards and formally inaugurating a blood feud with the Meccans. Worse, from a Meccan standpoint, the raid occurred in the month of Rajab, a truce month sacred to the Meccans in which fighting was prohibited and a clear affront to their pagan traditions.
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