Battle of Badr

The emigration of Prophet Muhammad (saw) to Madina had turned the enemies from Makkah more hostile and they constantly kept on thinking how they could overthrow 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 Quraysh in Makkah. And those who participated in it enjoyed a special distinction amongst the Muslims. The word 'Badri' is used in the biographies of the companions of Prophet Muhammad (saw) for those persons who participated in the Battle of Badr.

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 praiseworthy 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 Quraysh had confiscated 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 Muhajir Muslims on account of their enmity and obstinacy, the Muslims should, as a retaliatory measure, divide their merchandise amongst themselves as war booty.

Prophet Muhammad (saw) stood up and said: "What is your view in the matter?"

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 (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 pleased to hear 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 Quraysh 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 pursuing the caravan of Quraysh.

Abu Sufyan refrained from proceeding further. He did not see any alternative except to inform Quraysh about the impending danger to the caravan. In the mean time 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 Quraysh 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 annihilate 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 minstrel 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 Quraysh wait at that place and halt at an elevated point in the desert behind a mound. 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) Quraysh 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! Quraysh 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 Quraysh 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 Quraysh) 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.
The emigration of Prophet Muhammad (saw) to Madina had turned the enemies from Makkah more hostile and they constantly kept on thinking how they could overthrow 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 Quraysh in Makkah. And those who participated in it enjoyed a special distinction amongst the Muslims. The word 'Badri' is used in the biographies of the companions of Prophet Muhammad (saw) for those persons who participated in the Battle of Badr.

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 praiseworthy 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 Quraysh had confiscated 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 Muhajir Muslims on account of their enmity and obstinacy, the Muslims should, as a retaliatory measure, divide their merchandise amongst themselves as war booty.

Prophet Muhammad (saw) stood up and said: "What is your view in the matter?"

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 (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 pleased to hear 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 Quraysh 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 pursuing the caravan of Quraysh.

Abu Sufyan refrained from proceeding further. He did not see any alternative except to inform Quraysh about the impending danger to the caravan. In the mean time 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 Quraysh 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 annihilate 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 minstrel 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 Quraysh wait at that place and halt at an elevated point in the desert behind a mound. 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) Quraysh 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! Quraysh 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 Quraysh 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 Quraysh) 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.