The Life of the Prophet Muhammad

The Battle Of Badr

The Muslims who had gone to Medinah, had left all their belongingsbehind in Mecca and these had been taken by their enemies. Thus, whenthe Muslims heard that Abu Sufyan, one of the leaders of Quraysh, wason his way back to Mecca from Syria with a large caravan of goods, theydecided that the time had come for them to retrieve some of their losses.The Prophet (pbuh) gave the Muslims permission for this attack andeveryone began to get ready for the raid, for it had been revealed: 

"Permission to fight is given unto those who fight because they havebeen wronged; and Allah is surely able to give them victory" (Qur'an22.39) 

"The Revelation had mentioned that a thing most serious with Allahwas to turn (men) from the way of Allah, and to disbelieve in Him and inthe Holy Mosque, and to drive his people from there...for persecution isworse than killing". (Qur'an 2.217) 

The retrieval of their goods, however, was not their only reason forwanting to attack the caravan. The Muslims did not think they shouldsimply remain safely in Medinah; they wanted to spread the message ofIslam. They thus felt that if Quraysh wanted the freedom to trade in safety,then the Muslims must also have the freedom to believe in Allah, to followHis Messenger (pbuh), and spread His Word. It was, therefore, thoughtthat the best, and the only way to get Quraysh to understand this was toattack what was most important to them-a caravan. 

Abu Sufyan, in the meantime, heard about the Muslims' plan andquickly sent a message to Quraysh in Mecca, telling them that thecaravan was in danger and asking for help. As a result, nearly all Qurayshcame out to help him defend the caravan. There were a thousand men andtwo hundred horses. The women also went along to cheer the men onwith their singing. Unaware of this, the Prophet (pbuh) set out with hisfollowers. It was the month of Ramadan and the Muslims were fasting. 

There were only three hundred and five of them, most of them Ansar,men from Medinah. With them, they had three horses and seventy camels,on which they rode in turns. 

They arrived in the area of Badr, some distance from Medinah wherethey made camp and waited for news of the caravan. Then they heard thatQuraysh had set out from Mecca with a strong army. The situation hadsuddenly changed. They were no longer going to make a raid on a caravan-they were going to have to fight Quraysh. The Prophet (pbuh)gathered his men around him to find out what they wanted to do. FirstAbu Bakr, and then „Umar, spoke for the Muslims who had come fromMecca. They said they would obey the Prophet (pbuh). But the Prophet(pbuh) wanted to hear the opinion of the Ansar, because he did not wantto force them into doing something they did not want to do. Sa‟d IbnMu'adh, one of the leaders of the Ansar, got up and said, we believe inyou and we swear before all men that what you have brought is the truth. 

We have given you our word and agreement to hear and obey. So gowhere you wish, we are with you even if you should lead us into the sea! 

The Prophet (pbuh) was greatly encouraged by these words and so itwas agreed to fight. Abu Sufyan learned where the Muslims werecamped. He changed the course of the caravan and quickly took it out oftheir reach. He then sent word to Quraysh telling them that the caravanwas safe and that they should return to Mecca. But the leaders of Qurayshwere proud and stubborn men. They refused to return as they had madeup their minds to show everyone how powerful they were by destroyingthe Muslims. Now there was a wadi, or valley, at Badr, with wells on theside nearest Medina, and it was here that the Muslims took up a positionfacing the valley with the wells behind them. 

Quraysh meanwhile placed themselves on the other side of the valley.The Muslims then dug a reservoir, filled it with water from one of thewells, and made a barrier around it. Then they stopped up the wells. Inthis way, the Muslims had enough drinking water for themselves, whilethe Meccans would have to cross the valley and fight the Muslims inorder to get water. The night before the battle, while the Muslims sleptpeacefully, heavy rain fell. 

"When He made the slumber fall upon you as a reassurance fromHim and sent down water from the sky upon you, in order that He mightpurify you, and remove from you the fear of Satan, and strengthen yourhearts and make firm (your) fret thereby". (Qur'an 8.11) On the morningof Friday, the 17th of Ramadan, 2 A.H., (March 17th, AD), the twoarmies advanced and drew closer to one another. The rain has been heavieron the side of Quraysh, making the ground soft and difficult. On the sideof the Muslims, however, the rain had backed the sand down hard,making it easy for them to march. The Prophet (pbuh) preferred the mento fight in ranks. As they prepared to march he noticed someone hadstepped out in front of the others.

The Prophet (pbuh)prodded him in the side with an arrow, saying,'Stand in line!' The man, Sawad, exclaimed, 'You have hurt me, OMessenger of Allah! Allah has sent you to be just and good.' Prophet(pbuh) lifted his shirt and said, 'Then do the same to me. The manapproached and kissed him on the spot instead, saying, '0 Messenger ofAllah, you see what is before us and I may not survive the battle. If this ismy last time with you, I want the last thing I do in life to be this.'Shortlyafter he went into battle, Sawad died a martyr. Having examined theranks, the Prophet (pbuh) then went to a shelter made of palm branchesfrom which he could command the battle. Abu Bakr stayed with him,while Sa‟d ibn Mu'adh, with several of the Ansar, stood outside guardingthe hut. When the Prophet (pbuh) saw the enormous Quraysh armydescending the hill into the valley, with all their banners and drums, hebegan to pray for the help which Allah had promised him. These weresome of his words. '0 Allah, here comes Quraysh full of vanity and pride,who oppose Thee and call Thy Messenger a liar. O Allah, if this littleband (the Muslims) perishes today, there will be none left in the land toworship Thee.' 

"When ye sought help of your Lord and He answered you (saying): Iwill help you with a thousand of the angels, rank on rank. Allahappointed it only as good tidings, and that your hearts might thereby be atease. Victory cometh only by the help of Allah. Lo! Allah is Mighty,Wise". (Qur'an 8. 9-10) 

At first, the battle began in single combat when one of Quraysh sworethat he would drink from the Muslims' reservoir and then destroy it, ordie in the attempt. Hamzah, the Prophet's uncle, came forward to face himand killed him. Three of the most important men of Quraysh then steppedforward and gave out a challenge for single combat. The Prophet (pbuh)sent out 'Ali, Hamzah, and Ubaydah ibn al-Harith, to face them. It wasnot long before Hamzah and Ali had killed their opponents. 

As for 'Ubaydah, he had wounded his enemy but was woundedhimself, and so his two companions killed the wounded Meccan andcarried 'Ubaydah back to the safety of the Muslim ranks. After this, thetwo armies attacked each other, and fighting broke out all around. The skywas filled with arrows. The Muslim army held its ground against thegreat army of Quraysh and even though the Muslims were much fewer innumber, they gained a great victory, destroying the Meccan army andkilling most of its leaders. Among the leading Meccans who died wereAbu Jahl and Umayyah ibn Khalaf, who was killed by his former slave,Bilal. Seeing that their leaders were nearly all dead, the remainder ofQuraysh retreated. The Prophet (pbuh) sent word to Medinahto to tell them of the victory. He then gathered up the spoils of war and divided themequally among the Muslims. Some of the Meccans had been takenprisoner and the Prophet (pbuh) gave orders that they should be treatedwell until their relatives from among Quraysh came to fetch them. 

"Ye (Muslims) did not slay them, but Allah slew them and thou(Muhammad) threwest not when thou didst throw, but Allah threw sothat He might test the believers by a fair test from Him. Lo! Allah is All-hearing, All-Knowing". (Qur'an 8.17)