THE BATTLE OF BADR

To begin, let us be clear about the fact that during the life time of the Holy Prophet, all battles were forced upon the Muslims and at no point they initiated it. It was purely and wholly defensive in nature to protect the lives and property of the people.

When the Holy Prophet participated in the battles, it was called “Ghazava” and when he appointed a commander and did not personally accompany the Muslim army, it was called a

“Sarya”. There were 26 ghazawaat and 36 sarya during the life time of the Holy Prophet.

Battle of Badr was fought in the month of Ramazaan of 2 A.H. (After Hijra).

On the night of Hijrat, Holy Prophet asked Imam Ali to sleep in his bed as the Meccans were planning to assassinate him. The Holy Prophet left Mecca and proceeded towards Medina. Next morning, Imam Ali returned the goods entrusted to Holy Prophet to its owners and left for Medina. After some time, when the Quraish came to know that the Holy Prophet had reached Medina and that Islam was flourishing, they became very upset and started large scale preparations to invade Medina. They also started conspiring with the Jews to crush Muslims.

The Holy Prophet came to know that the Meccans were planning to invade Medina and also Abu Sufiyan was returning from Syria with large war materials. He, along with about three hundreds companions, proceeded to Bader, a village 80 miles from Medina.

Hazrat Atika, daughter of Hazrat Abdul Mutallib, dreamed that a camel-rider was calling the Quraish to go towards their death. She told this to her brother Abbas and in short it spread like wild fire. Abu Sufiyan sent for help and the Quraish collected an army of about 950 to fight with the Holy Prophet. The Holy Prophet consulted the companions and when every one agreed to face the enemy, he foretold the Muslims that Allah had promised victory. There are 11 ayats of Holy Qur’an about this war; Chapter 8 ayat 11, ayat 5 to 8, and ayat 9 and 10.

There were only 313 Muslims to face the enemy. On the morning of 17 Ramazaan, the Meccans sent 3 men to fight with Muslims. They were Atba, Shaiba, and Waleed. The Holy Prophet sent Hazrat Hamza, Imam Ali, and Ubaida. Imam Ali killed Waleed, Hazrat Hamza killed Atba, but Ubaida got injured and Imam Ali killed Shaiba. Waleed was the nephew of Muavia.

Then all out war started and the zeal of Muslims together with Allah’s help, Meccans were defeated. They lost 70 people of which 35 were killed by the Lion of Allah-Imam Ali. Another 70 were injured while 10 Muslims were shaheed. Some of the prisoners were given the option to teach Muslims how to read and write. It is a unique ransom in human history.

The battle of Badr demonstrated the great devotion of the disciples to the cause and their complete faith in the Prophet . It also proved that numerical superiority and matching valor are of no avail if the cause is not righteous. This battle had far reaching consequences. Till then, the Muslims were a harassed band avoiding any major conflict. This victory gave them confidence in their physical power. It also prevented smaller tribes from conspiring against Muslims and gave a severe blow to the prestige of Quraish. The Jews in and around Medina were alarmed by the emerging power of Muslims, but their enmity did not abate.