Battle of Badr

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The Battle of Badr (Arabic بدر) on Friday, 17 Ramadhan 2 AH or January 13 624 CE, was a seminal event in the formative days of Islam. The battle is mentioned by name in the Qur'an (3.122) which is literally interpreted as, "And certainly Allah helped you at Badr and you were weak," in a context of warfare which is usually, as a whole, read to refer a different battle (Uhud) so that the understanding of 3.122 is that Allah supported Muslims previously at Badr and will support them again. The 8th sura, which does not name Badr, describes the battle.

Introduction

According to tradition, the battle was an accident and Muhammad was uncertain until the last moment that the bulk of his party would actually fight on his behalf. Victory at Badr crystalized Muhammad as a recognized effective combat leader and solidified his position in Medina.

The traditions describe the enemy at Badr as, essentially, the entire manpower of the Quraysh, although several groups did not take part. Muhammad defeated 1000 men with only 314 followers.

In later days having fought Badr became so significant that Ibn Ishaq included a complete name-by-name roster of the army Muhammad led. There were 83 men from the Muslim Quraysh, emigrants from Mecca to Medina, almost all the able-bodied men, and 231 men from Medina.

Muhammad heard that a large trade caravan was travelling from Syria to Mecca, carrying weapons to be used to equip an army to fight against the Muslims. He therefore decided to intercept the caravan, and assembled his forces. The leader of the caravan learned of the Muslim force approaching, and diverted the caravan from its route. Meanwhile, the people in Mecca collected their forces and rode out to retaliate. The Meccans believed Muhammad had no more than his Qurayshi followers whom the men from Mecca felt they could easily disperse.

The two forces met one another at the village of Badr between Medina and Mecca. After resting overnight they fought the next day. No description of the battle as a whole is available, but historians believe that the Meccan forces broke almost immediately and the battle dissolved into a collection of single combats.

Preface to the battle

A few days after the arrival of Muhammad from Mecca, the Quraish addressed a letter to Abdullah ibn Ubbay, who had been the leading chief in Medina and whom the Ansar were preparing to install as their king at a royal coronation. This letter ran as follows:

"You have given shelter to our man. We tell you either to kill him or turn him out of Medina; otherwise we swear by God that we will all attack you and destroy you, and seize your women."

When Muhammad read the ultimatum he asked Abdullah ibn Ubbay if he would fight his own sons and brothers. As a large number of Ansar had turned Muslims, Abdullah Ibn Ubbay realized the significance of Muhammad's remark, and did not comply with the commands of the Quraish.

Muhammad rode through the habitations of the Banu Harith and Banu Khazraj tribes and came upon a group of non-Muslims, Muslims, and Jews. As the donkey moved, some dust was raised. Abdullah ibn Ubbay covered his face with a piece of cloth, and contemptuously told Muhammad not to raise dust in that manner. Muhammad saluted the gathering and recited a few verses of the Quran. "O man", said Abdullah ibn Ubbay, "I do not like this. Even if your words are true, you need not disturb us in our meeting; better speak to those who go to you." The Muslims got ablaze at this insult and would have come blows had not Muhammad intervened and pacified the parties.

Once, during the pre-Badr period, Sa'ad ibn Mua'dh, the chief of the Banu Aus, visited Mecca to perform his Umrah with Umayah ibn Khalaf, his old friend who, unlike Sa'ad, had not embraced Islam. One day Sa'ad and Umayya were both on the way to the Ka'ba for making a Tawaf, circumambulation round the Ka'ba, when they came across Abu Jahl.

"Who goes with you," asked Abu Jahl of Umayya. "He is Sa'ad," said Umayya. Then Abu Jahl turned to Sa'd and said, "You people have given shelter to the Sabaean". the non-Muslims of Mecca called Muhammad and the Muslims "Sabaeans", "the apostates".

I cannot bear to see you step into the Ka'ba. By my God, you would not have returned home, had not Umayah accompanied you." Sa'd replied, "If you let us not perform the Hajj, mind, we will stop your Medina route. He meant the trade route to Syria. (ref)

As custodians of the Ka'aba, the Quraish were respected all over Arabia, particularly the tribes settled over the area between Mecca and Medina recognized their leadership. The Quraish had, consequently, worked up all the tribes under their influence into hostility against Islam, so that up to the sixth year of the Hijra, the tribes of Yaman and other distant places could not visit Muhammad. In the sixth year of the Hijra a delegation from Abd al-Qais came to Muhammad from Bahrain; these men stated that the tribes of Mudarr did not let them pass to Medina and so they could only attend on him during the days of Hajj when generally wars remained suspended.

The Quraish did not stop at that. As they had informed Abdullah ibn Ubbay, they were making preparations for an attack on Medina for the extermination of Muslims. For a long time the Muhammad had to pass sleepless nights for fear of the attack. In the words of the chapter Nisa'i from the Quran, Muahmmad on his arrival in Medina had to keep awake throughout the nights.

Once Muhammad expressed the wish that a proper man other than himself could keep watch that night. Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqas, fully armed, kept watch that night; only then Muhammad could sleep ^{Sahih Bukhari 52.136, 56.826}.

Furthermore, there is a report in Hakim in the following words:

"When Muhammad and the Companions came to Medina and the Ansar gave them shelter, all Arabia was up in arms against them; and the Companions had to sleep all night long with their weapons on their persons."

Before the battle had started, the Muslims had received the following revelation:

(Quran 22:39-40 by Rodwell) A sanction is given to those who, because they have suffered outrages, have taken up arms; and verily, God is well able to succour them: Those who have been driven forth from their homes wrongfully, only because they say "Our Lord is the God." And if God had not repelled some men by others, cloisters, and churches, and oratories, and mosques, wherein the name of God is ever commemorated, would surely have been destroyed. And him who helpeth God will God surely help: for God is right Strong, Mighty: -

since Muslims had suffered in Mecca to the point of choosing between death or migration, they believed that they fulfilled the requirements of the verse and therefore had been given divine permission to wage war.

Ibn Jarir, in his Commentary, says that the first Verse of the Quran that enjoined the Muslims to take up arms was:

(Quran 2:190-192 by Rodwell) And fight for the cause of God against those who fight against you: but commit not the injustice of attacking them first: God loveth not such injustice: And kill them wherever ye find them, and turn them out of that whereof they have dispossessed you, for temptation [to idolatry] is more grievous than slaughter: Yet fight not against them in the holy temple, until they attack you therein; but if they attack you, slay them [there]. This shall be the reward of the infidels. But if they desist, then verily God is Gracious, Merciful.

(In other translations, "for temptation [to idolatry]" is translated as "persecution" or "tumult and oppression" ) Muslims argue that both these Versed allow the Muslims to fight only those who are aggressors and that it is then evident that the they were in fact forced to appeal to arms.

Since the migration, Muhammad had not only responsibility against himself, his Meccan migrators and the Medina tribes that had joined him. He had also a responsibility towards the rest of Medina, because the Quraish had decided to exterminate the latter for having given shelter to the Muslims, and had wrought up the tribes to the same heat of fury against Medinites.

Muhammad had two main plans:

The first was to close for the Quraish the trade route from Mecca to Syria, the life blood of their power and pride, and thus bring them round to negotiate peace. It may be recalled that it was this step with which Sa'ad ibn Mu'adh had threatened Abu Jahl at Mecca.

The second was to make alliances with the tribes round about Medina to maintain peace with the Muslims.

Expeditions preceding the battle

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Parties of fifty or a hundred persons came to be despatched in expeditions along the road to Mecca. Muhammad did not join any of them before the one sent to Abwa, in the hijri month of Safar 2 a.h.

Three earlier expeditions were sent with Hamza, Ubaida ibn al-Harith and Sa'ad ibn Abu Waqqas as their commanders. However there was no bloodshed on any of those occasions; either the Quraish managed to avoid an encounter or the parties yielded to the intervention of some peace-maker.

Historians report that these three expeditions were intended to stop the trade caravans from having smooth sailing, just as warned by Sa'ad ibn Mua'adh, the object was to close the Syrian route for the Quraish.

Later critiques have claimed that these three expeditions were designed to train the sahaba in loot and plunder. Islam declares loot and plunder to be a heinous crime and there is not a single report that claims the sahaba ever seized the merchandise of the caravan. Also the only caravans that were targeted were Meccans.

Peace treaties

Several expeditions were sent to the neighbouring tribes in order to sign peace treaties.

Banu Juhaina

The first was despatched to the Banu Juhaina, a tribe settled at a distance of three marches or 30 miles from Medina.

Their country was a long range of hills.

It was settled with them that they would remain on equal terms with both the parties i.e., take sides with neither.

Banu Dumra

In the month of Safar in 2 a.h., Muhammad set out from Medina with 60 Muhajirs and reached a place known as Abwa, a place where the Prophet's mother lay buried. (Near this place Muhammad fought a battle known as the Ghazwa of Abwa or the Ghazwa of Waddan.) The town of Fara was inhabited by the Banu Muzaina. It was the chief town of Abwa, in a distance of 8 marches or 80 miles from Medina, a place marked the farthest boundary of the area appertaining to Medina.

Banu Dumra was settled in the neighbouring country and they were in possession of that of land. Muhammad stayed there for a few days and concluded a treaty with Mukhshi Ibn Amr, the chief of Banu Dumra.

The text of the treaty follows:

"This is a document from Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, for the people of Dumra. Their lives and property shall be secure, and they shall be helped against any invader (the promise to be binding at all times) except when they fight against a religious cause. On their part they shall come to the help of the Prophet when called by him."

Historians and Sahi Bukhari call this the first expedition led by Muhammad.

Cattle

Nearly a month later, the pasture lands of Medina was attacked and some cattle belonging to Muhammad was lifted. That was done by one of the leaders of Mecca, Kurz ibn Jabir Fihri. He was chased but escaped. (insert in biography: Later on this Kurz embraced Islam and was killed when passing alone along a street at the time of the Conquest of Mecca.)

Banu Mudlaj

Three months after this attack, in the hijri month of Jamadi ul-Thani, Muhammad left Medina accompanied by 200 Muhajirs towards a place known as Dhu'l-'Ashira, a place that lay at a distance of nine marches from Medina, near Yanbu.

A treaty was made with the Banu Mudlaj, the allies of the Banu Dumra.

Since Banu Dumra had already entered a treaty with Muhammad, Banu Mudlaj accepted the same terms.

The Batn Bakhla affair

A few days later in the hijri month of Rajab, Muhammad sent Abdulah ibn Jahash with 12 persons to a place known as Batn Nakhlah to a place one day and night journey from both Mecca and Ta'if.

Muhammad had given Abdullah a letter and ordered him to open it after two days. After two days Abdullah opened it and found it containing instructions to stop at Batn Bakhla and report on the movements of the Quraish.

By chance, he spotted a party of the Quraish returning from Syria with some merchandise that passed that way. Abdullah Ibn Jahash attacked them, and resulting in the death of one of them Amr Ibn al-Hadrami. Two others captured with some booty.

When he returned to Medina, Abdullah ibn Jahash told the event to Muhammad and presented the booty. Muhammad reminded Abdullah that he had not been permitted to act like that and refused to accept the booty.

The Sahaba were highly engaged and said, to Abdullah, "You did something for which you had no orders, and fought during the Prohibited month, which you were not permitted to do."

The one killed was Amr ibn al-Hadrami, the son of Abdullah ibn Hadrami and ally of Harb ibn Umayya, the father of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb. Harb was the leading chief of the Quraish and had succeeded Abd al-Muttalib to an over al leadership.

The two captured where Uthman and Naufal, the grand-sons of Mughira ibn x.

Mughira was the father of Walid ibn Mughira and grand father of Khalid ibn Walid. Mughira ibn x was next to Harb ibn Umayya in power.

This event infuriated all the Quraish tribes and was the start of a clan war, imminently resulting in the Battle of Badr.

Urwa ibn al-Zubayr son of Asma bint Abu Bakr, sister of Aisha, explained that the root cause of all the battles with the Quraish, including Badr, was that Hadrami was killed. Tabari also agrees with this view in these words :

"And the thing that caused the Battle of Badr and all the subsequent battles between the Prophet and the unbelievers was the death of Hadrami at the hands of Waqid Sehmi."

The battle

Aftermath

Khubayb ibn Adiy was captured by the Meccans and executed in a horrible way as revenge.
Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib had his liver eaten in the Battle of Uhud by Hind bint Utbah

Lists

Ibn Ishaq reports (name-by-name) that 6 men from the Quraysh and 8 men from Medina were killed among the muslims and that 50 men from Mecca were killed and 43 more taken prisoner. It should be noted that Mecca was not crushed and got revenge at the later Battle of Uhud.

Muslim participants

List Muslim participants in the Battle of Badr:

Muhajerin

Ansar

1 Muawwaz ibn Amr - The two youth Muawwaz ibn Amr and his brother Muaaz ibn Amr killed Abu Jahl.
2 Muaaz ibn Amr
3 Bashir ibn Sa'ad

Other

Mu‘awwadh bin Al-‘Afrâ, died
Abu Hudaifah ibn Utbah

Meccan participants

List of Meccan participants in the battle:

External links