THE BATTLE OF BADR
All praise is for Allah(swt), the Most Strong, the Most Able, the Almighty, and the Judge. I praise Him, thank Him, repent to Him and seek His forgiveness. I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship except Alláh Alone, having no partners with Him. He grants the believers victory, He supports them and sends His angels to fight beside them provided that they established the religion and purified their intentions. I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger, the leader of the courageous Mujahideen. May the peace and blessings of Alláh be upon Him, his family, his Companions who sacrificed their souls and wealth for the sake of pleasing Alláh, defending his religion, and supporting the message.
“And Alláh has already made you victorious at Badr, when you were a weak little force. So fear Allah much that you may be grateful. (Remember) when you (Muhammad(pbuh)) said to the believers, ‘Is it not enough for you that your Lord (Alláh) should help you with three thousand angels sent down?’ ‘Yes, if you hold on to patience and piety, and the enemy comes rushing at you; your Lord will help you with five thousand angels having marks (of distinction).’ Alláh made it not but as a message of good news for you and as an assurance to your hearts. And there is no victory except from Alláh, the All-Mighty, the All- Wise.” (3:123-126)
O Muslims, the great Battle of Badr was the first major battle the Muslims fought under the command of the Messenger of Alláh(pbuh). Other minor incursions and military operations had preceded this battle of which the objective was to train the Companions, examine their reactions and investigate the situation in different places in the Arabian peninsula, particularly around the Al-Madinah. However, the Battle of Badr was the actual beginning of Jihád in the form of war that involved confrontation between the Muslims and the enemies of Islam. In this speech I will not relate to you the events of this battle, as you know them in general. Some of you are even aware of some of the details, as it was an important part of the great history of Islam and its faith.
The story of this battle is too lengthy to be narrated in one speech. However, what we are concerned about here are the important parts of this great event. These are the milestones and lessons of the struggle that we must understand, and learn and plan our future by. The first lesson we must learn can be contemplated in the meaning of the following Áyah:
“And Allah has already made you victorious at Badr, when you were a weak little force.” (3: 123)
Allah is reminding the Prophet and his Companions of His favor upon them. They were weak and were not ready for this encounter, yet Alláh bestowed His Mercy upon them and granted them victory over their enemy. Many ofthern did not wish to go to war with the enemy. Some even hated to go! AIl that they wanted was to capture the caravan. After all, that was their objective in the first place when they left Al-Madinah. This was clearly stated in the following Áyat:
“As your Lord caused you (O Muhammad(pbuh)) to go out from your home with the truth; and verily, a party among the believers disliked it. Disputing with you concerning the truth after it was made manifest, as if they were being driven to death, while they were looking (at it). And (remember) when Alláh promised you (Muslims) one of the two parties (of the enemy, i.e. either the army or the caravan) that it should be yours; you wished that the one not armed (the caravan) should be yours, but Alláh willed to justify the truth by His Words and to cut off the roots of the disbelievers (i.e., in the battle of Badr). That He might cause the truth to triumph and bring falsehood to nothing, even though the Mujrimún (disbelievers, polytheists, sinners, criminals) hate it.” (8:5-8)
The situation of the Muslims before the battle was that they were not prepared to fight. Their hearts were not united on one goal. Their intentions were not clear about fighting the enemy at this point. Moreover, they were not appropriately equipped for a confrontation with the enemy. The weapons they had were only sufficient for a little incursion in order to capture a caravan. Now they found themselves compelled to fight a well-equipped army that greatly outnumbered them! In other words, the Muslims were weak and anxious.
Thus the situation became very grave when they realized that the caravan they wanted to capture was no longer within reach. Instead, they were to fight a war with their historical and strategic enemy. They had in mind the benefits of the caravan, but instead they were now called upon to sacrifice.
The situation was again a difficult one when they saw their enemy’s army well equipped and triple their number. All the constituents of victory were with their enemy. This would have been true if we overlooked the decisive element of victory – the true faith. On the other hand, the Muslim army had the least material preparation that could qualify it for victory.
This situation compelled the commander of the Muslim army, the Prophet(pbuh), to tackle the weaknesses in his soldiers individualIy, and in the army at large before the battle broke out. The first task he faced in addressing the weaknesses of his soldiers was to change the objective of their mission from attacking a caravan for financial and material benefits, to fighting the inescapable war ahead. The commander(pbuh) did not face any difficulty in changing the objective. Both the Muhajirin and the Ansar (the Immigrants and the Helpers) responded to the Messenger’s appeal positively and submitted to his command. The epic of their readiness to surrender to the Messenger’s commandment was greatly manifested by Saad bin Mu’adh’s reply to the Prophet(pbuh). He said:
“We believe in you and we bear witness that what you have been sent with is the truth. We have further given you our pledges of obedience and sacrifice. So do what you are commanded (by Alláh to do). You have gone out for one mission, yet perhaps Alláh wants you to do another. So go ahead, tie the links you want, and sever the links you want! Be at peace with whomever you want and be at war with whomever you want! Take from us the money you like and whatever you take is dearer to us than that which you leave. By Alláh, Who has sent you with the truth, if you were to ask us to plunge into the sea, we would do that and none of us would stay behind. We do not despise the idea that we will encounter our enemy tomorrow. We have experience in war upon which we are patient and we are reliable in combat. We hope Allah will show you through us that which will please your eyes. So lead us and may Alláh bless us all.”
With these decisive words, Saad bin Mu’adh put the souls of his fellow Ansar (the Helpers) in the hands of the commander, who mustered the soldiers, enabled them to concentrate on one goal and strengthened their front. Alláh guaranteed support to these believers after they demonstrated their honest intention to fight His enemies. Consequently, every factor of weakness and humiliation became a source of strength and victory. As regards the number of soldiers, Allah(swt) chose to support the few against the many and to put down the bigger army. When confrontation became inevitable, Alliih caused the Makkans to perceive the Muslims as a few, so they belittled them and that was the first cause of the Makkans’ defeat. On the other hand, the Muslims, although they knew that the Makkans outnumbered them, were made to perceive them as unimportant, weak and trivial. It is the implementation of what Alláh stated in the Qur’án, that twenty persevering men from the believers can overpower two hundred men of the disbelievers, and a hundred persevering men of the believers can overpower a thousand men from the disbelievers. Thus did the Qurán point out the solution for the problem of the big difference in number between the two armies. Allah(swt) says:
“And (remember) when you met (the army of the disbelievers on the day of the battle of Badr), He showed them to you as few in your eyes and He made you appear as few in their eyes, so that Alláh might accomplish a matter already ordained (in His Knowledge).” (8:44)
As for the problem of the huge difference between the two armies regarding equipment, weapons and logistic facilities, it was even easier to handle than the problem of numbers. It all depended on the genuine intention of the believer to encounter and defeat the enemy of Alláh only to please Alláh(swt), and not caring about his own life. He (the believer) was willing to sacrifice his life for this sublime goal. He knew what to expect of war, martyrdom or triumph. Thus the believers’ decisive weapon was their faith and aspiration to please Alláh and gain victory or die trying. This aspiration was indeed the most vital factor for victory that overpowered any strength on earth. For that reason, Alláh reinforced the believers with His undefeatable soldiers, the angels.
“Yes, if you hold on to patience and piety, and the enemy comes rushing at you; your Lord will help you with five thousand angels having marks (of distinction). Alláh made it not but as a message of good news for you and as an assurance to your hearts. And there is no victory except from Alláh, the All Mighty, the All-Wise.” (3: 125,126)
Perhaps we can learn and understand more about the condition of the believers at that time by learning how the Messenger of Alláh(pbuh) approached his Lord in prayer. He(pbuh) said:
“O Allah! Should this group be defeated (on this day), You will no longer be worshipped on earth. O Allah! Fulfill what you promised! O Alláh! They are barefooted, so carry them! They are undressed, so clothe them! They are hungry, so feed them! They are needy, so suffice them with your favors.”
All the Muslims at that time were praying to Allah(swt), with humility and submission, asking Him for aid and support. This was the condition of the Prophet(pbuh) and his army. They all surrendered to the plan of Alláh(swt) in the hope that He would help them defeat the enemy of Islam in its first genuine confrontation. The response came more swiftly than they ever expected. It was the Words of Allah(swt) in which He stated their prayer and His answer:
“(Remember) when you sought help of your Lord and He answered you.” (8:9)
Upon that, the whole situation changed. The believers strengthened their intent to fulfill Alláh’ s plan, holding fast to the genuine goal and insisting on sacrificing their lives for the sake of pleasing Alláh(swt) and defending The Message. On the other hand, the disbelievers relaxed in achieving their objective when they underestimated the believers. Their arrogance and pride had not instilled in them but weakness. In this regard Alláh says:
“And (remember) when Shaitán (Satan) made their (evil) deeds seem fair to them and said: “No one of mankind can overcome you this day (of the battle of Badr)”(8:48)
The Makkans were filled with arrogance, which was nothing but a certain prelude to their defeat by the hands of the humble ones – the believers. The Muslims defeated their enemy after they had caused them many casualties. Many disbelievers were killed, many were captured and all of them tasted the bitterness of defeat and humiliation.
The believers, on the other hand, tasted the sweetness of victory and experienced first hand the practical outcome of their faithfulness and trust in Allah(swt) and His Messenger (pbuh).
The second lesson we must contemplate is that the Battle of Badr had brought belief and disbelief face to face. The believers realized that the matter could not sustain any more procrastination or bargaining. They also realized that there would be no peace or coexistence between Iman and Kufr in the Arabian Peninsula. It was time for Iman to
encounter its first practical test to prove its genuineness and authenticity. Prior to Badr, the believers’ faith was just a theoretical conviction. They believed in the meanings and values of the unseen and then carne Badr to prove the facts of the unseen to them. They witnessed the impact of the unseen on their lives, when they experienced what the angels, the soldiers of Alláh (swt), did first hand. The unseen was no longer a secret or something you only surrender to as a belief. It became a phenomenal reality, angels sent down to earth to help and support the believers, and a victory that was not accomplished solely by earthly efforts. Their victory was manipulated through the plan of Allah(swt), which involved the unseen, that all the believers believe in. Now, we have come to understand why Alláh(swt) addressed the Messenger(pbuh) and his army with the following Áyah after He had proven to them their weakness.
“You killed them not, but Alláh killed them. And you (Muhammad (pbuh)) threw not when you did throw, but Alláh threw, that He might test the believers by a fair trial from Him. Verily, Alláh is All-Hearer, All-Knower. This (is the faet) and surely, Alláh weakens the deceitful plots of the disbelievers.” (8: 17,18)
May Allah(swt) bless us all with His Book and benefit us with its Áyat and wisdom. By this, I conclude my speech and ask Allah(swt) to forgive all of our wrongdoings. Therefore, seek His forgiveness as He is the All Forgiving, Most Merciful.
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