Great Battle of Badr
This is the day Allah calls in the Qura’an *يوم الفرقان يوم التقى الجمعان*
The battle of Badr between Muslims, led by the Prophet and Quraish of Makkah led by Amr bin Hisham bin Al-Mugheirah Al-Makhzoumi, known as Abu Jahl, near the wells of Badr in the Southern parts of Madinah took place on March 13, 624AD corresponding to 17th Ramadan 2H and ended up with a big victory for Muslims and the death of Quraish Leader, Abu Jahl Amr bin Hisham bin Al-Mogheirah Al-Makhzoumi.
Note: Students should be taught that the point of these wars was not war in itself. The Muslims were aggressed against in this battle yet they maintained complete justice. Allah says in the Qur’aan:
* اعدلوا هو أقرب للتقوى*
‘Be just. That is the closest to piety‘.
Map and Battle Array Courtesy: http://tasheeltadrees.blogspot.com/2010/11/battle-of-badr.html: Please do visit this site.
Reasons for battle
Muslim went out to block the way of Quraish caravan led Abu Sufyan. The caravan was coming from Sham Region, Muslims tried to intercept the Caravan, was to restore their wealth taken from the Muhajiroun by Quraish when they were at home in Makkah, before and during their migration to Madinah, as most of the migrants had left their money in Makkah.
Description of Caravan
Almost every person in Makkah had contributed some money in that Caravan which was led by Abu Sufyan went to S ham Region and was then returning to Makkah. It was said that the value of trade items in it was about fifty thousand Dinars, and one thousand camels, and most of its load belonged to the family of Sa’id bin Al-Aas, who had four thousand weights of gold, and Bani Makhzoum who had about two hundred camels, while, Al-Harith bin Amer got one thousand weights, and Omayah bin Khalaf two thousand weights, and Bani Abd Manaf (the sons of Abd Manaf) ten thousand weights “1”.
Reference for Battlefield Array
Advent of the Caravan
The news reached Muslims that a Caravan of led by Abu Sufyan bin Harb has come from the Levant, carrying a large quantity of trade for Quraish, and the number of men guarding it was estimated to be ranging between thirty to forty men from Quraish, including Makhramah ibn Nawfal, and Amr ibn Al-Aas When the information came to the knowledge of the Prophet, he commissioned Muslims to them and said: This is the Caravan of Quraish, holding their wealth, so go out to get them, may God make it for you.
People got ready, some had weapons and others did not because they did not think that there would be war, so those only got a means of transportation.
When Abu Sufyan got near to Al-Hijaz, he began to grope for the news from the travelers and caravans, out of fear for the wealth of Quraish from the Muslims. He got information from some travelers that Mohammad has mobilized Muslims for the Caravan and put them on alert. He, was cautious, and hired Damdam bin Amr Al-Ghafari and sent him in a mission to Makkah to call upon Quraish to come out and defend their monies, and to tell them that Mohammad may attack the Caravan, and Damadm quickly marched to Makkah.
When he arrived in Makkah Damdam went speedily to Makkah.
The sooner had Damdam arrived to Makkah than he cut off his camel, and changed his saddle and baggage and ripped apart his shirt, and stood over his camel at the belly of the Valley screaming: “O Quraish, Help . . . Help, your wealth with Abu Sufian has been intercepted by Mohammad and his companions, and I do not think that you can overtake them, Help . . Help.
Quraish gets ready to go
Site of Battle of Badr
Quraish began to get their arms and men for the fight, and said: Do Mohammad and his companions think that our Caravan is the same like the Caravan of Al-Hadrami? Certainly not. They agreed that all the men and Masters of Quraish would proceed to Mohammad, and he who cannot go, would send another man in his place, but no one of its Ashraf (Noblemen) stayed away except Abu Lahab, as he sent Al-Assi bin Hisham Ibn Al-Mogheirah in his place, due to the fact that Al-Assi owed him four thousand dirham, and therefore Abu Lahab charged him with this mission.
Omayah bi Khalf tried to retreat and withdraw, as he was a fat old man, but Oqbah bin Abi Meit came to him while he was among his people, saying to him: “O Abu Ali, Istajmir i.e use this perfume as you are only a women. Omayah replied: “Shame on you, and shame on what you have brought”, and then prepared his weapon and horse and came out with the people.
Before Quraish moved out some feared that because of the state of war between Quraish and Bani Bakr ibn Abd Manat bin Kinanah, as they believed that Banu Bakr may exploit the situation and attack their homes while they are busy in the campaign against Muslims. Suraqah bin Malik bin Jashm Al-Madlaji, who is one of the nobility (Ashraf) of banu Kinanah, said: I will protect you if Kenanah came behind you and did something which you do not like”.
Many Muslims believe that the person who defended Quraish of Bani Bakr was not Suraqah, but rather the devil, Satan, itself, and they believe that he came in the form and the shape of Suraqah and said what he said to Quraish.
Status of Muslims as they left Al-Madinah
Historical information says that Muslims left A-Madinah on Monday the 8th of Ramadan. The Prophet asked Amr ibn Umm Maktoum to lead the remaining people in Medina in prayer, but some sources say that the name of the person was not Abdullah bin Umm Maktoum, but Abu Lebabah.
The banner was given to Musab bin Umair, while other sources say that there were two black banners in front of Mohammad, one with Ali bin Abi Talib called Al-Uqab and the other was with Sa’ad bin Mu’az.
Muslims used only seventy camels, so each 3 were taking turns in the ride on each camel.
MuslimsWay to Badr
Muslims took off from Madinah in the direction of Makkah, then to Al-Aqiq, and then to Zul Halifah then passed by Ulat Al-Jaish. They then passed by Terpan, then passed on to Malal, then Ghamis Al-Hamam, from Mrien, then on Sukhayrat Al-Yamam then proceeded to Al-Sayalah, then to Dbayeh.
Then Muslims continued their way and passed by Sagsag, which was a well of Al-Rawha’a, then arrived at Al-Munsaref where they left Makkah road to the left and turned right through the Nazeyah on their way to Badr, until they reached the valley of Ruhakan, which is a valley between the Nazeyah and the Strait of Al-Safra’a and then arrived at the village of Al-Safra’a
At this point, Mohammad “peace be upon him” sent Sibs bin Al-Juhani and Uday ibn Abi Zaghba’a Al-Juhani on an exploratory mission to provide him with the news about the caravan of Abu Sufyan. Upon the arrival of the Muslims to the village of Al-Safra’a which is situated between two mountains, Mohammad asked about the name of the mountains and was told that one of them was called Musallaha and the second was called Mukhri. The people are Banu Al-Nar and Banu Harraq, who are from Bani Ghaffar, and he hated to pass among them and therefore left them and turned right on his way to Wadi Zafran.
Arrival of news that Quraish has come out to Muslims and their Caution
The news received say that the infidels Army came out to confront Muslims. To fight the infidels in a war was not an option that Muslims had thought of, but rather the target was for the financial benefits from the Caravan. Also the Ansar in Aqaba pledge of allegiance stipulated that they would protect the Prophet Mohammad in Al-Madinah only, and repudiated such protection until he enters to them in Al-Madinah, as they told him then:
O Messenger of Allaah, you are not under our protection until you arrive at our City, and once you reach us, you will become in our custody, and we will protect you from anything of which we protect our children and our women.
So, Prophet Mohammad consulted with his Companions, and both Abu Bakr and Omar ibn al-Khattab talked, then Al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad said:
O Messenger of God. Go for what God Has shown you. We are with you And I swear by God that we shall not say to as Bani Israel had said to Moses: “Go thou and thy Lord and fight ye two, while we sit here and watch”. Rather we would say: “Go thou and thy Lord and fight ye two and we will fight with you. Surely, we swear by God Who sent you with the rightness, if you walked with us to the pools of Al-ghamad (a place in Yemen), we would follow you until you reach it.
The Prophet then directed his speech to the Ansar, saying: Give me your advice. . you people, and Sa’ad bin Muaz said to him:
It seems that you meant us, O Messenger of God?
The Prophet Muhammad said: Yes.
Sa’ad said: We have believed in you and accepted your words as true, and testified that your call is the rightness, and gave you our pledges and covenants. We swear by God who sent you with the rightness that if you entered that sea with us, and plunged into it, we would plunge with you, and no one will stay away, and we do not hate to meet our enemy tomorrow, and we are patient in the war, true in meeting the enemy, maybe God will show you what would please you. So go ahead and lead us, with God’s blessing.
Prophet Mohammad said: Go ahead and be cheerful. God has promised me either a martyr or victory I swear by God that I almost now their deaths.
After that, Muslims continued their way from Zafran, and passed by an area called Al-Asafer, then went to a town called Al-Dubbah, and then made a great dune like the great mountain called Al-Hanan on the right hand, and encamped close to Badr.
Prophet Mohammad advanced with Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq, until they reached Sufian Al-Damari, one of the Arab sheikhs in the region, and Prophet Mohammad asked about Quraish, and about Mohammad and his Companions and what information reached him about them. Al-Damari said: I will not tell you unless you tell me who are both of you? The Prophet said to him: If you tell us, we will tell you.
Al-Damari said: Is this for that? And Mohammed answered: “Yes. Al-Damari said: I learned that Mohammad and his Companions went out on day so and so, and if such information is true, they must be today at the place so and so (and it was indeed the same place where the Muslims actually arrived) and I have heard that Quraish went out on the day so and so, and if such information is true, they must be today at the place so and so. When he finished giving the information, he said: From where are both of you? They said: We are from “Ma’a” means Water in Arabic, and then set off.
When he returned to his camp, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Zubair bin Auwwam, and Sa’ad bin Abi Waqas, went out towards the water of Badr, and captured young men from Quraish who were to bring water, including Aslam, the boy of Abul Hajaj and Areed Abu Yasar, the boy of Bani Al-A’as bin Sa’id, and brought them to the Muslims’ camp and the Prophet Mohammad was praying by then, so they interrogated them, and they said: We are water providers of Quraish, and they have sent us to bring them water, but they did not believe them and beat them, and the two young men were forced to lie and said that they belong to Abu Sufyan, hoping that Muslims would be tempted to get a ransom. When Prophet Mohammad finished his prayer, he said to Ali and his Companions: “When they tell the truth, you beat them, and when they lie, you leave them? They have said the truth; they belong to Quraish, so tell me about Quraish? They said: Quraish are behind that dune which you see and Dune Alaknqal. Prophet Mohammad said to them: What is the number of the people? They said: they are many, he asked: “What is their equipment? They said: We do not know. He said: How many animals they slaughter every day? They said: sometimes nine, and sometimes ten. He said: the number of the people ranges between nine hundred and one thousand… Then he said to them: Who are the Ashraf of Quraish among them? They said: Otbah bin Rabi’a, Shaibah bin Rabi’a, Abul Bakhtari bin Hisham, Hakim bin Hezam, Nawfal ibn Khuwaylid, Al-Harith bin Amer bin Nawfal, Tuaimah bin Uday ibn Nawfal, Al-Nadar ibn Al-Harith, Zama’a ibn Al-Aswad, Abu Jahl ibn Hisham, Omayah bin Khalaf, Nabih and Munabeh, the sons of Al-Hajjaj, Suhail bin Amr, and Amr ibn Abd Wed. Prophet Muhammad went out to the Muslims and told them: That is Mekkah has thrown to you her most honorable sons.
Flight of Abu Sufyan with the Caravan and Asks Quraish to return
Muslims were able to monitor the escape of the caravan, and Abu Sufyan sent to Quraish to tell them that the Caravan had survived, and there is no need for them to fight the people of Yathrib. But Abu Jahl refused and had wanted to challenge, and said his famous words: “We will not go back until we arrive at Badr where we would stay for three days to slaughter animals, eat food, and drink wine, and the female singers would play music for us. The Arabs of the Desert will fear us for good. However, “Bani Zahrah” did not respond to this call, went back and did not fight.
The Battle
The polytheists arrived to Badr and encamped at the valley, while Muslims went down at the lower part of the valley, and Muslims built a bower for the Prophet on a hillock, and he continued to pray fervently, saying: “O God. Quraish had come with her conceit and arrogance to accuse your messenger of lying. . O God, grant us the victory which You Have promised me? . If this gang were destroyed today You will not be worshipped on the Earth,” and his cloak fell off his shoulders, so Abu Bakr told him: “O Messenger of God be sure that God will fulfill His promise to you.”
Muslims have filled up the wells of Badr with stones and sand after they took their water, so that the polytheists would not be able to get water. Before the battle began, three noble men of Quraish, namely: Otbah bin Rabi’a, and his brother Sheibah, and his son Waleed ask the Muslims to fight a duel with them. Three of the Ansar but they said, saying: “O Muhammad, bring forward our equivalent counterparts our cousins”, so the Prophet “peace be upon him” called on Ubaidah ibn al-Harith and Hamza Bin Abdul Muttalib, and Ali bin Abi Talib Hamza encountered Sheibah in the combat and killed him, and Ali encountered Al-Walid and killed him, then Obaidah combated with Utbah, and they wounded each other, so both Hamzah and Ali attacked Otbah and killed him, and the war became intense and raging. God supplied the Muslims with angels to fight with them, and the Qur’an said: “Yea, — if ye remain firm , and act aright, even if the enemy should rush here on you in hot haste, your Lord would help you with five thousand angels making a terrific onslaught” . Thus, the battle ended in victory for Muslims and they defeat of the infidels, and seventy of the infidels were killed while seventy others were taken as prisoners. . The Martyrs among the Muslims were fourteen, and Muslims have thrown the dead bodies of the infields into one big hole. As for the prisoners, the Messenger took 4000 Dirham for each prisoner of war in compliance with the advice of Abu Bakr. However, the prisoner who did not have the redemption was given ten of the Muslim boys to teach them reading and writing.
The Return to Medina
And then the prophet left victoriously and triumphantly, along with the prisoners and loots. When he arrived at Al-Safra’a, he divided the loots and beheaded Al-Nadar ibn Al-Harith bin Caldah, and when he arrived at Irq-Dbayeh, he beheaded Oqbah ibn Abi Meit. The Prophet then entered Madinah successful and victorious, causing fear to every enemy in Madinah and its surroundings, and many people embraced Islam, and it was then that Abdullah bin Ubai Al-Munafiq and his companions have entered in Islam with pretense.
Redemption of Prisoners:
The Prophet gave freedom to the prisoners and released them on condition that anyone who knows writing, reading would teach 10 of the illiterate Muslims.
Martyrs of Battle of Badr
· A Amir Ibn Abi Waqas
· Zul Shamalein bin Abd Amr
· Safwan bin Wahab
- Mahja’a Bin Saleh.
· Aqil bin Al-Bakeer
· Ubaidah ibn Al-Harith
· S.a’ad bin Kaithamah
· Mubashir bin Abdul Monzir
· Haritha bin Suraqa
- R.afie ben A-Muallae
· Umair bin Al-Hamam
· Yazid ibn Al-Harith
· Mu’awwaz ibn Al-Harith
· Auf bin Al-Harith
