Battle of Badr

Among the three most notorious and most eminent Battles of the Islamic history, Battle of Badr is the most important because it was the first battle that Muslims officially fought against the non- believers. The battle of Badr was a serious test for those who were the worshipers of the One and Only Almighty.  The Battle of Badr was a remarkable combat between the Muslims and the non- Muslims to draw a clear line between the good and the evil.

The battle has gain an extraordinary importance in the history besides the fact that it was the first battle of Islam that the number difference between the Muslims and the Kufaar was huge. Muslims in total were 313 who were supposed to fought against a 1000 men; an army of well trained and well equipped people. The condition was real quivering and even the Last messenger of Allah; Hazrat Muhammad SAWW was anxious about the results of this battle. He SAWW before the beginning of the Battle prayed and stood up to supplicate and asked for the aid of Almighty saying;

“O Allah this is Quraysh. It has come with all its pride and boastfulness, trying to discredit Thy Apostle. Allah, I ask You to disgrace them tomorrow, Ya Allah, if this Muslim band will perish today, You shall not be worshipped.”

The Muslim strategy and defense mechanism was an amalgamation of three defensive lines:

• The personality of Hazrat Muhammad SAWW, his leadership and his unequalled firmness. He SAWW was to the Muslims the final and important refuge at the battle of Badr and after that every other Battle he attended.
• The clan of the Holy Prophet SAWW (the Hashmites) commanded by Ali Ibn Abu Talib RA (the first cousin of Hazrat Muhammad SAWW) who entered this combat relatively disguises and came out with an amazing military fame. The performance of him in the military becomes one of the most talked about subject in the whole Arab Peninsula.
• The hearts of the Prophet’s companions were filled with passion and they were ready to die in the path of the One; their Lord who had created them. This passion and readiness to sacrifice make them to see martyrdom as a victory and precious of all the materialistic substances they had. These people with such high spirits were joined together to form an army of Islam, its first line of protection and a thick wall behind which the Prophet Muhammad SAWW used to stand.

 

The passionate and zealous troop of the Messenger Muhammad SAWW was ready to attack and conquer their foes in the very first attempts. The clan of Prophet Muhammad SAWW was facing the troop of Abu- Jahal; one of the most influential and authoritative person in the Quraysh tribe. The combat started when Utbah Ibn Rabi- ah, his son Al- Wahid and his brother Sheibah (all pertaining to the tribe Umayyad) stood right in front of the Muslim clan, assisted by the Holy Prophet SAWW and asked the Allah’s Messenger to send his people to fight them head to head. Hazrat Muhammad SAWW sent Ali Ibn e Talib, Al Hamza and Obadiah Al Harith to fight three of them. a number of muslims from the clan of Holy Prophet were ready to give their lives I way of their Lord and were asking the Prophet SAWW to send them but Prophet SAWW opt to send his own family members firstly.

The load of the very first strike was heavy and heavy to that extent that it should be carried by those who directly belonged to the Holy Prophet Muhammad SAWW. The fight was started and the three of the great warriors of Kufaar were destroyed by the Obadiah, Al Hamza and Ali Ibn e Talib. Ali conquered Al Wahid, Utbah was sent to hell by Al Hamza and Obadiah was assisted by the two of them and then he fought against Sheibah. Sheibah died immediately and Obadiah gained the honor to be the first martyr of the Battle of Badr. He died after he lost his leg in the fight.

Then the general offense began in which the hundreds of the companions and members of the clan participated. They sacrificed their lives and pleased their Lord. The battle was at its peak and the family of the Prophet SAWW distinguished themselves from others by endeavoring great contribution in the combat. Ali Ibn e Talib fought a number of Kufaar and finally when he faced Tuaima Ibn Oday, he transfixed his sword and said;

“You shall not argument with us in Allah after today.”

At the other side, Hazrat Muhammad SAWW took a handful of grits when the battle was extremely heated and threw it on the faces of Kufaar saying;

“May your faces be blemished? Ya Allah terrify their hearts and annulled their feet.”

After that, the pagans ran away and turned their faces to no one. The incident of throwing pebbles at the Kufaars has been mentioned in the Quran in Surah Al- Infaal and the throwing was mentioned as Al Rami (meaning throwing grits).

The Muslims kept on killing pagans and making them prisoners. 70 of the pagans were sent to hell by the Muslims and 70 of them were taken to home as prisoners.  20 to 22 of the Kufaars were killed by only Hazrat Ali’s hand.

The victory in the Battle of Badr led a foundation for a strong and well established Islamic State. It was even recorded in the Holy Quran as a remarkable sanction of the new religion. In Quran Kareem it is said;

“It was not you who slew them; it was Allah in order that He SWT probably tests the Believers by a gracious trial from Himself.”

The victory in the Badr Battle not only raised the standards of Muslims among Kufaar and makes them to be seen strong but also raised the status of the Holy Prophet SAWW among the Madinah tribes and troops who then started to support him and started to believe him in order to resolve their matters.

The Battle of Badr also set an example of goodness to the prisoners as the prisoners were treated according to the human laws and were not tortured as the prisoners used to be in the Arab before the light of Islam. The prisoners were also asked to preach Muslims kids and in exchange of teaching 10 Muslim kids, they were promised to be set free.