9. Battle of Badr

9.1 Lead-up to the Battle of Badr

9.1.1 Rasūlullāhﷺ Pursues the Caravan of Quraish

They had a census. Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Count all the souls that profess Islām.” So the total number of men of fighting age was 1,500. And then the Sahābah asked the question, “We are 1,500? We should not be afraid then.” So if our number is 1,500 we should not be afraid. Quraish was sending out its major caravan to Ash- Shām, the caravan was headed by Abū Sufyān himself, one of the leaders of Quraish. Rasūlullāh caught news of this and he was sending out spies to bring him out news of the caravan. So Bisbisah Bin ‘Amr comes back [and] he enters the house of Rasūlullāhﷺ. Anas says, “There was no one in the house except me and Rasūlullāhﷺ and Bisbisah Bin ‘Amr,” and he tells Rasūlullāhﷺ that the caravan of Quraish was spotted in such and such place. Rasūlullāh immediately comes out and says, “Whoever has his ride ready shall join us.” So some of the Sahābah said, “O Rasūlullāh, our rides are in Āl Al-Madīnah,” in a part of Madīnah that was a little bit far away. Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “No, you need to be ready to leave now.” We do not have time for you to go and bring your camel and come back; Rasūlullāhﷺ wanted to leave in a speedy fashion, immediately, and therefore not enough time was given to all of the Muslims to get ready, so a small number ended up going with Rasūlullāhﷺ and that number was a little over 300; some say 317, some say 319 – that was it. The rest could not join because they did not have time to prepare themselves.

What was the purpose of this army? It was to take over the caravan of Quraish led by Abū Sufyān. Rasūlullāhﷺ told the people, “This caravan belongs to Quraish and will carry much wealth. Attack it! May Allāh present it to you.” Abū Sufyān was very careful, and as we mentioned earlier, Abū Jahl had already delivered warning to the people of Makkah [saying], “You need to be careful, your financial lines are being attacked and your men are being attacked, so be careful.” So Abū Sufyān was very alert and he also was sending out his spies to gather news about the whereabouts of Muhammadﷺ. So he reached to the place of Badr which is about 150km from Madīnah, and he holds some of the camel manure in his hand and he crushes it, and he said, “This manure has some of the animal feed of Madīnah in it.” So he knew from the manure itself where the camels were feeding, and he knew that the owners of these camels were followers of Muhammadﷺ who were trying to pursue him. So he sends an urgent message, very urgent, to Quraish, “Your caravan is being threatened, you need to come and protect it.” He sends the message with ‘Amr Bin Umayyah Ad-Damrī, but before we talk about what ‘Amr does when he goes and delivers the warning to Quraish, let us go back to Makkah.

9.1.2 ‘Ātiqah Bint ‘Abdul Muttalib Has Dream

In Makkah, ‘Ātiqah Bint ‘Abdul Muttalib, the aunt of Rasūlullāhﷺ, saw a dream. She saw that a man was riding his camel and he rushes into Makkah and he screams to gather the people of Makkah around him. And then his camel stands on top of Al-Ka’bah, and then after that it stands on top of a mountain in Makkah, and he warns the people of Quraish and said, “In three days, you will perish.” And then he takes a rock and he throws it from on top of the mountain. It lands in the valley of Makkah and it explodes, and every house in Makkah is hit by a fragment of this rock. So she said to her brother Al-‘Abbās, “I am going to tell you this dream which has worried me, but I do not want you to tell anybody about it.” Al -‘Abbās listened to her narrate her dream and then he said, “That was some vision, keep quiet about it, do not tell anyone.” Because here you have this man saying, “Come forth to your deaths in three days, you people of perfidy.” Now, ‘Ātiqah told ‘Abbās not to tell anybody about it, however ‘Abbās the next day finds his friend Al-Walīd Bin ‘Utbah and he tells him about the dream! And he tells him, “Do not to tell anybody about it.” And then Al-Walīd Bin ‘Utbah goes and tells his father, and then the news is all over Makkah now. If you are not able to protect the secret yourself, do not expect others to.

Al-‘Abbās said, “I arose early to make Tawāf around Al-Ka’bah and there was Abū Jahl Bin Hishām sitting with a group of Quraish leaders and they were discussing the vision of ‘Ātiqah.” You know, the news was all over. Now, when Abū Jahl saw Al-‘Abbās, he told him, “Abul Fadl, why do you not come and join us after you have finished your Tawāf?” So ‘Abbās made his Tawāf and then he went to sit with them. So what did Abū Jahl say? He said, “How long has your family of ‘Abdul Muttalib had this female prophet?” Al-‘Abbās pretends as if he does not know what he is talking about, he asked, “What do you mean?” He said, “I am talking about the vision ‘Ātiqah saw.” Abū Jahl said, “Are you ‘Abdul Muttalibs not satisfied with having your men become prophets, has it got to be your women now? ‘Ātiqah claims that in her vision a man said, ‘Come forth in three days.’ We are going to watch you closely for those three days and if what you say is true so be it, but if three days pass without anything happening, then we will judge you to be the biggest liars of all of the Arabs.” Because in the dream it says that come to your death in three days, so now Abū Jahl is saying that if three days pass by and nothing happens then we are going to consider you [to be] the biggest liars among all the Arabs. So Abū Jahl here has insulted the people of ‘Abdul Muttalib, insulted the men and insulted the women, claiming that they were liars. Al-‘Abbās went back home. Al-‘Abbās says, “That night every woman of ‘Abdul Muttalib came to see me and said, ‘Have you agreed to let that dirty old reprobate attack first your men and then your women while you just listened? Did not anything you heard him say offend you?’” Al-‘Abbās said, “I would have done something, but I never had a problem with him before. I swear I will confront him and if he repeats it I will take care of him for you.” So now Al-‘Abbās is charged up and wants to take revenge from Abū Jahl for what happened.

‘Ātiqah’s Dream Comes True :  After three days, Al- ‘Abbās goes to Al-Haram, and he wanted to walk next to Abū Jahl so that Abū Jahl would call him and then he would have a chance to argue back with Abū Jahl and take revenge for what happened. Al-‘Abbās says, “On the morning of the third day after ‘Ātiqah’s vision, I was extremely angry feeling that I had let him get away with something that I should have put a stop to. I went into the mosque and saw him. I swear I was making towards him to confront him, to get him to retract what he had said. He was a slight man with a sharp face, a sharp voice and a sharp gaze. When he hurried off towards the door of the mosque, I asked myself what could be the matter with the fellow, and whether he was doing this because he feared I was about to confront him.” So Abū Jahl was running away; Al-‘Abbās thought maybe he is running away because he is afraid of me. [Al-‘Abbās continues], “But actually he had heard something I had not; he heard the voice of ‘Amr Bin Umayyah Ad-Damrī173 who was out in the centre of the valley standing by his camel.” The man who was sent by Abū Sufyān arrives three days after the dream of ‘Ātiqah. ‘Amr Bin Umayyah Ad-Damrī174 comes into Makkah in a scene [where] by just looking at him was enough to strike fear in the hearts of people. He came in and he cuts the nose of his camel, and he turns its saddle upside down, he tears his shirt, and he stands in the middle of the valley screaming, calling the people and saying, “O Quraish! The caravan! The caravan! Your goods being brought by Abū Sufyān has been waylaid by Muhammad and his men! I do not think you can save them! Help! Help!” Al-‘Abbās said, “And so all this diverted us both from our personal conflict.” It was an emergency situation now; everyone was trying to get ready and go to defend their caravan. So the people of Quraish mobilised to go and fight Muhammadﷺ in order to protect their caravan.

9.1.3 Al-Ansār’s Counsel and Loyalty to Rasūlullāhﷺ

Rasūlullāhﷺ made Shūrā with the Sahābah, he said, “Ashīrū ‘Alaihā Ayyuhan Nās –Give me counsel Opeople.” SoAbū Bakr spoke, then ‘Umar spoke, but it was as if Rasūlullāhﷺ was not really interested in what they had to say, until Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh said, “It seems that you want us to speak – Al-Ansār.” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Yes.” Sa’d said, “O Messenger of Allāh, if you want us to lead our horses into the sea, we would do so, and if you want us to lead our horses towards Bark Al-Ghamād (which is in the tip of Arabia), we will do so. Go towards what Allāh has instructed you to do,” and that made Rasūlullāhﷺ happy. The reason why Rasūlullāhﷺ was not interested in what Abū Bakr had to say and what ‘Umar had to say was because he wanted to hear what Al-Ansār had to say, because the pledge of allegiance that was given by Al-Ansār to Rasūlullāhﷺ was to protect him, and this protection could imply, it could imply – it does not necessarily imply, but it could imply – that the protection is only within the boundaries of Madīnah, but now Rasūlullāhﷺ is leading an army and going out of Madīnah to raid a caravan belonging to Quraish, so what do the Ansār think about that? Because they could interpret the agreement that they had with Rasūlullāhﷺ as saying that this is not included in our agreement. So when Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh stood up and said, ‘You can lead us wherever you want; if you want us to lead our horses into the ocean, we will go after you,’ that made Rasūlullāhﷺ happy and satisfied, because it shows you their protection [and] the understanding that the Ansār had of what it means to protect Rasūlullāhﷺ; we are your soldiers, lead us wherever you want, we will follow you.

9.1.4 Rasūlullāhﷺ Sets Out with his Army

Rasūlullāhﷺ went out, and on his way he had to return some of the Sahābah because they were too young. He returned Al-Barā’, and he returned ‘Abdullāh Ibn ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb , so again, you can contrast this with soldiers who are defecting from their armies, they do not want to go and fight, they just want to be members of the army to take advantage of all of the freebies that they get; free education, free this and free that, while here Rasūlullāhﷺ is dealing with people who are so eager to join him [but] he has to turn them back. So Al-Barā’ was turned back [and] ‘Abdullāh Ibn ‘Umar was turned back because they were too young. A Mushrik came to Rasūlullāhﷺ and said, “I want to join you.” This is a Disbeliever. Rasūlullāhﷺ asked him, “Are you Muslim?” He said, “No.” He said, “Irji’, Falā Nasta‘īna Bi-Mushrik – Go back, I am not going to seek assistance from a Disbeliever.” The man comes back again; Rasūlullāhﷺ tells him, “Go back.” The third time the man said, “Now I am Muslim,” so Rasūlullāhﷺ told him to join.

Financially, the Muslims were going through a hard time, so every three men were sharing one camel, and they would take turns. Just like everyone else, Rasūlullāhﷺ was sharing his camel with two of the Sahābah. So when their turn approached, they told Rasūlullāhﷺ, “How about you ride and we will walk?” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “You are not stronger than I am, and I am in need of reward just as you are – Mā Antum Bi’aqwā Minnī Walā Ana Bi’aghnā ‘Anil Ajri Minkumā.” SoRasūlullāhﷺ was just like everyone else in his army; he did not treat himself with any preferential treatment, he was sharing his camel just like others in the army were sharing their camels, and he would walk when it was his turn to walk. Rasūlullāh carried on towards the direction of Badr to pursue the caravan, however, Abū Sufyān was alerted and he was able to divert the caravan and was able to get away.

Quraish Flex their Muscles:  We carry on with Ghazwat Badr, and we said that Abū Sufyān was very alert, he himself was scouting the area, and he passed next to the wells of Badr, and he asked the people whom he saw there who were drawing water from those wells, he asked them, “Did you see anyone here who is a foreigner whom you did not distinguish?” They said, “We saw two men here.” So Abū Sufyān went to the place where their camels were and he then held some of the camel manure in his hand and he crushed it and he said, “These camels have been feeding crushed date seeds, and that is the animal feed of Madīnah.” So he recognised that these two men came from Madīnah, therefore he changed course and rushed towards the coast and was able to evade the Muslims. And then he sent a letter back to Makkah and he said, “You came out to do battle in order to protect your caravan, people and wealth, Allāh has now saved these, so go back.” Abū Sufyān said there is no point now in fighting, the caravan is safe, so go back. Abū Jahl said, “By Allāh, we will not turn around until we reach Badr.”

Badr was a place where the Arabs would hold a fare and a market each year; they would gather in that place and hold a fare. Abū Jahl went on, he said, “We will stay there three days, slaughter some camels, eat well, drink wine, and entertainers will play music for us. The Bedouin will get to hear of our journey and of our gathering there and they will respect us for it. Let us proceed ahead.” So for Abū Jahl it was a matter of flexing muscles; we will go there, we will celebrate, we will drink wine, we will have the slave-girl sing for us, and let all the Arabs come and see the strength of Quraish and let them fear us after that. Allāh says: And do not be like those who came forth from their homes insolently and to be seen by people and avert [them] from the way of Allāh. And Allāh is encompassing of what they do. Al-Anfāl: 47

Sothe people of Quraish came out with insolence and they came out to show off and to boast of their power and strength.

9.1.5 Rasūlullāh’sﷺ Shūrā and Sahābah’s Willingness to Fight

Rasūlullāhﷺ, now realising that the caravan is trying to get away, and that instead of facing a caravan guarded by 40 men they might be facing an army of a thousand strong, Rasūlullāhﷺ held Shūrā and he was asking the Companions, “What do you think?” So Abū Bakr stood up and spoke, ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb  stood up and spoke, and then Al-Maqdād stood up and spoke and ‘Abdullāh Ibn Mas‘ūd  said regarding this, “Al-Maqdād stood up and spoke some words; I would sacrifice the world to be the one who spoke those words.” Al-Maqdād, he stood up and said, “O Messenger of Allāh! Go forth to what Allāh has commanded you to do, and we are not going to tell you like the Children of Israel told Mūsā, ‘Go and fight with your Lord, we are going to stay here’, but we will fight in front of you, and behind you, and on your right, and to your left, and we will say go forth and fight with your Lord, we will fight with you.” Rasūlullāhﷺ, as it says in Al- Bukhārī, his face lit up, it was shining and he was happy, and he stood up. So those words of Al- Maqdād strengthened the Sahābah, but this was not the case with all of them, not all of them had that idea in mind. You see, [this is] because they did not come out prepared to fight a war, the reason why they came out of Madīnah was to raid a caravan, so they were lightly armed, and mentally they were not prepared to face off an army. So some of them were reluctant, and inside their hearts many of them wanted to raid the caravan, they did not really want to fight the army of Quraish. By the way, how do we know what is in the hearts of people? You see, that is the difference when we are dealing with history that is revealed in Qur’ān, because Allāh  knows what is in the hearts of people, unlike a historian writing a book about history, he will go by what he sees, he does not really know what is in the insides of people in that particular era.

So Allāh tells us: [It is] just as when your Lord brought you out of your home [for the battle of Badr] in truth, while indeed, a party among the Believers were unwilling. Al-Anfāl: 5

Allāh is telling us –and we would not have known otherwise – that some of the Believers [were reluctant to fight].And by the way, here in the Battle of Badr, we are dealing with the cream of the crop, we are dealing with the best; even though, some of them were unwilling. Why? Because fighting is something disliked, and here we are dealing [with fighting] for the first time, and there are some of them who may never had met an enemy before, and there is that fear that could occur in a person when they are going to fight for the first time. So Allāh is saying a party among the Believers were unwilling. Plus, fighting to start with, Qitāl, is something disliked. Allāh says: Fighting has been enjoined upon you while it is hateful to you. But then Allāh says: Wa ‘Asā An Takrahū Shay’an Wahuwa Khairullakum –But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you. Al-Baqarah: 216

And then Allāh says:

[Remember, O Believers], when Allāh promised you one of the two groups – that it would be yours… one of the two groups meaning either the caravan or to defeat the enemy… and you wished that the unarmed one would be yours. People wanted the caravan! And that caravan had the money of the Muhājirīn in it, so they wanted it back. But Allāh intended to establish the truth by His words and to eliminate the Disbelievers. That He should establish the truth and abolish falsehood, even if the criminals disliked it. Al-Anfal: 7-8

SoAllāh had a plan while the people had a plan, and the plan of Allāh was greater than that of the people. In the army of Rasūlullāhﷺ, some of them just wanted to raid that caravan and take over its wealth, while Allāh wanted this battle to be the first meeting between good and evil, and for it to be the Day of Furqān – The Criterion, as we will see later on.

9.1.6 Rasūlullāhﷺ Gathers Intelligence

Rasūlullāhﷺ was gathering intelligence about the whereabouts of the army of Quraish and also the whereabouts of the caravan; whether they would be able to lay their hands on it. So Rasūlullāhﷺ and Abū Bakr met with this old Bedouin, this old man in the desert, and Rasūlullāhﷺ asked him about the whereabouts of the army of Muhammadﷺ and the whereabouts of the army of Quraish. The man asked, “Who do you belong to? I am not going to tell you until you tell me who you are.” Rasūlullāh told him, “If you tell us then we will tell you.” The old man said, “This for that?” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Yes.” So the man said, “Fine. Muhammad and his followers are at this place, and if the person who told me is telling me the truth, now they would be in such and such place.” And he gave the right place of Muhammadﷺ and his army. And then he said, “And the people of Quraish were in such and such place, so if the person who told me that is speaking the truth, now they would be in such and such place.” So Rasūlullāhﷺ over here gets some valuable information and he can trust it because the man gave the right location of the army of Muhammadﷺ, even though he did not know that he was speaking to Muhammadﷺ, so that could be an indication that also the location that he was giving about the army of Quraish would be correct. So now it was the Bedouin’s turn to ask Muhammadﷺ, so he asked, “Who are you?” Muhammadﷺ says, “We are from water,” and then he walks away! So the old man was left to ask himself, “What do you mean by water? Do you mean the water of ‘Irāq?” Because the Arabs would name some people according to the names of their wells or their water source, so since in ‘Irāq you have rivers, when Rasūlullāhﷺ said we are from water, the man asked what do you mean by water, do you mean the water of ‘Irāq? And Rasūlullāhﷺ just walked away so that the man would not ask him some more investigative questions. What Rasūlullāhﷺ meant by that was that we are from water; that is what we are created from, and Allāh says in Qur’ān: And it is He who has created from water a human being. Al-Furqān: 54

Rasūlullāhﷺ sends out Az-Zubair and ‘Alï Bin Abī Tālib and some other Sahābah scouting the area trying to gather information. So they found a servant belonging to the army of Quraish; they arrest him and take him back. They brought him back while Rasūlullāhﷺ was praying, and then they would ask him, “Who do you belong to?” He would say, “I belong to the army of Quraish.” So they would beat him up badly and they would ask him about the location of Abū Sufyān, and this man does not know, he said, “I have no idea where Abū Sufyān is.” So they would ask him, “Well, who do you know about?” He said, “I know the whereabouts of Abū Jahl, of Umayyah Bin Khalaf, of ‘Utbah Bin Rabī‘ah…” and he was naming some of the prominent members of the army of Quraish. And they would beat him up and ask him, “Where is Abū Sufyān?!” So he would say “OK, OK, I will tell you about Abū Sufyān.” So they would stop beating him up and then they would ask, “Where is Abū Sufyān?” and he would say, “I do not know.” Now, the reason why they were beating him to give them the location of Abū Sufyān, it shows you that they still wanted to know where the caravan was, and they were not happy when he told them that I belong to the army of Quraish. Rasūlullāhﷺ finished his Salāh and told them, “When he speaks the truth you beat him, and when he lies you leave him alone.” So when he would say, “Yes, I know where Abū Sufyān is,” they would leave him alone. And then Rasūlullāhﷺ went to interrogate him himself, because the Sahābah were not really getting the right information from him! So now Rasūlullāhﷺ walks up to the man [and] without beating him he just asks him, “Tell me about the numbers. What is the number of the army? How many are they?” So the young man says, “I have no idea, they are a lot.” He would say Kathīr – they are a lot. Rasūlullāhﷺ wants to get some specific information; what does he mean a lot? Tell me exactly how many there are, and this young man has no clue. So Rasūlullāhﷺ asks him, “How many camels do they slaughter every day?” The man said, “One day they would slaughter 10 camels, the next day they would slaughter nine.” Rasūlullāh said, “Al-Qawm Baynat Samī’ Wa Alf – They are between 900 and a thousand.” Rasūlullāhﷺ asked him about how much meat they were consuming daily, and from that, he would know what the number of the army is, and he said they were between 1,000 and 900, and they were 950.

Numbers of the Armies :  The army [of Quraish] was 950 strong, the cavalry was 200 strong, they had coat-mails, they had slave-girls for entertainment; while the Muslim army was a little over 300, so it was one third the number of the army of Quraish. Al-Muhājirūn numbered 86, Al-Aws were 61, and Al-Khazraj were

Now, the reason why the Aws were fewer than Al-Khazraj, 61:170, even though they were stronger and braver and as numerous as Al-Khazraj, was because the dwellings of Al-Aws were in the upper part of Madīnah, and when Rasūlullāhﷺ mobilised this army he said, “You only join us if you have your ride ready,” and because Al-Aws were a bit far away, they were not able to join in this army, so that is why their numbers are fewer than Al-Khazraj in this battle.

It is narrated in Al-Bukhārī that Al- Barā’ Bin ‘Āzib said, “We the Companions of Rasūlullāhﷺ, when we would talk about the Battle of Badr, we would say that the number of people who participated in the Battle of Badr is equal to the number of people who participated with Tālūt after they passed the test, after they passed the trial of the river, and the only ones who passed were the Believers. We were a little over 310.” The fact that there is a correlation between the number of Muslims in the Battle of Badr and the number of Banū Isrā’īl who participated with Tālūt, and the fact that Al-Barā’ here mentions that these were the ones who passed the tests and joined Tālūt, tells you that that Believers who were in the Battle of Badr were also the best, these were the ones who passed the Fitan and the trials of this world, so they are the best of the best. [With regards to] the exact number [of the army of the Muslims], some give the number as 317 and some give it as 319; it is close to this range.

Rasūlullāhﷺ had banners, and that was his Sunnah in every battle; the Muslims would have flags. They also had battle-cries, and this was all to encourage the soldiers to fight. The banner was white and it was given to Mus‘ab Ibn ‘Umair, then he also had two black flags; one of them was called Al-‘Uqāb, and this was the standard, it was carried by ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib, and the other one was given to one of Al-Ansār. So Al-Muhājirūn had a flag and Al-Ansār had a flag, and both of them were black, and then the army had a white flag and that was carried by Mus‘ab Ibn ‘Umair.

The entire army had only two horses; one was for Az-Zubair and the other one [for] Al-Maqdād Ibn ‘Amr. And they had 70 camels, and we mentioned that every three would take turns on one camel. Rasūlullāhﷺ had ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib and Abū Lubābah with him, and they offered to give up their turns for Rasūlullāhﷺ to ride, and he said, “You are no stronger than me, nor can I dispense with the reward more than you can.” I need the Ajr just like you do, and you are not stronger than me. And Subhān’Allāh, this was the leader of the Muslims and this was their teacher – Rasūlullāhﷺ. He would not even allow his Sahābah to give up their turns for him; [this was] the Tawadha’ – the humbleness of Rasūlullāhﷺ. That is why they loved him so much, like no followers loved any leader before. Never in the history of mankind have we seen men who love their leader as the Sahābah loved Muhammadﷺ.

Choice of Location :  What about the choice of location? When Rasūlullāhﷺ chose the location of the army, Al-Habbāb Ibn Mundhir, one of Al -Ansār  , went to Rasūlullāhﷺ and said, “O Messenger of Allāh, is this the place about which Allāh revealed to you that we should not advance beyond nor stop before, or is this a question of opinion, warfare and tactics?” And look at how he stated the question, he said if this is a Wahī from Allāh and we are not supposed to advance beyond or stay behin then we are happy with it, but if it is a question of tactics then I have something to say. So Rasūlullāhﷺ told him, “It is one of opinion, warfare and tactics.” This is a choice based on my opinion of where we should be. Al-Mundhir said, “O Messenger of Allāh, this is not a place to stop. We should go ahead till we get to the well nearest to their force and stop there. We should then stop up the wells behind it and build a cistern and fill it with water. Then we can fight them and have water to drink, while they have none.” So because we had these wells in Badr, we should take over all of the wells first and not allow them any access to them so that we will be able to drink while they will not. Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “You have a good idea,” and they advanced forward and had all of these wells behind them, behind their backs, and then they built a cistern, a pool, and filled it with water so that they could drink from it.

9.1.7 The Night before the Battle

The night before the battle started Rasūlullāhﷺ saw a dream, and these are dreams that the Mujāhidīn Fee Sabeelillāh see [through] which Allāh strengthens them. Rasūlullāhﷺ saw the army of Quraish to be fewer than it really was, and why was that? Why would Allāh make Muhammad see the army less than it really was? Was it not better for him to see it as it was? Allāh wants to strengthen the hearts of the Believers. You see, the army was three times the number of the Muslim army, and that would weaken their morale. If the soldier is going to fight and he feels that he has no chance, he will be weak in the battlefield, so they have to have hope that at least they have a chance to win. So Allāh was showing the army of the enemy to be fewer than it really was, Allāh says: [Remember, O Muhammad], when Allāh showed them to you in your dream as few; and if He had shown them to you as many, you [Believers] would have lost courage and would have disputed in the matter [of whether to fight], but Allāh saved [you from that]. Indeed, He is knowing of that within the breasts. Al-Anfāl: 43. Sothis was to strengthen them, and this happened the night before the battle.

The following day, in the morning, they had rain, and this was not any season of rain. Ibn Is’hāq says, “The valley was soft ground, and the water from the sky dampened the earth for the Messenger of Allāh and his force but did not impede their progress. But Quraish had such rain fall upon them that they could not move ahead.” This is rain that showered on both; the Muslims and the Non-Muslims, but for the Muslims it dampened the earth and it made it firm, while with the people of Quraish it became muddy and sticky and impeded their progress. So the same rain had a different effect on both sides, it was a Mu’jizah – a miracle from Allāh.

Also, some of the Muslims woke up in a state of impurity; some of them had wet-dreams and they woke up in a state of impurity, and Subhān’Allāh, a Muslim does not really feel comfortable when they are in the state of impurity, you know, you feel that you want to take your shower as soon as you can. So Allāh despaired them that feeling of going into battle while they feel that they are in a state of Najāsah, Allāh sends down this water to cleanse them. This is spiritual cleansing for them in addition to it being water that would make the earth firm for them to march over. Allāh says:

[Remember] when He overwhelmed you with drowsiness [giving] security from Him and sent down upon you from the sky, rain by which to purify you and remove from you the evil [suggestions] of Satan… You see, because Shaitān was coming to them and giving them Waswasah [that] you are impure, so Allāh removed that from them …and to make steadfast your hearts and plant firmly thereby your feet. Al-Anfāl: 11

Sothis rain had served all of those purposes. And also Allāh says in the beginning of the Āyah: Idh Yughashhīkumun Nu‘āsa Amanatam Minkum – [Remember] when He overwhelmed you with drowsiness. ‘AlïIbn Abī Tālib said, “That night, the night right before the battle, all of us fell asleep,” and you know, this is the night right before the battle; you would expect people to be anxious, worried, afraid, thinking a lot, [but] they were asleep! ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib said, “You could look at any one of us and we were all in deep sleep.” Subhān’Allāh, that is why our scholars say that sleeping in battle or before battle is a sign of Īmān, and sleeping in Salāh or during Salāh is a sign of hypocrisy. The scholars would say that feeling drowsiness before battle or in battle is a sign of Īmān, because it shows the confidence of the heart, while feeling drowsiness or falling asleep in Salāh is a sign of hypocrisy, as Allāh says about the Munāfiqīn: And when they stand for Prayer, they stand lazily (Kusālā), showing [themselves to] the people and not remembering Allāh except a little (Walā Yadhkurūnallāha Illā Qalīlā). An-Nisā’: 142

Sothe Munāfiqīn are just standing there in Salāh. ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib says, “The only one who was awake was Rasūlullāhﷺ.” Subhān’Allāh, Rasūlullāhﷺ was standing and making Du‘ā’. And then, Allāh gives a description of the scene: [Remember] when you were on the near side of the valley, and they were on the farther side, and the caravan was lower [in position] than you. If you had made an appointment [to meet], you would have missed the appointment. Al-Anfāl: 42

What does this mean? What is meant by the appointment? Allāh is saying that meeting the army of Quraish was not by appointment; you did not make an appointment with them and they did not make an appointment with you. You wanted the caravan, but Allāh made you meet with the army of Quraish without an appointment. And then Allāh says: If you had made an appointment [to meet], you would have missed the appointment. Yousee, the Muslims did not want to meet the army of Quraish, nor did the army of Quraish want to meet the Muslims. Abū Sufyān was telling them to go back, some other members of their army were telling them to go back, and some of them were afraid that we are fighting the Messenger of Allāh, because you have to keep in mind that not all of these Kuffār truly believed that Muhammadﷺ was a false Prophet or a liar, many of them knew that he was truly the Prophet of Allāh but they were too arrogant to be his followers, that was what kept them away from Islām, and this is called Kufr Al-Istikbār –Disbelief because of arrogance. Sothey knew that he was the Messenger of Allāh, they knew that he was speaking the truth, and this made them afraid to face him in battle, so these [people] did not want to fight Muhammadﷺ. And then as we said earlier, many among the Muslims were not really interested in fighting because they were not really prepared to fight, they went out lightly armed, but then Allāh : But [it was] so that Allāh might accomplish a matter already destined… (Allāh is the One who brought you here, it was not by appointment) …that those who perished [through Disbelief] would perish upon evidence and those who lived [in faith] would live upon evidence; and indeed, Allāh is Hearing and Knowing. Al-Anfāl: 42

Yousee, because the battleground is the ultimate test –of Īmān and of Kufr. Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh had a suggestion to make, he went to Rasūlullāhﷺ and said, “We suggest that we build for you a portico and have some camels ready for you and some guards. If we win, then that is what we want, in case we are defeated, then you can leave and go back to Madīnah, because we have left back in Madīnah men whom we do not love you more than they do,” meaning we have left behind some people in Madīnah who love you so much. And then Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh said, “The only reason why they could not come was because they were not ready,” and probably he was referring to many of the people of Al-Aws who wanted to come out, but because Rasūlullāhﷺ said you have to come out immediately, they could not. Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh was saying [to Rasūlullāhﷺ] you can go back and then they would fight with you and you would carry on with your mission. Rasūlullāh liked that idea, so he stayed in this tent that was set up for him and he had Abū Bakr As-Siddīq as his bodyguard.

9.2 The Day of Badr

9.2.1 Abū Jahl the Shaitān Succeeds in Egging Quraish On

When the army of Quraish first appeared, Ibn Is’hāq says, “When the Messenger of Allāh saw them coming forward into the valley from their position behind the sand hill at ‘Aqanqal, he said, ‘O Allāh! These men advancing are Quraish, in all their vanity and pride. They are antagonistic to you and are calling your Prophet a liar. O Allāh! Give us your victory you promised us. O Allāh! Destroy them this morning.’” This was what Rasūlullāhﷺ said when he first saw the army. So now you had the two armies facing each other before battle. One of the Kuffār of Quraish was riding a red camel, and Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Whatever good may be in them resides in the man mounted on a red camel. If they were to obey him, they would be well guided.” He was referring to ‘Utbah Bin Rabī‘ah. Why did Rasūlullāhﷺ say that? The Kuffār of Quraish sent ‘Umair Bin Wahb to scout the Muslim army and to try and estimate how large the force was, so ‘Umair Bin Wahb went forth and he came back and said, “What I did see O Quraish was camels bearing death. They are people whose only aid and refuge is their swords. I swear I do not foresee any of them being killed before he kills one of you. And if they do kill of you a like number as their own, what good will it be to live after that? Consider carefully.” So ‘Umair Bin Wahb went and he saw that the Muslim army was not large, it was quite a small force, but when he looked into their faces he saw death, he saw men willing to die, and then he said [that] these were men who have no refuge but their swords.

In another description, one of these other Kuffār said something to the effect of, “I saw men who are stuck to the backs of their camels, and they are like snakes.” Meaning that they were stuck to the backs of their camels and their bodies were swinging or twisting with the movement of those camels like a snake would in stealth movement without making any sound, silently moving. And they were carrying their weapons with them, and you can image their sunbaked skin, and they were thin and [were] holding firm to their weapons; it was a dreadful scene. He came back saying, “These are men ready to die.”

So Hakīm Bin Hizām goes to ‘Utbah Bin Rabī‘ah, one of the prominent leaders of Quraish, and he says, “O ‘Utbah, shall I suggest something [which] if you do, you will carry the honour of this day until the end of time?” ‘Utbah said, “What is that?” He said, “You withdraw this force back to Makkah and you take care of the blood of your ally ‘Amr Bin Hadramī.” Who is ‘Amr Bin Hadramī? You remember the Sariyyah of ‘Abdullāh Ibn Jahsh that we talked about, when they killed this man in the Sacred Month? That man was ‘Amr Bin Hadramī, and ‘Amr Bin Hadramī was an ally of ‘Utbah Bin Rabī‘ah, so now part of the reason why this army of Quraish was coming out was not only to protect their caravan but also to avenge the death of ‘Amr Bin Hadramī, for his killing. The man responsible for that was ‘Utbah Bin Rabī‘ah because ‘Amr Bin Hadramī was his ally. So Hakīm Bin Hizām is saying [that] let us withdraw this army back and you pay the blood-money of ‘Amr Bin Hadramī and let us spare ourselves this fighting, we are fighting with our own relatives. ‘Utbah liked the idea and he said, “Consider it done. However I want you to go and convince Ibn Al-Handaliyyah (Abū Jahl), because he is the one whom I am afraid of. He is the one who might spoil this idea, go and convince him.” And then ‘Utbah Bin Rabī‘ah stands up and he says, “O Quraish! By fighting Muhammad and his Companions, you will accomplish nothing. If you do attack him, each of you will always be looking at others who will dislike looking back at you; you will be known to have killed their cousin or a member of their tribe. Go home and leave Muhammad up to the other Arabs. If they kill him, that will be accomplishing your aims, and if otherwise, he will find you not to have been exposed to the risk of what you now plan.” He was saying what are we going to do? We are going to be killing our brothers, our sons, our fathers? These are the people who we are facing. Let us just go back and leave his affair to the Arabs; if they get rid of him, fine, that is what we want, [and] if he ends up winning, he will not take revenge from us because we would not have been the ones who fought him. So he was speaking to the people of Quraish and Hakīm Bin Hizām went to convince Abū Jahl.

So he goes and he finds Abū Jahl in a gathering, and he tells him, “This is the message I have for you from ‘Utbah.” So Abū Jahl tells him, “Utbah did not find anybody else to send but you?!” Hakīm Bin Hizām said, “No, he could have sent someone else but I would not have been a messenger except for him.” And then Abū Jahl said, “I swear, his lungs are filled with terror when he saw Muhammad and his men. By Allāh, we will not return until Allāh decides the issue between us and Muhammad. ‘Utbah is not sincere in what he says, he sees Muhammad and his men as fodder for camels awaiting slaughter, and his own son is there among them. He is scaring you for his own sake.” The meaning of his words when he says ‘he sees Muhammad and his men as fodder for camels awaiting slaughter’ is that we are going to slaughter the Muslims, we are going to win, and ‘Utbah is afraid because his son is a Muslim and he does not want his own son to be killed, that is why he is trying to ask us to withdraw. And then Abū Jahl, this Shaitān, he goes to the brother of ‘Amr Bin Hadramī and says, “Your protector ‘Utbah wants to withdraw the army back, go and inspire the army to fight.” So the brother of ‘Amr Ibn Hadramī goes and he exposes his head and then he screams, “Woe to ‘Amr! Woe to ‘Amr!” And then he marches in front of the army inspiring them to fight. Ibn Is’hāq says, “And so the mood for warfare became heated, and the attitude of the Quraish force hardened, and they became set in their evil course while ‘Utbah’s advice was ignored.” Utbah said, “That fellow with the filthy yellow backside will find out whether it is me or him whose lungs are filled in terror.” So not only did Abū Jahl sweep the entire army with anger, but he was also able to drive ‘Utbah into a corner and make him stubborn to the extent that ‘Utbah was the first one to stand forth and ask for a duel with a Muslim. This shows you how effective this devil Abū Jahl was.

In the Battle against Islām All Voices of Reason are Swept Aside : Let us stop here and comment on this. Rasūlullāhﷺ was saying, “Whatever good may be in them resides in the man mounted on the red camel. If they were to obey him, they would be well guided.” So Rasūlullāhﷺ was pointing at ‘Utbah and saying [that] if they followed him they would be guided. So brothers and sisters, among the camp of Disbelievers, there are voices of reason, there are men of wisdom, there are people who are moderate, however, when it comes to it being a battle against Islām, when it is a religious war with the intention of fighting the truth – the Religion of Allāh, these voices of reason, these voices of moderation, are swept aside, and you have the voices of fanaticism and extremism that gain the upper hand. And I am saying this because sometimes Muslims think, ‘Well, since among the enemies of Allāh there are people who are anti-war, there are people who are supportive of Muslim causes, there are people who are moderate, we think that these voices are the overwhelming voices and we think that there is hope that their opinion will overcome the voices of extremism.’ Well that is the case sometimes when it is a battle between Kufr and Kufr, but when it comes to fighting against the Ambiyā’ of Allāh, or the followers of the Ambiyā’ of Allāh, it is different, we have to understand that here we are dealing with a different game. Abū Sufyān, did he not urge the army of Quraish to go back? Was he not representing a voice of reason? Did not Banū Zahrah in fact withdraw? Banū Zahrah, the followers of Al-Akhnas Bin Shuraiq, they withdrew and they refused to join in on this battle, they said, “We are not going to go out and fight with our brothers.” Did not ‘Utbah try? Did not Hakīm try?

In fact I can give you an example of another incident to show you how the Disbelievers have a different standard when it comes to Islām; Abū Sufyān’s son was taken as a prisoner of war by the Muslims, so they told him, “Go and ransom him.” He said, “They killed one of my sons and now they want me to ransom the other? Let him stay with them.” There was a member of one Arab tribe who was a Muslim who went to Makkah for ‘Umrah or for Pilgrimage, and you know, the people of Quraish would honour any Pilgrim, they never violated any Pilgrim who would come to Makkah, they would respect them all, they would honour them, they would host them; the honour of Quraish was based upon being generous to the Pilgrims. So here you have a Muslim going to Makkah for ‘Umrah or for Hajj and he was taken as a prisoner, Abū Sufyān took him as a prisoner. Now, Ibn Is’hāq says, “Quraish only ever treated well those who came as Pilgrims, this was the first time they would violate that law.” Abū Sufyān took him as a prisoner, so then his family went to Rasūlullāhﷺ and said, “Our son is taken as a prisoner,” so Rasūlullāh ended up freeing the son of Abū Sufyān so that Abū Sufyān would free this Pilgrim. The reason why I am bringing this up is to show you that the Kuffār, when they are dealing with the Muslims, they deal with a different standard. So even though among the Kuffār you would have people who are anti-war, people who are peace activists, people who are moderate, people who are wise, people who represent voices of reason in times of war, but when it comes to Islām, things are different because this is the truth, and Shaitān is working out there to convince his followers that they need to wipe out the followers of the Religion of Allāh from the face of the earth. So in the end, even though ‘Utbah was one of their leaders and he was trying to convince them to go back, and he stood up and spoke and told the people of Quraish some very convincing words, at the end of the day, it was Abū Jahl who carried the vote and the extremists won the election.

9.2.2 Both Sides See Armies as Few

Allāh blessed the Muslims, as we said, with sleep the night before, so they woke up active and ready to fight. The earth under them was firm, and He also blessed them with something else. Rasūlullāhﷺ saw a dream that the number of Quraish appeared fewer than they really were, but when the Muslims actually saw the army of Quraish, they also saw them less than they really were. Allāh says: And [remember] when He showed them to you, when you met, as few in your eyes, and He made you [appear] as few in their eyes so that Allāh might accomplish a matter already destined. And to Allāh are [all] matters returned. Al-Anfāl: 44

Sowe spoke about why Allāh would make the enemy appear fewer in the eyes of the Muslims, but the verse also says that the Muslims appeared fewer in the eyes of Quraish; why was that? Allāh gives us the explanation: Liyaqdiyallāhu Amran Kāna Maf‘ūlā – so that Allāh might accomplish a matter alreadydestined. Allāh wanted this battle to happen, so when the enemies see the Muslims as fewer, that would make them even more eager to face the Muslims because they would feel that they are so weak that they have a chance to wipe them out. But it also made them careless, because now they were not preparing well, or they were going into battle thinking that the Muslims were even less than 300, and when you feel that your opponent is too weak, then you go in with overconfidence. So that was like a bait to draw them in, but then as soon as they would face the Muslims and see that they have been deceived, their morale would go down. Now with the Muslims, for them to see the enemy as fewer, that would also give them confidence and strength to fight.

9.2.3 Strategy of Rasūlullāhﷺ

So what was the strategy of Rasūlullāhﷺ in fighting? Rasūlullāhﷺ used a tactic that was not used by the Arabs before. It might have been used by other armies in other nations, but it was not the method of fighting among the Arabs. The Arabs, their method of fighting was Al-Karru Wal-Farr. Al-Karru Wal-Farr is to attack and then withdraw, to attack and withdraw, to attack and withdraw, and it was pretty much a disorganised attack. However Rasūlullāhﷺ was employing the method of ranks; he would line up the army in two or three or more ranks, and then you would have the first rank armed with lances, and you would have the ranks in the back armed with arrows – they would be the archers, so the archers would fire from behind while the ranks in the front were fighting with their lances to prevent the advance of the attack of the cavalry.

And as I said, this this was a new tactic employed by Rasūlullāhﷺ, it was new to the Arabs at least, and this is the way which Allāh describes in Sūrah As-Saff: Indeed, Allāh loves those who fight in His cause in a row as though they are a [single] structure joined firmly. As-Saff: 4

This method, which is called in Arabic Saff – this method of ranks which was the method [that was] probably employed by the Romans and the Persians – this method gives the leader greater control over the army rather than just attacking and withdrawing in a disorganised fashion, and that is how Rasūlullāhﷺ would fight in the majority of his battles, it is called As-Saff.

Rasūlullāhﷺ Encouraging and Inspiring the Army:

Rasūlullāhﷺ was also encouraging and inspiring the army, and that was an instruction from Allāh. Allāh told him: O Prophet, urge the Believers to battle. (Urge them, inspire them). If there are among you twenty [who are] steadfast, they will overcome two hundred. And if there are among you one hundred [who are] steadfast, they will overcome a thousand of those who have disbelieved because they are a people who do not understand. Al-Anfāl: 65

SoRasūlullāhﷺ stands up in front of the army and says, “Every man who fights them bravely and advances without retreating will have Allāh give him entry into Paradise.” And in Sahīh Al- Muslim, Rasūlullāhﷺ stands up in front of the army and says, “Go forth towards the garden the size of the heavens and earth combined! – Qūmū Ilā Jannatin ‘Arduhas Samāwātu Wal Ard!”

So one of the Sahābah, ‘Umair Bin Hamām, said, “O Messenger of Allāh! Could a garden really be the size of the heavens and the earth combined?!” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Yes.” He said, “Fine, fine – Bakhin Bakhin.” So Rasūlullāhﷺ said asked, “What makes you say that?” He said, “O Messenger of Allāh, it is only my hope of being one of its people.” I want to be in Jannah. Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “You certainly will be.” So ‘Umair Ibn Al -Hamām stands up, draws his sword, and then he had some dates which he drew out of his pocket and he started eating those dates, and then he said, “If I live long enough to eat these dates, it would be a long life.” He was so inspired by the words of Rasūlullāhﷺ , he was in such a hurry to die in the path of Allāhﷺ, that he considered it too long of a life to even finish the dates in his hand, and he rushed into the fray of battle. That is how inspired they were based on the words of Maw‘idah – Reminder, that they were hearing from Rasūlullāhﷺ.

Story of Umayyah Bin Khalaf :

Let me carry on from some of the scenes that we are talking about. We mentioned the death of Abū Jahl; another important scene was what happened to Umayyah Bin Khalaf. Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh said, “I was friends with Umayyah Bin Khalaf, and when he would visit Madīnah he would stay with me, and when I would visit Makkah I would stay with him. I visited Makkah and I stayed with Umayyah Bin Khalaf after Rasūlullāhﷺ made Hijrah to Madīnah. I told him, ‘I want you to find me a time when it is not crowded so that I can make Tawāf around Al-Ka’bah.’” They went out to make Tawāf and Abū Jahl sees Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh, so he asks Umayyah Bin Khalaf, “Who is this?” He said, “This is Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh.” Abū Jahl said, “I see that you are safe in Makkah when you have given refuge to As-Subāh…” – this was a derogatory term that they would use against the Muslims – “…and you claim that you are going to support them and give them victory and protect them. If it was not that you are with Abū Safwān (Umayyah), I would have killed you.” Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh responds back and his voice was loud, he said, “If you do that, I will do something that is worse for you! I will prevent your caravans from passing through Madīnah.” Madīnah controlled the lifeline of Quraish, the route between Makkah and Ash-Shām, Syria. Umayyah Bin Khalaf told Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh, “Do not speak like that with Abul Hakam because he is the chief of this valley.” So Sa’d Ibn Mu‘ādh said, “Let us not talk about this anymore, plus I have heard Rasūlullāhﷺ say that they are going to kill you.” Umayyah Bin Khalaf said, “They are going to kill me?” He said, “Yes.” [Umayyah asked], “Did he say if they are going to kill me in Makkah or outside Makkah?” Sa’d said, “I do not know.” Umayyah Bin Khalaf went back to his home and he told his wife, “Do you know what my friend from Madīnah told me?” She said, “What?” He said, “That Muhammad promised his followers that he is going to kill me.” She said, “Did he tell you where?!” He said, “No, I asked him whether it was in Makkah or outside Makkah and he said he does not know, but I am never going to leave Makkah then.”

Subhān’Allāh, they would accuse Rasūlullāhﷺ of being a liar but then they would believe everything that he would say. So it shows you that deep inside their hearts they knew that he was Rasūlullāhﷺ – Wajahadū Bihā Wastayqanat’hā Anfusuhum Zalaman Wa ‘Uluwwā – And they rejectedthem, while their [inner] selves were convinced thereof, out of injustice and haughtiness. An-Naml: 14

SoUmayyah Ibn Khalaf says Iam not going to leave Makkah. Now, when the call came to respond to the Battle of Badr, Umayyah did not want to leave, so Abū Jahl brings him a Mabkharah – Mabkharah is this thing in which they burn inside it the ‘Oud – so he brought it to him and told him, “Take it because you are an old woman, so use this as old women do.” Abū Jahl was insulting him and telling him that you are such a coward that you are going to stay behind with the women. Umayyah was obviously insulted, and Abū Jahl kept on trying until he was able to convince Umayyah Bin Khalaf to go out with him. Umayyah went back home preparing to leave, his wife told him, “Do you not remember what your friend from Madīnah told you?” He said, “Yes I do, but I am just going to go so far with them and then I am going to come back.” Ibn Kathīr said that whenever they would stop, he would make the intention that the next stop would be the last stop, until he ended up entering the fray of the battle himself.

So Umayyah ended up being captured by ‘Abdur Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf. How did it happen? ‘Abdur Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf is narrating this story himself, he says, “I had a bunch of coat-mails with me,” armour [consisting of small metal rings to form a coat], and these were pretty expensive, and he had collected them one by one as booty. And then Umayyah sees him and says, “O ‘Abd Amr!” ‘Abdur Rahmān said, “I did not respond.” You see, ‘Abdur Rahmān and Umayyah were friends in Makkah, and the name of ‘Abdur Rahmān was ‘Abd Amr, when he became Muslim he changed his name to ‘Abdur Rahmān. ‘Abdur Rahmān said, “When Umayyah would call me ‘Abd Amr, I would not respond.” So Umayyah told him, “When I call you ‘Abd ‘Amr you refuse to respond back, and I do not recognise Ar -Rahmān, so I cannot call you ‘Abdur Rahmān. So how about you choose for yourself a name just for me and you?” So ‘Abdur Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf said, “You go ahead and choose a name.” He said, “I will call you ‘Abdul-Ilāh – The Sevant of God.” So they agreed, [and] whenever Umayyah would meet ‘Abdur Rahmān he would say ‘Abdul-Ilāh, because the Mushrikīn of Quraish did not recognise Ar-Rahmān. That is in one narration.

In another narration in Bukhārī it says that ‘Abdur Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf said, “I had an agreement with Umayyah Bin Khalaf that I would take care of his business interests in Madīnah while he would take care of my business interests in Makkah.” ‘Abdur Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf said, “I did not respond back to Umayyah when he said ‘Abd Amr, and then he said ‘Abdul Ilāh, so I responded to him and he said, ‘Do you want something better for you than those coat-mails that you are carrying?’” ‘Abdur Rahmān said, “What is it?” He said, “Me and my son.” Obviously Umayyah was rich so his ransom would fetch a lot of money, [and it was] the same with his son ‘Alï. ‘Abdur Rahmān said, “I threw the armour from my hand and I held Umayyah and his son ‘Alï in both of my hands.” So now they are his prisoners of war, and he is the one who is holding them, therefore he is the one who will get the ransom since according to the tradition if you are the one who captures somebody you get the ransom for him, so it was a better deal for ‘Abdur Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf.

However, someone spots Umayyah Bin Khalaf, and who was it? Bilāl – Bilāl Ibn Ar-Rabāh, the former slave of Umayyah, the one who was tortured by Umayyah, and the story of the torturing of Bilāl is famous, you all know it. When Bilāl Ibn Ar-Rabāh saw ‘Abdur Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf he said, “Umayyah Ra’sul Kufr – Umayyah, the head of the Disbelievers.” ‘Abdur Rahmān said, “Yā Bilāl! – Hey Bilāl! He is my prisoner.” Bilāl says, “Lā Najirtu Innujā’ – Iwill not live if he does.” ‘Abdur Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf said, “Listen Bilāl, he is my prisoner!” Bilāl, when he realises that ‘Abdur Rahmān is not willing to give him up, Bilāl goes to some of the Ansār and tells them, “That man is Umayyah Bin Khalaf Ra’sul Kufr – That man is Umayyah Bin Khalaf the head of the Disbelievers! I am not going to live if he does.” ‘Abdur Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf said, “So they pounced on us, they attacked! They enclosed us and I felt that I would not be able to defend them so I released ‘Alï to get them busy with him and then I told Umayyah to run with me. So they attacked ‘Alï and they killed him, they cut him into pieces, and I was telling Umayyah to run but he was a heavy man. They ended up catching up with us, so I told him to lay down and then I jumped over him to protect him with my own body. The swords of the Ansār were digging deep under me, tearing me apart, in fact one of them even injured me in my foot.” And the narrator of this Hadīth would say ‘Abdur Rahmān would show us the scar that was left by the swords of the Sahābah. ‘Abdur Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf then says, “Rahimallāhu Bilāl – May Allāh have mercy on Bilāl, he made me lose my arm and lose my prisoners!” I lost them both! So this is what happened with Umayyah Bin Khalaf who is, as Bilāl said, Imām Fil Kufr,he was an Imām of Disbelief.

One thing that I forgot to mention; when Umayyah Bin Khalaf was held captive by ‘Abdur Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf and they were walking through the site of the Battle of Badr, Umayyah asked ‘Abdur Rahmān, “Who was that man who had an ostrich feather across his chest?” ‘Abdur Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf said, “That is Hamzah Bin ‘Abdul Muttalib.” Umayyah Bin Khalaf said, “Hādhalladhī Fa‘ala Binal Afā‘īl – This is the man who ruined us.” So Hamzah Bin ‘Abdul Muttalib was truly the Lion of Allāh; Asadullāh Wa Rasūlah –The Lion of Allāh and His Messenger.

Sawād Bin Ghuzaiyyah and his Love for Rasūlullāhﷺ :

Rasūlullāhﷺ, as we mentioned, was employing the method of formal ranks in the battlefield rather than the method of the Arab warfare which was to attack and withdraw in a not a very organised manner. So Rasūlullāh was straightening the lines as if he was straightening the lines for Prayer, and he was holding an arrow in his hand, and he came up to one of the soldiers, Sawād Bin Ghuzaiyyah, who was protruding a bit from the line, so Rasūlullāhﷺ pushes him back with the arrow, sort of like with the arrow on his stomach he pushes him back. So Sawād Bin Ghuzaiyyah says, “O Rasūlullāh, you hurt me, I want to retaliate.” Subhān’Allāh, Sawād, this is right before the battle and you say to Rasūlullāhﷺ that I want to retaliate just because he hurt you? What was Rasūlullāh’sﷺ response?! You know, here one of the soldiers is saying that you hurt me, I want to retaliate now. It is your mistake Sawād, why were you not standing in the line?! But Rasūlullāhﷺ exposed his stomach and said, “Go ahead and retaliate.” If that is what you want, go ahead!

Rasūlullāhﷺ did not get angry, he did not get upset, he did not order his soldiers to take Sawād and court-martial him and throw him in jail and torture him because he spoke in such a fashion to the leader of the army, disobeyed a direct military order; Rasūlullāhﷺ exposed his stomach and told him, “Sawād, go ahead and retaliate. If I hurt you, go ahead and retaliate.” Sawād Ibn Ghuzaiyyah hugs Rasūlullāhﷺ and he kisses his stomach – that was his retaliation. Rasūlullāhﷺ told Sawād, “Mā Hamalaka ‘Alā Mā Sana’t? –Why did you do that?” Sawād Ibn Ghuzaiyyah said, “O Messenger of Allāh, you can see what is about to happen, I wanted my last contact with you to be my skin touching yours.” Lā Ilāha Illallāh! Sawād Ibn Ghuzaiyyah is saying O Messenger of Allāh you can see what is about to happen! I might die in a few moments, in a few hours; we are facing death right in front of us, I wanted the last thing in this Dunyā to be my skin touching yours. This is how they loved Rasūlullāhﷺ. Sawād Ibn Ghuzaiyyah who was hurt by Rasūlullāhﷺ accidentally, used this opportunity to kiss Rasūlullāhﷺ and to hug him. They did not see it that Rasūlullāhﷺ was leading them to their deaths, they did not see it that they are suffering all of this trouble because of him and because of his Da’wah; they were willingly going ahead to face death for the sake of Allāh  and his servant and Messenger Muhammadﷺ. Rasūlullāhﷺ then makes Du‘ā’ for Sawād that may Allāh bless him.

It is this love of Rasūlullāhﷺ that we want to learn from these series; how the Sahābah understood the meaning and the concept of loving Muhammadﷺ, what it meant to them. It was not just words on their tongues, poetry, singing his praise; love for them meant that we will put everything on the line for you, everything – we will lay it down for you O Messenger of Allāh; our wealth, our money, our family, our children; everything is sacrificable when it comes to you, we are willing to give everything up. We ask Allāh to grant us this love of Muhammadﷺ, the love of his Message, the love of his Sunnah, the love of his way, and not just to make us people who claim that they love him and pay it lip service. And we ask Allāh to make us love His Sharī‘ah, and Allāh says in Qur’ān, and this is something He granted As-Sahābah: Walā Kinnallāha Habbaba Ilaikumul Īmāna Wazayyanahū Fī Qulūbikum – Allāh has endeared to you the Faith and has made it pleasing in your hearts. Al-Hujurāt: 7

Sofor them Īmān was something that they loved. And Rasūlullāhﷺ says in a Hadīth that you are not going to taste the sweetness of Īmān until one of three things, [and] one of them is that you would dislike going back to Kufr like you would dislike being thrown in Fire. So you would love Īmān so much that you would rather be thrown in fire, to burn in fire, than to give it up; you love your Īmān and you love your Islām so much. That is when you will really taste the sweetness of Īmān.

9.2.4 Rasūlullāh’sﷺ Tawakkul on Allāh

After Rasūlullāhﷺ did his best in terms of preparation, in terms of arranging the army, in terms of choosing the location, in terms of making Shūrā, when he exhausted all of the worldly means, what did he do next? The next thing he did was put his trust in Allāh and make Du‘ā’, and dear brothers and sisters, this is what Tawakkul means, it means that you do the best in terms of the worldly means, you exhaust them to the limit, and then after that you throw the matter into the Hands of Allāh, you leave it to Him. So Rasūlullāhﷺ now, after he did his best, he went aside and he raised his hands and he started making Du‘ā’. And he was so involved in that Du‘ā’ and it took him so long, and he was saying, “O Allāh, I appeal to Your pact and to Your oath. If You wish it, You will not be worshipped again after this day,” because this is it, these are the Muslims; if they are killed who will worship You? And he went on and on making Du‘ā’ to Allāh , and Abū Bakr was feeling sorry for Muhammadﷺ, [so] he went to him and held him by the hand and said, “That is enough O Messenger of Allāh! It is enough of asking your Lord.” Now, the reason that Abū Bakr said that, according to Ibn Kathīr, he says, “By saying these words, he was in effect asking, ‘Why are you so exhausting yourself? Allāh has made you a promise of help.’ Abū Bakr, Allāh bless him, was a tender hearted man with great empathy and compassion for the Messenger of Allāhﷺ.”

Allāh’s Help Arrives :  Rasūlullāhﷺ then went outside of his portico walking vigorously in his armour speaking the verse: [Their] assembly will be defeated, and they will turn their backs [in retreat]. But the Hour is their appointment [for due punishment], and the Hour is more disastrous and more bitter. Al-Qamar: 45-46

So Allāh has promised Rasūlullāhﷺ victory after his long Du‘ā’, Allāh says in Sūrah Al-Anfāl: [Remember] when you asked help of your Lord, and He answered you, “Indeed, I will reinforce you with a thousand from the angels, following one another.” Al-Anfāl: 9

Sothis was the response that came back to Rasūlullāhﷺ after his Du‘ā’; I am sending you 1,000 angels. Now, one angel would be enough, we know that Jibril destroyed the people of Lūt with the tip of his wing, so one angel was enough, [so] why 1,000? Well, the point here is to give comfort to Rasūlullāhﷺ, it is not [a matter of] one angel or two angels, Allāh with Kun Fa Yakun can destroy the entire army, but here Allāh is giving Tathbīt, is giving comfort to the Muslims and steadfastness.

And Allāh says: And you did not kill them, but it was Allāh who killed them. And you threw not, [O Muhammad], when you threw, but it was Allāh who threw that He might test the Believers with a good test. Indeed, Allāh is Hearing and Knowing. Al-Anfāl: 17

Nowhere, And you threw not, [O Muhammad], when you threw, but it was Allāh who threw,this could apply to any situation of war where a Muslim is fighting his enemy, however the scholars of Tafsīr mention a specific incident after which this Āyah was revealed, they say that Rasūlullāhﷺ held in his hand some sand or dirt, and he threw it towards the enemies of Allāh , and one particle of that sand flew into the eye of every one of the Disbelievers, and that is when Allāh  revealed this verse: And you threw not, [O Muhammad], when you threw, but it was Allāh who threw.

Hamzah Bin ‘Abdul Muttalib Kills Al-Aswad Al-Makhzūmī: Al -Aswad Al-Makhzūmī was an evil bad-charactered man from the people of Quraish, he made an oath and said, “I am going to reach to the wells and drink from them,” and we already said that the wells now were under the control of the Muslims. So he marches forth to go towards the wells and Hamzah jumps forth and strikes his leg so it came off, and Al-Aswad fell on his back with his leg in the air squirting blood towards the army of Quraish, but he was so stubborn [that] he continued crawling in order to fulfil his oath and reach the wells, but Hamzah Bin ‘Abdul Muttalib struck him again until he killed him. Now, whether this was the first person to die or it was the three men who came out for single combat, Allāhu A’lam.

9.2.5 Al-Mubārazah – The First Duel in Islām

‘Utbah Bin Rabī‘ah, his son Al -Walīd Bin ‘Utbah, and his brother Shaybah, the three of them stood in front of their army and challenged the Muslims for single combat [or] duelling – ‘Utbah, and his brother Shaybah, and ‘Utbah’s son Al-Walīd. So the three men are now standing in front of the army of Quraish and they are facing the Muslims and challenging them for single combat, [or] what is called Mubārazah – Duelling. Three young men from among Al-Ansār jumped forth; ‘Awf, Mu‘awwaz Ibn ‘Afrā and ‘Abdullāh Ibn Rawāhah, and these were all three young men. When they approached ‘Utbah, ‘Utbah said, “Who are you? Introduce yourselves.” They introduced themselves and said, “We are the opponents.” [‘Utbah said], “We want to meet our peers from among our own people.” ‘Utbah is saying to these men that we have no quarrel with you, our problem is not with Al-Ansār, our problem is not with Al-Aws Wal-Khazraj, our problem is with the men of Quraish who followed Muhammadﷺ, so send us our peers, people equivalent of our status.

Now, ‘Utbah Bin Rabī‘ah was one of the leaders of Quraish, he was part of the nobility of Quraish, and he comes out with his brother and his son. And Subhān’Allāh, just remember that a while ago it was ‘Utbah who was calling the Kuffār to go back, but Abū Jahl was the one who inspired them and fired up this army to fight and he cornered ‘Utbah by accusing him of being a coward, so now ‘Utbah was trying to prove that he was not a coward and that he was not afraid of meeting the Muslims because his own son [Abū] Hudhaifah might end up being killed, and stubbornness ended up leading him to this situation that he was in.

Now, Al-Amawī, one of the scholars of Seerah, says that Rasūlullāhﷺ was not happy that three men from among Al-Ansār were the ones who responded to the challenge, Rasūlullāhﷺ wanted his own relatives, his own family to go out. So when ‘Utbah sent the men back, Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Qum Yā Hamzah, Qum Yā ‘Ubaidah, Qum Yā ‘Alï – O Hamzah stand up, O ‘Ubaidah stand up, O ‘Alï stand up.” Now, ‘Ubaidah here is ‘Ubaidah Bin Hārith, the cousin of Rasūlullāhﷺ; ‘Ubaidah Bin Hārith Bin ‘Abdul Muttalib, so he was the direct cousin of Rasūlullāhﷺ. Rasūlullāhﷺ was asking these three men to go forth, [and] Rasūlullāhﷺ, as Al-Amawī says, was not happy, because you see this is the first time the Muslims and the Mushrikīn are standing face to face in battle; we had skirmishes before this, but this is the first time where they would face off each other in single combat, so by no means was this an insignificant event, this was a very significant event, this Mubārazah is extremely significant. In fact, ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib says, “I will be the first person who kneels before Allāh, the Almighty, among the adversaries on Judgement Day.” ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib is saying that I will be the first one to kneel in front of Allāh on the Day of Judgement when Allāh will judge among Al-Mukhtasimīn – among the adversaries, among the people who disputed in this Dunyā, because these three men from among Al-Mushrikīn and their equivalent from among Al-Muslimīn are not facing off and fighting over land, they are not fighting over wealth, they are not fighting over power or dominance, they are fighting over their Lord. So Allāh revealed in Sūrah Al-Hajj: Hādhāni Khasmānikhtasamū Fī Rabbihim – These are two adversaries who have disputed over their Lord. Al-Hajj: 19

And the scholars of Tafsīr say that this Āyah is talking about the Mubārazah, the duelling that happened on the Day of Badr.

Ali, Hamzah and ‘Ubaidah Duel with Al-Mushrikīn : So ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib, Hamzah and ‘Ubaidah rushed ahead to face off with ‘Utbah, Shaybah and Al-Walīd. ‘Ubaidah was the eldest among them, he was the senior, so he faced off with ‘Utbah since ‘Utbah was the eldest from among the Mushrikīn. And ‘Alï stood in front of Al-Walīd, and these were the two youngest, and then Hamzah in front of Shaybah. They started battle and dust was just erupting from beneath their feet. ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib and Hamzah immediately killed their opponents, but ‘Utbah and ‘Ubaidah both exchanged blows and both of them fell down; they were incapable of carrying on the fight however they were not dead, each one of them hurt the other one with a blow but they could not carry on the fight and at the same time they were both still alive. ‘Alï and Hamzah then attacked ‘Utbah and killed him, and ‘Alï says, “Rasūlullāhﷺ did not reprimand us for that,” meaning that it was an acceptable thing to do in a duel. And then they carried ‘Ubaidah back to Rasūlullāhﷺ. This was the first Mubārazah in Islām and therefore ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib will be the first to kneel in front of Allāh on the Day of Judgement when Allāh will judge among the people who dispute. And this could also apply to Hamzah and ‘Ubaidah.

Rasūlullāhﷺ Testifies to Martyrdom of ‘Ubaidah :  They carried back ‘Ubaidah Bin Hārith, and Rasūlullāhﷺ honoured him by placing his head on the thigh of Rasūlullāhﷺ. Abū Tālib, the uncle of Rasūlullāhﷺ, would say, “We will serve the Messenger of Allāh until we are laid out before him, uncaring even of our sons and our wives.” Abū Tālib was saying that we will serve Rasūlullāhﷺ and we will lay before him our sons and our wives and our lives. ‘Ubaidah Bin Hārith  said to Rasūlullāhﷺ while he was laying on Rasūlullāh’sﷺ lap, “O Messenger of Allāh, if Abū Tālib could only see me, he would know that it was to me his words applied; we will serve him until we are laid out before him, uncaring even of our sons and our wives,” and this was narrated by Ash-Shāfi‘ī. Abū ‘Ubaidah was saying that his words really apply to me; O Messenger of Allāh, I have laid my life down for you. And then he passed away. Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Ash’hadu Annaka Shahīd – I testify that you are a Shahīd.”

Continuing from] the Āyāt from Sūrah Al-Hajj that were revealed regarding duelling, Allāh says: These are two adversaries who have disputed over their Lord. But those who disbelieved will have cut out for them garments of fire. Poured upon their heads will be scalding water. By which is melted that within their bellies and [their] skins. And for [striking] them are maces of iron. Every time they want to get out of Hellfire from anguish, they will be returned to it, and [it will be said], “Taste the punishment of the Burning Fire!” Indeed, Allāh will admit those who believe and do righteous deeds to gardens beneath which rivers flow. They will be adorned therein with bracelets of gold and pearl, and their garments therein will be silk. And they had been guided [in worldly life] to good speech, and they were guided to the path of the Praiseworthy. Al-Hajj: 19-24

Again, these Āyāt were revealed talking about the single combat.

Rasūlullāhﷺ Advises Army to Be Calm : Allāhu Akbar, the three Muslims defeated the three Mushrikīn in single combat, and that was when the people of Quraish were enraged and they started advancing towards the Muslims. So Rasūlullāhﷺ gave his army instructions, “If they close in on you, then shoot at them.” Do not just start firing your arrows haphazardly in a confused state; stay calm, control yourself, and when they close in on you, then start shooting them. Then he said, “And preserve your arrows,” and in another narration in Al-Bukhārī, “Gather them.” You see, this was because they were low in ammunition, so Rasūlullāhﷺ was telling them, ‘Preserve your arrows, do not just fire in every direction in a terrified state; wait until they come close and then start shooting them.’ In another narration in Abū Dāwūd, Rasūlullāhﷺ says, “And do not draw out your swords until they are near to you.” So continue firing arrows, and then when it is almost hand to hand combat, that is when you draw out your swords.

9.2.6 Mushrikīn See Muslims as Double their Number

Subhān’Allāh, when the battle started, the Mushrikīn started seeing the Muslims as double their number. Do you remember we said that before battle started the Mushrikīn would see the Muslims as being less than they really were, so they were seeing them as less than 300? Now when battle started, suddenly the numbers change, the perception of the size of the Muslim army changes, so the Mushrikīn who are 1,000 see the Muslims as being 2,000 when they were only 317 or 319. Allāh says in Qur’ān:

Already there has been for you a sign in the two armies which met – one fighting in the cause of Allāh and another of Disbelievers. They saw them [to be] twice their [own] number by [their] eyesight. But Allāh supports with His victory whom He wills. Indeed in that is a lesson for those of vision. Āl ‘Imrān: 13

Soin the beginning they see them as less than their own number so that they would be careless and they would be willing to fight, however when fighting does actually start, they would see them as double their number so that this will destroy their morale. And the Muslims had a battle cry, a war cry, and that was “Ahad! Ahad! Ahad! Ahad! – One! One! One! One!” That was their war cry, and this was something that the Muslims would employ in their battles; they would have a fixed war cry that they would keep on repeating.

Friendly Fire Kills Hārithah:  Hārithah, one of Al-Ansār, was shot by a stray arrow, so he was killed by friendly fire. When the battle was over and his mother met with Rasūlullāhﷺ, she said, “Tell me whether Hārithah is in Paradise so that I will be happy, or if he is not, then I will cry for him.” Rasūlullāhﷺ told her, “Have you gone crazy?! There are plenty of gardens in Paradise and your son has earned the very highest of them.” Your son is in the highest level of Jannah, because Allāh has prepared exclusively for the Mujāhidīn one hundred levels on top of Al-Jannah, and Hārithah is in the highest one.

9.2.7 Participation of Angels in Badr

Allāh says in Sūrah Āl ‘Imrān verses 123-126: And already had Allāh given you victory at [the battle of] Badr while you were few in number. Then fear Allāh; perhaps you will be grateful. [Remember] when you said to the Believers, “Is it not sufficient for you that your Lord should reinforce you with three thousand angels sent down? Āl ‘Imrān: 123-124

Previously we said it was a thousand, so that was the minimum number Allāh could have sent to them, but then the number could be 3000, or it could be more, like 5000. And then Allāh says: Yes, if you remain patient and conscious of Allāh and the enemy come upon you [attacking] in rage, your Lord will reinforce you with five thousand angels having marks [of distinction]. And Allāh made it not except as [a sign of] good tidings for you and to reassure your hearts thereby. And victory is not except from Allāh, the Exalted in Might, the Wise. Āl ‘Imrān: 125-126

Meaning you do not really need the angels; this was a sign of good tidings for you and to reassure your hearts.

So in what form did the angels participate in this battle? Jibrīl himself joined in. Rasūlullāhﷺ says, “I saw Jibrīl taking his horse by the reigns and leading it. And all of the angels were wearing white turbans except Jibrīl, he was wearing a yellow one (to distinguish him). He was the leader of the army of angels on that day.”

In Sahīh Al-Muslim, it says, “While one of the Muslim warriors was vigorously pursuing one of the Unbelievers ahead of him, he heard above him the noise of a whip striking and a rider’s voice saying, ‘Giddy up Haizūm! – Aqdim Haizūm!’ When the Muslim warrior looked at the Polytheist in front of him, he found him prostrate on the ground. Examining him more closely, he found that the man’s nose has been smashed and his face split apart by a blow from a whip, all having turned black in colour.” So this was a whip of fire. “The warrior, an Ansārī, went and told this to the Messenger of Allāh who said, ‘You speak true, that was help from the third heaven.’” So this was an angel riding on a horse called Haizūm, and he was saying, “Giddy up Haizūm! – Aqdim, Aqdim Haizūm!”

Ibn Is’hāq narrates another story, he says, “A Ghifārī man said, ‘I and a cousin of mine were present at Badr, though we were still Polytheists then.’” So these were two young men who were Mushrikīn and they were there just to watch the battle, they wanted to see who would win, they had no quarrel with either side, they had nothing to do with the battle, they just went there as spectators. [He continues,] “We were up on a mountain waiting for the battle to take place and to see who would win, when a cloud approached. When it drew near the mountain, we heard the sound of horses galloping and a voice saying, Aqdim Haizūm! – Giddy up Haizūm!’ My Companion suffered a heart attack and died on the spot, while I almost expired but later recovered.” So this was quite a shock for these two men! One of them had a heart attack!

Al-Māzimī says, “While I was pursuing one of the Mushrikīn in front of me, suddenly his head flew off, so I realised that he was killed by someone other than me.” And they could distinguish the casualties caused by the angels compared to those caused by the Believers. Anas Ibn Mālik said, “Our men could differentiate the ones the angels had killed from those they had struck, by the blow having occurred above their necks and by their fingertips looking as if they had been burned by a branding iron.” So the deaths that were caused by the angels, you could know that these were caused by the angels because first of all it was a clean cut, and then because it was black, it was burned, as if it was a branding iron that was striking them.

Not only did the angels kill but they also captured prisoners of war. When one of Al-Ansār was dragging Al-‘Abbās and he was saying that he captured him, Al- ‘Abbās said, “O Messenger of Allāh, this is not the man who captured me. A bald fine-looking man on a piebald horse whom I had not seen with your men was he who took me prisoner.” So the Ansārī said, “No, it was I who captured him O Messenger of Allāh.” And then Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Keep quiet, Allāh gave you help of a noble angel.” Ibn ‘Abbās said, “The only battle in which the angels participated was at Badr, at the other battles they consituted auxiliaries and reinforcements that did not actually fight.”

Death Toll in Battle of Badr: The death toll; 70 Mushrikīn were killed and 70 were taken prisoners of war. Among the Muslims, no prisoners of war whatsoever, and there were 14 deaths; six from among Al-Muhājirūn, six from among Al-Khazraj, and two from among Al-Aws.

9.2.8 The Humiliating Death of Abū Jahl

‘Abdur Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf said he was flanked by two young men in the rank in the battle. Now, as soldiers know, you want to have good soldiers on your right and your left, you want to have good fighting companions by your side. ‘Abdur Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf was not happy that he had these two kids next to him, ‘Abdur Rahmān was a mature man and he had these young men next to him, so he preferred to have someone else flanking him. And then he said, “The one to my right whispered to me and said, ‘O uncle, show me which one is Abū Jahl.’” ‘Abdur Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf said, “O my son, what do you want with Abū Jahl?” This young man said, “I swore to Allāh that if I saw him I would kill him or die in front of him.” Either I kill him or I die right there. So now ‘Abdur Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf is starting to change his mind about who is flanking him!

You know, do not base your opinion based on looks, do not make a judgement based on looks. This man right next to you wants to kill Abū Jahl, the leader of the army of Al-Mushrikīn. And then he points out Abū Jahl to this young man to his right. Now, the young man to his left whispers in the ear of ‘Abdur Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf and asks him the same question, and the reason why they were whispering was [because] these two brothers were competing with each other, so they were whispering to ‘Abdur Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf so that the other one does not hear! ‘Abdur Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf said, “When I showed Abū Jahl to them,” and he pointed Abū Jahl out to them as there was a crowd around him and said that is Abū Jahl, ‘Abdur Rahmān Ibn ‘Awf said in Al-Bukhārī, “They flew at him like falcons and they struck him down!” They struck Abū Jahl down; two young men from among Al-Ansār. These two young men, according to one narration, were Mu‘ādh Ibn ‘Amr Bin Jamūh and Mu‘awwaz or ‘Awf Bin ‘Afrā, and in another narration they were two brothers, ‘Awf and Mu‘awwaz Bin Ibn Al-Hārith, whose mother was ‘Afrā. In another narration it says that when they attacked Abū Jahl and they reached next to him, one of them struck the foot of Abū Jahl, so it flew off like a kernel of nut would fly off from a nutcracker, and it made that sound of a crack and then it flew off. But then ‘Ikrimah saw that and he struck Mu‘ādh on his shoulder and he tore off his arm, however, the arm remained hanging to his body by the flesh of his side, of his chest – so the joint itself was torn or cut but the arm was just dangling by his side – and Mu‘ādh said, “I carried on fighting, dragging my arm behind me, until it started bothering me and distracting me from fighting, so I placed it under my foot and stepped over it and tore it off.” That is quite a thing to do.

So Abū Jahl was killed, or was disabled, by these two young Ansārī men, and he was lying there on the ground of the battlefield in his last moments. Rasūlullāhﷺ asked the Sahābah, “Who would find out for me what happened to Abū Jahl?” ‘Abdullāh Ibn Mas‘ūd said, “So I went, and when I realised that the man lying in front me me was Abū Jahl, I put my foot on his neck; he had once held me captive in Makkah and hurt me and kicked me.” And then he said to him, “So Allāh has put you to shame then you enemy of Allāh!” Abū Jahl said, “And how has he shamed me, am I not the most noble man you have ever killed? Tell me, which side won the day?” Abū Jahl, even though he is in his last moments, wants to know the result of this battle. ‘Abdullāh Ibn Mas‘ūd said, “It went to Allāh and His Messenger.” In another narration, ‘Abdullāh Ibn Mas‘ūd says, “Abū Jahl was lying on the ground holding a fine sword and protecting himself while I had a poor sword, so I struck his arm so that his sword fell off and then I carried his sword, and I sat on his chest to sever his head, and when I was over his chest he said, ‘Laqad Ightaqayta Murtaqan Sa’ban Ya Ruway‘iyyal Ghanam – You have climbed very high for having been just a herdsman.’” Abū Jahl is arrogant even when he is dying, he is telling ‘Abdullāh Ibn Mas‘ūd that for you to be on top of my chest is too high of a place for you because you are but a herdsman, you are a Rā‘ī – Ruway‘iyyal Ghanam. ‘Abdullāh Ibn Mas‘ūd said, “I then severed his head and took it to the Messenger of Allāhﷺ.” ‘Abdullāh Ibn Mas‘ūd said, “I was as though walking on air.” He was flying in the air! Speeding off, happy to go and deliver the head of Abū Jahl to Rasūlullāhﷺ. “I said, ‘This O Messenger of Allāh is the head of Allāh’s enemy.’” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Is it really by Allāh, other than whom there is none?” “I said, ‘Yes,’ and then I threw Abū Jahl’s head down in front of Rasūlullāhﷺ who then praised Allāh.” In the narration of Imām Ahmad, Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Alhamdulillāh. Allāh has disgraced you, you enemy of Allāh! This man was the pharaoh of his people. Every nation has a Fir‘aun, and the Fir‘aun of our nation is Abū Jahl.”

Ibn Kathīr comments on the death of Abū Jahl and he says, “The death of Abū Jahl came about at the hands of a youth from Al-Ansār. Thereafter, ‘Abdullāh Ibn Mas‘ūd was placed over him.” So look at who Allāh chose to kill Abū Jahl; two young men from Al -Ansār and ‘Abdullāh Ibn Mas‘ūd. ‘Abdullāh Ibn Mas‘ūd who was belittled by Abū Jahl, ‘Abdullāh Ibn Mas‘ūd who was very slightly built, he was very thin. One day he was climbing a palm tree and there was wind blowing and it shook ‘Abdullāh Ibn Mas‘ūd, he was very lightweight, and the Sahābah laughed when they saw the thinness of the legs of ‘Abdullāh Ibn Mas‘ūd, so Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Atadhakūna Lidiqqati Sāqayh? – Are you laughing because he has very slim legs? In the name of Allāh, they are heavier on the scale on the Day of Judgement than the mountain of Uhud.” It is not about how many pounds you can carry, and how well-built you are, and how athletic you are, and how powerful and strong you are; Abū Jahl, the leader of the enemy’s army, was killed by ‘Abdullāh Bin Mas‘ūd  and by two young men from Al-Ansār. We should not depend on worldly standards; how strong a soldier is and how muscular he is. A Muslim soldier is supposed to prepare but not to depend on that preparation, you depend on Allāh. So Ibn Kathīr said, “The death of Abū Jahl came about at the hands of a youth from Al- Ansār. Thereafter, ‘Abdullāh Ibn Mas‘ūd was placed over him. By this, Allāh comforted the Believers, and this was more effective than if He had made a bolt of lightning strike Abū Jahl down or made the roof of his house fall upon him or of he had died a natural death.” And then he recited the Āyah of Allāh: Fight them; Allāh will punish them by your hands… Not by lightning, not by, as Ibn Kathīr says, dying a natural death; Allāh will punish them by your hands …and will disgrace them and give you victory over them and satisfy the breasts of a Believing people. And remove the fury in the Believers’ hearts. And Allāh turns in forgiveness to whom He wills; and Allāh is Knowing and Wise. At-Tawbah: 14-15

Sothere is an element of revenge here, because Muslims have been wronged, they have been oppressed, so Allāh is saying that He will satisfy your breasts and remove the fury in your hearts. The Muslims were furious at the Kuffār, so Allāh will remove that when they see the fate of the enemies of Allāh.

Zubair Ibn Al-‘Awwām Brilliantly Attacks Mushrik : One of the famous fighters of Al-Mushrikīn was nicknamed Abul Kirsh – The one with the pot belly. He was covered in armour; you could only see his eyes. So Az-Zubair Ibn Al-‘Awwām attacked him, but again, this was man covered in steel from head to toe. Az-Zubair Ibn Al-‘Awwām with his javelin, Subhān’Allāh, was able to strike him right in that small opening in the eye. But the opening was so small that the javelin could not go through, so Az-Zubair steps on his javelin with his foot and forces it deep into the head of Abul Kirsh, so when he pulled out his javelin the blade was bent so bad, and this shows you the strength of Az-Zubair Ibn Al-‘Awwām. It was amazing that the blade was bent in such a fashion, so Rasūlullāhﷺ asked to keep that javelin as a souvenir, and Subhān’Allāh, when Rasūlullāhﷺ passed away Abū Bakr asked for it, and when Abū Bakr passed away ‘Umar asked for it, and when ‘Umar passed away Az-Zubair got it back again, it was his, but then ‘Uthmān asked Az-Zubair to give it to him, so Az- Zubair hands it over to the Khalīfah ‘Uthmān Ibn ‘Affān. And when ‘Uthmān passes away ‘Alï takes it, and then after ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib, ‘Abdullāh Ibn Az-Zubair, the son of Zubair, gets it.

9.2.9 Bodies of Chiefs of Quraish Thrown into Well

Anas Bin Mālik tells us the story of Al- Qaleeb, he says, “The Messenger of Allāh ordered on the day of the battle at Badr that 24 of the chiefs of Quraish be thrown into a dirty refuge laid in old well.” So the bodies of the leaders of Quraish, 24 of them, were dragged into this grave, it was a dirty refuge laid in old well as Anas Ibn Mālik describes it. When they were pulling the body of ‘Utbah Bin Rabī‘ah, his son [Abū] Hudhaifah was watching on, so Rasūlullāhﷺ looks into his face and sees that he was distressed, he was sad, so Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Abū Hudhaifah, are you very upset at your father’s fate?” Abū Hudhaifah responds back, “I swear O Messenger of Allāh, I have no problems with my father’s fate, but I once knew him as a man of reason, judgement and goodness, and hoped those qualities would lead him to Islām. When I saw what his fate was and how he had died in Disbelief despite my hopes for him, I was saddened.” Rasūlullāh then made Du‘ā’ for him.

Dear brothers and sisters, the issue of guidance is something in the Hands of Allāh, nobody can control it. Here Abū Hudhaifah is saying that my father was wise, he was a man of reason, he was a man of judgement, he was a man of goodness, and I hoped that these qualities would guide him to Islām, but things did not turn out as he expected, and that is the case with Abū Tālib also. Abū Tālib, the uncle of Rasūlullāhﷺ, carried these same qualities, in fact he protected Rasūlullāhﷺ for the entire period he spent in Makkah until he passed away, and Abū Tālib never became Musim. So when it comes to the issue of guidance you cannot really tell who will be guided and who will not. While ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb who was so evil in his torture of Muslims, he becomes a Muslim. And we talked about the story of Islām that when one of the Muslims saw that one of the Sahābiyyāt was expecting ‘Umar to become Muslim because he spoke to her softly, he responded back by saying the donkey of his father would become a Muslim before he does, meaning take that idea out of your mind, such a person can never become Muslim, but he did, and he became one of the best Muslims. So the issue of who is guided and who is not is something that we cannot control and we cannot even expect. Do not make a judgement on a person and say, ‘Oh, he might become Muslim,’ and ‘Oh, he might not become Muslim.’ At the end, Abū Tālib dies as a Kāfir and Abū Sufyān dies as a Muslim. Abū Tālib, who supports Rasūlullāhﷺ for all of his life, ends up going to Hellfire, while Abū Sufyān, who fights Rasūlullāhﷺ for most of his life, ends up becoming Muslim. So such issues should be left in the Hands of Allāh, and that is why Allāh says: Innaka Lā Tahdī Man Ahbabta Walā Kinnallāha Yahdī Mayyashā’ – Indeed, [O Muhammad],you do not guide whom you like, but Allāh guides whom He wills. Al-Qasas: 56

You do not guide the ones you want, the ones you love, the ones you like, but it is Allāh who guides the ones He wants. This is a matter of Qadr of Allāh and we leave it in His Hands.

So Abū Hudhaifah here was kind of upset because his father did not become Muslim. It also shows you [that] our loyalty should go to Allāh entirely, and even though Abū Hudhaifah was sad that his father died as a Disbeliever, but that did not make him forsake his religion or blame someone or blame something that my father did not become Muslim; he accepted it and he said, ‘O Messenger of Allāh, I have no problems with my father’s fate, I accept it, I accept that this is from Allāh, I accept it.’ And this is called Ridā Bi Qadrillāh – Youare content with what Allāh gives you and what happens to you. And I am saying this because we have known brothers and sisters in the West who have embraced Islām but their parents did not, and they are very eager to have their parents become Muslim and they are giving them Da’wah. I just want to say that you do your best in Da’wah, but then leave the issue of Hidāyah in the Hands of Allāh, and do not become overwhelmed or upset if they do not die as Muslim, and accept it as the Qadr of Allāh, and if they do become Muslim, then give credit to Allāh, leave it in His Hands and say Alhamdulillāh that Allāh has guided them to His Religion. Rasūlullāhﷺ tried very hard with his uncle but it did not work, while people from distant land would come to him, like Salmān Al-Fārsī and Abū Dharr. We ask Allāh to guide us to the truth.

So Rasūlullāhﷺ ordered that the bodies of 24 of the chiefs of Quraish be thrown into this well. It was the habit of Rasūlullāhﷺ that he would stay at the site of the battle for three days before he would leave. When he was about to leave from the site of the Battle of Badr, he visited the Qulaib – this well in which the 24 leaders of Kufr were buried – and he was speaking to them, he said, “Would you now be pleased to have obeyed Allāh and His Messenger? We have found that what our Lord promised us was true, have you found what your Lord promised you to be true?” ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb said, “O Messenger of Allāh, why do you speak to bodies that have no spirits in them?” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “By Him who holds the soul of Muhammad in His Hand, you do not hear what I say any better than they do.” And this is in Bukhārī. So Allāh made them hear what Rasūlullāh was telling them, and this was to add to their punishment.

9.2.10 News of Victory Reaches Madīnah

Rasūlullāhﷺ sends ‘Abdullāh Bin Rawāhah and Zayd Bin Hārithah to deliver the news to the people of Madīnah. ‘Abdullāh Ibn Rawāhah goes to ‘Awāli – the upper areas of Madīnah, and he delivers the news to each house of Al-Ansār, while Zayd Ibn Hārithah goes to the centre of Maindah to deliver the news. Now, Zayd Ibn Hārithah was riding on the camel of Rasūlullāhﷺ, so when he came in delivering the news and saying that ‘Utbah Bin Rabī‘ah was killed, Shaybah Bin Rabī‘ah was killed, Ibn Al-Hajjāj were killed, Abū Jahal was killed, and he was mentioning the famous names of the people of Quraish who were killed, the Munāfiqīn and the Yahūd said, “This man does not know what he is talking about, he is confused. He has run away from the battlefield and Muhammad himself was killed, and the evidence is that Zayd is riding his camel,” and they went around spreading this news. So Usāmah who was left behind, as well as ‘Uthmān, so that they could care for Ruqayyah, the daughter of Rasūlullāhﷺ, he said, “I went to my father and said, O father, is the news that you are delivering true?’ He said, ‘Yes my son it is true.’” [And the] people who were going to ‘Abdullāh Bin Rawāhah and asking, “Is this news true?” He would say, “Yes the news is true and tomorrow Rasūlullāhﷺ is going to bring the captives.” It was so difficult for people to believe what had happened; a force of a little over 300 defeats a thousand and then kills the most famous names of Quraish – all of them were dead; ‘Utbah, Shaybah, Al-Walīd, Abū Jahl, Nabīhal Munabbā, Ibn Al-Hajjāj and others, all of them were killed on that day. And then other leaders such as Suhail Ibn ‘Amr are captured, taken as prisoners, so it was too good to be true. But the next day Rasūlullāhﷺ does come in with the prisoners and the victory of Allāh.

Now, the prisoners were placed in a certain location, and [when] Sawdah, the wife of the Prophetﷺ, saw Suhail Bin ‘Amr with his hands tied to his neck, and this was one of the noble men of Quraish, she said, “Why did you not die as noble men? Why did you allow yourselves to be humiliated and to be in this state, why did you not die as noble men? – Afalā Mittum Kirāman?” Rasūlullāhﷺ overlooked that statement and said, “A‘alallāhu Wa Rasūlihī Tuharradīn? –Are you asking them to fight Allāh and His Messenger?” Because in fact what she was saying was why did you not fight rather than be held captive the way you are, and when she was saying why did you not fight who would he fight against? He would be fighting against Rasūlullāhﷺ. So Sawdah apologised to Rasūlullāhﷺ and said, “O Messenger of Allāh, when I saw him in that state, I could not but say such a statement.” Her emotions overwhelmed her when she saw Suhail in that state. So it tells you that the leaders of Quraish were humiliated because of their Disbelief and Kufr, and the way they dealt with the Messenger of Allāhﷺ; most of them were killed and then you had people like Suhail Ibn ‘Amr [who] were tied in ropes.

Rasūlullāhﷺ stopped at Ar-Rawhā’ to receive congratulations from all of the people who were coming to visit him, and when the people were coming to congratulate him, one of the Ansār said, “What are you congratulating us for? We have only met old bald men like camels awaiting slaughter and we slaughtered them.” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Hey my cousin, do not say that, these are the chiefs.” This Ansārī was saying [that] it was so easy; those people whom we faced were old men who did not know how to fight. [But Rasūlullāhﷺ was saying that] it was Allāh who helped you through the angels, otherwise we could not have defeated such an army. So these were strong men, it was a strong opponent, but Allāh assisted us and helped us.

The news was delivered to Makkah by a man called Al -Haythumān Al-Khuzā‘ī. Al-Haythumān Al-Khuzā‘ī rushes into Makkah and says Abul Hakam was killed, ‘Utbah was killed, Shaybah was killed, Al-Walīd was killed, and he was going down the list [until he mentioned that] Umayyah was killed. Safwān Ibn Umayyah was listening, and he said, “This man has lost his mind, ask him about me.” [This was] to make sure that he was not crazy. So they asked him, “What about Safwān, what happened to him?” He said, “Safwān is sitting right there and I have seen the death of his father and his brother with my own eyes.” And for the people of Makkah it was too bad to be true; how could Abū Jahl be killed and Umayyah be killed and ‘Utbah be killed? It was impossible! But surely the news was sinking in.

9.2.11 The Humiliation of Abū Lahab

Abū Lahab was one of those who stayed behind, but he sent somebody in his place to fight. Rāfi’ says, “I was a servant of Al-‘Abbās and our household was Muslim; me and Al-‘Abbās and Umm Al-Fadl (the wife of Al-‘Abbās), and I used to make arrows. So I was sitting in the pavilion around Al-Ka’bah sharpening arrows while Abū Lahab was sitting with his back towards me when one of the fighters from Quraish approached, so Abū Lahab said, ‘Come and tell us the news of what happened.’ The man came and he said, ‘As soon as the fighting started, we handed them over ourselves to be killed and to be taken as captives. But I do not blame them for it because we were facing men in white clothes on horses between the heavens and earth, and nothing could stop them.’” So he was saying that it is true that we were defeated by the army of Rasūlullāhﷺ, but we do not give credit to them, it was some other people wearing white who defeated us and nothing could stop that force. When Rāfi’ heard that, he said, “In the name of Allāh, those are the angels.” Abū Lahab turned around and punched him in the face with such a blow. Rāfi’ said, “So I started fighting back but Abū Lahab was stronger than me and I was a weak man, so he was sitting over me and beating me hard when Umm Al- Fadl came with a rod and she hit Abū Lahab on the head and told him, ‘You are taking advantage that his master is not around.’ And then Abū Lahab left.” Rāfi’ says, “Abū Lahab was afflicted by a disease after that and died a week later.” And he said this particular disease would terrify the people of Quraish, and if somebody was inflicted with that disease they would not want to go next to him. So Abū Lahab died and remained in his house for three days until his body was decomposing, and nobody wanted to bury him. So the people of Quraish went to his two sons and said, “Shame on you, your father’s body is decomposing and you do not want to bury him?!” They said, “We are afraid of that disease.” So what they did was they ended up dragging him and placing him next to a wall, they did not even dig a grave for him, they placed him next to a wall and then they threw stones over him to cover his body – that is the humiliation that he suffered even in his death.

9.2.12 Quraish Ban Mourning in Public:

The people of Quraish, in order not to have the Muslims rejoice at their misfortune, prevented anyone from crying publicly for their dead, so there was no wailing allowed. Also, they refused to allow anyone to investigate the issue of ransoming the prisoners, so that Muhammadﷺ would not raise the price of ransom. Ibn Kathīr says about this, “I observe that Allāh’s forcing them to forgo mourning for their dead was part of the totality of His punishment of those of them that remained alive at that time, for weeping for the dead contributes to the recovery of the grieving heart.” So this prevention of mourning was in fact more of a torment for the people of Quraish, the ones who were living. And then he says Ibn Is’hāq stated that Al-Aswad Ibn Al-Muttalib was afflicted with the loss of three of his sons. This was an old man, he was already blind, and he lost three of his sons, and he was not allowed to mourn their deaths. So one night he hears a woman weeping, so he said, “Go and see if mourning has become permissible, are Quraish now bewailing their dead? Perhaps I will now be able to lament the loss of Abū Hakīmah (his eldest son) for I am in great pain.” They went to find out why the woman was crying [and] they found out she was crying because she lost a camel! So he said these lines of poetry:

Is she weeping

Because a camel of hers has gone astray

And so insomnia keeps her from sleeping?

Do not weep over a young camel

But over Badr that ruined all hopes

Over Badr and the elite of the Banū Husais And Makhzūm and the tribe of Abul Walīd And weep if you weep at all for Abū ‘Aqīl And for Hārith, the lion of lions

Weep for them all and do not hold back For there is none the like of Abū Hakīmah After them it is other men who rule And had it not been for Badr

They would not have come to leave it

So this poor old man was not even allowed to mourn the loss of his three sons; why? So that the news would not reach to Muhammadﷺ that the Kuffār of Quraish were suffering because of their dead. They wanted to show that they did not care about it, and they wanted to show that they did not care about the ransom of the captives.

9.2.13 Muslims Fight Over Booty

Sūrah Al-Anfāl was revealed after the Ghazwah of Badr. ‘Ubādah Ibn As-Sāmit says about the first verses of Sūrah Al- Anfāl, “They were revealed about us, the Muslims at Badr, Wa Sā’at Fīhi Akhlāqunā – And when we disputed with one another about the issue of booty.” What happened was the Muslims were three groups; one group was protecting Rasūlullāhﷺ, the second group was pursuing the enemy, and the third group was collecting the spoils of war. So the ones who collected the spoils of war said, “These belong to us,” the ones who protected Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “No, we want our share because we were protecting Rasūlullāh,” and the ones who were pursuing the enemy said, “If it was not for us, you would not have any spoils of war.” So they disputed and they were arguing, and Allāh revealed the Āyāt of Sūrah Al-Anfāl: Yas’alūnaka ‘Anil Anfāl. Qulil Anfālu Lillāhi War-Rasūli – They ask you, [O Muhammad], about the bounties [ofwar]. Say, “The [decision concerning] bounties is for Allāh and theMessenger.” Al-Anfāl: 1

Therefore all of the bounties of war were taken from them and given to Rasūlullāhﷺ . It belongs to Allāh and Rasūlullāhﷺ. All of it was taken away. And then Allāh says: So fear Allāh and amend that which is between you and obey Allāh and His Messenger, if you should be Believers. Al-Anfāl:1

Number One: This Āyah is teaching the Mujāhidīn that they should have Taqwā [So fear Allāh]. You cannot fight Fee Sabeelillāh without Taqwā. Number Two: And amend that which is between you. You have to have unity, for fighters Fee Sabeelillāh, they have to be one. And Number Three: And obey Allāh and His Messenger. You have to have discipline; fighters without discipline are not going to succeed. So they have to have discipline and obedience of the leader. These are three essential qualities for Al-Mujāhidīn Fee Sabeelillāh; Taqwā, unity, and discipline and obedience of the leader.

9.2.14 Ruling regarding Distribution of Booty

And then Allāh gives the ruling regarding how the spoils of war are divided, Allāh says: And know that anything you obtain of war booty then indeed, for Allāh is one fifth of it and for the Messenger and for [his] near relatives and the orphans, the needy, and the [stranded] traveler, if you have believed in Allāh and in that which We sent down to Our Servant on the Day of Criterion – the day when the two armies met. And Allāh, over all things, is competent. Al-Anfāl: 41

So the ruling regarding the spoils of war is as follows: they are divided into five equal portions; four of those five portions are distributed among the fighters, so if we convert it to percentage, 80% of the spoils of war are split among the fighters; the foot-soldier receives one share and the horsemen or cavalry receive three shares each. The remaining 20% is then divided into five portions, so we are talking about 4% each; 4% goes to Allāh, 4% goes to Rasūlullāhﷺ, 4% goes to the near relatives, 4% goes to the orphans, 4% goes to the poor, and 4% goes to the traveller. Now, the portion that goes to Allāh and Rasūlullāhﷺ is distributed in what is needed by the Muslims such as Masājid or paving roads or whatever, it is up to the Imām of the Muslims to distribute that. So these are the rulings regarding the distribution of the booty.

9.3 Prisoners of War

9.3.1 Rasūlullāh’sﷺ Gratitude Even to Mushrikīn

Abul Bukhturī was one of the noble men of Quraish, he was a Mushrik, a Disbeliever, but he was not cruel against the Muslims, in fact he was one of the men who participated in the ending of the siege against the Muslims; if you remember in Makkah, there was a siege that lasted for three years against Banū Hāshim and Banū Muttalib, the family of Rasūlullāhﷺ, [and] Abul Bukhturī was one of the men who ended this siege. So Rasūlullāhﷺ was grateful to him and he asked the Muslims not to kill him if they saw him in battle, and there is a lesson to learn here that some Mushrikīn, even though they are Mushrikīn, they are Disbelievers, but if they do you good, then reciprocate. So Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “If you see him do not kill him, leave him.” One of Al-Ansār saw Al-Bukhturī Ibn Hishām and told him that Rasūlullāhﷺ told us not to kill you. Al- Bukhturī said, “What about my companion?” He had a friend with him. He said, “No, we are not going to spare your companion death, we are going to kill him.” Al-Bukhturī Ibn Hishām said, “Then I am going to protect my companion, I am going to fight to protect him.” And thus the Ansārī was forced to fight Al-Bukhturī and he was killed. Then he went back to Rasūlullāhﷺ and said, “I swear by Him who sent you with the truth, I did try to take him prisoner to bring him to you, but he insisted on fighting me, so I fought back and killed him”. We are going to carry on with the prisoners of war, we are still talking about that.

‘Uqbah Bin Abī Mu‘ait and An-Nadr Bin Al-Hārith: Rasūlullāhﷺ says in a Hadīth narrated in Abū Dāwūd, “If Mut‘im Ibn ‘Udaÿ was still alive and he interceded for these Natan, I would have released them for him.” Natan means something that has a foul smell, and that is the name that he used to refer to these prisoners of war. Now, it probably does not literally mean that they were foul-smelling, what is meant by it is that Disbelief is foul-smelling figuratively speaking, because Allāh has called it Rijs – impurity; so Disbelief is an impure thing. Anyway, Rasūlullāhﷺ is saying in this Hadīth that if Al-Mut‘im Ibn ‘Udaÿ was alive and he interceded for these prisoners of war, I would have released them for him. Rasūlullāhﷺ is telling us that he was grateful to Al-Mut‘im Ibn ‘Udaÿ who was a Disbeliever because of his honesty and his good stand towards Muslims, even though he was a Mushrik, a Disbeliever. And this shows that Rasūlullāhﷺ would act appropriately according to the deeds of a person, so he would deal with good people kindly and he would deal with evil people accordingly. Now, we do not want to go into either extreme of being incapable of showing nothing but brutality towards the Kuffār, or on the other hand to act in a way that only shows that we are interested in appeasing the Kuffār. A Muslim should act in each situation and make a judgement in that situation according to what is the most wise method of action, and one should overcome emotions and one should overcome doing something because of ‘I am worried what other people will say, I am worried how our perception will be seen, I am worried that I will be giving Islām a bad picture, I am worried about this, I am worried about that.’ We should forget about all of these considerations and do what is right. So Rasūlullāh is saying here [that] if this man was alive I would have released these prisoners of war for him.

On the other hand, Rasūlullāhﷺ specifically chose ‘Uqbah Bin Abī Mu‘ait and An-Nadr Bin Hārith to be executed from among all of the other prisoners of war which totalled 70; the number of prisoners of war was 70. Rasūlullāhﷺ calls ‘Uqbah Bin Abī Mu‘ait, and ‘Uqbah Bin Abī Mu‘ait said, “How come O Messenger of Allāh you are choosing me out of everyone else to be killed? O Messenger of Allāh, if you are going to kill the rest of the prisoners of war then kill me with them, if you are going to ransom them then ransom me with them. How come you are picking me out of everyone else to be executed?” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Li‘adāwatika Lillāhi Wa Rasūlih –Because of your animosity towards Allāh and His Messenger.” So ‘Uqbah said, “Faman Lis -Sibyah? – Who will take care of my children?” Rasūlullāhﷺ told him, “The fire! Qaddimhu Yā ‘Āsim Wadrib ‘Unukah – O‘Āsim, pull him forward and behead him.” And he was promptly beheaded by ‘Āsim Bin Thābit. While with An-Nadr Bin Hārith, Rasūlullāhﷺ also told ‘Alï Ibn Abī Tālib to execute him. These two men were specifically handpicked out of everyone else because of their evil, and Ibn Kathīr says, “I would comment that these two men were among the most evil of Allāh’s servants, the most stubborn, wicked, envious and disbelieving of men, and they had been very active in satirising Islām and its supporters. Allāh damned them, and He did indeed.”

‘Uqbah Bin Abī Mu‘ait was the one who saw Rasūlullāhﷺ in Sujūd next to Al-Ka’bah when Rasūlullāhﷺ was still in Makkah, and he stepped over his neck with his foot. Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “I felt that my eyes were going to pop out, I was going to die, and this is also the man who saw me in Rukū’ and came and threw the intestines of a camel over my back,” and then Fātimah  came and removed them. So ‘Uqbah Bin Abī Mu‘ait was one of the worst devils of Quraish, and that was why he deserved this severe punishment. While An-Nadr Bin Hārith was the one who went to Persia to learn these stories of Isfandiyār Ar- Rustum, and he would come back to Makkah and tell the people to gather around him and he would say, “Come and listen to my stories, they are better than Muhammad’s stories. What makes him more befitting to being a Prophet compared to me?” He said I can tell stories just like he could, so what makes him entitled to becoming a Prophet and does not give me that right? So he used to sway the people away from the Majlis – circle of Rasūlullāhﷺ. So these two men were executed. So you can contrast this to what Rasūlullāhﷺ said about Al-Mut‘im Bin ‘Udaÿ and see how Rasūlullāhﷺ would deal differently with different people.

9.3.2 Rasūlullāhﷺ Instructs Sahābah to Treat Prisoners Kindly

Now, with these two men, they were executed, however with the rest, Rasūlullāhﷺ specifically gave the instructions to the Sahābah and said, “Istawsū Bil Asārā Khairā – Treat the prisoners of war kindly.” Treat them kindly. So Abū ‘Azīz, the brother of Mus‘ab Bin ‘Umair, said, “I was with a group of Ansār bringing me from Badr. When they had their lunch and dinner, they would give me their bread and ate the dates themselves in accordance with the instruction given them by Rasūlullāhﷺ regarding us. Every piece of bread that came into their hands, they passed on to me. I was embarrassed and would return the bread, but they would pass it back untouched.” Bread was the better food compared to dates, so they would eat the dates and they would give him the bread and they would just survive on eating dates. So they would actually give him a better treatment than they would give themselves. Ibn Hishām comments on this and says, “This Abū ‘Azīz was the standard bearer of the Mushrikīn at Badr following An-Nadr Bin Hārith.” So Abū ‘Azīz was not just a foot-soldier, Abū ‘Azīz was the standard bearer on the Battle of Badr, and still Rasūlullāhﷺ has told [us] to treat such men well. Abul ‘Aas Bin Ar-Rabī’ said pretty much the same thing [as Abū ‘Azīz]. Al-Walīd Bin Walīd Bin Mughīrah would say, “Wa Kānū Yahmilūnanā Wa Yamshūn –They would walk while we would ride.” So the prisoners of war are riding while the Sahābah are walking.

And Subhān’Allāh, you see, this good treatment is what caused many of these prisoners of war to become Muslim. Throughout the battles of Rasūlullāhﷺ we would hear about people who were arrested or captured and then they would become Muslim and stay behind. And some of them, to show and prove that they were not becoming Muslim for fear of the sword; after they were released, they would go back to their people and then they would come back to Rasūlullāhﷺ to become Muslim, to prove that we have become Muslim of our own initiative, not because of any pressure; we were not pressured into it. For example, Abū ‘Azīz, he ended up becoming Muslim, the brother of Mus‘ab Bin ‘Umair, when he saw how the Muslims were treating him; they would treat him better than their own selves. So Akhlāq is important, even with your enemy. Even with the enemy the Muslim should deal with him in a good way, with dignity. A Muslim is not cruel, a Muslim is not wicked, a Muslim is not deceptive, a Muslim is not a liar; a Muslim deals with everyone with honesty, dignity, straight-forwardness and kindness towards all of the creation of Allāh , except those who deserve to be dealt with cruelly like ‘Uqbah Bin Abī Mu‘ait and An-Nadr Bin Al-Hārith, because these are people who are so evil that you cannot afford treating them kindly, treating them kindly is actually being fooled by them, because these are people who are going to turn around and harm the Muslims.

9.3.3 We Judge by Actions, Not by what is in the Hearts

Rasūlullāhﷺ told his uncle Al-‘Abbās Ibn ‘Abdul Muttalib, “Ransom yourself.” Pay your ransom. Al-‘Abbās said, “O Messenger of Allāh, I am a Muslim.” Rasūlullāhﷺ told him, “Ammā Zāhiruka Fakāna ‘Alainā – What was evident was that you were against us, Allāh knows best about your accepting of Islām.” Rasūlullāhﷺ over here is setting for us a rule; we go by what we see. We do not and cannot know what is in the hearts, only Allāh is the one who can see the hearts, we go by what we see. Rasūlullāhﷺ is telling Al -‘Abbās [that] Allāh is the One who knows whether you are a Muslim or not, what we can see is that you were against us, you were in the army of the enemy, so we are going to go by that.

And when ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb was Khalīfah, he said, “In the time of Rasūlullāhﷺ, Revelation would come down and tell us what is in the hearts of men, but now we are going to go by what we see, we are going to make our judgements based on what appears from you; if what appears from you is Islām, we will accept that, and if what appears from you is Disbelief, we will assume that you are a Disbeliever even if you claim that you are otherwise.” If your actions are those of a Disbeliever, it does not benefit you to say that you are a Muslim; we will go by your actions. So the action of Al-‘Abbās here was that he was with the enemy. You can claim that you are a Muslim, you can state Lā Ilāha Illallāh, but why were you on the enemy’s side? And this is a very important rule; we should not judge people according to what is in their hearts, we judge them by their actions. At the same time, we do not allow people to fool us by stating that they are this and that when their actions prove otherwise. We go by the actions of people; that is how we judge people. So somebody who is acting as a Disbeliever in and out cannot come and fool us and trick us and say I am a Muslim.

Al-‘Abbās said, “I do not have any money.” Rasūlullāhﷺ told him, “What about the money that you buried in the ground and you told your wife Umm Al-Fadl, ‘If I am killed, then make use of this money?’” Al-‘Abbās said, “I testify and bear witness that you are a Messenger of Allāh! No one knew of that treasure of mine except me and my wife.” So he did pay for his ransom, and Allāh  revealed the Āyah: O Prophet, say to whoever is in your hands of the captives, “If Allāh knows [any] good in your hearts, He will give you [something] better than what was taken from you, and He will forgive you; and Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful.” But if they intend to betray you – then they have already betrayed Allāh before, and He empowered [you] over them. And Allāh is Knowing and Wise. Al-Anfāl: 70-71

So, Allāh  is telling these men who claim that they were Muslim, and they had to pay for their ransom, if you are Muslim, Allāh  will replace that money that was taken from you, do not worry. Al-‘Abbās said, “I paid 20 ‘Ūqiyah of gold (this is a certain weight of gold) for my ransom, and then Allāh had given me much more than that.” Meaning Allāh had replaced that money that he paid for ransom and Allāh had multiplied it for Al-‘Abbās Bin ‘Abdul Muttalib .

9.3.4 Zainab Bint Rasūlullāhﷺ Ransoms Husband

Abul ‘Aas was the husband of Zainab Bint Rasūlullāhﷺ . He was a Mushrik, so the daughter of Rasūlullāhﷺ, up until that point, was married to a Disbeliever – this was before the ruling came down preventing Muslim women from remaining with their Disbelieving husbands, this was before that ruling – and she was in Makkah. So she wants to free her husband Al-‘Aas, so Zainab  sends an amount of money sufficient to release her husband from captivity, [and] she also sends along with that money a necklace. This necklace was given to her as a gift by her mother Khadījah when she got married; this was her wedding gift from her mother. So the necklace belonged to Khadījah, and then Khadījah gave it as a gift to her daughter when she got married. So Zainab sends this necklace. When the necklace falls into the hands of Rasūlullāhﷺ, it brought back memories of his wife Khadījah Rahmatullāhi ‘Alaihā. And we know that Rasūlullāhﷺ was very soft hearted, kind and compassionate, and this touched him, so Rasūlullāhﷺ told the Ansār who were holding her husband, “If you should think fit to deliver her prisoner to her and to return to her what is hers, then do so.” And they immediately released him, and they released him without ransom, and they also sent back the necklace.

9.3.5 The Kuffār of Quraish Respected Women

Now, Rasūlullāhﷺ placed a condition on the release of Abul ‘Aas, and that condition was, “You never assist an enemy against us and you send to me Zainab.” Abul ‘Aas was a man of his word; when he went back to Makkah, he allowed Zainab to leave Makkah and go to her father. Ibn Is’hāq says, “So she continued making plans. When she was ready, her husband’s brother Kinānah Ibn Ar-Rabī‘ah brought a camel which she mounted, and he taking his bow and quiver, led her away, she riding in a Hawdaj and it being daytime. Some of the Quraish men discussed this and followed after her catching up with her at Dhū Tuwā. The first to reach her was Habbār Ibn Al-Aswad Ibn Al-Muttalib, he scared her with his spear as she was there in the Hawdaj. And because, as they claim, she was pregnant at the time, she suffered a miscarriage. Her brother-in-law then knelt down and took the arrows from his quiver saying, ‘By Allāh! If any man comes near me I will put an arrow into him.’ The men drew away from him. Then Abū Sufyān arrived with some other Quraish leaders and said, ‘Put down your arrows so we can talk with you.’ He did so and Abū Sufyān drew near him and said, ‘You have not done well. You came forth with a woman openly going over people’s heads even though you are aware of the injury and damage done [to] us by Muhammad. When you took away his daughter openly and regardless of anyone else, the people thought this was due to the humiliation we have undergone and that this reflected our weakness and incapacity. I swear, we do not want to keep her from her father and we are not after revenge, but you had better return back, then you can secretly take her away to her father.” So it shows you that these Kuffār of Quraish respected women, unlike some of the enemies of Allāh today who are willing to violate the rights of Muslim women and Muslim children. But these Kuffār, they still had some dignity in their hearts and Abū Sufyān said [that] as long as you are going to take her away secretly we do not have a problem with that. In the end she reached Madīnah safely.

9.3.6 Abū ‘Azzah Tries to Fool Rasūlullāhﷺ and Gets Executed

Abū ‘Azzah, another prisoner of war, said, “O Messenger of Allāh, you know my state of finances; I am poor and have a family, so be gracious to me.” Abū ‘Azzah had daughters to take care of and he was poor, [and] Rasūlullāhﷺ was considerate of his situation, so he told him, “I am going to allow you to be freed, however, my condition is that you do not support anyone else against me.” This time you came out fighting against me in the Battle of Badr, next time you refuse to fight against Muhammadﷺ and the Muslims. Abū ‘Azzah agreed, however, in the Battle of Uhud, the people of Quraish were able to seduce him into joining them and Subhān’Allāh, again he fell into the hands of the Muslims. This time he tried to use the same excuse again and said, “O Messenger of Allāh, I have daughters, I am poor, let me go.” Rasūlullāhﷺ told him, “I will not let you stroke your beard and say that you have deceived Muhammad twice.” So Muhammad was not sentimental and he was not a leader who could be tricked or deceived; he was kind, he was compassionate, he was tolerant, but at the same time he would not allow people to take advantage of these good qualities and harm the Muslims. So Rasūlullāhﷺ told him, “I already allowed you once, I am not going to allow you again,” and he ordered his execution on the spot. And Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “A Believer will not be bitten twice from the same layer.” A Believer will not be tricked twice. A Believer should not allow himself to be bitten twice from the same source. So this is an important lesson for the Muslims; we should not be gullible and fall prey to deceptive words, a Muslim should be alert and should know what and who are there to benefit Islām and Muslims and who are up to no good.

Suhail Ibn ‘Amr:  one of the nobility, one of the leaders of the people of Quraish, he was taken as a POW (Prisoner of War). He used to speak against Islām, he was a fluent and good eloquent speaker. ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb said, “O Rasūlullāh, let me extract the two front teeth of Suhail Ibn ‘Amr so his tongue will protrude and he will never speak ill of you again.” ‘Umar Ibn Al- Khattāb wanted to mutilate his mouth, pull out his teeth so that he would not be able to speak properly again. Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “I will not mutilate him because Allāh could mutilate me.” Meaning this is not the Islāmic way of treating enemies, even if they are enemies. And Rasūlullāhﷺ then said, “Maybe he will take a stand for which you will not criticise him.” Maybe one day this tongue of his which was used for evil will be an instrument of good. And Subhān’Allāh, that did happen as Rasūlullāhﷺ stated; when Rasūlullāhﷺ died and all of the Arabs apostatised, Suhail Ibn ‘Amr was the reason for the steadfastness of the people of Makkah, he stood up and said, “O people of Quraish! Do not be the last people to enter Islām and the first people to leave it. Whoever we are suspicious of, we will behead him.” And these words kept the people of Makkah firm on Islām. Even though they were new Muslims and their Islām could have been weak because it did not take deep roots in their hearts yet, but because of these words of Suhail Bin ‘Amr, they remained Muslim.

Rasūlullāhﷺ told the prisoners of war who could teach reading and writing, the ones who were literate, he told them, “If you teach 10 children to read and write, that will be your ransom, you will be free.” And this shows you the importance that was placed on literacy and on education – Iqra’ Bismi Rabbikalladhī Khalaq were the first Āyāt revealed to Rasūlullāhﷺ.

9.2.7 The Issue of Prisoners of War

Another issue dealt with in the Āyāt of Sūrah Al -Anfāl [is] the prisoners of war. Rasūlullāhﷺ has 70 prisoners of war, so he invites the Sahābah for Shūrā and he hears various opinions. Abū Bakr As -Siddīq speaks and his opinion was, “O Messenger of Allāh, they are your people, your relatives, let them live, be lenient to them, perhaps Allāh will forgive them.” That was the opinion of Abū Bakr. ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb said, “O Messenger of Allāh! They exiled you and called you a liar, bring them close and strike their necks.” This was the opinion of ‘Umar. In another narration, it says Abū Bakr said, “O Messenger of Allāh, these are you close relatives, your tribal brothers, I think you should accept ransom from them. What we receive from them will give us power against the Unbelievers, and Allāh might well give them guidance so that they become allied to us.” ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb said, “I do not agree with Abū Bakr, I think you should hand over to me so and so (referring to one of his relatives) and I will strike his neck, and you hand over ‘Aqīl to his brother ‘Alï so he can strike his neck, and you hand over to Hamzah so and so (his brother) so he can strike his neck; that way Allāh will know that we feel no leniency towards the Mushrikīn. These men are their chieftains, their very leaders.” And in another narration ‘Abdullāh Ibn Rawāhah spoke and he said, “I suggest, O Messenger of Allāh, you find a valley with many trees, make them enter it, and then set them on fire.” You burn them in that valley; that was the opinion of ‘Abdullāh Ibn Rawāhah.

Rasūlullāhﷺ went in, and then he came out and Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Allāh softens the hearts of men concerning Him so that they become softer than soft; and Allāh hardens the hearts of men so that they become harder than stone. You Abū Bakr are like Ibrāhīm who said, ‘Whoever follows me is of me, and whoever disobeys me, then You are Forgiving and Merciful.’ You Abū Bakr are like Jesus who said, ‘If you punish them, they are your servants, if you forgive them, then You are the All Powerful and Wise.’” So the analogy of Abū Bakr [is that] he is similar to Ibrāhīm and ‘Īsā who were lenient with their people. [Rasūlullāhﷺ continues], “You ‘Umar are like Nūh who said, ‘O Lord! Do not leave on the earth any place for the Unbelievers.’” Nūh made a Du‘ā’ to Allāh to obliterate, to destroy all of the Kuffār. “And ‘Umar, you are like Mūsā who said, ‘O Allāh! Destroy their wealth and make their hearts hard for they will not believe until they see the painful punishment.’” And then Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Let none be exempt from either ransom or having their head smitten.” So Rasūlullāh was inclined to adopt the opinion of Abū Bakr, and he was willing to accept ransom.

The following day, ‘Umar narrates, “I went to the Prophetﷺ early in the morning, he was with Abū Bakr and they were weeping. I asked, ‘O Messenger of Allāh, tell me why you and your Companion are weeping, if I find the reason to weep, I will do so, if I do not, I will pretend to weep at your weeping.’” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “I am weeping at how your Companions proposed to me that I accept ransom. Your punishment for doing so was proposed to me and it was closer than this tree.” Meaning Allāh was not happy that the Muslims accepted ransom. Why? Allāh revealed: It is not for a Prophet to have captives [of war] until he inflicts a massacre [upon Allāh’s enemies] in the land. Some Muslims desire the commodities of this world, but Allāh desires [for you] the Hereafter. And Allāh is Exalted in Might and Wise. If not for a decree from Allāh that proceeded, you would have been touched for what you took by a great punishment. Al-Anfāl: 67

Two things in these Āyāt: number one, Rasūlullāhﷺ should have executed them all – that is what would have pleased Allāh, to execute all of these prisoners. Why? Allāh says: It is not for a Prophet to have captives [of war] until he inflicts a massacre [upon Allāh’s enemies] in the land. Anewly forming State, Jamā‘ah, needs to show its strength in the beginning, and asking for ransom here is less of a strong opinion compared to the execution of all of those prisoners. However, Allāh says in the following Āyah: If not for a decree from Allāh that preceded, you would have been touched for what you took by a great punishment. [Sosecondly], Allāh has made asking for ransom Halāl, and Allāh has made Ghanīmah Halāl, therefore what the Muslims did was allowed, otherwise they would have been punished. So I hope that this issue is clear. Mujāhid and Ath-Thawrī say that ‘If not for a decree from Allāh that preceded’, that is not forgiving them, while the majority opinion, as Ibn Kathīr states, is that it is the allowing of Ghanīmah and ransom. So it is allowed – what Rasūlullāhﷺ did was allowed – however, it would have been better if ransom was not accepted and these prisoners were executed.

9.3.8 Islāmic Ruling on Prisoners of War

Finally, the Islāmic ruling on POWs [is that] it is up to the leader, it is up to the Muslim Imām to determine the fate of POWs. He has the choice of:

Number One: Execution

He has the choice of executing them. Example is ‘Uqbah Bin Abī Mu‘ait and An-Nadr Bin Hārith who were executed by Rasūlullāhﷺ.

Number Two: Freeing without Ransom

He can free them without ransom as Rasūlullāhﷺ did with Abū ‘Azzah and Abul ‘Aas.

Number Three: Freeing with Ransom

He can free them with ransom like Rasūlullāhﷺ did with the rest of the POWs.

Number Four: Enslavement

And he has the option of enslaving the POWs such as the ruling of Sa’d Bin Mu‘ādh on Banū Qurayzah as we will talk about later on.

So these are the rulings of POWs in Islām. We have our own Geneva Convention, we do not have to abide by anyone’s Geneva Convention. Allāh has already taught us what is right and what is wrong, so Muslims have their own rules which are part of the Sharī‘ah of Allāh, and it has the Hidāyah that Muslims would need – Fīhi Al-Hudā.

 

9.4 Status of the People of Badr

What is the status of the people of Badr? Well, the people of Badr carry a special status. Jibrīl came to Rasūlullāhﷺ and asked him, “Mā Ta‘uddūna Ahla Badrin Fīkum? –What do you consider the people of Badr among you to be?” What is the status of the people of Badr among you? Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “They are among the best of the Muslims.” Jibrīl said, “The same is the case with the angels who attended Badr.” So Badr was not only a special event for the Muslims who attended it but it was also a special event for the angels who attended it. The Muslims who attended Badr are the best of Muslims and the angels who attended Badr are the best of angels. And that is why in our books the people of Badr are considered to be a special class, Tabaqat Al-Badriyyīn –The Class of the People of Badr, they are a special class.

When Hātib Ibn Abī Balta‘ah committed an act of treason against Allāh and His Messenger by informing the people of Makkah of the plans of Rasūlullāhﷺ to attack them, ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb came to Rasūlullāh and said, “O Messenger of Allāh, let me execute him, he is a Munāfiq.” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “O ‘Umar, probably Allāh has looked down at the people of Badr and said, ‘Do whatever you want because I have forgiven you.’” Rasūlullāhﷺ is saying that the people of Badr, because of attending Badr, Allāh looked at them and said you can now do whatever you want, because I have forgiven you. When Rasūlullāhﷺ said that, the eyes of ‘Umar swelled with tears. Hātib Ibn Abī Balt’ah was one of the Muslims who attended Badr, and because of that, Allāh has granted them forgiveness. Rasūlullāhﷺ says in another Hadīth, “No one who attended Badr or Hudaybiyyah will enter into Hellfire.” So the people of Badr are special.

Rasūlullāhﷺ Confirms Sincerity of Sahābah : Usaid Bin Khudair came to Rasūlullāhﷺ after the Battle of Badr and he said, “O Messenger of Allāh, we did not know that any fighting would have occurred, otherwise we would have followed you.” Rasūlullāhﷺ told him, “You are speaking the truth.” So some of Al-Ansār who stayed behind did so not because they did not want to fight, but because they did not think that fighting would happen because we [already] said, the original intent of the army was to raid the caravan and not to meet an army.

9.5 Consequences of the Battle of Badr

Some of the consequences of the Battle of Badr:

 9.5.1 Hypocrisy

Number One: Hypocrisy. There were many people in Madīnah who were not happy to see the Muslims victorious, but they were not strong enough to publicly declare that so they went underground. They publicly professed Islām; outwardly you could not tell the difference between them and the Muslims, they would pray like Muslims, they would fast like Muslims, they would pay Zakāh like Muslims, they would attend the gatherings of Muslims, they would attend the lessons of the Rasūlullāhﷺ , but deep in their hearts they despised Islām, they hated the Muslims, and they wished that Islām would vanish from the face of the earth, they wished that Islām did not come to Madīnah, and these were Al-Munāfiqūn. But because Islām was now victorious and the Muslims were strong and the power of Rasūlullāhﷺ in Madīnah was increasing, they did not dare speak their minds. So they were jumping the bandwagon, and they were plotting underground against the Muslims. And the Hypocrites were an extremely dangerous enemy – we could probably say that they were the most dangerous enemy of all – because they were living with the Muslims and they knew the secrets of the Muslims and they were passing on these secrets to the outside enemies of Islām, so they were a fifth column. These were the ones who were delivering the news to Quraish, these were the ones who were assisting the enemies of Allāh in their planning against the Messenger of Allāh, so it was a very dangerous situation, and it is a very difficult enemy to deal with because they do not go public with their Disbelief, and they are blending perfectly among the Muslim community. Rasūlullāhﷺ himself did not know about many of these Hypocrites, Allāh says: You, [O Muhammad], do not know them, [but] We know them. At-Tawbah: 101

Soeven Rasūlullāhﷺ did not know the names of some of these Munāfiqīn until later on when they were revealed to him by Allāh. Allāh says about them: And when they meet those who believe, they say, “We believe”; but when they are alone with their evil ones, they say, “Indeed, we are with you; we were only mockers.” Al-Baqarah: 14

Sowhen they are with the Muslims they say we are like you, we are Muslim. So this was a consequence of the Battle of Badr, that now you have this new category of people – Al-Munāfiqūn. Before you had Kuffār and Muslims, now you have Kuffār, Munāfiqūn and Muslims. Now, Munāfiqūn are part of Kuffār but the difference is that they claim to be Muslim.

9.5.2 ‘Umair Ibn Wahb – From Devil to Dā‘iyah

‘Umair Ibn Wahb, who was one of the devils of Quraish, was sitting with Safwān Ibn Umayyah next to Al-Ka’bah, and he said, “If it was not for the fact that I am in debt and I have children to care for, I would go and assassinate Muhammad myself.” So Safwān took advantage of that and he said, “I will pay your debt and I will take care of your children if anything happens to you.” So ‘Umair Ibn Al-Wahb agreed with Safwān that he will travel to Madīnah with the intent of assassinating Rasūlullāhﷺ. So he dips his sword in poison until it absorbs the poison and then he rushes towards Madīnah. He enters Madīnah and he passes next to a gathering that included ‘Umar Ibn Al- Khattāb. ‘Umar Ibn Al- Khattāb was talking to some men about the Battle of Badr, he was talking to people who did not attend it, you know, Badr was all what they were talking about, a great victory, everyone was happy, they were narrating all of these stories of what went on. So ‘Umar Ibn Al- Khattāb spots ‘Umair Ibn Al- Wahb and he said, “This enemy of Allāh, this dog ‘Umair Ibn Al-Wahb, is not here for any good.” And he stands up and he grabs ‘Umair Ibn Al-Wahb and he wraps the sheath of his sword around his neck, and then he takes him to Rasūlullāhﷺ and says, “O Messenger of Allāh! This enemy of Allāh did not come for any good.” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Let him go ‘Umar, release him.” He was released by ‘Umar, but then ‘Umar told some of the Sahābah outside, “Be careful and guard Rasūlullāhﷺ.” ‘Umair Ibn Al-Wahb comes in and he said, “‘Intasabah Ahan – Good Morning.” Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “Allāh has given us a better greeting than that; Assalāmu ‘Alaikum Wa Rahmatullāh.” ‘Umair Ibn Al-Wahb said, “You have not been using that for long.” Meaning that you just changed your tradition and your customs, otherwise before you used to say Good Morning just like us. Rasūlullāhﷺ asked him, “Why did you come?” He said, “I came to ask for the release of my son.” His son Wahb was a POW – that was his cover story. Rasūlullāhﷺ told him, “Tell me the truth, why did you come?” He said, “That is why I came, I came to ask for the release of my son.” Rasūlullāhﷺ told him, “So why are you carrying a sword?” He said, “Tabballahā Min Suyūfuhal Aghnat ‘Anhā Shay’an –Woe to these swords! They have not done us any good.” Rasūlullāhﷺ told him, “You are lying. The reason why you came is because you met with Safwān next to Al-Ka’bah and you told him that if it was not for the fact that you are in debt and you have children to take care of, you would come and assassinate me. And then Safwān told you, ‘I will take care of your debt and your children if anything happens to you.’ And then you agreed with Safwān that you will keep this issue secret and you will tell nobody about it.” ‘Umair said, “Ash’hadu Annaka Rasūlullāh! – I testify that you are the Messenger of Allāh! Because no one overheard that conversation between me and Safwān, so only Allāh could tell you about that conversation.” And he became Muslim and he goes back to Makkah, and on his way back, Safwān was telling the people of Makkah, “Soon you will hear news that will make you forget what happened in Badr.” He would go around telling them, “Soon the good news will come. You are going to hear some good news, it is on its way.” But then ‘Umair Ibn Al-Wahb comes back declaring Islām. Safwān said, “I am never going to speak to him again.” Now, ‘Umair Bin Wahb who was a devil of Quraish now becomes a Dā‘iyah, and instead of persecuting Muslims as he used to do, he would persecute the people who would persecute Muslims. And many people became Muslim through the Da’wah of ‘Umair Bin Wahb, Allāhu Akbar!

9.5.3 Lessons from the Battle of Badr

Victory is from Allāh: Number One: Victory is from Allāh. After victory, normally soldiers would be very proud of their training, their skills, their bravery, [etc.]. Allāh never ever praised the Muslims for their victory –never. Look at the Āyāt that commented on the victory of Muslims, Allāh says: And victory is not but from Allāh. Indeed, Allāh is Exalted in Might and Wise. Al-Anfāl: 10

And Allāh says: And you did not kill them, but it was Allāh who killed them. And you threw not, [O Muhammad], when you threw, but it was Allāh who threw that He might test the Believers with a good test. Indeed, Allāh is Hearing and Knowing. Al-Anfāl: 17

Sowho does the credit go to? Allāh. Allāh says in another Āyah: And remember when you were few and oppressed in the land, fearing that people might abduct you… That was who you were; you were few, you were oppressed, and you used to fear that people might abduct you …but He sheltered you, supported you with His victory, and provided you with good things – that you might be grateful. Al-Anfāl: 26

Allāh is dealing with the aftermath of victory, is dealing with the probability of Muslims feeling pride and having confidence in their abilities or attributing the victory to their abilities. Allāh is telling them that the victory was a blessing from Allāh, it came from Allāh, and it was Allāh who gave you that victory. And for example, when the Muslims came to congratulate Rasūlullāhﷺ, one of the Sahābah responded back by saying, “Why are you congratulating us? What are you congratulating us for? Illaqīna Illā ‘Ajā’iz Sul‘an –We have only met old bald men like camels waiting for slaughter and we slaughtered them.” So he was like saying it was so easy. Rasūlullāhﷺ told him, “Do not say that O cousin, those were the leaders.” It was Allāh who made it easy; this was a formidable foe, it was a strong foe, [so] do not belittle their ability and strength, but the victory you achieved was because Allāh made it easy for you.

So this is very important [to remember] that whatever victory we achieve in any avenue of life, we attribute it to the One it belongs to and that is Allāh. Whether you are successful in your business, whether you are successful in your education, whether you are successful with your family, whether you are successful as a Dā‘iyah, whether you are successful as an Imām or scholar, attribute it to the One it belongs to and that is Allāh  . Do not be like Qārūn who said: “Innamā Ūtītuhū ‘Alā ‘Ilmin ‘Indī – I was only given it because of knowledge I have.” Al-Qasas: 78

Ihave this wealth because of my skill, because of my knowledge.

Miracles that Occurred in Badr :  [The second lesson is] some of the miracles that occurred in Badr:

The reducing of numbers in sight – we talked about that.

The rain

The sleep – they slept very well the night before the battle

The angels coming down

Umayyah Bin Khalaf – Rasūlullāhﷺ said that he will be killed, and his prophecy was fulfilled.

The Sword of ‘Ukāshah – he had a wooden sword and Rasūlullāhﷺ held it and it turned into a real sword.

The killing of the Imāms of Kufr – that is a miracle because before the battle, Rasūlullāhﷺ said, “This is where so and so will be killed, this is where so and so will be killed, this is where so and so will be killed,” and they were killed exactly in the spots that were pointed by Rasūlullāhﷺ.

The eye of Qatādah  – Qatādah had one of his eyes fall out of its socket and it was only hanging by the nerve, and they were about to cut it, but Rasūlullāhﷺ told them not to do so and Rasūlullāhﷺ held the eye, placed it back in its socket and then wiped it. Qatādah would say, “That eye became stronger than my other eye.” That is a miracle of Rasūlullāhﷺ.

Knowing the whereabouts of the money of Al-‘Abbās.

Revealing the assassination plot that Wahb Ibn ‘Umair was planning.

All of these were miracles that happened in Badr, so you can see that yes, Qur’ān is the greatest miracle of Rasūlullāhﷺ, but he had so many physical miracles, many more than probably any other Prophet. A word on the miracles of Rasūlullāhﷺ, I think I spoke about this in some of my other talks; most of the miracles of Rasūlullāhﷺ occurred in the context of Jihād, and also most of the Karāmāt of the Awliyā’ of Allāh  occurred in the context of Jihād, so really, Jihād is where the Karāmāt happen.

Al-Walā’ Wal-Barā’ :  The next lesson: Walā’ and Barā’ – Loyalty to Allāh and His Messenger and the Believers, and disassociating ones self from Disbelief. A few examples from Badr:

Abū Bakr Prepared to Kill his Son:  Abū Bakr was on the Muslim side and his son ‘Abdur Rahmān was on the side of Al-Kuffār. ‘Abdur Rahmān Ibn Abū Bakr told his father later on when he became Muslim, “O my father, I saw you on the Day of Badr, but I would avoid you because I did not want to attack you.” Abū Bakr said, “I did not see you, and if I saw you, I would have pursued you and killed you.” So Abū Bakr was willing to fight his own son for the sake of Allāh.

Abū Hudhaifah and his Father ‘Utbah :  We talked about the story of Abū Hudhaifah and his father ‘Utbah, when he saw that his father was buried in Al-Qulaib.

Mus‘ab Ibn ‘Umair and his Brother Abū ‘Azīz :  Mus‘ab Ibn ‘Umair and his brother Abū ‘Azīz who was a POW. Mus‘ab passed by the Ansār who were holding Abū ‘Azīz and he told them, “Tie his hands fast, tighten the ropes on Abū ‘Azīz, because his mother is wealthy and she will ransom him for you.” So Subhān’Allāh! Is this an advice that Mus‘ab should give to the ones who are holding his brother?! Hold him well? Tighten the ropes that are tying him because his mother will ransom him? So his brother was amazed, he said, “Brother, is this how you treat me?” Mus‘ab Ibn ‘Umair said, “He is more my brother than you are.” He was pointing to the Ansār who were holding him and he was saying that these are my real brothers and you are not. These are my brothers because of Islām, and even though you are my blood-brother, but your Kufr has separated us.

The Young Men of Makkah who Did Not Make Hijrah :  Another issue relating to Walā’ and Barā’; there were some of the young men of Quraish who were interested in Islām and actually did become Muslim, and these were sons of some of the noble families of Quraish. Now Allāhu A’lam, did they become Muslim because they sincerely believed in Islām or did they become Muslim because it was a revolt against the status quo and they were just interested in it as a fad like we would see among some of the youth of today, they just want to embrace some things because they are different and it makes them different. So these were wealthy young kids in Makkah and they became Muslims, such as ‘Alï Bin Umayyah Bin Khalaf, Abul Qais Bin Al-Walīd Bin Mughīrah, Abul Qais Bin Fāqih, Al-Hārith Bin Zama‘ah, and Al-‘Aas Bin Munabbih; these were all sons of the wealthy men of Quraish. They became Muslim but they could not withstand the demands of Islām, the sacrifice that Islām asks from you, so they stayed behind and they did not make Hijrah; these were spoilt kids, they were not willing to go through the hassle of Hijrah and all of that, you know, we will be Muslim if it is convenient, but if it is going to cost us too much then forget about it. So they stayed behind, and in fact, they joined with their fathers and their tribe in the Battle of Badr. Ibn Hishām says all of them were killed in the Battle of Badr. So the Muslims said, ‘Well, you know, these were Muslim; probably they did not want to go out and fight, [but] they are Muslim.’

So Allāh revealed verse 97 of Sūrah An-Nisā’ talking about them, [and] I want you the listener to think about this; what do you think their fate is? These were Muslim, they were Muslim, but they did not go far enough in sacrificing for Islām, they stayed behind and then they ended up being killed in the Battle of Badr. Probably they never shot an arrow, probably they never struck with a sword, they just went out in the army because they had to, you know, a soldier is called to duty. What do you think their fate was? Allāh says: Indeed, those whom the angels take [in death] while wronging themselves – [the angels] will say, “In what [condition] were you?” They will say, “We were oppressed in the land.” The angels will say, “Was not the earth of Allāh spacious [enough] for you to emigrate therein?” For those, their refuge is Hell – and evil it is as a destination. An-Nisā’: 97

Sodo not play around with Islām, do not fool around with it. This is a serious Religion, and you need to be serious. Allāh says in Qur’ān: Yā Yahyā Khudhil Kitāba Biquwwah – O Yahyā! Take hold of the Book with strength. Maryan: 12- Hold it strong. And Allāh tells Banī Isrā’īl:

Khudhū Mā Atainākum Biquwwah – Hold fast that which We havegiven you. Al-Baqarah: 63

So this Religion does not accept half-hearted effort and giving it part-time or being a Muslim when it is convenient and doing otherwise when it is not; Allāh has promised you Jannah but you have to pay a price. In the Tafsīr of this Āyah by Ibn Kathīr, he mentions a few narrations [and] one of them is by Bukhārī, it says that Ibn ‘Abbās said, “This Āyah is talking about some Muslims who were with the Disbelievers, adding to their numbers,” meaning they did not really go out to fight, they just went because they had to, a soldier responding to the call of duty, they had to go out, “and while they were in the army, an arrow would come and kill one of them, and a blow from a sword would kill another, and a blow from a spear would kill a third; that is how they died. And these are the ones whom Allāh revealed this Āyah about.” So their Islām did not benefit them because they did not make Hijrah and they went out with the army of Quraish. And I think you need to think very deeply about this particular situation because of the implications of it, the implications of it are very important; you do not want to die and then have the angels tell you that your reward is Hellfire. We ask Allāh to forgive us all, to grant us Jannah, and we ask Him to spare us the punishment of Hellfire.

Istighāthah – Seeking Assistance from Allāh :  Another lesson: Istighāthah – seeking assistance from Allāh. After Rasūlullāhﷺ prepared the army, trained them, lined them up, gave them his instruction, and chose the best location, after all of that, he went aside and he started making Du‘ā’, and that is the meaning of Tawakkul. Tawakkul means that you do your best, you exhaust the worldly means, and then you depend on Allāh. Rasūlullāhﷺ did his best in terms of everything that he was capable of doing in this world in terms of preparing for this battle, and after that he started making Du‘ā’ to Allāh . So do not think that Allāh will give you victory if you sit at home, comfortable on your couch, and then just raise you hands and say, ‘O Allāh give me victory! O Allāh give them victory! O Allāh give the Muslim Ummah victory!’

You have to stand up and do something, you have to do your best and then you ask Allāh to give you, and this applies to everything; this is the issue of Tawakkul. You know, some people have an understanding of Tawakkul that is not really Tawakkul but it is what is called Tawākul, like those whom were walking lazily pretending as if they were Zuhhād, and ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattāb saw them and asked, “Who are these?” They said, “These are Al-Mutawakkilūn – These are the ones who have Tawakkul on Allāh.” So he went and beat them with his stick and said, “You know that the sky does not rain gold and silver, you have to go out and work.” So the meaning of Tawakkul is what Rasūlullāhﷺ mentioned in the Hadīth, he said, “If you have the right Tawakkul on Allāh, Allāh will provide for you like He provides for the birds; they leave in the morning hungry and they come back at evening full.” So here the birds did not stay at home, they went out and worked for the entire day, and that is the meaning of Tawakkul. So Tawakkul is [that] you do your best, but you do not depend on your effort, you do not depend on your intelligence, you do not depend on anything in this world, but you depend on Allāh. So yes, Rasūlullāhﷺ prepared the army, yes, he lined them up, yes, he gave them instructions, but he did not depend on that, he went aside and he started making Du‘ā’ and he was so involved in the Du‘ā’, and the Du‘ā’ was so long [that] Abū Bakr As-Siddīq felt sorry for him and said, “O Rasūlullāh, that is enough, Allāh will give you what He promised you! Allāh has already promised you [victory].” So we have to have Istighāthah on Allāh. We depend on Allāh, but we also have to do our best. So we do not just do our best and forget about the Du‘ā’, and we do not just do the Du‘ā’ and forget about doing our best, they both go hand in hand.

This is the end of our commentary on the Battle of Badr, and Inshā’Allāh Ta‘ālā we will now talk about events that occurred between Badr and Uhud.