The Battle of Badr...the first victory for Muslims over the Quraysh

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A battle in which the Muslims defeated the Quraysh on the 17th of Ramadan of the second year of the Hijra

, achieving the first overwhelming victory over the most important Arab tribes at that time. This victory prompted those angry with the nascent state (the Quraysh, the Jews, the Bedouins, and the hypocrites) to create an alliance that attempted to eradicate the Muslims and break their power, but to no avail.

Battle context

The Quraysh lied about the Messenger of God, Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, killed a number of Muslims, tortured others, displaced them, and confiscated their money, but that did not eliminate the followers of the new religion, especially after a group of them succeeded in emigrating to Abyssinia, and then the Pledge of Aqaba was held, after which the Messenger of God decided to emigrate. To Yathrib, a large number of immigrants had preceded him there, who received a distinguished reception from the Aws and Khazraj, who bore the name of the Ansar ever since.

The Quraysh tried to make up for what they had missed and go directly to killing the Noble Messenger, and for that purpose they allocated young men from most of the tribes of Mecca so that their blood would be dispersed among the tribes so that Banu Hashim would be unable to demand revenge for their blood.

The Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, was able to leave Mecca and reach Medina, even though the Quraysh turned the earth upside down searching for him.

Despite his distance from them, the people of Quraish were keen to plot against the Muslims and seek to stop their expansion, especially since new enemies of Islam had been added to their ranks inside Yathrib, led by Abdullah bin Abi bin Salul, who was preparing to assume the kingship of the city before the arrival of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace.

The Battle of Badr had fateful results in the history of Islam (Image with artificial intelligence - Al Jazeera/Medjorny)

If the Quraysh wanted to avenge their dignity after their failure to stop Islam and the success of the immigrants and the Holy Messenger in reaching Medina, then the Jews were complaining about the mission of the Prophet, peace be upon him, after they had been waiting for him to be sent from them. Rather, they were threatening him to the Aws and Khazraj, but when he was sent by the Quraysh They disbelieved in him even though they found descriptions and details about him in their books.

In this threatening, hostile atmosphere, Muslims, led by the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, moved to impose a new power equation on the ground.

The Prophet of Islam began targeting the economic power of the Quraysh represented by their trade and caravans that were passing through the roads of Medina in the direction of the Levant. In this context, the Great Battle of Badr came on the 17th of Ramadan in the second year of the Hijra.

Quraish caravan

The story of the Great Battle of Badr began after news arrived of a large Quraish trade caravan led by Abu Sufyan bin Harb. Narrations state that it consisted of a thousand camels loaded with various types of commercial goods, and was guarded by only about forty people.

So the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, decided to go out to the caravan to control it and respond to the Quraysh, which confiscated the money of the Muslims in Mecca and robbed them of everything they owned.

Abu Sufyan, for his part, received news of the Muslims’ departure to intercept his convoy, so he sent to seek help from the Quraysh, which saw that the opportunity had come to annihilate the Muslims and that it should not be missed, despite the fact that Abu Sufyan had sent to them informing them that he had changed his course and saved the convoy.

Abu Jahl Amr bin Hisham incited the Quraysh to fight and took advantage of the opportunity to deal a fatal blow to the Muslims and impose the prestige of the Quraysh on the Arab tribes.

The Quraysh came out with about a thousand fighters, at a time when the number of Muslims - according to accounts - did not exceed 314.

Battle details

When it was confirmed that the matter was heading towards a direct armed confrontation, the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, consulted his companions, and the immigrants said good, and the great companion Al-Miqdad bin Amr became famous for saying, “O Messenger of God, go ahead when God sees you, for we are with you, and by God we do not say to you as the Children of Israel said.” To Moses: Go, you and your Lord, and fight. We are sitting here. But go, you and your Lord, and fight. We are fighting with you. By the One who sent you with the truth, if you had led us to Barak al-Ghumām, we would have fought with you without him, until you reached him” (Biography of Ibn Hisham).

But the Prophet of Islam wanted the position of the Ansar to be determined and their opinion confirmed before the battle, not only because they embraced the new religion, but also because the pledge of allegiance that the Ansar had made to the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, did not include fighting, but rather included protecting and preventing it. Therefore, they did not They were obligated to do something outside Medina, and he, peace be upon him, was keen to verify their agreement, so he said again, “Advise me, people.”

The Quraysh insisted on fighting the Muslims in the Battle of Badr despite the survival of Abu Sufyan’s caravan (artificial intelligence image - Al Jazeera/Medjorni)

The distinguished companion Saad bin Muadh, who was a prominent leader within the ranks of the Ansar, stood up and said, “By God, it is as if you want us, O Messenger of God!” He said, “Yes.” He said, “We believed in you and believed you, and we bore witness that what you brought was the truth and we gave you.” Based on that, our covenants and covenants are to listen and obey, so go ahead, O Messenger of God, with what you want. By the One who sent you with the truth, if you were to cross this sea with us and wade into it, we would plunge into it with you, not a single man of us would leave behind. We do not hate that you meet an enemy with us tomorrow, and indeed we are patient in war and will be truthful in the encounter. Perhaps God will not leave behind. He will show you from us what pleases your eyes, so travel with us with God’s blessing.” The Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, was pleased with what the immigrants and Ansar said, and said, “Go and give good news, for God Almighty has promised me one of the two groups.”

The Muslims arrived at Badr Wells, 155 kilometers from Medina and 310 kilometers from Mecca, and the Quraish army arrived in the same area. The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, described the Muslims and incited them to fight and devote their intentions to God Almighty, and began to pray to God to grant him victory over his enemies.

Some of the Quraish leaders came forward to request a duel, as was the custom in battles at that time, and among them were Utbah bin Rabi’ah, Shaybah bin Rabi’ah, and Al-Walid bin Utbah, all of whom were from the same family. Utbah bin Rabi’ah was famous among the Quraysh for his wisdom and intelligence, and he was one of those who refused to fight the Messenger of God after the caravan’s survival, but he submitted to Abu Jahl’s desire.

A group of Ansar went out to fight them, but the polytheists asked for fighters from among their people from among the immigrants, so the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, ordered Ubaidah bin Al-Harith bin Abdul Muttalib, Hamza bin Abdul Muttalib, and Ali bin Abi Talib to come out, and they were able to kill the leaders of the Quraysh, which raised the The morale of the Muslim army and the ranks of the Quraish were frustrated by this bad start.

Then the battle soon broke out, and the Prophet gave his companions good news of victory and direct divine support. The battle ended with the killing of about seventy people from Quraish, including prominent leaders, led by Abu Jahl Amr bin Hisham, Umayyah bin Khalaf, and Utba bin Rabi’a.

The Muslims also captured about seventy others. They ransomed some of them with money, and others by teaching the Muslims how to read and write. An amnesty was also issued to other poor prisoners who had nothing to ransom themselves with. While the rest of the army was dispersed, groups and individuals returned to Mecca carrying the tails of defeat.

Repercussions

One of the results of the decisive battle was that the Muslims appeared as a difficult figure in the equation of the Arabian Peninsula, after they were in the eyes of their opponents just a fragile group that would disappear with the first blow from the Quraish and its allies.

As for the Quraysh, they were killed, as their prestige was damaged, and after they had been bragging to the tribes that they were the custodian of the ancient house and the cradle of strength and invincibility, they suffered a hideous defeat and their symbols were killed in a battle with an army whose number did not exceed 314 soldiers.

In addition, the arteries of its economy were now in the hands of the Muslims, cutting them off whenever they wanted. The caravans that fed the Meccan economy were no longer conducted in the same way. Rather, the Quraysh found themselves obliged to follow a long route on roads they were not familiar with, to move away from the normal routes that passed through Medina, and even This solution did not benefit the Quraysh because the Muslims cut it off from them.

As for the Bedouins surrounding Medina, they were disturbed by the emergence of a force that announced itself so clearly through a quick and decisive victory over the most powerful Arab force in the region represented by the Quraysh, so they decided to gather to attack it seven days after the victory of Badr. The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, had no choice but to gather the Muslims and go out to Banu Salim, who hurried to flee to the mountains after they saw the Muslims and did not dare to confront them.

The overwhelming victory achieved at Badr created a new sect in Medina, a sect known in history as the hypocrites, as they were forced to embrace Islam out of piety after they had been hostile to it in the beginning. The steadfastness of the Muslims’ power left them no room for maneuver except through the door of hypocrisy, in order to preserve their interests and be able to defend. About their alliance with the Jews and Quraysh.

One of the results of the Battle of Badr was also the Muslims’ control over a geographical area that expanded to include northern Mecca, the coastal region, and Medina, which cut off any hope for the Quraysh of continuing their trade with the Levant, so they began to think and prepare for a new round.

Despite its success in dealing a strong blow to the Muslims in the Battle of Uhud in the third year of the Hijra, after a number of archers disobeyed the order of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, to remain in their places, the Quraysh were not at all happy with what they had achieved, as soon the ranks of the Muslims united again, and the march that ended was launched. With the conquest of Mecca on the twentieth of Ramadan in the eighth year of the Hijra.

Source: Al Jazeera + websites