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We mentioned last time tThe prophet PBUH had to verify from the Ansar whether th

ey were willing to fight. And that Sa'ad ibn Mu'ad stood up and gave a beautiful
speech.
When the prophet PBUH knew all the sahabah commited, the prophet PBUH started pr
eperations for war. He divided the army into three flanks. The prophet PBUH had
different flags: sometimes white, black or other colours. In Badr, he gave the p
rimary white flag which was white to Mus'ab ibn Omair. On the right hand side he
placed Ali ibn Abu Talib and he gave him all of the muhajiroon. On the left sid
e he placed Sa'ad ibn Mu'ad and he gave him all of the Ansar. According to one r
eport the prophet PBUH had a back group maybe for reinforcements. But the two pr
imary groups were on the right and left. In this division Islam takes into accou
nt cultural and ethnical divisions. The prophet PBUH divided up the Ansar and Mu
hajir because they both knew each other better. They felt more comfortable aroun
d each other. Thus the attitude of some muslims to ignore culture completely is
wrong. Allah clearly says "we have made you into many races". So Allah is saying
He's made us into various ethnicities so we can get to know each other. In othe
r words, if we were all the same how would anyone stand out? We wouldn't. Each o
ne of us has a personal identity. So the prophet PBUH took advantage of this eth
nic division. There's no doubt people of an area will socialise more with each o
ther - and there's nothing unislamic about this (as long as they don't fight etc
).
Notice also the leaders of each group were young dynamic leaders. And were both
of the noblemen. Thus there is a reality that you can't deny some people have qu
alities that set them apart from others. The prophet PBUH didn't choose a nobody
to lead - he chose those who would have their respect of the group. And indeed
Ali is the great grandson of Abdul Muttalib; everyone loved and adored him. His
lineage and everything was of the highest calibre. Similarly, Sa'ad ibn Mu'ad wa
s the future leader of the Ansar. So the prophet PBUH gave leadership to those w
ho deserved this leadership.
Now, the flag bearer is the focus of the army. And the prophet PBUH chose someon
e who both the Ansar and Muhajiroon look up to i.e. Mus'ab ibn Omair. He is of c
ourse Qurayshi, yet he is the earliest of people to immigrate to Madinah. Theref
ore the respect he has amongst the Ansar is unparalelled as most of the Ansar co
nverted by him. So he was the most madanih of the muhajiroon. Hence the prophet
PBUH chose him to symbolise the entire army.
Note also the position of the flag bearer is although honourable, it's also very
dangerous. Why? Because the flag bearer is always the target of the enemy. The
enemy wants the flag to fall - if the flag ever falls, its a symobl when the oth
er army sees the flag fall, it encourages them and gives them hope. And therefor
e the flag bearer is always the centre of attack. Further, the flag bearer is al
ways imparied since he has one hand holding the flag. One of main purpose of the
flag bearer is to organise the army.
The prophet PBUH arrived at Badr first - he preceeded by the Quraysh by a day. H
e came to the planes of Badr on the 16th Ramadan in the second year of the Hijra
h. And the prophet PBUH immediately set up his camp and tents on the on the enti
re planes of Badr. Before he sent up camp, one of the scouts, Al Hubaab ibn Al-M
undhir asked "this place where we are camping, is this something Allah has told
you such that we can't move one inch foward or back, or is it your own opinion b
ased on tactics?" The prophet PBUH said "No its my own strategy". So he said "In
that case I suggest we proceed until we are beyond midpoint, and therefore the
wells of Badr will be behind us. In this case we will have the wells of Badr, bu
t they will not and they'll have to rely on their jugs etc". The prophet PBUH fo
llowed this advice and said "you have directed us to the best opinion". In one n
arration its said Jibreel AS came down to tell the prophet PBUH "follow the advi
ce of Hubaab". So the prophet PBUH camped onwards until the muslims had blocked

of all the wells. The prophet PBUH put all the wells behind him, and blocked the
smaller wells after taking water out and putting the water into the big well. A
nd the biggest well was positioned such that it was in the centre of the muslim
camp.
This incident is one of dozens of example the prophet PBUH would take advice fro
m the sahabah and he would change his opinion based on them. He would always tak
e the opinions of the sahabah. In this incident Hubaab also demostrates the prop
het PBUH did things from him own opinion. Now note this issue is a huge topic is
Usool al Fiqh i.e. "Did the prophet PBUH do things from his own opinion, not fr
om Allahs will?" And this incident suggets sometimes he did. The problem comes t
hat some people take this exception and make a general rule out of it. That is,
'this was the personal opinion of the prophet PBUH, therefore we can go through
all the sunnah and pick and choose what was a personal opinion he used to do, an
d what was from Allah'. This is wrong for many reasons.
1. You cannot extrapolate a paticular incident into shariah. You cannot say when
the prophet PBUH commanded "Pray" - this is his opinion. The shariah is what he
is commanding you to do. Where the prophet PBUH is camping at Badr, there is no
shariah to be derived here. When the prophet PBUH camps at Badr, he isn't inten
ding to legislate a position of where to camp. Whereas where he prays, fasts, in
heritance etc this is shariah - he intends for the muslims to follow him.
2. Hubaab had to ask him point blank - he didn't assume he can understand what i
s from Allah's wahi and what is from the prophet PBUH's opinion. We of course ca
nnot do this now.
Sometimes, very rarely, the prophet PBUH was asked "is this something you are co
mmanding, or is this suggestion?" There are literally dozens of examples where t
he sahabah would hear something and they would apply the ruling so literally it
borders on disbelief. One such is that, during an expidition the prophet PBUH co
mmanded no one to enter his tent. One of the sahabah was outside and he had a pr
essing need. And he asked the prophet PBUH "may I enter the tent?". The prophet
PBUH said yes. But the sahabah was confused so he asked "can I enter with my ful
l body or just part of my body?" Because he's confused and dosen't want to break
the command of the prophet PBUH. Another incident was once the prophet PBUH was
giving a khutbah, and he mentioned to someone "stop". And a sahabi who was walk
ing through the door didn't see the context of that word "stop" and he LITERALLY
stopped mid-door with his foot in the air. We can go on and on. The prophet PBU
H in the battle of Kabar told Ali ibn Abi Talib "go forth and do not come back u
ntil you are victorious". And Ali RA walked 10 spaces but had a question. He was
about to turn around but then he realised the prophet PBUH said "don't turn bac
k". So he started shouting "Ya rasulAllah" facing fowards yan'ee he was being so
literal that he dosen't even turn around.
We only have one or two where there's a reason where a sahabah asks "is this wah
i from Allah or just a suggestion?" This incident with Habaab is one of them. An
other is the incident of Bareera who was a free slave. But she had a marriage. S
o has the right to continue or cancel the marriage. She decides to cancel it. An
d so her husband begs and cries "please take me back etc". And Bareera didn't ev
en look back. And they are going aroud the city and ibn Abass said "I saw Mugeet
h beard wet with tears 'Oh Bareera etc'". So the prophet PBUH saw the two of the
m walking around the city like this. So he said to Bareera "why don't you take h
im back?" So she asks "Are you commanding me or is it just a suggestion?" The pr
ophet PBUH said "I am just reconciling". She then said "Ok for I have no need of
him". Some say these were the only two incidences where this happened. But peop
le extrapolate this so much and they say "don't tell us anything he commanded, w
e will just follow the Quran". But of course this is wrong.
So after they took all the water out of the small wells and transported it to th

e big wells, this is when Sa'ad ibn Mu'ad suggested "why don't we make a camar i
.e. headquaters where the prophet PBUH can monitor the battle?". The prophet PBU
H agreed and the sahabah set up, not tents but a sleeping area etc. And night fe
ll and the Quraysh who were on the horizon. It was thus known to all the battle
would take place the very next morning.
And its narrated in Imam Ahmed that the prophet PBUH spent the whole night makin
g dua to Allah and making prolonged sajdah. And he said "Oh Allah if you destroy
this group, you will not be worshipped on Earth" i.e. if we fail now, Islam wil
l be ruined. And in the middle of the night light rain began to fall, and the pe
ople had to take their belongings and shelter themselves under trees, camels etc
. And the prophet PBUH continued to pray and make dua until finally the dawn bro
ke. And he was the one who said "Oh people time for salah". And thus began the 1
7th Ramdan in the second year of the Hijrah. According to modern historians this
is March 17th 624 CE, and it appears this occured on a Friday.
Allah mentions both the rain and sleep in Surah Anfal as a miracle from Him. All
ah says "When sleep overcame you, this was a blessing from Him, and He sent down
for you from the skies rain to purify you, and there was a spiritual bath, and
to make your footsteps firm". SubhanAllah when there is no rain the desert sand
is difficult to walk in. No rain is difficult - alot of rain is impossible. But
just the right amount of rain makes the sand firm. And Allah caused their side o
f the field firm. And Ali RA said "if you could only see us on the night of Badr
, every one of us was dead asleep, except for the prophet PBUH who was praying b
ehind a tree and making dua until the morning". And subhanAllah this is a miracl
e - why? Because the night before a big test, exam or even a battle you are nerv
ous and cannot sleep. Yet the sahabah were fast asleep. This is truly a miracle
and gift from Allah. Imagine the affairs of the Quraysh: worry, concern, no slee
p, no rain. And again we know if Allah helps you, there is none that can overcom
e you. It's also said the Quraysh side recieved a downpour of rain which is the
worst. This also shows the concern of the prophet PBUH - even though he put his
trust in Allah, he is concerned for his people. So he begs Allah all night in sa
jdah. Ibn Masood said "I have never seen anyone pleading more than the prophet P
BUH was pleading on the night of Badr".
The question arises: did he go to sleep at all? Ibn Kathir says he did doze off
and in this dozing off Allah showed him a dream. What dream? Its referenced in t
he Quran, that "Allah showed them (Quraysh) to you as being small in number; if
He had showed them to you as big as they were, you would have despaired. But All
ah protected you (by not showing the real quantity)". Now - this is not misinfor
mation. If there are 100 people and you see 10 of them. If Allah shows 150, this
is incorrect. Allah never does anything incorrectly. Rather he showed him a dre
am of a section of the army. And this section is a correct, valid and true secti
on. So when the prophet PBUH woke up, he was optimistic.
As the sun rose up and the prophet PBUH alligned the muslim army the prophet PBU
H used a tactic not used by the Arabs. The Arabs of old used to attack in circle
s; they would attack and them come back. And then attack and then come back etc.
But the tactic of the prophet PBUH was a modern tactic which is military battal
ions marching in rows. This tactic was not known to the Arabs. But Allah taught
our prophet PBUH this tactic and this is the standard practice of all armies cur
rently. In Badr they didn't have all of the weapons but eventually the front row
has javelin and spears; the back row has the arrows and the middle rows have sw
ords. The prophet PBUH did not have much weaponary, but nonetheless he followed
it. And the prophet PBUH was walking between the rows straightening them as if t
hey were in salah. Again this is exactly how modern armies do. Amazingly the pro
phet PBUH had never seen this or experianced this but he has this intuition. And
so he was marching between the rows and he had a stick to straighten the rows.
And there was one sahabi, Suath, who was out of line so the prophet PBUH poked h
im to get in line "Straighten up oh Suath". Suath said "Ya rasulAllah you have p

oked me and caused pain without any cause. And Allah sent you with truth and jus
tice, so I demand justice". Can you imagine - they are about to have a battle! T
he prophet PBUH is just poking but Suath says "I demand justice". Immediately dr
ops the stick, raises his shirt and says "here is qisaas". SubhanAllah. The prop
het PBUH said "you have a point". And Suath immediately bowed down and hugged an
d kissed the skin of the prophet PBUH that was exposed and the prophet PBUH said
"what is this?" Suath said "Ya rasulAllah you see the situation was in, so if I
die I wish my last breath/time be that my skin touch your skin before my death"
. SubhanAllah the point is he is being very clever - he plotted to kiss the prop
het PBUH. So the prophet PBUH made dua for him and asked Allah to bless him. And
subhanAllah when it comes to rights kings and slaves are the same - this is why
the prophet PBUH said "yes you are right I shouldnt have poked you for no reaso
n so do it to me". What was the pain? Nothing. But it shows us the prophet PBUH'
s humility, humbleness etc. Even the khalifah when he went to the court he was j
udged to being wrong. The famous story of the jew and Ali RA, when the courts ju
dged against Ali, the jew immediately converted to Islam because he said "this m
ust be the true religion".
As the sun is rising, and the two armies can see each other, the prophet PBUH sa
w a man galloping back and forth in the lines of the Quraysh, and the prophet PB
UH said "If there is any good in the Quraysh its in that person; if they listen
to him they shall be successful". And the prophet PBUH said "Oh Ali call out to
Humza and ask him, 'who is that man, what's he saying?'". Note we infer from thi
s Allah gave the prophet PBUH wahi he is saying good but didn't specify what.
Also when the prophet PBUH saw the Quraysh he made dua "Oh Allah this is the Qur
aysh they've come with their pride challenging you and they have rejected your m
essenger. Oh Allah your help that has been promised (x3) cause them to be destro
yed".
Now to the Quraysh
On the morning of the 17th, the Quraysh are not sure yet what the size of the mu
slim army is etc. So they send after Fajr their most experianced scout Umayr ibn
Wahab Al Jumahee. So he goes far and wide around the planes of Badr to get an e
stimation as to how much the muslims are. And he tells them "there are around 30
0 - but I feel there is a huge catastrophe about to happen. There are young men
of Yathrib waiting to inflict death; a group of people who have no help other th
an their sword i.e. (no armour, not many spears, javelins etc nothing really) so
they will be vicious in their fighting. By Allah I don't think you will be able
to kill any one of them until they kill one of you. And if 300 of you die, then
what pleasure will you gain? Now do as you please". He said he sensed determina
tion, bravery etc. And Abu Jahal said "we didn't ask for your advice". Note, we
are seeing there are still people in the Quraysh army that don't want to fight.
More than 300 returned already - Ummayah and Uqbah didn't want to go and Abu Jah
al enticed them.
Another person trying to stop the war was Hakim ibn Hizzam; his son was a sahabi
and he was on the other side. His son was called Hizzam so Hizzam ibn Hakim ibn
Hizzam. And so he goes to Utbah ibn Rabbiyah who didn't want war from day one.
He asks Utbah "why don't you take on the blood money of the Hadrami" - note al H
adrami was the person who died when those six sahabah attacked that caravan in t
he sacred month. And the Quraysh were hyping this up saying "these are the peopl
e who killed al Hadrami we need to avenge him etc" and they are making a big dea
l of it. We hear the same crap today. So Utbah said "Ok fine if this is what wil
l prevent bloodshed I will pay the blood money (its ALOT of money)" and he made
a speech to the relatives of Al Hadrami that "I will give the money - stop chant
ing his name". Hakim himself said "take the advice of this man" and Utbah said "
if someone accuses you of cowardice mention my name and say I was the one who be
came scared - go ahead and say that, even though you know I'm not a coward. By A

llah if you defeat this man you will kill your own blood, your own father, broth
er etc. How would you like it you are amongst the murderers of your brother, fat
her etc". He is invoking jaheleya here - it was all about triablism. And he said
"let us return and leave Muhammad and his companions to the rest of the Arabs.
If they overcome him, this is what you want. If it's the other case i.e. he over
comes them, then surely his honour is our honour aswell. And we will have an exc
use for him to forgive us". So this was when he was on his camel going back and
forth. And when this happened Hakim was so happy; he went to Abu Jahal and said
"Utbah has agreed to pay the blood money let us stop this war". But Abu Jahal ju
st mocked Hakim and said "Didn't Utbah find a better slave/messenger than you?"
Hakim responds and said "I agree with the message I want no bloodshed". When Abu
Jahal finds out people are changing their minds, he goes to the blood brother o
f Al Hadrami and says "will you be happy to take some gold?" So this young man s
tood up and gave a passionate talk about his brother. Abu Jahal at this point sa
id "Oh Utbah you have become a coward after looking at the army". This is strang
e here; Utbah himself said "call me a coward". But when Abu Jahal did it, he fli
pped. And he said "this person who perfumes his behind, he accuses me of being a
coward? He shall see who the real coward is." And at this he called his own bro
ther and son to march out for the mubaraza which was 3 vs 3.
Notice the prophet PBUH praised Utbah even though his ideas and reasons were wro
ng; he wanted to fight out of triablism not because Islam is the truth. But what
he said made alot of sense i.e. how can you fight your brothers and fathers and
live with people who killed your family? Therefore the point is its good to sup
port causes not coming from the shariah but causes that are just. There is nothi
ng wrong with us praising and helping these just causes out. The whole seerah sh
ows us a person can be bad i.e. an idol worshipper, but still have good positive
morals.
As the Quraysh line up, Abu Jahal makes dua to Allah and he says "Oh Allah which
ever of the two of these armies has brought more evil, and cut the ties of kinsh
ip, and has brought the more unknown Adoctrines, let them meet their death today
". And all of three of these counts he is guilty. The prophet PBUH is bringing t
he doctrine of Ibrahim AS. Abu Jahal is following the newer one. Abu Jahal himse
lf brought evil and cut ties. Thus, he is making dua against himself.
The prophet PBUH told the muslim army certain people should not be killed: Al-'A
bbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib (his uncle) and Abul Bhuktari. One of the major things
about him was he was one of the most important people to break the boycott. And
he mentioned others and said "all of these people have been forced to fight". T
his shows us not all enemies are the same.
We had mentioned that Utbah started the mubaraza. It translates as battle/open b
out. The way the Arabs would have a battle is that before the two armies engaged
a few people would fight one on one. Not the actual leader but the second rank.
This would give moral victory to one of the two sides. And it was Utbah who sta
rted, however there was an incident occured before this (whether the night befor
e or early morning) one person died from Abu Jahals tribe. And when they came to
the battlefield and saw all the water had been cut off, Al Aswad said "I will g
et water or die trying". And so he attempted to sneak into the muslim camp to st
eal some water, but Humza saw him and killed him. Therefore he was true in what
he said: he died trying. So he was thus the first person to die.
The first actual battle was the mubaraza. Utbah ibn Rabbiah, Shaybah ibn Rabbiah
and Utbah's son Waleed ibn Utbah. This is the cream of the Quraysh - second tie
r, just one level below Abu Jahal and Abu Suffyan. So they marched forth and the
y shouted out "who will come forth and battle us?" Immediately three young peopl
e stood up from the Ansar jumped up in their eagerness. They were Auf ibn Afrah,
Muawad ibn Afrah and 'Abd Allah ibn Rawahah. Note the two Afrah brothers eventu
ally killed Abu Jahal. So Utbah said "Who are you? We don't know you nor do we h

ave any quarrel with you. We are fighting our own blood". They are looking at pu
re jaheleya. They don't understand the bonds of imaan is greater than blood blon
ds. They are basically saying "we don't even need to fight you go back home - se
nd us our own blood". So Utbah called out "Oh Muhammad send out our equals". And
so the prophet PBUH said "stand up you oh Humza, Ali and Ubaydah ibn al-Harith"
. So the prophet PBUH sent out three people that were noblemen and core Qurayshi
. Utbah said "who are you?" And when he heard the names he said "Yes these are n
oble adversaries come and fight".
Ubaydah ibn al-Harith ibn Muttalib ibn Abdi Munaf. Remember Abdul Muttalib was r
eally called Shaybah. Abdul Muttalib was called Abdul Muttalib because of this g
uy. Muttalib rescued Shaybah, and when Muttalib entered Mecca he had a young boy
and he didn't want to tell the people this is the son of his brother. Why? He w
as still scared of the Banu Najar. So he said "this is my new slave" so Shaybah
became Abdul Muttalib. So Ubaydah, his grandfather is that Muttalib. So Ubaydah
was the prophet PBUH's fathers second cousin. Note he's not Hashim by the way, h
e is of the Banu Abdi Munaf. He was the oldest among them so he goes towards Utb
ah. Hamza goes to Utbahs younger brother; and then of course the two youngsters
are Waleed and Ali so they fight each other. Indeed it's the only logical pairin
g that each pairing is by age. It's said both Humza and Ali instantly pounced an
d killed them without a single injury on themselves. As for Ubaydah, Utbah manag
ed to slice his leg off, so Ubaydah fell down but by that time both Humza and Al
i finished so they killed Utbah off. So the father, brother and son all died all
because Abu Jahal called him a coward. Allah references this in Surah Hajj vers
e 19 "These are the two people who are arguing about their Lord". And so Ubaydah
was carried on the shoulders on Humza and Ali, and he died a few days later sin
ce they couldn't stop the wound bleeding etc. So this was a moral boost to the m
uslim; this was just the initial victory. Its narrated in Muslim that when the p
rophet PBUH lined up the army he once again made dua "Oh Allah fulfill your prom
ise to me" and he raised his hands completely to the skies. This is one of the t
hree postures about how to make dua.
1. Palms outwards - the prophet PBUH explicilty said "don't ask Allah from the b
ack of your palms".
2. Sometimes the prophet PBUH made dua by simply raising a finger i.e. for zikr.
3. Very rarely he would raise his hands all the way up to the heavens, palms fac
ing outwards and up. On this occasion it's also allowed to raise your heads. Oth
erwise in salah you never raise your eyes. But at times of extreme problem and d
istress he used to raise his hands and eyes. And he kept on making dua so much s
o his upper garment falls off and his whole chest is exposed and open. At this A
bu Bukr RA stood down, picked up the upper clothing and wrapped it around the pr
ophet PBUH. And he said "enough ya RasulAllah enough your Lord will give you wha
t he promised".
SubhanAllah we notice here the prophet PBUH and Abu Bukr RA are perfecting two e
ssential emotions: hope and fear. You have to have both. Each one deserves a tim
e when it should be more than the other. And he had barely said this when the pr
ophet PBUH when into a trance. Literally as soon as he lowered his hands he went
into trance i.e. wahi came down onto him and Allah responds. And this goes back
to Abu Dawuds hadith wherein the prophet PBUH said "when a servent raises his h
ands up, Allah is embarrased/shy those hands come back without something being i
n them". If anyone of us feels shy when someone is shy, how about Allah who is t
he most perfect? And how about when His own messenger is doing the asking? How c
an those hands come back without giving him something? And Jibreel AS comes with
the wahi - and its said the prophet PBUHs eyes were shut tight, but when the wa
hi ended, ibn Masud said he turned around and its as if his face was the moon. A
nd he tells Abu Bukr RA "you are telling you to calm down, I am telling you to b
e happy, for indeed the help of Allah has come. This is Jibreel AS, he has worn

his turban, and is riding his horse". And Allah says in the Quran
[Remember] when you asked help of your Lord, and He answered you, "Indeed, I wil
l reinforce you with a thousand from the angels, following one another."
1000 angels! One angel could have taken care of all of them. SubhanAllah. And th
e prophet PBUH began reciting "the groups shall be defeated and they shall turn
their backs and flee". Umar RA said he used to ask himself "which group of this?
when will this happen?"
And the prophet PBUH stooped down, picked up some pebbles, threw it at the Quray
sh and said "may these faces be cursed". And every single person in the army wer
e blinded by this. Allah says this in the Quran:
"...And you threw not, [O Muhammad], when you threw, but it was Allah who threw
that He might test the believers with a good test. Indeed, Allah is Hearing and
Knowing."

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