We discussed how here is one person who caused a miscarriage to the prophet PBUH

daughter, and yet Allah willed his progeny would be the foundes of the Habard d
ynasty which was a dynasty of great honour for Islam.
In any case, back to the seerah: we discussed the prisoners of war. In Mecca Ibn
Kathir narrates incidents in Mecca. The first of the soilders to had returned b
ack from Badr (recall the Quraysh literally ran back for their lives - they didn
't even have a plan B they were so confident they would win). The first person t
o come back was Al Haysamaan al Kuzaee, and they saw him in a bloodied state, wo
unded etc. So they asked him "what is the matter?" He answered "Ubtah, Shaybah,
Abul Hakim, Ummayah ibn Khalaf etc have all been killed". And he lists a whos wh
o. Its literally unbelievable for them and for us. How many people one after the
other died - walahi it's amazing. And he kept on naming "Abul Bhuktari etc" unt
il finally they thought "this guy has gone mad and he must be lying - it's not p
ossible!" Until finally the news reached back to Safwan ibn Ummayah, the son of
Ummayah ibn Khalaf. And Safwan was sitting with his back to the ka'bah and he sa
id "this is simply impossible - this man has gone crazy. Go ask him, where is th
e condition Safwan ibn Ummayah?" and he is referring to himself i.e. he is tryin
g to prove Haysamaan has lost it. So someone asked Haysamaan "what happened to S
afwan ibn Ummayah?" It's of course a trick question. And he replied "Safwan is s
itting right over there, and I saw with my own eyes when they killed their fathe
r and brother". This made them realise it was the truth and slowly but surely th
e rest of army came back.
Therefore after Badr Mecca was a time of great depression and greiving. It was a
s if Allah willed he saved one of the best for the very last - that is, the deat
h of Abu Lahab. The last senior person who was of the scum of Mecca left was Abu
Lahab. As we mentioned many times, those who had genuine dignity and decency, m
any times they were saved. And Abu Suffyan, Suhail ibn Amr etc are all examples
of this. Recall Abu Lahab did not participate in Badr as he hired someone to go
in his place. Why? Frankly because it was too akward for him to go as it really
was against everything he stood for i.e. he would be fighting his own tribe. Whe
n Abu Lahab heard of this news, he could not believe this and he said "I will as
k Abu Suffyan myself I don't believe these deserters". Finally he returned and t
hey met at the house of Al Abbass who was a prisoner of war. And Abbass of cours
e is tied up in Madinah, so his wife and servant are at home. Abu Lahad is Abbas
s's older brother, and Abu Suffyan came over there to inform him what happened.
Abu Lahab said "tell me exactly what happened". Abu Suffyan said "By Allah, as s
oon as we met the muslims, it was as if they overpowered us without us doing any
thing. That they killed as they pleased, and took prisoners as they pleased. And
despite all that happened, I cannot criticise our side. For by Allah, I saw men
covered with white faces riding horses that were black and white hovering betwe
en the heavans and the Earth". And indeed Abu Lahab at this broke down with depr
ession. It appears Abbass was a nominal muslim up until Badr but that real imaan
did not enter until the prophet PBUH told him where his secret stash of money w
as. So his wife and slave have embraced Islam from before. It's also said his wi
fe Umme Fadal was the 2nd lady after Khadija to embrace Islam. After Badr he is
a muslim and he sends reports to the prophet PBUH. So Abbass's slave is listenin
g in and he jumps up with joy saying "By Allah those were the angels helping the
muslims!" Now Abu Lahab - when he saw this slave rejoicing at the defeat of the
Quraysh, he lost it. He jumped up, grabbed the slave to the ground and pummeled
him to near death. And the slave can't really defend. Umme Fadal comes out and
tries to stop Abu Lahab from killing the slave; and he turns on her and begins b
eating her. This is a man who has truly lost it. So she responds back with "So w
hen the Sayyid (Abbass) is gone - this is what you do to the household?" i.e. wh
at kind of a leader are you? This made Abu Lahab feel so ashamed, he fled with h
umiliation and guilt. After this, he was inflicted with disease and he died shor
tly after this out of misery. So Allah got rid of the very last evil batch of th
e Quraysh, Abu Lahab.

Ibn Abbass mentions Mecca was envoloped with the wailing voices of the women. Ev
ery household was wailing; and indeed the dream of Aatika said every house will
be hit by a boulder. So when Abu Suffyan heard of this, he conviened a gartherin
g and told them "From now on no one will wail because we don't want the muslims
to gain pleasure from our wailing". And its said one night a Qurayshi heard a wo
men wailing, so he got happy and said "Ask her has the ban been lifted so that I
can wail about my son Zuma'a who died". But it turned out she was wailing over
a lost camel - you were allowed to wail over anything other than Badr. Ibn Kathi
r mentions tThis was a futher means Allah used to punish them. When everyone is
wailing this would bring them a sense of comfort i.e. they will be showing and l
etting out their grief. But by Abu Suffyan preventing the wailing Allah used thi
s to make their grief even more.
In Tirmidhi its mentioned that on the same day as Badr, many 100s of miles of wa
y, the Romans and Persians were fighting. And in a twist of fate that was comple
tely unexpected, the Persians were defeated despite the face the Romans were goi
ng down for a while. They had a major war a few years before this. Now Surah Rum
came down perhaps the 6th/7th year of the daw'ah i.e. middle of Meccan period.
And so Allah told the muslims:
1. Alif Laam Meem
2. The Byzantines have been defeated
3. In the nearest land. But they, after their defeat, will overcome.
4. Within three to nine years. To Allah belongs the command before and after. An
d that day the believers will rejoice
5. In the victory of Allah . He gives victory to whom He wills, and He is the Ex
alted in Might, the Merciful.
So "the Romans have been defeated" refers to a battle thats already taken place
and indeed they were defeated. But then Allah says "after this defeat, they will
be the victors 'in a few years'". subhanAllah this is one of the most explicit
verses in the whole Quran. Moreover "on that day the believers will be rejoicing
the victory of Allah".
When this surah came down, Ubay ibn Khalaf mocked Abu Bukr and he said "do you r
eally think the Romans will beat the Persians?" And indeed it was impossible to
envision this at the time. Allah predicted something truly unbeleivable that the
Romans will will. So Ubay said "do you really think it will happen?" Abu Bukr s
aid "yes of course". So Ubay said let us bet - and they agreed on a wager. And U
bay asked "how many years?" So Abu Bukr RA said "six years". And six years past,
the Romans didn't win so Abu Bukr had to pay up. Now battle of Badr - Ubay dies
, and on the very same day of the Badr the Romans were victorious. And note this
is in non muslim sources. And every single incident of the seerah can be linked
to western books showing the preservation of the seerah. Those who doubt the pr
esevation of hadith, sunnah etc every Islamic incident can be linked to a non mu
slim source.
Heraculus launched an offensive against Khosrau II. Two of his generals defected
, and one of his family members plotted against Khosrau II - thus internally the
Persian army was mashed up, and he suffered a resounding defeat. Thousands of m
iles away Badr was happening and the muslims won. Allah predicted this so many y
ears before and the muslims did not even find out on the day of Badr. It is said
that when the prophet PBUH heard he said "Why did you six? 'Bidi' can mean up t
o 9." Note this hadith is weak. The arabic 'few' means 3 to 9 - so Abu Bukr took
the middle. It was in fact 8.5 years after the bet that Badr and the Persian wa
r happened.
The status of the people of Badr: as we mentioned Jibreel AS came down himself a
nd asked the prophet PBUH "how do you view those of Badr?" and the prophet PBUH

said those who participated in Badr were "the best of us". And similarly Jibreel
AS said the angels that participated in Badr were also the "best of us". Imam B
hukari wrote a whole book on the blessings of the people of Badr full of hadith.
And one of them is the sahabi by the name of Haritha ibn Suraka. He died a shah
eed - Haritha's mother came from the Ansar and asked the prophet PBUH "tell me a
bout my son". The prophet PBUH said "He is many jannahs and is in Al-Firdois al
A'la". One of the main things used to show the status of the Badrees is in the i
ncident of Hatim ibn Abi Balta'a who in the conquest of Mecca he betrayed the pr
ophet PBUH's trust by sending a letter to the Quraysh warning them "the muslims
are coming - prepare!" And Jibreel AS came and told him "such and such has a let
ter on her person go and search her". And Ali RA did so and they found the lette
r in her hair and it said "From Haathim to the Quraysh". And it was treason - Um
ar RA is fuming and he said "Give me the word and we will execute him". And the
prophet PBUH called Haathim and asked him "why did you do this?" Haathim said "A
ll of you have your honour, protection etc. I know Allah will protect you. My fa
mily and belongings is still at Mecca - by giving this letter I hoped that they
would spare my family". So the prophet PBUH said "Haathim is telling the truth".
Umar RA once again said "let me cut his head off for a crime (not nifaaq)". But
the prophet PBUH rebuked Umar and said "how do you know that Allah perhaps look
ed at the people of Badr (this is 6 years later) and said to them 'Do as you ple
ase because you are forgiven'". In other words he used Badr to raise the status
of Haathim. Thus the sahabah who fought in Badr are the most elite. Therefore ma
ny scholars took the time to list every single sahabi who participated in Badr o
ut of respect and honour. Its in Ibn Ishaaq, Ibn Hishaam, Ibn Kathir etc.
Effects of Badr:
1. Established beyond a shadow of a doubt, the muslims have a legitimate presenc
e. They are a seperate and independant state.
2. The greatest demoralising factor for the Quraysh. This was the single greates
t shock in the entire seerah. Everything else is trivial. Why? Because in Ahzaab
etc they know the muslim are a serious threat. At Badr there was no concept the
muslims had any real presence. Further, the people who died at Badr.
3. Badr brought out for the first time internal trechary within Madinah. Firstly
the munaafiqs, and second the jews.
Tafseer of Surah Anfal
We learn this surah came down on the planes of Badr - literally. So the referenc
es were very clear to the muslims at that time. Perhaps there were many incidenc
es that happened that may have been forgotten by now. The main points:
1. Allah is saying don't have these disagreements - reconcile and come together
and obey Allah if you are truly believers. Don't ask about the spoils of war - t
hose belong to Allah and His rasul.
2. Allah is reminding them of the real goal; its not the money or anfal. Its sal
ah, zikr etc. And a sign of real imaan is "when my verses are recited your imaan
goes up".
3. Now Allah starts the incidences of Badr. "A group of believers did not want t
o go" - this is a reference to the hesitation among some sahabah who said "Oh pr
ophet we aren't prepared; we don't have armour etc" and notice Allah is criticis
ing but at the same time calls them believers. He says "mo'minoon" not "muslimoo
n" - imaan is a praise. "Even after the truth was made cleary to them" - meaning
even after the prophet PBUH told them Allah has promised victory. Notice here A
llah says they were "terrified" but this dosen't negate imaan.

4. The prophet PBUH announced again "one of the shall be Ours". So Allah reminds
the muslims "remember Allah had promised one of the two, and you wanted the one
less armed but Allah wanted the truth".
5. Allah recalls when the prophet PBUH begged for dua so He responded with 1000
angels.
6. And again Allah reminds the believers of the favours: they have a battle and
Allah allowed them to sleep. And He sent down the perfect amount of rain to clea
nse spiritually and physically, and to rid the evils of shaytan and make the gro
und firm.
7. And Allah tells the angels "I am with you, so strengthen those who have beli
eved" meaning the muslims raise the swords and the angels finish it off, and to
strike the enemy on their necks. Why? Because they opposed Allah and His rasul.
Whoever does this will find Allah is severe in penalty.
8. Allah says you should never turn your back to the enemy. But scholars say thi
s ayat was abbrogated in the beginning - the only possible excuse is if you are
outnumbered '10 to 1'. So the ideal is given first, and then Allah gives a conce
ssion.
9. Allah says "you didn't kill them Allah killed them; you didn't throw Allah th
rew it" and we explained this before. There is a point of kudr here. Allah affir
med the prophet PBUH did throw thus this affirms the ahlul sunnah position. The
prophet PBUH has free will to throw but the effects of the throw were down to Al
lah.
10. And Allah references when the Quraysh asked for victory; when Abu Jahal made
a dua once at the kab'ah and then facing the army "Whichever of the two of us h
as broken away more from the traditions of his fathers, and has broken kinship m
ore then help the other". In reality he was making dua against himself. Allah is
saying "your dua has been responded to - but if you stop it's better for you; i
f you come back We will come back.. Allah is with the believers".
11. Allah said that the people blessed with vision, hearing and reason and intel
legance but don't use it properly, they are the worst in the eyes of Allah.
12. Allah calls the believers to fight against the Quraysh for the life of Islam
. And indeed if they didn't do what they did, we wouldn't be here today.
13. "Remember when you were few and oppressed" - Allah is saying they were weak
in Mecca, worrying for their lives. What happened? Allah gave them comfort (Madi
nah) and victory (Badr).
14. "Remember when those who disbelieved plotted against you" i.e. on the night
of the Hijrah. And "they plotted, but Allah planned and Allah is the best of pla
nners".
15. And "remember when they heard Our verses they said 'enough we can do the sam
e and these are just fables'". Who said this? Nathr ibn Harith - Allah is quotin
g him directly. And the next ayat applies to Nathr "Remember when they said 'sen
d a rain of rocks to destroy us, or send us a punishment'". So Allah is remindin
g Nathar through the Quran and indeed he was most likely executed after hearing
such verses. SubhanAllah. And further Nathar was told "how can we punish them wh
ile You (O Muhammad) was among them?" And further when they were those among the
people who would ask Allah for forgiveness still.
16. Allah mocks their prayer at the kab'ah "the only thing they do around the ka
b'ah is whistle and clap".

17. "Those who disbelieve spend their money to stop people coming to the way of
Allah" - this refers to the Quraysh who denoted the biggest money they ever did
towards the army to fight the muslims at Badr.
18. "If you stop, Allah will forgive what has happened, but if they come back to
fight, then their is the examples of those who have gone by" - so Allah is sayi
ng look at the previous nations that have come, challenged Allah and been destro
yed.
19. 1/5 of the booty goes to the state, 4/5 to the army as we said.
20. And Allah says "if the two of you agreed to a battle you wouldn't have done
it" meaning Allah wanted a battle so it happened. And those who died would see t
he true reality.
21. "Remember when Allah showed you in your dream they were few in number" - thi
s is referring to the dream the prophet PBUH had which Allah gave him to make hi
s optimistic. And further Allah refers to the fact that when the sahabah saw the
Quraysh for the first time one asked "do you think there are 70?" Another said
"No I think there are 100!" even though there were 1000. So Allah is reminding t
hem he made it so the army looked "few in your eyes" on the actual battlefield.
22. Internal fighting amongst muslims is a sign of defeat and Allah mentions the
cause of the defeat at Uhud as this: "And you argued with one another".
23. "Don't be like those who left their houses arrogantly wanting to be seen by
people" - and indeed the Quraysh left their houses with pride.
24. Then Allah mentions the story of Iblees in the form of Suraka. When he made
their deeds pleasing to them and said "I will be your protector". But when the t
wo armies met, Iblees fled voilently. He said "I see what you don't see (angels)
and I fear Allah".
25. And Allah says this isn't the first time He is killing a pharoh referring to
Abu Jahal.
26. Allah references to treaties: if we feel the other party is going to break t
he treaty you must publically announce the treaty is annuled. "Verily Allah does
not love the traitors" - it's so explicit here.
27. First Allah discusses 20 to 200, 100 to 1000 - a ratio of 1 to 10 was ordain
ed for turning back. Allah is saying here if the ratio is 1 to 10, "you will win
so you have no excuse to turn around". SubhanAllah. In the next verse Allah mak
es it easier - "if there are 100 strong, they will defeat 200; if there are 1000
they will defeat 2000". Thus if the muslim army is 1/2 the army of the non musl
ims then you cannot flee. This is the accepted ruling. So if there's 1000 v 2000
you can't flee as Allah promises victory. Anything below you can flee.
28. "Its not appropiate for any prophet to take PoWs until he establishes power"
. Of course the muslims wanted the randsoms because it brought them alot of mone
y. Even Abu Suffyan said "I've lost a son you think I will lose my money? Let hi
m stay there". Abbass was down to the last penny. It was a large sum for them bu
t Allah said "you wanted this but Allah wanted something else". Further Allah sa
ys "were it not for kitabAllah" - i.e. were it not for the fact this has been de
creed (kudr) OR Allah had allowed for this ummah prisoners of war and war booty,
"You would have been punished". So some decree prevented this punishment and si
nce it's been allowed "go ahead and eat from the ganeema".
29. Abbass used to swear the next ayat was revealed for him: "If Allah knows in

your heart any good, he shall give you better than what he's taken away, and All
ah will forgive you". After this Abbass said I wish I had more money to give awa
y. Allah says "If the prisoners betray you, you will catch them and have power o
ver them". One of the two of the prisoners of War did indeed betray their trust
- Allah is predicting that here.
30. After Badr, the commandments came down that every last muslim in Mecca has t
o immigrate to Madinah no excuse. "Those who believe, immigrate and fight in the
way of Allah (Muhajiroon), AND those who gave shelter and aid (Ansar) - these t
wo are the helpers one of the other. Those who believe but did not immigrate (mu
slims in Mecca), you have NO guardianship over them, except if they immigrate" so the muslims in Mecca have no protection from the Islamic state. But Allah sa
ys "if they ask for help, then help them except if you have a treaty with others
". So you should help but regarding physical and financial help: we need to see
our political situation. If we have a convenant with a group, and we are being a
sked for help by muslims elsewhere that contradict this covenant, we cannot do i
t based on this ayat. So we help with dua, finance etc but in terms of physicall
y helping we need to see our own situation. There is an excuse for political rea
sons.
31. "Others may have their differences but they will unite against you". Very cl
ear in modern times - everyone is united against muslims.
32. In early Islam, your time of embracing Islam gave your rank - Allah referenc
es this too in this surah. The later you embraced the lower you are.
33. The muhajir and Ansar inherited from one another (muaakar) - but Allah stopp
ed this by revealing "families are closer when it comes to inheritance".