Battle of badr

All praise is to Allah, and May the blessings and peace be upon the
messenger of Allah
Assalaam Alaikum wa Rahmatullaah wa Barakaathuh

I have chosen to speak about a historic event of significance, infact it is

probably one of the most if not the most significant event in the history
of Islam. It is the Battle of Badr. It is my understanding that the purpose
of speaking about these historic events should be to benefit and to
derive lessons from them. As our Lord Allah the most high ordered in the
Quran;
So relate the stories, perhaps they may reflect.
And in this battle is a fountain of lessons which we can benefit from in
our current state of affairs as the Islamic Nation

Here are some of the things I would talk about,

First I will give a brief introduction
Then I will talk about the reason the battle took place
Next I will give a short summary of the main events that took place prior
to the fighting
Then I would talk about the 2 armies
And then I will move on to talk about the Outcome of the battle
And lastly I will mention a few lessons.
Contents
Introduction
Reason for the Battle
Summary of main events before the fighting
The Armies
The Outcome
Lessons

Introduction
The battle of Badr was the first decisive battle in the history of
Islam.
It occurred in the 17 of Ramadan in the 2nd year of hijra.
It was named as such because it took place near the wells of Badr.
Here is a map of the area that the battle took place

The Reason for the Battle

The Prophet (Peace be upon him) got news that a Maccan caravan
headed by Abu Sufyan, coming from Sham would pass by Madina.
So in order to instill fear in the hearts of the disbelievers and to
reply to a previous attack by the disbelievers, the Prophet (Peace
be upon him) ordered a party of the Muhajirin and Ansar to
intercept the caravan.
But Abu Sufyan became informed of the movements of the
Muslims so he led it off the main routes. And he sent DamDam al
Ghifari to Mecca to inform them that their caravan is in danger,
and that they should rush to help it and save it. So Abu Jahl
marched out with a huge army.
 The Muslim army returned.
After being able to reach Mecca safely Abu Sufyan sent word to
Abu jahl to return back because the caravan is safe and that they
arrived to Mecca safely. But Abu Jahl got arrogant and wanted to
show the rest of the Arabs the power of Quraish.

Summary of Main Events

When the Prophet (Peace be upon him) knew about the army of
Abu Jahl he consulted the companions. And after hearing from
them inspiring words of determination and willingness to fight,
the Prophet (Peace be upon him) proceeded with the battle.
Through scouting operations the Muslims were able to find out
the number of soldiers, their exact location and names of some of
their notables.
The same night it rained on both sides. For the disbelievers it
obstructed further progress, whereas it was a blessing for the
Muslims.
Following a suggestion of Al-Hubab bin Mundhir the Prophet
(Peace be upon him) encamped the Muslim army near the well of
Badr and destroyed the rest of the wells in order to deprive the
disbelievers from water.
Sad bin Muadh suggested that a trellis be built for the Prophet
(Peace be upon him) to function as headquarters for the Muslim
army and a place providing reasonable protection for the leader.
The Prophet (Peace be upon him) spent the whole night
preceding the day of the battle in prayer and supplication.
The Muslim army, enjoyed sound and refreshing sleep, a mark of
the Divine favour.
The Armies
The Muslim Army
o The Muslim army was made up of 300-317 men, 82-86
Muhajirin, And 231 Ansar, 61 from Aws and 170 from Khazraj.
o They had only 2 horses, 70 camels, one for two or three men
to ride alternatively. The Prophet (Peace be upon him))
himself, shared a camel with 2 other companions.
o The general leadership was given to Musab bin Umair and
their standard was white in colour.
o The army was divided into two battalions;
1- The Muhajirin with a standard raised by Ali bin Abi
Talib,
2- The Ansar whose standard was in the hand of Sad bin
Muadh.
o Az-Zubair bin Al-Awwam was appointed to the leadership of
the right flank.
o Al-Miqdad bin Amr was appointed to lead the left flank.
o And the rear of the army was at the command of Qais bin Abi
Sasaah.
o The General Commander-in-Chief was the Prophet (Peace be
upon him)
o Allah the most High sent down angels from the heavens for
the help and assistance of the Prophet (Peace be upon him)
and his companions.
Allah the most High mentions this in the Quran;
Verily, I am with you, so keep firm those who have believed. I will cast
terror into the hearts of those who have disbelieved. [8:12]
And he also said;
I will help you with a thousand of the angels each behind the other
(following one another) in succession. [8:9]

The Disbelievers Army

o The Disbelievers Army was made up of 950 - 1000 fighters.
o They had 700 camels and 300 horses.
o The entire army was armed to the teeth and the reciters of
martial songs also accompanied the army.
o Allah the most high vilified the disbelievers army in the Quran
saying;
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 Allah. And
Allah is encompassing of what they do. (8-47)

The Outcome
With the help of Allah the Muslims gained a huge victory over the
disbelievers.
14 Muslims were killed, of whom 6 were from the Muhajirin and 8
from the Ansar.
The disbelievers sustained heavy casualties, 70 were killed and 70
taken prisoners.
Many of the noble men of Makkah, and some of the Prophet (Peace
be upon him) bitterest opponents, were among the slain. Chief of
these was Abu Jahl.
Allah the most High mentioned this victory in the Quran when he
said;
And already had Allah given you victory at [the battle of] Badr while
you were few in number. Then fear Allah ; perhaps you will be
grateful. (3,123)
Lessons
There are so many lessons to be learned from this great battle that
scholars have dedicated entire lectures on this topic and I recommend
you to listen to them, I will mention a couple of lessons here and how it
relates to our current situation.
1-Victory comes only from Allah.
The Muslims were facing an army thrice their size, and they had a small
amount of amour and cavalry compared to the disbelievers, and yet
they were victorious because they had Allah the lord of the worlds on
their side, this is proof that victory only comes from Allah the most
high, and not from numbers.
Allah the most High said emphasizing this;
..And victory is not but from Allah . Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might
and Wise. (Surah al Anfal- 10)
And he also said:
And remember when you were few and were reckoned weak in the
land, and were afraid that men might kidnap you, but He provided a
safe place for you, strengthened you with His help, and provided you
with good things so that you might be grateful. [8:26]

2-True reliance on Allah the most High

This point is related to the previous point, some might think, that
because the victory comes only from Allah we can simply put our
reliance on him without doing anything practical to give victory to this
religion. The answer is No, and
In this battle the prophet of Allah showed us what true reliance on
Allah is. He did not sit in Madina simply supplicating to Allah to grant
them the caravan. Rather he prepared and went out with his
companions to capture it. And later when Abu Jahl came with the army,
the prophet made all the preparations humanly possible, went out to
face the army, aligned the ranks and started to supplicate to Allah.
We can take lessons from this for the devastating situation we are living
today as the Islamic Nation, that we have to do everything humanly
possible to lift the oppression from this Nation. And that it is not
sufficient to make supplications without taking practical steps.
We also have to keep in mind that if we dont do anything to give
victory to this religion Allah the most High will replace us with people
who will give victory while we are busy with our worldly matters.

3-Al walaa wal baraa

It is the concept of having loyalty and loving Allah the most High, His
religion and the Muslims, and disassociating and hating the disbelievers
and their religions.
This is a concept which is lost on a lot of Muslims nowadays.
The Prophet (may peace and blessings upon him) and his companions
showed exceptional examples of this in this battle, as they were facing
their own fathers, sons and uncles. They showed that that loyalty is
only for Allah the most high and not for the tribe or the family or your
nation, and whoever has animosity towards Allah the most high, His
religion or the believers will be fought even if it is the closest of
relatives.
Allah the most High emphasized this issue in various places in the
Quran, like His saying;
You will not find a people who believe in Allah and the Last Day having
affection for those who oppose Allah and His Messenger, even if they
were their fathers or their sons or their brothers or their kindred.
(Surah mujadalah 22)

Conclusion
In conclusion I would like to encourage my brothers and sisters in Islam
to learn more about events like the battle of Badr and the rest of the
history of Islam, and to teach their children about these things so that
we can derive lessons from it and work to bring a positive change to the
Islamic Nation.