The Battle of Badr – First Battle Ever Fought in The History of Islam

Like every other religion, Islam has its own history – A history so glorious and fascinating that it would take one’s lifetime to narrate the whole of it. One important branch of Islam’s history is the battle of Badr. Battle of Badr is one of the three main battles fought for the expansion of Islam – Battle of Badr, Battle of Uhud and Battle-Al-Khand, and one of the few battles specifically mentioned in the Al-Quran. It is the first battle ever fought in the history of Islam and the first clash against Kefirs (non-Muslims) fought by Muslims as one whole team. The combat elevated Islam’s respect all around the world as one reasonable and powerful religion. It acted as the launch of Islam’s invasion all around the world.

After Muhammad Ibn `Abd Allāh Ibn, the prophet of Muslims was first born in the Quraysh tribe of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, one day, he was preached by Allah through Angel Gabriel telling him to preach to the people a new religion called Islam – a religion which would guide people throughout their life and answers all the questions that man may possess in his mind.

After Muhammad (SAW) told people what he observed in the cave at Mount Hera, people did not believe him. Even if they did, they wouldn’t follow what Allah had said as they had already been engaged with Idolatry, or the worship of an idol, a physical object such as a cult image, as a god. Some people felt they were being forced to believe in Islam.

For this reason, very soon, non-believers of Islam, mainly the Meccans gathered up as a team against Muhammad (SAW) and conspired to kill him. Afraid of getting hurt or even killed, Muhammad (SAW) performed Hegira, also termed as the Anno Hegira, or the day when Muhammad, with his followers, migrated to Yathrib, or medina, another city in Saudi Arabia upon the invitation of the citizens of Medina. The date on which Muhammad migrated to Yathrib has been accounted as the first day of the Islamic Calendar. The people with whom Muhammad migrated are known as Muhajirs, an Urdu/Arab word for immigrants.

The battle of Badr was fought only for the expansion of Islam. One day, Muhammad received word that a large rich caravan from Mecca was travelling from Syria to Mecca. Muhammad’s intention was to raid the caravan, and so gathered up an army of 313 men, largest army ever assembled to fight in a battle at that time.

Badr is a city between Medina and Mecca. When the word reached the Muslim army about the departure of the Meccan army, Muhammad immediately called a council of war, since there was still time to retreat and because many of the fighters there were recent converts

By March 11 both armies were about a day’s march from Badr. Several Muslim warriors captured two Meccan water carriers at the Badr wells. Expecting them to say they were with the caravan, the Muslims were horrified to hear them say they were with the main Quraishi army. Some traditions also say that, upon hearing the names of all the Quraishi nobles accompanying the army, Muhammad exclaimed “Mecca hath thrown unto you the best morsels of her liver.” The next day Muhammad ordered a forced march to Badr and arrived before the Meccans.

When the Quraishi reached Juhfah, just south of Badr, they received a message from Abu Sufyan telling them the caravan was safely behind them, and that they could therefore return to Mecca. At this point, a power struggle broke out in the Meccan army. Abu Jahl wanted to continue, but several of the clans present promptly went home. Despite these losses, Abu Jahl was still determined to fight. During this period, Abu Sufyan and several other men from the caravan joined the main army.

At midnight on March 13, the Quraish broke camp and marched into the valley of Badr. The battle began with three supporters from both armies emerging to engage in combat. The Muslims transmitted the Meccan champions in a three-on-three encounter. This was a victorious traditional 3 on 3 combat for the Muslims.

Now both armies began striking arrows at each other. A few Muslims and an unknown number of Quraish warriors were killed. Before the real attack began, Muhammad had given orders for the Muslims to attack with their ranged weapons, and only engage the Quraish with melee weapons when they advanced. Now he gave the order to charge, throwing a handful of pebbles at the Meccans in what was probably a traditional Arabian gesture while yelling “Defaced be those faces!” The Muslim army yelled “Yā manṣūr amit!”[28] “O thou whom God hath made victorious, slay!” and rushed the Quraishi lines. The Meccans, understrength and unenthusiastic about fighting, promptly broke and ran. The battle itself only lasted a few hours and was over by the early afternoon.

Muhammad decided to return to Medina. While Muhammad was returning to Medina, he reportedly received a revelation regarding the distribution of war booty.

According to Muslim scholar “Saifur Rahman al Mubarakpuri”, a Quran verse was revealed ordering the execution of Nadr bin Harith. After this revelation, Nadr bin Harith was subsequently beheaded by Ali.

Later the command to kill Uqba bin Abu Muayt was given, and he was subsequently beheaded by Asim Bin Thabit Ansari (some sources say Ali beheaded him).

“Badr” has become popular among Muslim armies and paramilitary organizations. “Operation Badr” was used to describe Egypt’s offensive in the 1973 Yom Kippur War as well as Pakistan’s actions in the 1999 Kargil War. Iranian offensive operations against Iraq in the late 1980s were also named after Badr. During the 2011 Libyan civil war, the rebel leadership stated that they selected the date of the assault on Tripoli to be the 20th of Ramadan, marking the anniversary of the Battle of Badr.[46]

The Battle of Badr was featured in the 1976 film The Message.