104 /// fix J w /mpl 0/ fix ProphetThe Ba ttle of Badr
When it had become clear chat the cara-an had escaped and that a full-
scale war lay ahead, j\ luhamrnad tried to discourage the Quraysh from
choosing war. H e sent Umar ibn al-Khattab to suggest to the Quraysh
that they should turn back and thus avoid confrontation. Among the
Quraysh, some also wanted to avoid war, and U tbah, one o f the Mcccan
leaders, even offered to pay blood money for their ally who had been
killed during the sacred month. Nothing helped, however: th e ad vocates
o f war among the Quraysh were determined, and they knew that the
numbers wefe clearly in their favor. I ndeed, they considered Umar's
attempt a sign o f weakness. This was a great oPPOrtunity fo r them to
destroy the Muslim community and get rid of Muhammad.
T he Prophet had, for his part, had a num ber of inspirations and
dreams. He und erstood that war was going to result fro m this encounter
with the Quraysh and that the o utco me would bc in his favor. He kept
praying to God and encouraging his Companions to persevere and remain
determined. He announced to them: " By He who holds Muhammad's
soul between His hands, nobod}' will be killed today, fighting in the firm
ho pe of a reward, going fo rward and not turning back, but God will
directly make him enter His Paradise.,,14 He again pros trated himself for
a very long time, praying to God to keep I-lis promise, protect his com-
mllnity, and grant the Muslims victory, until Abu Bakr invited him to stop,
convinced that Go d could not let them down.
T he battle was going to take place in the month of Ramadan, on the
seventeenth, in the second year o f hijmh (624 CE). On the road to Badr,
the Prophet reminded the tvluslims who wished [Q fast th at this was not
compulsory when traveling: ''Piety does not consist in fasting when trav-
eling; it is your duty to make good use of the permissions [mkiJoJ, sing.
rukJJJoj granted to you by God. Accept them!"ls Each circumstance of life
was useful t o remind tll e Muslims o f their religion's teachings, and the
Prophet kept insisting on the petmissions granted to th e faithful, who
must make the practice o f th eir religion easy and bring good news rathet
than cause repulsion: " Make things easy, and do no t r ender them difficult!
Bring good news [which cheers the heart], no t bad news [which puts off
and dispieasesl!"16 T he Pro phet d rank water co nspicuously on that occa-
sion to set an example for his Companio ns.