6 ISLAM AT WAR
The caravan leader had learned that the attack was coming and sent to
Mecca for reinforcements. It is debatable if the caravan could have been
saved or if the relief force sent from Mecca—more than 1,000 men,—
was actually a defensive measure, or a punitive expedition designed to
punish Muhammad. In either event, it was a disaster.
Muhammad had apparently deliberately let word escape of his intention
to attack the caravan in order to draw out the Meccan army, his real target.
Commanded by God to attack his persecutors, he had carefully lured the
Meccan army out where he could engage it. The engagement occurred at
Badr, eighty-five miles southwest of Medina, during Ramadan,A.D. 624.
Before the fight occurred, Muhammad gave the Ansar (supporters), as the
natives of Medina were called, leave to return to their homes, as their oath
did not include the requirement to fight in the field. Unwilling to abandon
their ruler, they refused to leave and went into battle. With these brave
men and his original band of Meccan followers, the Prophet’s forces were
unstoppable. Muhammad’s inspirational leadership brought his 300 men
victory over a force of more than 1,000 Meccans. During the engagement
the Meccan chief, Abu Jahl, one of Muhammad’s greatest enemies, was
killed. This engagement is also described as the first jihad, or holy war,
because it was an aggression by infidels who were intent on the destruction
of Islam and the Muslims.
The battle was hugely significant to the establishment of Muhammad’s
temporal power. The victory was interpreted as divine sanction of the new
faith that he was spreading. Accordingly, we must examine this in terms
of what had been revealed to Muhammad in the surah, prior to this en-
gagement. There are two relevant passages:
Surah IV, 74. Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell the life of this
world for the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be
he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward.Surah IV, 104. Relent not in pursuit of the enemy. If ye are suffering lo!
They suffer even as ye suffer and ye hope from Allah that for which they
cannot hope. Allah is ever Knower, Wise.Surah IV, 74, is a passage that we will frequently discuss. It promises
paradise to those who die fighting for Allah. Imagine if you will the in-
fluence this would have on a man who believed it to be the revealed word
of God, spoken to him by God’s own prophet. Surah IV, 104, is far more
practical. It rightly points out to those who might be fainthearted that their
enemies are suffering as much they are, and if it is bad for them, it is