On 17th Ramadan 2 A.H., the
Muslim and the Quraishite armies met for the first time on the battlefield of
Badr. The Muslim army numbered 313 poorly equipped soldiers and faced 1000 men
armed to the teeth. The disparity between the numbers and equipment is hard to
imagine.
The Holy Prophet ï·º
advanced to the valley of Badr and seized the water supply and then blocked up
all the wells except the one nearest to Makka. Thus he got first strategic
supremacy. The Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad ï·º
spent the night praying humbly to God for special divine help. The Muslims were
stationed on the firm ground of the slope of a hill whereas the Makkans
encamped on the sandy soil that had become slippery due to light rain. The sun,
on the morning of the battle, hit in their eyes, but the Muslims had the sun on
their backs.
The Makkan army had another
setback when a strong wind began to blow and hit their eyes. Most
importantly Allah sent down a thousand angels to help the Muslims, as stated in
Surah Anfal.
In the battle of Badr, Hazrat
Talha (رَضِÙŠَ ٱللَّٰÙ‡ُ عَÙ†ْÙ‡ُ) was appointed to keep an eye on
the movement of caravans from Makkah.
The battle itself was fought in 3
stages: first war of words, then single combats, and lastly a general
fighting. The Quraysh lost their three prominent chiefs, Utba bin Rabia, his
brother Shaiba and his son Walid bin Utba by Ali (رَضِÙŠَ ٱللَّٰÙ‡ُ عَÙ†ْÙ‡ُ),
Hamza (رَضِÙŠَ ٱللَّٰÙ‡ُ عَÙ†ْÙ‡ُ) and Abu Ubaidah (رَضِÙŠَ ٱللَّٰÙ‡ُ عَÙ†ْÙ‡ُ).
In the general fighting that followed, the Muslims followed the advice of the
Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad ï·º to first shoot arrows, then hurl stones,
and lastly to engage in battle with swords in their hands.
They soon were able to press the
enemy hard, as they killed such leading figures as Abu Jahl, Umayyah bin
Kha'laf and many others so that a total of 70 Makkans were killed and 70 were
taken as prisoners that included Abbas (Holy Prophet's ï·º
uncle), an-Nazr, Uqba, Sohail and son of Abu Sufiyan.
Against this only 14 Muslims were
martyred. The Muslims also captured 115 camels, 14 horses and a rich store of
clothes, carpets and equipment of war.
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