  |
|
In the anger and frustration, the masters of Quraish began to
inflict suffering on the Muslims and their families who stayed behind in Mecca. They
tortured them and confiscated their possessions and valuables. In the meantime, the
Muslim community at madina had to wit and be patient as permission to wage war against
the disbelievers was not granted. Then there was a great change. The revelation came from God to Muhammad, peace be upon him, that Muslims could fight against their oppressors and the God would help them. This happened when a caravan belonging to Quraish was traveling nearby. The Prophet ordered his followers to prepare to attack the caravan. The caravan was led by one of the chiefs of Quraish, Abu Sufian. News about the Muslims preparing to attack the caravan somehow reached Abu Sufian and he hurried home to Mecca following a different route. He told his fellow Meccans about what he had heard and Quraish gathered a huge army to go and fight the Muslims. The Muslims fighters were about three hundred in number and had a few camels and horses with him. The Quraishi army consisted of about one thousand heavily armed men accompanied by many horses and camels. The Muslims had only gone out to attack the caravan so they were not fully prepared for a large scale battle. The Prophet, peace be upon him, did not wish to enter the battle unless his followers were convinced and prepared, so he gathered the leaders of the Muhajirin and the Ansar and consulted the on what to do. All of them agreed to go ahead with their preparations to face the Quraishi army. The Muslims reached near a water well called Badr and camped there. One of the Prophet’s companions asked the Prophet, "O Messenger of God, is this a place which God commanded you to stop at, or is it your own opinion?" The Prophet answered that it was his opinion. Then the Prophet’s companion said, "O messenger of God. I think there is a better place for us to camp at. It would be batter for us to camp at. It would be better for us if we camped at the water well and fought the enemies there. Then we could drink and us the water to deprive our enemies from the water." The Prophet, peace be upon him, agreed to this opinion and did what the man suggested. The two armies met at the well of Badr. The Quraishi were sure of victory because they greatly outnumbered the Muslims and had more weapons and horses. They had brought along singers and women and were already preparing to celebrate victory. However, with God’s help, victory went to Muslims who fought to defend their faith and their prophet, peace be upon him, they were able to kill seventy of the Quraishi fighters including the leader of the army Abu Jahl who had caused much suffering to Muslims in Mecca. Many Quraish were captured in this battle as well. It was a very heavy and humiliating defeat for Quraish and the Muslims were happy and their morals was very high. However, Quraish began preparing to take revenge. The battle of Badr was a very important turning point in the history of Islam as it opened the way for the Muslims to be a real power in Arabia. |
