BATTLE OF BADR - A Remarkable Event in the Islamic History

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful 

“For sure Allah helped you at Badr when you were utterly weak. Beware, the, of Allah; perhaps you will be thankful”.  (Al-Imran 3:123)

Badr is the name of a rural city about 150 miles from Madinah City.

Very detailed history of the Great battle of Badr, which is considered as a remarkable event in the Islamic History.

The day of the battle was named the Day of Criterion, Yaoum ul Furqaan

First time the followers of the new faith were put into a serious test.

This was a battle in which the forces of truth, numbering 313 men against all odds, defeated an army three times their size.

When Holy Prophet arrived at this momentous decision, he called the Muhajirin and the Ansar together and placed the whole position before them, without any reservation.

 Companions Historical Role-play

 Miqdad bin 'Amr, a Muhajir, stood up and said,

"O Messenger of Allah! Please march to the side to which your Lord commands you; we will accompany you wherever you go. We will not say like the Israelites, 'Go and let you and your Lord fight we will wait'. In contrast to them we say, 'Let you and your Lord fight; we will fight by your side to our last breath'."

Sa'ad bin Mu'az, an Ansar, stood up and said,

"Sir, it appears that you are putting the question to us." When the Holy Prophet said, "Yes", the Ansar replied, "We have believed in you and confirmed that what you have brought is the Truth, and have made a solemn pledge with you that we will listen to you and obey you. Therefore, O Messenger of Allah, do whatever you intend to do. We swear by Allah Who has sent you with the Truth that we are ready to accompany you to the sea shore and if you enter it, we will plunge into it. We assure you that not a single one of us will remain behind or forsake you, for we will not hesitate at all to go to fight, even if you should lead us to the battlefield tomorrow. We will remain steadfast in the battle and sacrifice our lives in the fight. We do hope that by the grace of Allah our behavior will gladden your heart. So, trusting in Allah's blessing, take us to the battlefield."

For the number of people, who came forward to go to the battlefield, was only a little more than three hundred (86 Muhajirs, 62 from Aus and 170 from Khazraj). Then the little army was ill-armed and hardly equipped for battle. Only a couple of them had horses to ride and the others had to take their turn in threes and fours on the back of a camel, out of the 70 they had in all. Above all, they had not got enough weapons for the battle; only 60 of them had armors

No wonder that with the exception of those who were prepared to sacrifice their lives for the cause of ISLAM.

The Holy Prophet supplication before the beginning of the battle:

The two parties met in combat at Badr on the Seventeenth of Ramadan. When the two armies confronted each other and the Holy Prophet noticed that the Quraish army outnumbered the Muslims by three to one and was much better equipped, he raised his hands up in supplication and made this earnest prayer with great humility:

"O Allah! Here are the Quraish proud of their war material: they have come to prove that Thy Messenger is false. O Allah! now send that succor that Thou hast promised to give me. O Allah! If this little army of Thy servants is destroyed, then there will be left none in the land to worship Thee."

In this combat the emigrants from Makkah were put to the hardest test for they had to fight against their own near and dear relatives and put to the sword their fathers, their sons, their paternal and maternal uncles and their brothers.

This was indeed a very hard test for it meant that a small town with a population of a few thousand inhabitants was going to wage a war with the whole of Arabia. It is obvious that only such people could take this bold step who believed in the Truth of Islam so firmly that they were ready to sacrifice every personal interest for its sake.

A Western research scholar says that before the Battle of Badr, Islam was merely a religion and a state but after the Battle it became the state religion, nay, the state itself.