As opposed to the suggestion of Abu Sufyan, Abu Jahl insisted that
they should go to the region of Badr, stay there for three days, kill
camels, drink wine and hear the minstrelgirls sing so that their
valour might reach the earsof the Arabs and they should have a high
regard for them forever.
The fascinating words of Abu Jahl made Quraysh wait at that place and
halt at an elevated point in the desert behind a mound. Heavy rain
made movement difficult for them and kept them from proceeding
further.
On the 17th of Ramadan of the second year of migration (2AH or 624 CE)
Quraysh descended, early in the morning, from behind the sandy mound
into the desert of Badr under the leadership of Abu Jahl. When Prophet
Muhammad (saw) saw them he raised his face to the sky and said: "O
Allah! Quraysh are up, with pride and arrogance, to fight against You
and to deny Your Prophet! Send the aid which You have promised me and
destroy them today!"
It was an old custom of theArabs that in the beginningof a battle
single combats were resorted to, and later general fighting began.
Three famous warriors of Quraysh came out of their ranks and
challenged for a fight. They were two brothers Utbah and Shaybah, sons
of Rabiyyah, and Walid bin Utbah and all of them were fully armed.
They roared and ran their horses in the field and called their
opponents to fight. Three brave men from amongst the Ansars named Awf,
Ma'uz and Abdullah Rawahah came out of the ranks of the Muslims.
Utbah, however, realized that they were from Madina and said to them:
"We have nothing todo with you". Then a man (from amongst Quraysh)
shouted: "O Muhammad! Send our equals to fight with us!" Prophet
Muhammad (saw) turned his face to Ubaydah, Hamzah and Ali and
said:"Get up". The three brave men covered their heads and faces and
of they wentto the battlefield. All the three persons introduced
themselves. Utbah accepted all of them for a combat and said: "Yes,
you are our equals".
Some say that in this combat each warrior fought with his rival of the
same age. Ali, who was theyoungest of them, met Walid (maternal uncle
of Mu'awiyah), the middle-aged amongst the Muslims (Hamzah) faced
Utbah (maternal grandfather of Mu'awiyah) and Ubaydah, who was the
oldest amongst the Muslim combatants fought with Shaybah, who was
oldest from the other side. Ibn Hisham, however, says thatthe opponent
of Hamzah was Shaybah and that of Ubaydah was Utbah.
Historians write that Ali and Hamzah killed their opponents in the
very first moment and then hurried to help Ubaydah and killed his
adversary as well.
As a consequence of the warriors of Quraysh being killed general
attack started, and Quraysh beganattacking in groups. Prophet Muhammad
(saw) ordered that the Muslims should refrain from attacking and
should prevent the advance of the enemy by means of archery.
The character of Prophet Muhammad (saw), whose posture in the
battlefield was described by Imam Ali,the Commander of the Faithful,
is as follows:"Every time when fighting became intense we took refuge
with Prophet Muhammad (saw). None of us was nearer to the enemy than
he".
Then Prophet Muhammad (saw) returned to the seat of command and with
his heart overflowing with faith, turned his face to the Aimighty and
said: "O Lord!If this group is annihilated today, none else will
worship you on the face of the earth."
Then Prophet Muhammad (saw) picked up some dust and throwing it
towards Quraysh, said: "May your faces be metamorphosed!" Thereafter
he gave orders for general attack.
Allah had helped you at Badr, when you were a contemptible little
force: Then fear Allah in order to show your gratitude. Whenyou did
say to the believers: Does it not suffice you that your Creator should
help you with three thousand angelssent down. (Surah al-e-Imran,
3:123-124)
The signs of victory of the Muslims began to appear soon. The enemies
were stricken with terror and began to flee. The Muslims, who were
fighting with the help of their faith, and knew that both killing and
being killed were blessings of Allah (SWT), were perfectly undaunted
and nothing stopped their advance.
Bilal, the Ethiopian , was a slave of Umayyah ibn Khalaf in the past.
As Bilal had embraced Islam while he was a slave, Umayyah ibn Khalaf
used to torture him severely. In order to make him abjure Islam he
used to make him lie on hot sand during the summer season and placeda
big stone on his chest. Even in that condition Bilal used to say:
'Ahad! Ahad! Ahad!' (Allah is One, Allah isOne, Allah is One). The
Ethiopian slave suffered a good deal until Hazrat Abu Bakr purchased
and set him free.
:->
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