The skirmiss between Muhammad's army and his Meccan opponents is seem as the most glorious battle in Islam. In reality, it does not qualify to be a battle at all, but a treacherous highway robbery by desert decoits.
Introduction
In this article I investigate the claim that the events at Badr constitute a battle. For fourteen centuries, Muslims refer to the incidents at Badr as the Battle of Badr, the most glorious one in Islam. It is my conviction that the events at Badr were not elements that constitute what can be called a battle. I provide evidence to my claim below.
What is a Battle?
A battle is understood as an encounter of two opponent armies. There should an element of prior knowledge between the two parties that they are warring each other.
Is this what happened at Badr? Let us investigate that.
Islamic sources
Al-Islam website has some interesting remarks on the events at Badr. Here are some quotes:
- The Battle of Badr is one of the greatest and most famous battles of Islam and those who participated in it enjoyed a special distinction amongst the Muslims.
- One of the praiseworthy policies adopted by the Prophet in all the battles (the details of which will be given later) was that he used to collect information about the strength of the enemy and his location. And even till today the question of procurement of information enjoys great importance in global as well as local wars.
It is true that collection of information is good whether in times of peace or war. We collect information and analyze it when we fight disease, plan to buy a home, go to one of many universities... etc. Even if we were a gang of bandits wanting to rob a commercial caravan, it is very important to collect information to know if what we are robbing is of any value or not, and if it is worth it to risk our lives or not. Muslims believe that Badr is a battle; not just any battle, but a great battle of early Islam. Or is it?
The events leading to Badr
In The Life of Muhammad, which is a translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah (translated by Guillaume, 21st impression, 2007), we can easily find the truth about the incidents involved in what Muslims call the battle of Badr (p. 289 and after). Let’s look at some quotes and do some critical analysis:
“…when the apostle heard about Abu Sufyan coming from Syria, he summoned the Muslims and said, ‘This is the Quraysh caravan containing their property. Go out to attack it, perhaps God will give it as a prey.’” (p. 289)
The above is the reason that started the events leading to what happened at Badr.
Does this look like going to battle, or going to do some highway robbery?
What is the difference between what Muhammad was trying to do, and what the Somali pirates try to do?
What Muhammad said reminds me of what the robbers of cowboy movies used to do. Jesse James and billy the kid used to do similar things. They would hear about some caravan or train, loaded with commodities, money or gold, then they would talk to the gang members and set out on their way to do the robbery. This is what Muhammad is doing here. He heard about a commercial caravan lightly protected by about thirty or forty people, so he summons his gang; the Muslims, to get moving so they can do the robbery.
Muslims, off course, try to justify what Muhammad is trying to do. Al-Islam website that I linked the reader to does just that:
As Quraysh had confiscated the property of Muslim Muhajirs residing in Madina, it was only appropriate that the Muslims should also confiscate their merchandise and if they persisted in withholding the property of the Muhajir Muslims on account of their enmity and obstinacy, the Muslims should, as a retaliatory measure, divide their merchandise amongst themselves as war booty.
The above justification of what Muhammad and his bandits tried to do and did at Badr is, as we say in Arabic ‘an excuse that is worse than admittance of guilt’. The claim is that Muhammad was justified in attacking a Qurayshi commercial caravan because when the Meccan Muslims immigrated to Medina, the Qurayshites took over their property, is ludicrous. First of all, there is no supporting evidence to such a grand claim. Second, even if some people of Quraysh took over some of what was left by the immigrants, it was their family members left in Mecca who did that. This is a family matter in this case. Third, suppose I came to your home and stole an expensive computer, does this justify you going to a food store and robbing it just because I am one of the share-holders of that store? In short, the above claim in Al-Islam website cannot be defended.
My goal of this article is not to relay the story of Badr, but rather to analyze its nature. In any case the story goes as follows:
Abu Sufyan, the caravan leader realized that Muhammad and his bandits are trying to attack and steal all of what they had, so he changes the travel route and reaches Mecca safely.
Abu Sufyan also sent someone to Mecca alarming them about what Muhammad and his bandits were up to, and asked the Quraysh to send their men to help protect the caravan, which they did.
Now, does this look like Quraysh is trying to make war upon Muhammad, or, are they just trying to protect their livelihood in securing the safety of the incoming ommercial caravan that Abu Sufyan is in charge of?
Once the caravan was secured, Abu Sufyan sends word to the Qurayshites that the caravan is safe, and that they should go back to Mecca. Sure enough, some of the Qurayshites go back. However, Abu Jahl, one of Quraysh leaders, and some others decided to stay. Here is why:
Abu Jahl said, ‘By God, we will not go back until we have been to Badr’- Badr was the site of one of the Arab fairs where they used to hold a market every year. ‘We will spend three days there, slaughter camel and feast and drink wine, and the girls shall play for us. The Arabs will hear that we have come and gathered together, and respect us in future. So come on!’ (Sirat, p. 296)
Now, Muslims love to vilify two people in early Islam, one of them is Abu Jahl (abu Lahab being the other). Does the above quote tell of a man going to war? You see, this man, while Muhammad was in Mecca, made fun of Muhammad, and knew that Muhammad was a crazed man. Narcissists never forget things like that. Muslims follow Muhammad’s suit and hate Abu Jahl, because Muhammad did. But clearly, the above quote tells of a man wanting to have a good time. War and fighting at Badr is not on his mind. Since I myself enjoy a good glass of wine, I think I would have enjoyed visiting with Abu Jahl if we were living in the same time period. All he wanted to do is go to Vegas (Badr!!) and have some enjoyable time.
Now, it is important to understand Muhammad at that point in time. He had becoming the sole leader of Mecca in his mind all along. When he moved to Medina, he always inquired, and sent groups of Muslims to watch for Qurayshi caravans for possible looting. His first success was the Nakhla raid, but it was not his first attempt. He had many failed attempts before. Now, to become a leader of Mecca, an option is to kill some of its leaders who are a hindrance to Muhammad. This is exactly what Muhammad did at Badr. The Muslims controlled the route to the water, and killed many Muslims trying to get some water. Now, the killing of Abu Jahl was the prized trophy of Badr as far as Muhammad’s concern. The man, Abu Jahl, made fun of him in Mecca. And he would be a great obstacle for Muhammad taking over control of Mecca if the chance arises. So, killing him and some of the other Meccan leaders would make an easier road for Muhammad in controlling and taking over Mecca in the future.
What we have here is not really a battle, but rather the Muslims ambushing the Qurayshites, thus killing some of them (mostly when they were trying to get some water to drink), including some of the leaders, and imprisoning the rest. True, the commercial caravan escaped, but the Muslims could still get some ransom money for the imprisoned ones. History bears me out here. Muhammad and the Muslims got a lot of compensation for the Badr Qurayshite prisoners.
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