(Then the prophet and his regiment came to a place called ZARRط, when they were informed that the heathens have sent forth a brigade to defend their commercial caravan.

      Soon the prophet held a council of war, to consult the case and to decide what was right to be done. The situation discussed was very critical. If the Muslims would return empty handed, they would give water to the mills of the Jews, and hypocrites of Medina. And if they would stand to fight the unequal number of enemy, it would be indeed a great risk, or perhaps committing suicide. So the consulting meeting had to show the way out of the deadlock!

      All the members of the meeting gave the absolute authority to the prophet and sat aside. In particular MEGHDAD, the most eminent man among the Emigrants, got up and said:

      ``O, Messenger of God! Do as God will. We are not the Israelites who said to Moses; `go along with your God and fight the enemy, and let us stay here safe.' We rather say to you: ``Go ahead and we shall follow you up.''

      Then SAAD- IBN- MOطZ the leading man of the Helpers too, stood up and said: ``We believe that you are the Messenger of God in truth. You may go whenever you like and do whatever you think is right, and we will definitely obey and follow you. Upon my God! If you enter a sea, we too shall enter it, and none of us will disobey.''

      The prophet who was very pleased, gave an end to the meeting by saying: ``Rejoice then! For my Lord has promised me His victory over one of the two parties - either the caravan, or over their army.''

      Then the Muslims converged on a place called Badr, some fifty miles to South- West of Medina, where there were some wells full of water.

      On the other hand ABUSOFYAN who was informed of the prophet's approach, by forced marches and devious routes managed to elude the Muslims.

 

PRIDE AND VANITY

      When the armed forces of Mecca knew that their caravan had escaped safely, some of them were of opinion that they should avoid the clash with the Muslims, most of whom were their kindreds and citizens. But ABUJAHL and some of his influential friends proposed that Mohammad and his followers should be overawed and punished, so as to make the trade route safe and secure for future use. So, almost all of the Meccans obeyed and followed ABUJAHL who was the chief commander of the army. It was then, 14th March 624 A.D. that the troops of Ghoreish encamped beyond a hill near Badr.

      Ghoreish were sure of their victory over Mohammad's forces who were much less in number of theirs. They therefore very indifferently sat drinking, dancing and jesting to live their night in merriment. Contrary to them, Muslim passed their night in silent prayer and supplication to their Lord entreating him for help against their enemy:

      ``When you were praying to your Lord for help and He answered you, saying: `I shall strengthen you with a thousands angels'' Quran S 8: 1-9

 

THE PARTIES ARRAYED THEMSELVES

      Next morning the prophet ordered his men to block out all the wells of water, except the one nearest to them, around which he had stationed his men.

      The place on which Muslims encamped, was covered with sands; but the place where the pagans had stationed was covered with soil and dust. That very night, miraculously it rained cats and dogs to the profit of the Muslims and loss of the heathens, because beneath the pagans turned muddy and sticky by the rain, while that of the Muslims which was sands washed and cleaned and turned firm to walk on!:

      ``When a slumber took you over as a token of His security and sent down on you water from the sky to ... and to stabilize your steps.''   QURAN S 8: 11 & 42

      It was a Friday morning of March 624 A.D. when the Meccan proceeded to capture the wells in the Badr, but they found Muslims firmly on guard. Without water the heathen could do nothing, and therefore the war broke out, first with a number of single combats, as it was customary among the Arabs.

      ATBEH an Arab champion, SHAIBEH his brother, and Valid his son came out from among the idolaters and asked for challengers. HAZRAT IMAM ALI (AS) the prophet's cousin, HAZRAT HAMZEHM, the prophet's uncle and OBEIDEH a relatively old man, went in the field to answer them. In a fierce and fearful fight HAZRAT IMAM ALI slew VALID. HAZRAT HAMZEH killed SHIBEH, but OBEIDEH who was an old man, was wounded by ATBEH; but Imam Ali rushed to his help and killed ATBEH too.

      When the unbelievers found their three champions killed by Muslims, they all furiously rushed on a general attack and the oven on the war blazed!

      Mohammad's little force of 313 men ill-armed, fought bravely a much larger force of 950 men well-armed! Ghoreish attacked and Muslims defended, and the war was fearful. When the pagans came closer, the Muslim archers began to shoot, and then the two parties grappled in a single combat man for man. In this critical situation, the prophet who was fighting in the middle of his men shouted with a loud voice saying:

      ``O, you who believe in God and His Messenger! Upon my Lord in whose hands lays my life; he who stands firm and steadfast today in fighting these heathens for the sake of Allah; Paradise will be his reward.''

      When Muslims heard that, eager for martyrdom, they attacked the enemy. Awf- ibn- Hartha took out his chain mail and threw it away and rushed upon the enemy without armour!

 

 

THE ANGELS APPEARED IN THE FIELD

      The believers were steadfast and showed an ever inreasing resistance in their defensive endeavour. None of them could be killed without killing several of the enemy, but still the believers were lower and less in number and arms and equipment, and yet they won an amazing and unbelievable victory. They gave a defeat to the heathens that was indeed a great disaster for them. The prophet when at first saw Ghoreish in the battle field, he said: ``Mecca has sent the (dearest) parts of her liver out. There in the battle- field of Badr all the leading men of Ghoreish, and all the influentials of Mecca were slayed- some 70 of them!''

      Almost all the historians, besides the Holy Quran, have written that the angels too, were helping Muslims in the fight. Many men from both parties have testified that they had seen the angels, somehow in the form and shape of man! Dressed in white they were seen to have come down from the sky and overhead.

 

THE END OF THE WAR

      When the war was over, seventy of the leading men and influentials of Ghoreish were killed including their chief commander, ABUJAHL. In fact mother had named him ABULHAKAM which means the father of wisdom, but people had nicknamed him ABUJAHL, which means: the father of ignorance; and he is only known by his second name. Seventy of the ABUJAHLS were killed with an equal number of them captived, and the rest of them scattered in the rocks, mountain and valleys, all more or less wounded! The believers gave fourteen martyers - six of them Emigrants and eight of them Helpers.

      The pagans who were killed in the battle were buried all in one of the wells in the Badr, which was void of water, as per order of the prophet.

      When all the slayed heathens were burried in that well; the prophet stood in front of that collective grave and said:

      ``O, you residents of this Well! O, Atbeh- O, Shaibeh, O, Abujahl; Did you find Allah's promises to you fulfilled? As for me, I did find my Lord's promises fulfilled!''

      The prophet's disciples were amazed to see their prophet speaking to dead carcasses, and they asked:

      ``O, Messenger of God! Are you talking to the dead bodies which have no sense of hearing!?''

      The prophet answered: ``Yes I do! They all hear me as you hear me! The point is that they are not allowed to answer me.''

      Muslims obtained a very large amount of booty which the prophet knew not how to handle and use it. So he waited for divine instruction to be revealed to him, then the verse No. 41 the same Sura (S8) was sent down to tell him what to do.

      Most of the Muslims had been persecuted by the hands of the seventy captives now taken. They looked at the captives with a profound hatred, and were eager to avenge themselves. So far, no one other than Mohammad is known to have been able to overcome such stimulus of rage and vengeance among his armed warriors.

      The prophet gave each of the seventy captives of war to one or two of his followers, as trusts, and told them to keep the prisoners well and with utmost kindness and mercy! until they are judged. The prophet did that because he never had a prison. Even when he obtained the greatest social and political power, he did not build a jail in his dominion!

      Among the prisoners, those who could read and write were very lucky; because the prophet ordered each of them to teach ten Muslims in exchange for their ransoms. The rest of the captives were soon freed ransom paid, but among them were some who could not afford it. These too were set free for nothing! They only promised not to fight again, against the prophet! They were freed so, but many of them broke their promises and took part in the battle of Ohud and else!   TRANSLATOR'S NOTE)

 

      THE ANGELS IN THE FIELD - When the Muslims saw that their enemy in the Badr is much more than them in power and number, and armaments, they sincerely, and with humility, prayed to God and asked for His help against their godless enemy. Allah answered their prayers and promised His prophet to reinforce the believers with a thousand of angels sending them down one after another.

      The duty of the angels is not clearly revealed in the verses to have been killing the unbelievers. The duties assigned to them in the verse No. 12 has been a threefold one: ``Your Lord inspired the angels that: `I am with you! So make the believers firm and steadfast, and strike the unbelievers upon their heads, and strike them on the tips of all their fingers.''

      This order does not mean to kill their enemies. It rather may mean to strengthen the friend's hearts, and distrub and perplex the foe's mind!

      The angels very existence in the battle field, which was proved to the believers and unbelievers that they were really present in the war; was a hint and glad- tiding to the believers that they were under the area of Divine Power. This could serve to put heart into the friend, and also make the foe to lose heart.

      The angels who stroke upon the heads and fingertips of the foe, could have perplexed the enemies and mentally disturbed them, and rendering them fearful and frightened: ``Soon shall I cast terror in the hearts of the unbelievers; so you strike them above their necks, and strike them on all their finger tips.''

      If the angels would have to kill the enemy, there could remain no virtue in the field to be attributed to the believers. Those who were the Badr were seventy men all together, seven or more of whom were by the sword of Hazrat Imam Ali (AS), and almost all the rest were more or less wounded.

 

IT RAINED CATS AND DOGS

      The second remarkable event in Badr, was the light sleep or slumber, that took the Muslims over, the night before the fight; and that it rained cats and dogs upon them.

      Some of the young Muslims must have been sexually polluted in their dreams, and if so a wash of their body or performing the religious ablution was incumbent upon them, particularly before having the honour of being martyred. If not cleaned through ceremonial ablution, they would have their spiritual anxiety, and Satanic temptations added to it; for thinking their martyrdom would not be correct and pure. This was, because water was very scarce there, and they could not perform the incumbent ablution before proceeding to the sacred war:

      ``When a slumber took you over, when you felt safe and secure by the Grace of God; and then Allah sent down from the sky a heavy rain to purify you of Satan's filth and to strengthen your hearts, and to make your foothold firm.''

      Besides cleaning them, as we mentioned in the above narrative of the war, the rain also served to stabilize Muslim's foothold and footstep too, because the land under the feet of Muslims was of sand, so the rain washed the sands and consolidated it, enabling them to stand firm on their feet and contrary to that, was the case with the idolaters. The piece of earth beneath them was of soil, which the rain turned it to a sticky mud, making their movements very difficult!

      In spite of all the physical aids of the rain, and the spiritual aids of the angels, Muslims had to know, and have to know that, it was Allah who gave the victory, and it is Allah who gives the victory; and that, everything else, and every one else, are only means used by Him for the purpose. ``There is no victory, except from Allah who is All- mighty All- wise.''