SHAYKH AL ISLAM

The circumstances in the early days in Madina

With the arrival of God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, in Madina, the struggle between Islam and unbelief entered a new phase. In Makka, the Prophet devoted himself almost exclusively to expounding the basic principles of Islamic faith and to the moral and spiritual training of his Companions. After the Emigration, however, people belonging to different tribes and regions of ‘Arabia, who had embraced Islam, began to concentrate in Madina. Although the Muslims held only a tiny piece of the land, the whole of Arabia, under the leadership of the Quraysh, moved against them, bent upon their extermination.

In these circumstances, the very survival, let alone the success, of this small group of believers depended upon several factors. First, that they should propagate their beliefs with the utmost conviction in order to convert others. Second, that they should demonstrate the falsity of their opponents’ standpoint so convincingly that there could remain no justifiable ground for any intelligent person to entertain any doubt on the question. Third, that they as the followers of the Prophet should not become disheartened because they had been driven out of their homes and were faced, through the hostility and opposition of the whole country, with economic stringency, hunger, and constant insecurity and danger, but that they should confront the situation with patience and fortitude. Fourth, that they should be able to find a way to retake all their wealth and goods usurped by the Makkans during Emigration. Fifth, that they should be prepared to resist with both courage and the force of arms the violent assault by which the enemy intended to frustrate their movement, and that in this resistance they should not heed the enemy’s superiority in either numbers or material resources.

In addition to the threats coming from Makka and its allied tribes, there were, in Madina itself, three tribes of the Jews. As explained earlier, the Jews held the control of the economic life of the city. Although they had been waiting for the emergence of a Prophet, they severely opposed God’s Messenger because he did not appear from among them, among the descendants of the Prophet Isaac. They felt constrained to sign a pact with God’s Messenger but, entertaining feelings of hatred against him, they never refrained from conspiracies to exterminate Islam. For example, among their poets, Ka’b ibn Ashraf composed poems to satirize God’s Messenger and instigate his enemies against him.

In Madina, another element of enmity against Islam also began to emerge in the form of hypocrisy. One group of hypocrites consisted of those who had no faith in Islam but had entered the ranks of the Muslim community merely in order to create mischief. Another group of hypocrites, conscious of the political dominance of the Muslims in Madina, considered it advantageous to gain acceptance as fellow-Muslims. At the same time, they maintained contacts with the enemies of Islam so that they could secure all the advantages of friendship with the two opposite camps and thus remain safe from any hostilities. There was still another group of hypocrites - those who were in a state of ambivalence and indecision between Islam and Ignorance but who had accepted Islam because the majority of their tribe or family had done so. The final group consisted of those who, although they believed Islam to be true, found it difficult to forsake their inherited way of life, their superstitions, their customs and usages, and to discipline themselves to observe the moral restraints and fulfill the obligations prescribed by Islam.

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Allah, the Glorified and the Exalted, says in the Noble Qur'an:

And Allah certainly helped you at Badr when you were weak. So be in reverential awe of Allah that perhaps you may be thankful (3:123).

The Battle of Badr is the most important battle in all human history as it firmly established Islam as a universal religion for the whole of humanity till the end of time. It took place in 2 After Hijri, [624 Common Era] The beloved Beloved Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu 'alayhi wa Sallam, together with 313 of his Companions and angels sent by Allah to help them, defeated about 1000 better armed polytheists of Makkah.

The Companions of Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu 'alayhi wa Sallam, who took part are the Muhajirin and the Ansar. The Muhajirin are the Muslims from Makkah who had migrated to Madina. The Ansar are the Muslims of Madina who helped them settle in Madina.

The two main tribes of Madina were Aws and Khazraj. The Ansar (Helpers) of Madina, are thus classified either as Awsi (belonging to the Aws tribe) or Khazraji (belonging to the Khazraj tribe).

Fourteen Sahaba (Companions) were martyred in the Battle of Badr. Their names are shown below. Al-Fatiha!

Dhu'sh-shimilayn ibn 'Abd 'Amr ash-Shahid al-Muhajiri, Rady Allahu 'Anhu

Rafi' ibn al-Mu'alli ash-Shahid al-Khazraji, Rady Allahu 'Anhu

Aqil ibn al-Bukayr ash-Shahid al-Muhajiri, Rady Allahu 'Anhu

Ubaydah ibn al-Harith ash-Shahid al-Muhajiri, Rady Allahu 'Anhu

Umayr ibn al-Humam ash-Shahid al-Khazraji, Rady Allahu 'Anhu

Umayr ibn Abi Waqqas ash-Shahid al-Muhajiri, Rady Allahu 'Anhu

Awf ibn al-Harith ash-Shahid al-Khazraji, Rady Allahu 'Anhu

Mubash-shir ibn 'Abdu'l Mundhir ash-Shahid al-Awsi, Rady Allahu 'Anhu

Mu'awwidh ibn al-Harith ash-Shahid al-Khazraji, Rady Allahu 'Anhu

Mihja' ibn Salih ash-Shahid al-Muhajiri, Rady Allahu 'Anhu

According to the Ahadith in Jami' us-Sahih of Imam al-Bukhari (Vol. 5, p. 201, Hadith Numbers 292-294), the number of warriors in the Battle of Badr were more than 310 of whom more than 60 were the Muhajirin (from Makkah) and more than 249 were the Ansar (from Madina). According to scholars of sirah (history, biography), 313 companions took part in the Battle of Badr of whom 82 were the Muhajirin and 231 were the Ansar (61 Awsi and 170 Khazraji). Wallahu A'lam (Allah Knows Best).

The number of Companions that are normally listed in Classics of Muslim Spirituality are more than those who actually took part because there are some Companions who were considered by the Beloved Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu 'alayhi wa Sallam to be Ahl Badr (The Warriors of Badr) even though they were not actually present because they were sent by him on special assignments elsewhere at that time.

Another reason why the list is greater than 313 is that in some instances, Muslim historians and the 'ulama (the learned) are not absolutely sure from the evidence they have collected whether a particular Companion was actually present at Badr or not. So, perhaps they have decided to err in including the name rather than to err in leaving it out. For that reason perhaps, Imam ibn Kathir lists 321, Imam al-Barzanji lists 368, Mawlana Khalid al-Baghdadi lists 366, Shaykh 'Abdur Rahman Chohravi mentions 357, Shaykh Mustafa Rushdi ad-Dimishqi has 356 while Shaykh 'AbdurRahman al-Azhariyy has 385.

ref : Siddiq Noormuhammad 1423/2002
Toronto, Canada

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In such severe circumstances, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, dispatched, as military measures, expeditions into the heart of the desert. In dispatching them, he had several aims, some of which are as follows:

Unbelievers tried to extinguish the Light of God ‘with their mouths’ but, although they were averse, God willed to perfect His Light (al-Saff, 61.8). So, God’s Messenger desired to demonstrate that it was impossible for unbelievers to exterminate Islam, and to show that Islam was a reality that could not be ignored.

Makka enjoyed a central position in the heart of the Arabian peninsula. It was the most formidable power of the time in Arabia and all the other tribes felt some sort of adherence to it. By dispatching military expeditions to neighboring areas, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, also desired to demonstrate the power of Islam and to break the dominance of the Quraysh in Arabia.

During human history, the concept of ‘might is right’ has usually been a norm. This has been so because ‘right’ has usually not had enough power to hold the dominance of the world. The case was the same fourteen centuries ago in Arabia. Since the Quraysh enjoyed might and wealth, the neighboring tribes obeyed them. However, Islam came to make right might, and, in order to demonstrate this and to break the pressure of the Makkan polytheists on neighboring tribes to prevent them from embracing Islam, God’s Messenger dispatched military expeditions through the desert one after the other.

The mission of God’s Messenger was not restricted to a fixed period, nor to one nation only; rather, he was sent as a mercy for all the worlds. So, he was charged to communicate the Message of God as far as the remotest corners of the world. However, since he began his mission in Arabia, he had, certainly, to know the conditions surrounding him. These expeditions were, therefore, vanguards to be acquainted with those conditions and pave the way for the preaching of Islam in the peninsula.

One of the most effective ways of crushing the enemy is to stir them to unpremeditated, premature movements and thereby to always have the initiative. God’s Messenger was surely informed of the contacts the Quraysh established with ‘Adbullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul, the head of the hypocrites in Madina, to frustrate him in his mission, and he was alert to their possible attacks on Madina. Meanwhile a military force of the Quraysh was able to penetrate as far as the suburbs of Madina and, after a plunder, returned to Makka. So, by dispatching military expeditions, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace, also desired to agitate the Quraysh to an unprepared, unpremeditated action against Madina to nip their plots in the bud.

The Quraysh lived on international trade. They sent trade caravans to Syria and to the Yemen. So, it was a vital importance for them that their trade routes should be absolutely secure. However, thanks to the situation of Madina, God’s Messenger was able to threaten their trade and, therefore, while strengthening his position in Madina on the one hand, he was, on the other, dispatching military expeditions to paralyze the hopes and plans of the Quraysh to deal him any blow.

Islam guarantees security of life and property. Its commandments aim to guarantee the security of life, the security of property, the security of, in addition to physical health, mental and spiritual health, the security of chastity, and the security of belief. Therefore, it strictly prohibits murder, theft, robbery and plundering, and also usurpation and interest or usury and gambling, alcohol, every kind of illicit sexual intercourse, anarchy and propagation of atheism. The Arabic original of ‘belief’ is iman and means giving security. Therefore a mu’min (believer) is the one who never cheats and from whose tongue and hand all people are in utmost security. He never lies, never breaks his word, and never breaches a trust. Also, he never conceives of earning his life by stealing or other un-Islamic ways like usurpation and interest-involving transactions. He is convinced that the one who has killed a man is as if he killed the whole of humankind.

When God’s Messenger was raised as a Prophet, there was in Arabia no security, neither of life or property, nor of chastity or health, nor of belief, nor indeed in the rest of the world. However, he had to establish absolute security in every aspect of life. Once, he had said to Adiy ibn Khatam:

A day will come when a woman will travel, riding in a litter, from Hira to Makka and fear nothing except God and wolves.¹

By dispatching military expeditions through the desert, God’s Messenger also aimed to establish security therein and wanted to show to everyone, friend and foe, that security was not possible but by Islam.

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The first military expedition sent after the Emigration was toward Sif al-Bahr. When Hamza, the commander of the expedition, reached Sif al-Bahr, a trade caravan of the Quraysh was returning from Damascus. The Quraysh had usurped all the possessions of the Emigrant Muslims left in Makka, and used them in trade. In order to threaten their trade, and weaken them economically, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, desired to make a show of power in the desert. No clash took place in this first confrontion with the Quraysh, but the desert tribes witnessing the incident showed an inclination to acknowledge a second power in the peninsula besides the Quraysh.

This first expedition was shortly followed by the second sent under the command of ‘Ubayda ibn Harith. With the same purpose as in the first expedition, ‘Ubayda went as far as Rabigh, a valley on the route to Makka. The Muslim expedition of sixty cavalrymen met there with a force of the Quraysh consisting of two hundred armed men. An exchange of arrows took place between the parties; in the end, fearing a possible defeat, the Makkan troops withdrew towards Makka.²

Military expeditions followed one another, some of them commanded by God’s Messenger himself, upon him be peace and blessings. In two of the expeditions he commanded, he went to Abwa and Buwat respectively and aimed to threaten the trade caravans of the Quraysh and intimidate them.³ In the former, he also had the purpose of signing a treaty with Banu Damra. According to the conditions of the treaty, neither of the sides would take up arms against the other, and the tribe of Banu Damra would not help any aggressive force against the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings.

Shortly before the Battle of Badr, God’s Messenger sent an expedition of about ten persons under the command of ‘Adbullah ibn Jakhsh to Nakhla, a place between Makka and Ta’if, a few miles away from Makka. He ordered them to follow the movements of the Quraysh and gather information about their plans. While they were staying in Nakhla, a trade caravan of the Quraysh coming from Ta’if halted there. Something happened unexpectedly and the Muslims killed one of the Makkans and captured the rest except one, and their belongings, and took them to Madina. They did this at a time when the month of Rajab was approaching its end and Sha’ban about to begin. It was, therefore, doubtful whether the event took place in Rajab, one of the sacred months, or not. But the Quraysh, and the Jews who were secretly in league with them, as well as the hypocrites, made great use of this as a weapon in their propaganda campaign against the Muslims. They claimed that the Muslims shed blood in a sacred month, when bloodshed is forbidden.

Since the incident had taken place without his approval, God’s Messenger expressly pointed out to those who had participated in the campaign that he had not ordered them to fight. Also the other Muslims reproached them for doing something not commanded. However, the verses revealed consoled them on account of their purity of intention with hope for the mercy of God:

They question you concerning the holy month, and fighting in it. Say: ‘Fighting in it is a heinous thing, but to bar from God’s way, and unbelief in Him, and denying entry into the Holy Mosque, and to expel its people from it - that is more heinous in God’s sight; and persecution is more heinous than killing.’ They will not cease to fight with you till they turn you from your religion, if they are able; and whoever of you turns from his religion and dies unbelieving - their works have failed in this world and the next; those are the inhabitants of the Fire; therein they shall dwell forever. But the believers, and those who emigrate and struggle in God’s way - those have hope of God’s Mercy; and God is All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate. (al-Baqara, 2.217-8) ⁴

The verses aimed to answer the objections raised by the Quraysh and the Jews and hypocrites. The essence of the matter is that fighting during the holy months is an evil act. However, those people who had continually subjected the believers to indescribable wrong for thirteen years merely because they believed in the One God could have no right and justification to make such an objection. They had not only driven the Muslims from their homes, they had closed to them the way to the Holy Mosque, a bar which had not been imposed by anyone during the course of some two thousand years. With this record of mischief and misconduct it was not for them to raise such an outcry at a small incident, and especially so when the incident had taken place without the approval of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings.

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A general evaluation of the expeditions

Until the Battle of Badr, which took place two years after the Emigration, God’s Messenger arranged around twenty military expeditions. By these expeditions he seized control of the desert and paralyzed the morale of the Makkan polytheists. Second, most of the desert tribes began to acknowledge the power of Islam and take the side of God’s Messenger. In none of the expeditions, except one, did the Muslim warriors shed blood, nor did they wound anyone. They neither plundered the caravans nor usurped something from desert peoples. They showed in practice that Islam is the guarantee of security.

God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, formed an intelligence network and was informed of everything happening in the desert and in Makka itself. So sophisticated a system did he establish that probably none of his Companions in Madina even knew that, for example, his uncle, ‘Abbas, was left in Makka as a member of his intelligence service. When he set out on a military campaign, no one knew, up to a certain point, his real intention and where they were going.⁵ Besides, he used couriers in communication with his soldiers fighting at the front. A courier carried the news to some certain point, where he trusted it to another one waiting to carry it to the other station. With this system, he got the news of his expeditions in the shortest time possible.

All the expeditions he dispatched until the Battle of Badr consisted of the Emigrants exclusively. For first of all, the Quraysh were at war with the Emigrants. They did not want them to be sheltered in Madina. Besides, those who were driven from their homes with everything they had left behind were the Emigrants. Second, the Helpers had sworn allegiance to God’s Messenger so that it was expected that the Helpers should perceive by themselves the necessity of taking part in any military action in the way of God.

The military genius of God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, showed itself also in his choice of commanders of the expeditions. His uncle, Hamza, was appointed the commander of the first military expedition. Besides his courage and strength, Hamza was a man of sound judgment, good opinion and high administrative ability. In addition, until the whole of his community appropriated his ideas and adopted his opinions, God’s Messenger chose to practice them in the persons of his relatives. Since the military dimension of his mission showed itself for the first time in Madina, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, was to put his own relatives on the front line until everyone was wholly accustomed to it. It should, however, also be noted that all of the commanders he chose were able and eminent generals and highly qualified for the job. They were, in addition, very upright persons wholly devoted to the cause of Islam.

Hamza was martyred in Uhud after having killed more than twenty soldiers of the enemy. ‘Ubayda ibn Harith was martyred because of the wounds he received in the Battle of Badr. Before his martyrdom, he asked God’s Messenger: ‘O God’s Messenger, I did not die in fighting at the front. Am I regarded then as having died a martyr?’⁶

Hamza was the uncle of the Prophet; ‘Ubayda his cousin. The commander of the expedition he sent to Nakhla, ‘Adbullah ibn Jakhsh, was the son of his paternal aunt. In the second stage of the Battle of Uhud, he fought heroically. He came across Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas and told him: ‘Come; you pray and I’ll invoke ‘Amen’ for your prayer. Let me pray, and you invoke ‘Amen’ for my prayer.’ Sa‘d prayed: ‘O God, make me encounter one of the strongest soldiers of the enemy, and let me overcome him!’ Ibn Jakhsh invoked ‘Amen’ for this prayer, and then himself prayed: ‘O God, let me encounter one of the strongest soldiers of the enemy. After I wounded him severely, let him kill me, and cut my ears and nose and lips so that I shall come to Your Presence bleeding profusely. You ask me, “‘Abd Allah, where are your ears, nose and lips?” and I’ll answer You: “O God, I was ashamed to come to Your Presence with my members with which I had sinned, and I sacrificed them while fighting in the way of Your Beloved One.”‘ When the battle ended, ‘Adbullah was found lying with his ears, nose and lips cut off and his abdomen lanced.⁷

Lastly, by sending military expeditions one after the other, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, agitated the Quraysh to an unpremeditated action, and, as will be explained below, on the pretext of securing the return of their trade caravan, they formed an army of one thousand and left Makka for Badr some ninety miles to the south of Madina.

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Prophet Muhammad Peace & Blessings upon him treatment of the prisoners of war taken in the battle of Badr

A handful of believers were subjected to the most brutal of tortures in Makka. They bore all of them patiently and never thought of retaliation, as the Qur’an ordered God’s Messenger to call unbelievers to the way of God with wisdom and fair preaching and advised him to repel the evil with what was better, and overlook their faults and evils with magnanimous forgiveness. When the Muslims emigrated to Madina, having left most of their belongings in Makka in order to be able to live according to their beliefs, the harassment of the Makkan polytheists did not stop. Indeed, they also became the target of Jewish conspiracy in Madina. Also, since the Helpers, the native believers of Madina, had to share, although willingly, everything they had with their emigrant brothers, all the Muslims suffered deprivations. In such straitened circumstances, God Almighty permitted them to resist the enemy onslaught because they were wronged. This was just before the Battle of Badr.

The Battle of Badr was the first confrontation of the Muslims with the enemy forces. Although outnumbered, the believers won a great victory. Until then, if, indeed, we do not accept the opinions of some interpreters of the Qur’an that sura Muhammad, which contains regulations as to how to treat prisoners of war, was revealed before sura al-Anfal, no Divine commandment had been revealed as to how the captives should be treated. They did not even know whether they would kill the enemy on the battlefield or take them as prisoners. Sa’d ibn Muadh, for example, was not pleased when he saw his brothers (in-religion) taking enemy soldiers as prisoners of war; he was in favor of killing them in the first confrontation.

The battle ended and the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, chose, as he always did where there was no specific Divine commandment, to consult with his Companions about how they should treat the prisoners of war. Abu Bakr said:

O God’s Messenger! They are your people. Even though they did you and the believers great wrong, you will win their hearts and cause their guidance if you forgive them and please them.

However, ‘Umar gave this opinion:

O God’s Messenger! The prisoners of war are the leading figures of Makka. If we kill them, unbelief will no longer be able to recover to encounter us. So, hand over to each of the Muslims his kin among them. Hand over to ‘Ali his brother ‘Aqil to kill. Let Abu Bakr kill his son, ‘Abd al-Rahman, and let me kill my relative so and so.

God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, turned to Abu Bakr and said:

You are, O Abu Bakr, like the Prophet Abraham, upon him be peace, who said: ‘He who follows me is of me, and he who disobeys me - but You are indeed Oft-Forgiving, Most Compassionate’ (Abraham, 14.36). You are also like Jesus, who said: ‘If You punish them, they are Your servants. If You forgive them, You are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise’ (al-Ma’ida, 5.118).

Then he turned to ‘Umar and said:

O ‘Umar! You are like Noah, who said: ‘O my Lord! Leave not even a single unbeliever on earth!’ (Nuh, 71.26). You are also like Moses, who said: ‘Our Lord, destroy their (Pharaoh’s and his chiefs’) riches and harden their hearts so that they will not believe until they see the painful chastisement’ (Yunus, 10. 88). Then, he acted according to the view of Abu Bakr.¹⁹

Every Prophet was sent to guide people to the way of God, and the mission of each was undoubtedly based on mercy. However, mercy sometimes requires that, as in the case of Noah and Moses, upon them both be peace, an arm should be amputated for the health of the body, or even that the body should undergo a major operation. Islam, being the ‘middle way’ of absolute balance - balance between materialism and spiritualism, between rationalism and mysticism, between worldliness and excessive asceticism, between this world and the next - and inclusive of the ways of all the previous Prophets, makes a choice according to the situation. Prior to the Battle of Badr, the Muslims were weak, and unbelief was, in material terms, strong, formidable and organized. For this reason, conditions may have required that the Prophet should not have had prisoners of war until he became completely triumphant in the land (al-Anfal, 8.67). For they were fighting for the cause of God, not some worldly purposes, like collecting ransom. However, God Almighty had already decreed before that ransom and spoils of war would be lawful for Muslims. The pure hearts of the Prophet, upon him be peace, and Abu Bakr must have felt before that God would make spoils of war and taking ransom lawful for the Muslims and, before waiting for the Revelation, chose to release the prisoners of war in return for some ransom. However, had it not been for that decree, a severe penalty would have reached them for the ransom that they took. If, then, God made it lawful, they could enjoy what they took in war, lawful and good (al-Anfal, 8:67-69).

The same is mentioned more explicitly in another verse:

When you confront the unbelievers (in battle), smite their necks, and when you have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly on them. Thereafter (is the time for) either generosity (i.e. the release of prisoners without ransom) or ransom (recommended). (Muhammad, 47.4)

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A GENERAL EVALUATION OF THE MILITARY ACHIEVEMENTS OF ALLAH'S MOST BELOVED MESSENGER
salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam

One of the significant points to be noted concerning the personality of God’s Messenger is that he was the most eminent commander in human history. In order to understand this dimension of his sacred mission, it is worthwhile to make a general evaluation of his military triumphs:

• There is not another Prophet who carried his mission to decisive victory in all aspects of life. When the Prophet Moses, upon him be peace, who resembles God’s Messenger more than the other Prophets in many aspects of his mission, died, his people were still in the desert, not yet able to conquer ‘Palestine’ after several decades of his preaching. Jesus’ mission was mainly aimed at infusing a spiritual and moral revival into the life of the Jews who had drowned in the bog of materialism. After his elevation to heaven, his disciples succeeded in conveying his Message as far as the center of the Roman Empire despite severe persecutions but, unfortunately, at the cost of the degeneration or corruption of his original creed.

• When the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, said farewell to the world, he left behind the whole of Arabia converted to Islam, and an ‘army’ of dedicated Companions, who were ready to convey his Message as far as the remotest corners of the world. He achieved this end with a handful of self-sacrificing men, who had neither heard of belief or Scripture before, nor been acquainted with anything concerning a civilized social life and world politics or good morals and self-discipline. He made a handful of desert men engaged in civil wars, unending feuds, into an ‘army’ of holy warriors who, equipped with belief, sincerity, knowledge, good morals, love of humanity and compassion, and imbued with activism, dedicated themselves to a Divine Cause to, in the words of Rabi‘ ibn Amir, the Muslim envoy to the Iranian commander during the Qadisiyyah War, ‘elevate men from the dark pits of worldly life to the high, boundless realm of the spirit, from the humiliation of worshipping false and man-made divinities to the honor and dignity of worshipping One God, the only Creator and Sustainer of the universe, and to free them from the oppression and depression brought about by false religions and man-made systems to the luminous and peaceful climate of Islam.’

• The aim of God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, was never to build a worldly kingdom; he was sent to guide humanity to salvation in both worlds, physical and spiritual; he aimed at reviving people, not killing them. It is to this end that he was obliged to arrange military expeditions and sometimes to command armies. He sent out many expeditions and himself commanded forces 28 times. Fighting took place in almost half of all the military campaigns he organized during his mission, which number about ¹, and only around 1,000 people lost their lives in all on both sides. Around 250 Muslims were martyred and 750 non-Muslims were killed. This means that God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, established his Message and brought absolute security to the whole of the Arabian peninsula for the first time in its history, and opened the way to global security, at the cost of only 1,000 lives. This is, as so many of his achievements are, unequalled in world history.

• God’s Messenger established a system of rules governing international relations among sovereign states. In other words, he was the first to legislate an international law. Although the concept was not unknown before Islam, international law was very limited - for example, there were no recognized rules for the treatment of prisoners of war. Again, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace, established a set of rules to bring a ‘discipline’ to fighting. For example, the following is the order given by him and his true successors to come until the present day to armies dispatched for fighting, an order which had been strictly obeyed by Muslims in their wars as Muslims:

• God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, never neglected to take preliminary precautions, and he left nothing to chance. He always acted with the utmost care, insight and forethought and therefore never met with any setbacks. He did not have the slightest part in the reverse suffered at Uhud. Also, he was extraordinarily successful in getting information from the enemy, without ever resorting to force or torture. Once an enemy soldier was captured by the vanguard of the Muslim army, who tried to force him to give information about the enemy’s numbers and equipment. God’s Messenger ordered his release and asked him how many camels the approaching army slaughtered every day to eat. Calculating how many camels are eaten by how many people in a day, he tried to work out the numbers of the enemy army.²

• God’s Messenger founded a military intelligence service and succeeded in getting all the necessary information about the enemy, but he never allowed any news about his movements to leak out to the opposite side. Before setting out to conquer Makka, Khatib ibn Abi Balta‘a secretly sent a letter with a woman to his relatives in Makka about the preparations of God’s Messenger. However, the Prophet was informed of this, and sent ‘Ali and Zubayr to catch up with the woman and intercept the letter, which they did.

• Also, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, kept secret his military preparations and did not reveal to his Companions where he would march. He tended to take a different direction from that of his real destination and only after some while did he turn to his target. He made much use of tactics securing victory such as speed, surprise attack and flexibility of movement. In most of his campaigns, major or minor, he caught the enemy unprepared and overcame them relatively easily. For example, in the Battle of Khaybar, the Jews got news of his coming upon them only through their farmers going to their fields and so had time only to shelter in their citadels. In the same way, the Quraysh were left nothing to do other than surrender during the conquest of Makka.

• Being a Prophet who brought a universal religion from God, God’s Messenger educated his Companions in the aims of that religion so effectively that they were ever ready to sacrifice themselves in the way of God. This was one of the main factors lying behind the victories of God’s Messenger. His Companions placed utmost reliance on and had perfect confidence in him. Therefore, he inculcated fear in the hearts of his enemies, as he himself said: I am supported by God through implanting fear in the hearts of my enemies from a distance of a month’s walk.³ Besides, in order to demoralize his enemies he resorted to psychology. Poets like Hassan ibn Thabit and ‘Adbullah ibn Rawaha wrote or recited verses to demoralize the enemy. In the minor pilgrimage they performed one year after the treaty of Hudaybiya, he ordered his Companions to run around the Ka’ba so as to demonstrate their strength to the Makkans watching them from the neighboring hills. While running, ‘Adbullah ibn Rawaha recited:

• God’s Messenger was unequalled in introducing new strategies and disuniting the allied enemy tribes. During the Battle of the Trench, the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza broke their treaty with the Muslims at a most critical moment of the battle and joined the Quraysh, besieging Madina. Left between two hostile camps, God’s Messenger offered a peace treaty to Banu Ghatafan, who were in alliance with the Quraysh in the war. This discouraged Banu Ghatafan from continuing the war. He also succeeded, with a skilful maneuver, in bringing about a disagreement and mutual mistrust between the Quraysh and Banu Qurayza. Also, during the campaign of Khaybar, he first gave the impression that he was marching upon Banu Ghatafan, who were than allied with the Jews of Khaybar. This caused Banu Ghatafan to remain inactive during the campaign, unable to help the Jews.

• God’s Messenger did what he had to do at each step of his life, and never showed any hesitation or irresolution in executing his plans or intentions. Also, he never retreated during any fighting, nor did he faint and lose heart. He stood steadfast, without moving an inch backward, during the critical moments of both the Battle of Uhud and Hunayn. He called to those of his Companions scattering from around him; Do not scatter! I am Muhammad, the Messenger of God. That is no lie!