hesitation and anxiety in the Muslims’ camp. But God and the gracious Prophet (peace be upon him) assured them of God’s backing and of the imminent victory over the enemy.
3.4 The Qur’ān’s Depiction of the Situation
The Qur’ān depicted the condition of the Muslims army as follows:
Even as your lord caused you to go forth from your home, with the Truth, and surely a party of the believers were averse (to this). They argue with you of the truth, after it has been explained to them, as if they have been driven to death, with their eyes wide open. And when God promised you one of the two bands (of the enemy) that it would be yours, and you longed that other than the armed one might be yours. But God willed that the truth should triumph by His words and that He would eradicate the unbelievers. [al-Anfāl 8:5-7]
The Muslim Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) were a superior band of men and women, yet they remained men of flesh and blood, because some of them, at some times, showed visible signs of human weakness and frailty. God had accepted their best offering, and had forgiven their weakness and failings. In the frank, honest and truthful style of the Qur’ān, nothing is concealed, no embarrassment is meant, only to display and take cognizance of all the facts of the situation. The above Qur’ānic verses of al-Anfāl make it very clear that the timing of the Battle of Badr was determined by God alone. Other Qur’ānic verses convey the same impression.
When you were in the near hill (of the valley) and they were on the farther and the caravan was below you (on the coast plain). And had you made an appointment to meet one another, you surely would have failed to keep the appointment, but (it happened, as it did, without the forethought of either of you), that Allah might conclude a thing that must be done; that he who perished (on that day) might perish by a clear sign, and he who lived, might live by a clear sign. Surely Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. When Allah showed you them, in your dream, as few, and had He shown them as many, you would have lost heart; and quarrelled about the matter but Allah saved (you). He is surely knowing of what is in the breasts (of man). And when He showed them, when you encountered, in your eyes (Muslims) as few and made you few in their eyes, that Allah may conclude a matter that must be done. Unto Allah all matters are returned. [al-Anfāl 8:42-44]
Thus, the impression is further confirmed that Badr had been exclusively conceived and meticulously executed by God alone; that the Prophet, the Muslims and the Quraysh unbelievers were all drawn into it by various devices of Divine making. Moreover, God prepared the stage for the battle, and eventually sent His soldiers of the angels, dressed like Arabs, with white turbans, and led by Gabriel himself (in yellow).
The Qur’ān gives minute details of God’s involvement and the help He rendered to the Muslims, and the defeat which He inflicted upon their enemy:
When you were crying and calling upon your Lord for help, and He answered you: I will reinforce you with a thousand angels, riding behind you… Allah wrought this not, save as good tidings, and that your hearts thereby might be at rest. Victory comes only from Allah. Surely Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise. When He was causing slumber to fall upon you, as a reassurance from Him, and sent down water from the sky upon you, that thereby He might purify you, and remove from you the defilement of Satan, and to strengthen your heart, and to confirm your feet. When your Lord was revealing to the angels, ‘I am with you’, so confirm the believers, I shall cast into the hearts of the unbelievers terror; so smite upon the necks, and smite every finger of them. [al-Anfāl 8:9-12]
Notwithstanding all these demonstrations from the Qur’ān, that God was Himself commanding the Muslims’ side on the Battle of Badr, the Qur’ān, at the same time, makes it amply clear that God’s succour was not meted out arbitrarily. In some sense, it was succour well-deserved by the Muslims, because they had been severely tried, and they had withstood the trial for almost fifteen years, since the beginning of the call to Islam in Makkah. Badr itself was yet another such tremendous trial, and they had succeeded in it, when they were few in numbers and poorly armed, half-hungry, and with no previous experience in combat. They fought gallantly, and they successfully challenged the might of the Quraysh.
The Qur’ānic text went straight to emphasize this aspect of the matter:
Those only are the believers who, when God is mentioned, their hearts quake, and when His verses recited to them, it increases them in faith, and in their Lord they put their trust. Those who perform the prayer, and expend of what We have provided them, those are the true believers; for them are degrees (of honour) with their Lord, and forgiveness and generous provision. [al-Anfāl 8:2-4]
In order that God’s victory would be complete for them, the Qur’ān exhorted the Muslims of Badr to live up to what was expected of them, when they met their enemy on the battlefield. This was their role, which they had to fulfil, if they were to qualify, in the decisive last moments, for God’s victory, which was already close at hand:
O believers, when you encounter the unbelievers marching to battle, turn not your backs to them. Whoever turns his back to them on that day, unless manoeuvring for battle, or intent to join another host, he has truly incurred anger from Allah, and his abode will be Hell, and evil homecoming. [al-Anfāl 8:15-16]
The two armies met in the early morning of Friday, 17th Ramaḍān. Before they marched to the battleground, the army of the Quraysh was hidden from the eyes of the Muslims by the hill of ʿAqanqal’. That morning, the Quraysh army crossed that hill and came down its slope, into the valley of Badr to face the Muslims. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) caught sight of them, he prayed passionately:
O Lord! Here are Quraysh: they have come in their arrogance and their vanity, opposing You, and belying Your Messenger. Lord! Your victory which you have promised me! Lord! should this (Muslim) company perish today You will not be worshipped on this earth. O Lord! This morning destroy them!
When the two armies met, the Angels and other soldieries of God were already at work, setting the stage of the battleground in such a way that it would be advantageous to the Muslims, and disadvantageous to the unbelievers:
a. The sky rained heavily making the grounds transverse where the unbelievers stood, muddy and heavy and very difficult to walk upon. The nature of the soil where the Quraysh troops were stationed was such that rain had that kind of effect upon it. While the nature of soil where the Muslims stood was sandy and the rain had a very congenial effect upon it, making it firmer and easier to move upon.
b. The weather became cool, and a pleasant breeze swept across the Muslims’ faces. They became drowsy, as they stood there, to the extent that the swords fell out of the hands of some of them. They would pick them up to drop them once more. This strange state of affairs continued for a few minutes just before the melee took place! But it had a wonderful refreshing effect upon them. They became relaxed, their hearts relieved from fears and anxieties, their heads became cool and clear, and their energy and stamina revived.
c. Due to the fatigue, many of them experienced orgasm and rain water cleansed and purified them from janābah (i.e. the state of being unclean after experiencing orgasm). It also cleansed them from the dirt and dust they incurred, during the week-long journey from Madīnah.
d. God caused their hearts to be reassured, their minds to be at rest, and the enemy was belittled in their eyes.
e. Terror was one of God’s formidable hosts and soldiers, one that was the Prophet’s privilege to always have at his side. He was supported by it ‘I have been helped and made victorious with Ru‘b’ (i.e. Terror), the Gracious Prophet (peace be upon him) used to say.
f. Last but not least, the angels were there, ready to join the
