of Badr, ibn Musʿūd killed Abū Jahl. Later, he distinguished himself as a governor of Baṣrah, and was a renowned scholar of Qur’ānic exegesis, and renowned also for his melodious recitation of the Qur’ān. The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to comment on Ibn Masʿūd’s manner of the recitation of the Qur’ān: ‘Whoever desires to hear the Qur’ān as it has been revealed to me, let him listen to the recitation of ibn ʿAbd,’ (meaning ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd).
ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd was the foremost among the Muslim activists in Makkah. Of a small, slight frame, he was to be seen everywhere in Makkah, during those early days. For this reason, he had borne a great deal of the wrath of the Quraysh, and their persecution. His employer, Abū Jahl, had been particularly severe upon him. On the day of Badr, the scores were set even. Having managed to kill Abū Jahl, who was of a great physical stature, and also had great marshal courage, ibn Masʿūd climbed on the top of the towering figure of his enemy. Abū Jahl, who was dying, opened his eyes and recognized ibn Masʿūd, sitting on his chest. He said: ‘Ibn Masʿūd, the little shepherd of our sheep, you have indeed climbed a difficult climb!’ Then he closed his eyes and died.
When the Prophet (peace be upon him) entered Madīnah, the next day, people met him at the outskirts to salute and congratulate him. One Muslim soldier boasted: ‘On what do you congratulate us! We met a group of old, hairless persons, and we easily cut them.’ ‘Wait a minute, son of my brother,’ protested the Prophet (peace be upon him),4 ‘those were the Mala’.’ Those were the Mala’, meaning that the people defeated at Badr were the notables and chiefs of Arabia, people of honour, prestige and wealth. That Muslim soldier who made the naïve comment about the power of the Quraysh, whom the Muslims had just vanquished, had clearly failed to see the significance of the events of that day. That is why the Prophet (peace be upon him) intervened to correct him.
8.8 The Full Significance of Badr
We have already said that Badr was not an isolated event in the history of Islam. Rather, it was the culmination of unusual events that were taking shape in Arabia, in rapid succession, and constituting a major process in which history was made and remade. Badr was the logical outcome of the struggle initiated by the Prophet’s call to pure monotheism. Moreover, Badr had its monumental consequences in the history of Islam, launching the new power of the Muslim state of al-Madīnah, and terminating the hegemony of the Quraysh.
But it is the significance of Badr as a permanent feature of the methodology of Islamic daʿwah that must be highlighted here. For Badr is a major sign-post in the way of bringing about an Islamic transformation, and the re-ordering of a particular setting of human reality, whereby this reality will submit and conform to the pattern ordained by God, to which the Qur’ān refers. No Islamic transformation can be effected without a Badr stage; because it is, in the very nature of things, that evil powers would attempt to obstruct the Islamic project. God has told us, in the Qur’ān, that the strife and struggle between belief and unbelief is inevitable. It is a matter divinely ordained to test the Muslims’ will, on the one hand, and to vanquish and destroy evil, on the other hand. Thus every successful Islamic movement, every true Muslim community, must find its Badr and win it. Thus Badr is part of God’s grand design for Muslims and any Islamic movement. The Qur’ān comments on the inevitability of Badr in the following way: Succour comes only from Allah, the All-Mighty, All-Wise and that He may cut off a part of those who disbelieve or overwhelm them, that they turn in their tracks unsuccessful. [Āl ʿImrān 3:126-127]
Moreover, verses 38-41 of Sūrah al-Ḥajj, make it very clear that the permission which God gave to the Muslims, to fight back in self-defence, was given with an eye to Badr in particular. If this reading is correct, then Badr must be seen as an idea, a device and a strategy which was God-ordained to achieve the objectives mentioned in those verses, namely to redress the injustices suffered, to destroy the enemies of Islam, to confirm the Muslims in their homes and land and to make them feel contented, peaceful, secure and well established in the land. That waging war (i.e. just war) was not merely seen as an exercise in vendetta, but much more substantially, it was seen as an effective tool and device by means of which the enemy was led to its destruction, so that it would no longer obstruct the road to supremacy of God’s word and grand design for humanity. But so long as there is good and evil, the conflict between them is inevitable, and the side of goodness must not shy away from doing whatever it takes to defeat evil and establish goodness and godliness on earth!
An Islamic movement which is presented with the opportunity to find its Badr, but hesitates and loses that chance, will not be successful in its endeavour. It will stagnate or be destroyed by its enemies, having missed its Badr. This type of Islamic movement would be a spent force which, having missed its Badr would not be able to transform from the Badr to post-Badr, stage. At most, its existence will be a kind of arrested growth, fossilized and senile. On the other hand, an Islamic movement which rushes its pre-Badr stage, and moves to a stage of confrontation too early, without fulfilling its prerequisites and before allowing conditions for a successful confrontation, will be destroyed, and its growth will be aborted, thus suffering defeat or annihilation prematurely. A third type of Islamic movement may fail to reach the Badr stage because its growth has been arrested or prevented, or because its membership do not possess the necessary energy or the know-how which would enable them to develop and progress. In so far as the Islamic process of social change, leading to a total Islamic transformation, is a dynamic process, a genuine Islamic movement that follows the true Prophetic model of daʿwah and jihād, in the wide sense of adopting the right resources and right methodology, will, by its very nature, move forward to its destined Badr stage in a reasonable time, most probably during the lifetime of its authentic leader, and its true and dedicated rank and file.
One sure indicator that an Islamic movement has matured, and reached its Badr stage, will be the readiness of its leader, as well as its rank and file, to take the calculated risk of challenging their adversaries on the battlefield, when they have become reasonably sure that they enjoy a clear advantage over them. The Qur’ān5 describes the Companions of the Prophet at Badr as possessing tremendous willpower, and physical as well as moral courage, to fight the enemy. The strength of one believer was the equal to that of the combined strength of ten unbelievers. When later, the Muslims became weakened by their desire for worldly things, their valour was reduced to just double that of the unbelievers. The Qur’ān also described the Muslims as God-fearing, patient and dedicated to the cause of upholding God’s word, and of loving God, and His Messenger more than they loved themselves. It was these characteristics which made them merit and deserve God’s help and succour, rendered to them by the sending of His angels to fight along their side. These characteristics were summed up in the opening verses of Sūrah al-Anfāl in which the story of the Battle of Badr is given in considerable detail:
Those only are the true believers who when God is mentioned, their hearts quake, and when His verses are recited to them, they increase them in faith, and in their Lord they put their trust, those who perform the prayer (Ṣalāt) expend of what we have provided of them. These are the true believers. They have high degrees with their Lord and forgiveness and generous provision. [al-Anfāl 8:2-4]
9. EPILOGUE
Our conclusion deals with the issue of religious persecution. The Qur’ān does not accept any excuse or justification from a Muslim for willingly allowing himself to suffer religious oppression. If a Muslim is not literally imprisoned or materially held down, then he is not to be reprieved or excused if he passively submits and bows down to oppression. This issue was high in the agenda, featuring in the discussions among Muslims, in the wake of Badr, when some of those killed fighting with the Quraysh were in fact Muslims who had failed to make the hijrah to Madīnah and were caught up in the hostilities between the Muslims and the Quraysh. This was the case of some Muslim members of Banū Hāshim, who had been forced to join the army of the Quraysh.6 A decisive Qur’ānic verse was revealed to the Prophet (peace be upon
