The Life Of Prophet Muhammed

The Military Activities between Badr and Uhud

The battle of Badr was the first armed encounter between the Muslims and Quraish. It was in fact a decisive battle that gained the Muslims a historic victory acknowledged by all the Arabs, and dealt a heavy blow to the religious and economic interests of the polytheists. There were also the Jews who also used to regard each Islamic victory as a heavy blow to their religioeconomic entity. Both parties were burning with rage and fury since the Muslims had achieved that great victory:

    "Verily, you will find the strongest among men in enmity to the believers (Muslims) the Jews and Al-Mushrikûn (polytheists, pagans, idolators and disbelievers, etc.)." [Al-Qur'an 5:82]

Both resentful parties had their much more indignant suite in the form of hypocrites who faked Islam just to save their faces; at the head of whom came 'Abdullah bin Ubai and his retinue. The desert bedouins living in tents pitched in the vicinity of Madinah, who depended on plundering and looting as a means of living, were totally indifferent to this axial question of belief and disbelief. Their worry derived from fear of losing their perverted avenues of subsistence in case a powerful nascent Muslim state should rise up and put an end to such ill-practices, hence the grudge they nursed against Islam and the Muslims, in general, and the person of Muhammad [pbuh], in particular.

The whole cause of Faith was thus at stake with four furious parties laying ambushes against the new religion, each in its style: Pretension to Islam embedded with conspiracy plots and provocative deeds within Madinah, explicitly uncovered animosity pregnant with indignation and fire of rage on the part of the Jews, and there in Makkah open and persistent calls for vengeance coupled with open intentions to mobilize all potential resources available to silence the voice of Islam once and for all. This was later translated into military action, Uhud Invasion, which left a very bad impression on the good name and esteem that the Muslims were painstakingly working to merit and preserve.

The Muslims were always obliged to be on the lookout for any hostile movements, and it was imperative on them to launch pre-emptive strikes in all directions in order to enjoy a reasonable degree of security in this great instability-provoking ocean of unrest. The following is a list of military activities conducted in the post-Badr era:

Al-Kudr Invasion

The scouting body of Madinah reported that Banu Saleem of Ghatafan were engaged in mustering troops to invade the Muslims. The Prophet [pbuh] took the initiative himself and mounted a surprise attack on them in their own homeland at a watering place called Al-Kudr. Banu Saleem, on receiving the news, had fled before he arrived. He stayed there for three days, took their 500 camels as booty and distributed them to the fighters after he had set aside the usual one-fifth; each one gained two camels.

This invasion took place in Shawwal in the year 2 A.H., seven days after the event of Badr.[Za'd Al-Ma'ad 2/90; Ibn Hisham 2/43,44; Mukhtasar Seerat Ar-Rasool p.236]

An Attempt on the Life of the Prophet [pbuh]

The impact of defeat at Badr was so great that the Makkans began to burn with indignation and resentment over their horrible losses. To resolve this situation two polytheists volunteered to quench their thirst and muffle the source of that humiliation i.e. the Prophet [pbuh].

'Umair bin Wahab Al-Jumahi, a terrible polytheist, and an archenemy Safwan bin Omaiyah sat together privately lamenting their loss and remembering their dead and captives. 'Umair expressed a fervent desire to kill the Prophet [pbuh] and release his captured son in Madinah, if it was not for the yoke of debts he was under and the large family he had to support. Safwan, also had his good reasons to see the Prophet [pbuh] killed, so he offered to discharge 'Umair's debts and support his family if he went on with his plan.