Jihad (Struggle, effort, endeavour) - Part 3

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('Jihad' - Struggle, effort, endeavour. [Muhammad Prophet For Our Time Glossary

pg. 217].)

 

 

Jihad - Part 3

 

(p.131) A few weeks later, during the month of Ramadan (March 624), Muhammad led

a large Muslim contingent to intercept a Meccan caravan that Abu Sufyan was

bringing back from Syria. [8] This was one of the most important caravans of the

year and, encouraged by the success of Nakhlah, a large contingent of Helpers

volunteered to join the raid. (p.132) About 314 Muslims set out from Medina and

rode to the well of Badr, near the Red Sea coast, where they hoped to ambush the

caravan. This expedition would be one of the most formative events in the early

history of Islam, but at the outset it seemed just another ghazu and several of

the most committed Muslims stayed at home, including 'Uthman ibn 'Affan, whose

wife Ruqayyah, the Prophet’s daughter, was dangerously ill.

 

At first it looked as though the caravan would, as usual, escape. Abu Sufyan got

wind of the Muslims’ plan and instead of taking his usual route across the

Hijaz, he turned sharply away from the coast and dispatched a local tribesman to

Mecca to get help. The Quraysh were incensed at Muhammad’s insolence, which they

regarded as a slur on their honor, and all the leading men were determined to

rescue the caravan. Abu Jahl, of course, was eager for the fray. The obese

Ummayah ibn Khalaf was crammed into his armor, and even members of Muhammad’s

own family rode out against him, convinced that this time he had gone too far.

Abu Lahab was sick, but two of Abu Talib’s sons, his uncle 'Abbas, and

Khadijah’s nephew Hakim joined the thousand men who rode out of Mecca that night

and took the road to Badr.

 

In the meantime, Abu Sufyan had managed to elude the Muslims and taken the

caravan beyond their reach. He sent word that the merchandise was safe and that

the army should turn back. The sources made it clear that when it came to the

point many of the Quraysh were reluctant to fight their kinsmen. But Abu Jahl

would have none of this. " By Allah! " he cried. " We will not go back until we

have been to Badr. (p. 133) We will spend three days there, slaughter camels,

and feast and drink wine; and the girls shall play for us. The Arabs will hear

that we have come and will respect us in the future. " [9] But these defiant

words showed that even Abu Jahl did not expect a battle. He had little

conception of the horror of war, which he seemed to envisage as a kind of party,

complete with dancing girls. The Quraysh were so far removed from the steppes

that warfare had become a chivalric sport that would enhance the prestige of

Mecca. There was a very different spirit in the Muslim camp. After the trauma

and terror of the hijrah [pilgrimage], the Emigrants could not view the

situation in such a confident, carefree light. As soon as Muhammad heard that

the Meccan army was approaching, he consulted the other chiefs. The Muslims were

vastly outnumbered. They had expected an ordinary ghazu, not a full-scale

battle, which was a very different matter. Muhammad was not the

commander-in-chief; he could not command obedience, but the men decided to fight

it out. As Sa ‘d ibn Mu'adh said on behalf of the Helpers:

 

We have given you our word and agreement to hear and obey; so go where you wish

and we are with you, and by God, if you were to ask us to cross this sea and you

plunged into it, we would plunge into it with you. We do not dislike the idea of

meeting your enemy tomorrow. We are experienced in war, trustworthy in combat.

[10]

 

Muhammad (Prophet For Our Time)

Chapter 4, 'Jihad', p. 131-133

Karen Armstrong

Harper Perennial - London, New York, Toronto and Sydney

ISBN-13 978-0-00-723248-2

ISBN-10 0-00-723248-9

 

Notes:

 

[8] Bamyeh, 'Social Origins of Islam', 200, 231; Andrae, 'Muhammad', 203-6;

Watt, 'Muhammad at Medina', 11-20; Martin Lings, 'Mohammad: His Life Based on

the Earliest Sources' (London, 1983), 138-59.

 

[9] Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, 'Sirat Rasul Allah', 435, in A. Guillaume, trans. and

ed., 'The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ishaq's' Sirat Rasul Allah (London,

1955).

 

[10] Ibid.