The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 123
III - Early Battles, Commencement of Fasting, Alteration of the Qiblah and Initial Discussion on the Battle of Badr 123 immediately, and without hesitation said, “This slave speaks the truth. ” 1 And the list goes on. All of these details are a testimony that the Holy Prophet sa was aware of the arrival of the army of the Quraish beforehand. However, the Companions were unaware, except for those selected Companions who may have been informed of this news by the Holy Prophet sa , according to the Qur’ānic narrative. Now, the only question which remains to be solved is whether it was possible for the Holy Prophet sa to have received news of the army of the Quraish, while he was still in Madīnah. Then, if the Holy Prophet sa had received this news, why did he convey this to only a few Companions and a majority of them remained unaware? As such, the first answer to this is that indeed, it was possible, because the Holy Prophet sa was a Prophet and Messenger of Allāh the Exalted. The word of God was revealed upon the Holy Prophet sa , and history proves that many a time, divine revelation would inform the Holy Prophet sa of occurrences which were yet to take place or were of the unseen. Hence, upon this occasion as well, if the Holy Prophet sa happened to be informed by divine revelation that an army of the Quraish was approaching, then this would be nothing surprising. In relation to the occurrences of the life of the Holy Prophet sa , this occurrence would be considered a very minor one. Moreover, sometimes a revelation of this nature, which contains a prophecy, requires an interpretation. At times, the complete understanding of this is not even endowed to the recipient himself, prior to the occurrence. For this reason, it is possible that out of precaution, the Holy Prophet sa conveyed this divine news only to selected Companions, and a majority of the Muslims were kept unaware, so that they were not demoralized in any way by this news. It is established from the Holy Qur’ān as well, that on another occasion during this very war, in order to prevent discouragement, by His power, God made the army of the Quraish appear much less than its actual number in the eyes of the Muslims. The second answer to this is that even in light of apparent circumstances, it was absolutely plausible that news of the army of the Quraish was received by the Holy Prophet sa , while he was still in Madīnah. This is because history proves that when the emissary of Abū Sufyān reached Makkah, the Quraish spent three days in preparation. 2 Then, it took 1 Ṣaḥīḥu Muslim, Kitābul-Jihād Was-Siyar, Bābu Ghazwati Badr, Ḥadīth No. 4621 2 As-Sīratul-Ḥalabiyyah, By Abul-Faraj Nūruddīn ‘Alī bin Ibrāhīm, Volume 2, p. 201, Bābu Dhikri Maghāzīhi sa / Bābu Ghazwati Badril-Kubrā, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon (2002)