The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 124
Seal of the Prophets - Volume II 124 an additional eight or nine days to reach Badr. 1 This is a total of eleven or twelve days. Despite this, when the Muslim army arrived at Badr, the army of the Quraish had already arrived there. Since the Holy Prophet sa had arrived at Badr on the 16th of Ramaḍān , for this reason it must be accepted that the army of the Quraish perhaps arrived there on the 15th. Now if eleven or twelve days are subtracted from these fifteen days to account for preparation and journey, the definite conclusion which is derived is that the Quraish intended to go forth from Makkah on the 3rd or 4th of Ramaḍān. On the other hand, both in terms of rationality and in light of narrations, the date upon which the Muslim army set out from Madīnah, is proven to be the 12th of Ramaḍān. 2 In other words, between the preparation of the Quraish and the departure of the Holy Prophet sa from Madīnah, there was a time span of a full eight or nine days. During this time, news of the army of the Quraish could have very easily reached Madīnah. As a matter of fact, this time span was enough for an individual to travel from Makkah to Madīnah and then return from Madīnah to Makkah as well, because history establishes that a swift rider, who was free from all kinds of load, could reach Madīnah from Makkah on the third or fourth day. 3 If the question is: who passed on this news from Makkah? The answer to this question is that weak and poor Muslims were still present in Makkah, who could arrange for the transmission of intelligence in such a dangerous atmosphere. In addition to this, ‘Abbās bin ‘Abdil-Muṭṭalib, the biological paternal uncle of the Holy Prophet sa , still resided in Makkah. Furthermore, history proves that he would send all kinds of necessary information to the Holy Prophet sa. 4 As such, with regards to the Ghazwah of Uḥud, it is especially mentioned that on this occasion, ‘Abbās secretly sent word to the Holy Prophet sa about the army of the Quraish. He settled with his emissary that 1 Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By ‘Allāmah Shihābuddīn Qusṭalānī, Volume 2, p. 261, Bābu Ghazwati Badril-Kubrā, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996) 2 Aṭ-Ṭabaqātul-Kubrā, By Muḥammad bin Sa‘d, Volume 2, p. 254, Ghazwatu Badr, Dāru Iḥyā’it- Turāthil-‘Arabī, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996) 3 Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By ‘Allāmah Shihābuddīn Qusṭalānī, Volume 2, p. 392, Ghazwatu Uḥud, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996) 4 * Usdul-Ghābah Fī Ma‘rifatiṣ-Ṣaḥābah, By ‘Izzuddīn Ibnul-Athīr Abul-Ḥasan ‘Alī bin Muḥammad, Volume 3, p. 60, ‘Abbāsubnu ‘Abdil-Muṭṭalib, Dārul-Fikr, Beirut, Lebanon (2003) * Al-Mawāhibul-Ladunniyyati Bil-Manḥil-Muḥammadiyyah, By Aḥmad bin Qusṭalānī, Volume 1, p. 193, Bābu Maghāzīhi Wa Sarāyāhu Wa Bu‘ūthihi sa , Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996)