The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 115
III - Early Battles, Commencement of Fasting, Alteration of the Qiblah and Initial Discussion on the Battle of Badr 115 Introductory Discussion Relevant to the Battle of Badr In this very year, during the month of Ramaḍān , the battle of Badr took place. Since this war is in many respects, an extremely significant occurrence in the history of Islām, it is necessary to cast a glance upon it with relatively more detail. Badr is the first formal war which took place between the disbelievers and Muslims and its effects also proved to be immensely vast and deeply influential. It is for this reason that the Holy Qur’ān has named this day “ Yaumul-Furqān” , i. e. , a day of distinction between truth and falsehood, and claims that this was the very punishment which had been foretold by the Holy Prophet sa to befall the Quraish of Makkah, prior to the migration. In the current age, various research scholars have differed in their opinion regarding the stimulating factors of the battle of Badr. It is this very difference of opinion that we wish to briefly examine in this introductory discussion. Historians generally believe, and among the pioneers there is not a single historian who disagrees, that the Holy Prophet sa received news that a trade caravan of the Quraish was returning from Syria to Makkah under the command of Abū Sufyān, and that the Holy Prophet sa left Madīnah to intercept this very caravan. However, when the Holy Prophet sa reached Badr, he was informed that a grand army of the Quraish had arrived from Makkah, after which the caravan escaped, and the Muslims came into conflict with the army of the Quraish. On the other hand, at the present time, an honourable man from the Aḥmadiyya Muslim Community of Qādiān, named Maulawī Sher ‘Alī Ṣāḥib B. A. , in the Review of Religions (Qādiān) of 1910, as well as a renowned historian of India named Maulānā Shiblī Nu‘mānī, in his Sīratun-Nabī sa , have expressed the view, deducing by various Qur’ānic verses and other testimonies, that the Muslims had been informed of the army of the Quraish while they were still in Madīnah. Furthermore, they suggest that it was with this intention that they went forth from Madīnah, and the notion that they set out for the caravan is incorrect. As such, Maulānā Shiblī Nu‘mānī summarises his opinion as such: “It was publicly announced in Madīnah that the Quraish were approaching Madīnah with a grand army. The Holy Prophet sa decided to stand up in defense and the campaign of Badr took place. ” 1 1 Sīratun-Nabī, By Maulānā Shiblī Nu‘mānī, Volume 1, p. 218, Ghazwah-e-Badr Par Dubārah Naẓr, Idārah-e-Islāmiyyāt, Lahore, Pakistan (2002)