The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 116
Seal of the Prophets - Volume II 116 As far as the issue of a question being raised against the individual ethics of the Holy Prophet sa and the collective ethics of the Muslims is concerned, this difference of opinion does not hold great significance. It is immaterial as to whether the Companions had set out to intercept the caravan or if the objective was to fight the army of the Quraish, or even if they had received news of the two and were conscious of both. Irrespective of the intended objective, as we have already proven in the fundamental discussion on Jihād , both objectives were absolutely legitimate and permissible. No sensible and unprejudiced individual can raise an allegation in this regard. However, from a historical and academic perspective, this difference of opinion has taken on the form of an interesting discussion, and no scholarly historian can act indifferently towards this issue; and then, research into the authenticity of historical accounts is also an additional responsibility. However, the difficulty is that in order to fully discuss and analyse this issue, a lengthy treatise would be required, which cannot be accommodated by a book purely on history. The truth is that I had written a detailed article on this discussion, but removed it with the idea that an article of this nature is actually related to the topic of ‘Ilmul-Kalām, 1 and should not become a part of history in general. Hence, now I shall very briefly present my research on this issue and then return to the actual subject at hand. I have deeply contemplated upon both views in this respect. However, although I look upon the research of Maulawī Sher ‘Alī Ṣāḥib and Maulānā Shiblī with regard, unfortunately, I differ with these honourable men in certain respects. In my opinion, the actual reality lies exactly between these two views. In other words, according to my investigation, on the one hand, modern-day research is correct in the assertion that it was in Madīnah that the Holy Prophet sa had received news of the arrival of the army of the Quraish. On the other hand however, the belief of historians in general is not at all incorrect either, in that the Companions (i. e. , most companions as shall soon become evident), had only set out with the intention of intercepting the caravan and they found out about the army of the Quraish only after reaching close to Badr. As far as I have contemplated, the Holy Qur’ān as well as history and the Aḥādīth all support my view. In actuality, our current day research scholars have not taken the Qur’ānic evidence into account entirely. They have only accepted a part of it (which apparently seems to contradict historical accounts, although, it is not actually opposed to it either, and only tells of an 1 Science of Dialectics [Publishers]