The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 125
III - Early Battles, Commencement of Fasting, Alteration of the Qiblah and Initial Discussion on the Battle of Badr 125 this news would be conveyed to Madīnah within three days. As such, the emissary did in fact reach Madīnah within three days, and the Holy Prophet sa received news of the army of the Quraish in due time. In the beginning, the Holy Prophet sa only conveyed this news to a few selected Companions and made an announcement later on. 1 In such circumstances, is it not probable, rather, I would say, is it not very likely that on the occasion of Badr as well, a secret letter from ‘Abbās reached the Holy Prophet sa ; and then, in order to prevent discouragement from spreading among the Muslim masses, the Holy Prophet sa mentioned this news only to selected Companions, and kept it secret from the Muslim masses? As a matter of fact, due to the circumstances which have been mentioned above, to maintain secrecy in this manner on the occasion of Badr was even more necessary. Then, this secrecy was easier to maintain in Badr as opposed to Uḥud, because on this occasion, news of the arrival of the caravan was present as well, due to which, news of the army of the Quraish could be easily concealed, until the end. This is why we see that on the occasion of Uḥud, news of the letter of ‘Abbās was disclosed, because although secrecy could be maintained in the beginning, but by the end, there was no choice but to reveal it. At the occasion of Badr, this news remained completely hidden until the end. Furthermore, it is possible, rather, very likely that according to divine will, the mention of which can be found in the Holy Qur’ān as well, the Holy Prophet sa considered this secrecy to be necessary until the end. In summary, it is evident by a study of the Holy Qur’ān, history and the Aḥādīth , that the common belief of most historians that the Holy Prophet sa and all of the Muslims went forth from Madīnah only with the caravan in mind, and were completely unaware of the news regarding the army of the Quraish, is incorrect. Similarly, the opinion of our current day research scholars that all of the Muslims were aware of the imminent arrival of the army of the Quraish, and it was based on this news that they set out from Madīnah, is also incorrect. Rather, the truth is that prior to setting out from Madīnah, news of both the army and caravan had reached the Holy Prophet sa. However, due to wisdom, the arrival of the army was kept a secret, and except for a few selected Companions, who were perhaps only from among the most eminent of the 1 * Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By ‘Allāmah Shihābuddīn Qusṭalānī, Volume 2, p. 392, Ghazwatu Uḥud, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996) * Aṭ-Ṭabaqātul-Kubrā, By Muḥammad bin Sa‘d, Volume 2, p. 268, Ghazwatu Uḥud, Dāru Iḥyā’it- Turāthil-‘Arabī, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996) * Kitābul-Maghāzī, By Abū ‘Abdillāh Muḥammad bin ‘Umar bin Wāqid Al-Wāqidī, Volume 1, p. 189, Ghazwatu Uḥud, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon (2004)