The Early Battles

Some Jews asked the Prophet ﷺ:

“Tell us, where will the people be when, on the Day of Judgment, the forms of the earth and the heavens are changed?”

The Prophet ﷺ replied:

“At that time, the people will be in darkness near the Sirat.”

Similarly, once the Jews asked the Prophet ﷺ about the thunder and lightning of the clouds. In response, the Prophet ﷺ said:

“It is the voice of the angel who is appointed over the clouds. In his hand is a whip of fire, with which he drives the clouds toward wherever Allah Almighty commands them to go.”

Among these Jews, there was also a group of hypocrites. Let us understand this point with a little explanation.

When Islam gained strength in Madinah, the authority and influence of the Jews came to an end. Many Jews accepted Islam because they thought that their lives were now in danger. So, in order to save their lives, they pretended to become Muslims. Although, outwardly, they called themselves Muslims, their sympathies and loyalties were still with the Jews. Outwardly they were Muslims, but inwardly they remained Jews. Allah and His Messenger ﷺ declared such people to be hypocrites. Their number was around three hundred.

Among these hypocrites was ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy. He was the leader of the hypocrites.

These hypocrites were always looking for opportunities to see when and how they could harm the Muslims. They never let an opportunity to trouble or harm the Muslims pass by, as you will read about later.

When the Prophet ﷺ was granted Prophethood, he was initially commanded to convey the message without fighting. Allah Almighty had commanded that he should not engage with these disbelievers, but should keep away from them and remain patient. This command remained in effect throughout the Makkan period.

Then, after the Hijrah, permission was given to fight in such a way that if the polytheists initiated fighting, the Muslims could fight them in defense. However, they were not to fight during the sacred months—Rajab, Dhul-Qa‘dah, Dhul-Hijjah, and Muharram.

After some time, general permission to fight was given. This meant that even if the disbelievers did not attack first, the Muslims could engage them in offensive warfare, and fighting could take place in any month.

When Allah Almighty granted the Prophet ﷺ permission for Jihad, he departed from Madinah for the first time for this purpose on 12 Rabi‘ al-Awwal, 2 AH.

Leaving Madinah, the Prophet ﷺ reached a place called Waddan. It was a large settlement and was six or eight miles away from al-Abwa’. Al-Abwa’ was a village between Makkah and Madinah.

Only the Muhajirun accompanied the Prophet ﷺ on this expedition. The Prophet ﷺ had gone there intending to confront the tribe of Banu Damrah. Seventy Companions were with him.

The chief of Banu Damrah made peace without fighting. A peace agreement was written, and the Prophet ﷺ returned.

Thus, this was the first Ghazwah of the Prophet ﷺ. It is known as the Ghazwah of Banu Damrah.

The Muslim flag in this Ghazwah was white, and it was given to Hazrat Hamzah رضي الله عنه.

The peace agreement stipulated that these people would not fight against the Muslims and that whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ called them, they would come to assist him.

The Muslims spent fifteen days on this expedition.

After this came the Ghazwah of Buwat. There were two hundred Muhajirun in the Islamic army. The flag was white. This expedition took place in Rabi‘ al-Thani, 2 AH.

The Prophet ﷺ had set out to intercept a trading caravan. The leader of this caravan was the Qurayshi chief Umayyah ibn Khalaf. There were one hundred men from Quraysh accompanying him. The caravan had two thousand five hundred camels, carrying trade goods.

When the Prophet ﷺ departed from Madinah for this expedition, he appointed Sa‘d ibn Mu‘adh رضي الله عنه as his deputy in Madinah.

The Prophet ﷺ traveled from Madinah and reached Buwat. Buwat was the name of a mountain, and because of this the expedition became known as the Ghazwah of Buwat.

However, when the Prophet ﷺ reached Buwat, the Muslims did not encounter the enemy because the Qurayshi caravan had already left before the Muslims arrived. Therefore, the Prophet ﷺ returned without fighting.

In the month of Jumada al-Ula, the Ghazwah of ‘Ushayrah took place.

This time also, the Prophet ﷺ went out to intercept a Qurayshi caravan. The caravan was traveling toward the land of Syria.

The Quraysh had placed a great deal of their wealth and goods in this caravan. In fact, almost all the people of Makkah had invested wealth in it.

The caravan contained fifty thousand dinars and one thousand camels. Its leader was Abu Sufyan رضي الله عنه, who had not yet accepted Islam at that time. Twenty-seven men were also accompanying it.

The Prophet ﷺ appointed Abu Salamah ibn ‘Abdullah رضي الله عنه as his deputy in Madinah.

Around one hundred and fifty Companions accompanied the Prophet ﷺ.

Leaving Madinah, the Prophet ﷺ reached the place of ‘Ushayrah.

The Islamic flag was white on this expedition as well, and it was carried by the Prophet’s ﷺ uncle, Hazrat Hamzah رضي الله عنه.

The Islamic army traveled on twenty camels. The Companions took turns riding them.

At ‘Ushayrah, the Prophet ﷺ learned that the caravan had already passed through there and had continued toward Syria. Therefore, the Prophet ﷺ again returned without fighting.

However, during this journey, a peace and security agreement was concluded with Banu Mudlij.

It was during this journey that Hazrat ‘Ali رضي الله عنه received the title Abu Turab.

The incident occurred in this way: On one occasion, the Prophet ﷺ found Hazrat ‘Ali and Hazrat ‘Ammar ibn Yasir رضي الله عنهما sleeping on the ground, with dust on them.

The Prophet ﷺ moved Hazrat ‘Ali رضي الله عنه with his foot and said:

“O Abu Turab, meaning, ‘O one covered with dust,’ get up.”

When the Prophet ﷺ returned from the Ghazwah of ‘Ushayrah, another expedition took place only a few days later.

A man named Kurz ibn Jabir al-Fihri attacked the pasture of Madinah and took some animals.

The Prophet ﷺ went out in pursuit of him and continued until he reached the valley of Safwan. This valley is near the plain of Badr. Because of this, this expedition is also called the First Battle of Badr, or Badr al-Ula.

Kurz ibn Jabir had already left before the Muslims reached the place.

Before setting out for this expedition, the Prophet ﷺ appointed Hazrat Zayd ibn Harithah رضي الله عنه as his deputy in Madinah.

This time too, the flag was white, and it was given to Hazrat ‘Ali رضي الله عنه.

During the same year, 2 AH, the direction of the Qiblah was changed.

Until that time, the Muslims had been praying while facing Bayt al-Maqdis.

The command to change the Qiblah came during the Zuhr prayer. According to one narration, the command came during the ‘Asr prayer.

The Qiblah was changed because the Prophet ﷺ had wished that the Qiblah would be toward the Kaaba. He especially wished this because the Jews used to say:

“Muhammad opposes us, yet he also prays facing our Qiblah. If we were not upon the right path, you would not pray facing our Qiblah.”

Because of their statement, the Prophet ﷺ prayed that our Qiblah would become the Kaaba, and Allah Almighty accepted this supplication.

The command to change the Qiblah came while the prayer was in progress. Therefore, the Prophet ﷺ turned toward the Kaaba during the prayer itself, and all the Companions رضي الله عنهم turned with him.

This prayer was being performed in Masjid al-Qiblatayn.