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The Qur'an's moral teachings require that Muslims avoid war and conflict, remove misunderstanding through discussion, and behave in a conciliatory manner. According to the Qu'ran, war should be resorted to only when it is unavoidable, meaning that it is an undesired necessity that should be organized by designated persons and within specific moral limits. Muslims must seek peace and understanding whenever they encounter difficulties; however, they are required to fight to defend themselves if attacked.
Allah tells us in the Qur'an that corruption is the cause of war and that Allah does not love corruption:
Each time they kindle the fire of war, Allah extinguishes it. They rush about the land corrupting it. Allah does not love corrupters. (Surat al-Ma'idah: 64)
When we look at our Prophet's (saas) life, we see that he resorted to war only when it was necessary for self-defence.
The revelation of the Qur'an lasted for twenty-three years. For the first thirteen years, Muslims lived as a minority and oppressed religious community among the non-Muslim Meccans. Many of them were physically tortured, some were killed, and others had their houses and possessions plundered. All of them were constantly subjected to insults and threats. In spite of this, they remained non-violent and always tried to make peace with their enemies. Finally, when the pressure became unbearable, the Muslims moved to Yathrib (later Madinah) and set up their own city-state.
At those times when war was unavoidable, the Lord assisted our Prophet (saas) with many miracles, among them sending angels to give the Muslims victory over superior enemy forces:
Allah helped you at Badr when you were weak, so fear [and respect] Him, so that, hopefully, you will be thankful. (Surah Al 'Imran: 123)
Although the sincere Muslims were far fewer than their enemies, they fought in the field with great courage behind our Prophet (saas) and, with Allah's support, won great victories. Allah tells us in the Qur'an that He supported them with angels and announced that the angels would help them:
And when you asked the believers: "Is it not enough for you that your Lord reinforced you with three thousand angels, sent down?" Yes indeed! But if you are steadfast and have fear of [and respect for] Allah and they come upon you suddenly, your Lord will reinforce you with five thousand angels, clearly identified. Allah only did this for it to be good news for you, so that your hearts might be set at rest by it (help comes from no one but Allah, the Almighty, the All-Wise), and so that He might cut off or crush a group of unbelievers they might be turned back in defeat. (Surah Al 'Imran: 124-27)
Sir Edward Landseer's painting "The Arab Tent," dated 1866.
In other words, He sent the good news of angels' assistance to satisfy the Muslims' hearts. Of course, this was the only reason Allah needed. If He wills, He can defeat unbelievers with a single blow or drive them into the depths of the earth within minutes or seconds. Allah states in the Qur'an that many unbelievers perished in an unexpected moment due to a single sound, cyclone, or sudden disaster or that they were confused and buried beneath the ground. Of course, Allah has the power to do all of these things. It was good news for our Prophet (saas) and his community that the Lord gave them such a glorious and miraculous victory. Many Muslim interpreters and scholars have spoken of these things, among them the great scholar Omer Nashuhi Bilmen, who writes:
The army of Islam, venturing war with the polytheists of the Quraysh, advanced towards the River Badr The Prophet (saas) showed the places where the ones from the enemy's army would be killed, and this came about and was a great miracle. Eventually the army of Qureysh came to the Badr and seized it. But the next day it rained. The Companions had plenty of water, and their distress was thus overcome. They then descended onto the battlefield; the enemy forces were three times more numerous than the Muslims, but still they were afraid, and the fighting began. Since the Muslims appreciated the spiritual value of jihad and martyrdom, they threw themselves without fear, joyfully, into the fray. At this point Omar's freedman "Mahca" was killed. "Mahca is the lord of martyrs," said the Prophet. 50
Our Prophet (saas) prayed:
"O Lord, grant me the victory You promised," fell into a light slumber, and immediately awoke smiling. He addressed Abu Bakr, who was by his side: "Glad tidings, Abu Bakr. Gabriel and a great number of angels have come to our assistance." He then donned his armor and left the tent. Some Muslim warriors were concerned at the numbers of the more numerous enemy army who would take part in the fighting. At this, the glad tidings were imparted that help would come to the Muslims from the presence of Allah by means of angels. According to the account, at that moment a powerful wind blew up and nobody could see anything. This was a sign that Gabriel and a great number of the angels had come to the battlefield. Those angels were riding white horses. They appeared in the guise of white and yellow human beings and physically participated in the battle of Badr.
During this battle, first 1,000, then 2,000, and then 3,000 angels came to assist the Muslims. Their numbers finally reached 5,000 in total. 51
Allah tells in otther verses that He sent angels to help the Muslims:
Remember when you called on your Lord for help and He responded to you: "I will reinforce you with a thousand angels, riding rank after rank." Allah only did this to give you good news and so that your hearts would be at rest. Victory comes from no one but Allah. Allah is Almighty, All-Wise. And when He overcame you with sleep, making you feel secure, He sent water from heaven to purify you and remove satan's taint from you, and to fortify your hearts and make your feet firm. (Surat al-Anfal: 9-11)
In his commentary, Imam Sabuni describes the angels' assistance as follows:
Through the hadith that He would assist with 1,000 consecutive angels, Allah revealed that He had heeded his prayer. Commentators say this: According to the hadith, Gabriel sent down 500 angels and fought with them on the army's right wing. Mika'il also sent down 500 angels and fought on the army's left wing. Apart from Badr, it has not been possible to determine in which battles the angels fought. In other battles, they descended to make the number of Muslims look greater, but they did not fight.
Allah's helping you with angels is solely to give you glad tidings of victory. He helped so that you could find contentment with this victory. In fact, victory is only in the sight of Almighty Allah. Trust in His help; do not trust in your own strength and arms. Allah is victorious and cannot be defeated. Whatever His wisdom requires, that is what He does.
Remember that Allah brought you sleep from His own presence as an element of security. This is a miracle of the Prophet (saas), because at the moment of fear, sleep weighed on all. Ali (ra) says: "On the day of Badr, there was no horse other than Miqdat. I saw that everyone, apart from the Prophet (saas), was sleeping." Ibn Kathir says: "In order for the believers' hearts to be at peace with His help, they were as if asleep during the battle's most violent moment. This is another blessing granted by Allah. What happened was that during the battle of Badr, the Muslims were without water. At this, Allah caused such a rain to descend on them that water flowed from the valleys.'" 52
Another miracle was our Prophet's (saas) ability to reconcile the hearts of believers who took part in various struggles. By His word, it happened that people coming from different cities and communities, and even mutual enemies, came together to work for a common goal and to win Allah's approval. In many verses, Allah stated the good news of His help and support for all devout believers:
If they intend to deceive you, Allah is enough for you. He supported you with His help and with the believers, and unified their hearts. Even if you had spent everything on Earth, you could not have unified their hearts. But Allah has unified them. He is
Almighty, All-Wise. O Prophet, Allah is enough for you and for the believers who follow you. (Surat al-Anfal: 62-64)
With Allah's help, our Prophet (saas) and the believers, despite their weakness, defeated numerous armies of the unbelievers. Despite the Meccans' numerical strength and technical advantages, Allah enabled the believers to rout them.
Allah granted another miracle during this event:
O Prophet, spur on the believers to fight. If there are twenty of you who are steadfast, they will overcome two hundred; and if there are a hundred of you [who are steadfast], they will overcome a thousand of those who are unbelievers because they are people who do not understand. Now Allah has made it lighter on you, knowing there is weakness in you. If there are a hundred of you who are steadfast, they will overcome two hundred; and if there are a thousand of you [who are steadfast], they will overcome two thousand with Allah's permission. Allah is with the steadfast. (Surat al-Anfal: 65-66)
In another verse, Allah reveals that He sent invisible armies to punish the Meccan polytheists.
Then Allah sent down His serenity on His Messenger and on the believers, sent down troops you could not see, and punished the unbelievers. That is how the unbelievers are repaid. (Surat at-Tawba: 26)
While Allah helped the Muslims with miracles, He also punished their enemies for their ongoing cruelty and oppression toward those Muslims still in Mecca.
In his commentary, Ibn Kathir includes a story of those who lived at this time:
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (ra), Imam Muslim reported that the Prophet (saas) said: "I have been helped by having terror (instilled in the hearts of my enemies), and I have been given words (of wisdom) that are concise though comprehensive in meaning." 53
Another commentator relates that the unbelievers' traps and ruses will be foiled by the believers' patience:
After Almighty Allah had forbidden us to take non-Muslims as our protectors and friends and told us why, He promised that He would foil all of the unbelievers' traps and snares as long as we had fear of [and respect for] Him and were patient. There were two situations in when He acted as the believers' guardian: on the Day of Uhud and the Day of Badr. On these two days, Almighty Allah foiled the enemies' traps and snares on account of the believers' patience and fear of [and respect for] Him. The proof of this assertion lies in the fact that steadfastness and fear of [and respect for] Allah are mentioned in the preceding verse: "But if you are steadfast and fear [and respect] Allah, their scheming will not harm you in any way." 54 The apparent small numbers of
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Regards,
NAJIMUDEEN M
{Edior & Publishor}
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