035 - The Preparation for Badr

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We discussed the famous Constitution of Madinah, and the People of the Suffa. Today, we will talk about a number of important changes in the Madani society. Of course, the Prophet PBUH had moved to a new place —it's a new era, and everything is different— so a number of different policies were put into place that were new and were impossible to implement in Makkah. We will discuss three of them — two of them briefly, and one of them in detail:

1. Economic policies

2. Spiritual developments

3. Political and military developments

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1. Economic Policies

In Makkah, the Prophet PBUH and the Muslims were a minority. They could not have an independent economic policy. However, in Madinah, they are now independent in terms of there being no more dictatorship. Therefore, one of the first things the Prophet PBUH did when he came to Madinah was he visited the souqs (marketplaces) of Madinah. In those times, the Arabs of Madinah (the Ansar) primarily were involved in cultivation — generally, they were not people of business; and if they wanted to do business, they would go to the souqs of the Jews. The Jewish tribes had the biggest souqs outside of Madinah. The Jews were known for their businesses while the Arabs were more known for cultivation. The Arabs of Madinah did not have a major souq inside the city. The major souqs were basically in the encampments of the Jewish tribes outside of the center of Madinah. So the Prophet PBUH visited those souqs —and this is reported in Sunan Ibn Majah— and he disapproved of the practices and the deception that was going on, and he said to the Muslims, "This is not a souq for you." Then he went back to his masjid, and with his own feet, he demarcated lines in the sand, and said, "This shall be your souq. So let it not be diminished, and let no one tax the people in it." So he instituted a souq towards the west of the masjid, and gave two simple rules:

i. All business must be done within the demarcated line (meaning no one should encroach on any houses, etc.)

ii. No extra taxes (no one is going to be having to pay a fee to be in the souq)


And it is not true, by the way, to say that Islam promotes a capitalist system. As we know, there are three main "-isms" in the 20th and 21st centuries: socialism, communism, and capitalism. And if we were forced to compare, no doubt, the Islamic system is closest to the capitalist system — but there are many differences; and it's not fair to say that Islam is an "-ism." Islam is its own system. The Prophet PBUH instituted a whole new policy of economics that was unprecedented at the time. And of course, this is a whole different tangent that we don't have time to talk about — what new policies did the Prophet PBUH bring, etc. Many books have been written on this. Notably, he banned interest completely. Also, he linked buying and trading to religiosity and spirituality: he praised honesty, criticized dishonesty, and further said, "The righteous businessmen will be blessed on the Day of Judgment," "Those who cheat and lie is not of us," etc. And anyone who understands the modern economic system knows that if you don't have ethics and morals, 'you can do whatever you want' — the only thing that is preventing you from abusing your power or wealth over other people is an inner conscience. And the Prophet PBUH linked commerce with religiosity and encouraged practices that are spiritual in nature, and then of course, also demanded a certain code of conduct. E.g., he forbade cheating, lying, swearing false oaths, and hiding defects. He used to monitor the souqs that he instituted himself — famous hadith in Bukhari: He once found a date seller who was selling bags of dates, and the seller would put good quality dates at the top of the bag, but rotting ones at the bottom — the Prophet PBUH said to him, "Whoever cheats is not of us."

Also, the Prophet PBUH forbade anyone living in Madinah to act as an agent for a Bedouin who comes. Let the Bedouin go to the marketplace and buy and sell himself. Why? Because when you have an agent who lives in the city, he will know the ins and outs, and he will inflate or deflate, and he is going to play the game. Whereas the Bedouin, he will go and he is going to give a fair price. There is clear wisdom here too. The Prophet PBUH knows middlemen would play tricks and take advantage of the ignorance of the outsider. And subhan'Allah, look at how modern economics works — so much of the profit goes to people who don't do much but simply possess shrewdness. So the Prophet PBUH forbade this and many other practices which we don't have time to get into — but the point is, very early on, the Prophet PBUH rejected the marketplaces that were there, and he established his own souq with his own Islamic shariah being fulfilled. And of course, this souq flourished. Therefore, later on, when the Jewish tribes were expelled one by one and their souqs collapsed, it left no effect on the Muslim economy, since they were wholly independent. — A big lesson for us to learn in the modern world.

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2. Spiritual Practices

As soon as the Prophet PBUH Emigrated, one by one, the major [ritualistic] commandments came down — within a year, pretty much the entire shariah of worship had been revealed (except for Hajj, which will be revealed in the 9th year of the Hijrah — it was delayed because Makkah at this point is still enemy territory):

I. Fasting

The Ramadan of the year of Emigration, nothing happened — meaning there was no shariah for fasting. Next Muharram, on the 10th, the Prophet PBUH made the fast of the 10th of Muharram wajib (obligatory): "Whoever ate breakfast in the morning, let him not eat anything for the rest of the day. Today is going to be wajib to fast." And the fast was one day only; not one month. So the first obligatory fast in Islam was a stepping stone to let the Muslims get used to fasting. Then, that Ramadan (meaning the Ramadan of the 2nd year), Allah AWJ revealed in the Quran verse 185 of Surah al-Baqarah, "Whoever is present in the month (i.e., not traveling), then he should fast that month" [see Quran, 2:185]. (Side note: Some scholars say, even the Ramadan of the previous year, while not wajib, it was encouraged to fast. Allah knows best whether this is true, but it wasn't wajib for sure. By unanimous consensus, Ramadan became wajib in the 2nd year.) So the 2nd year, Ramadan became wajib — and at that point in time, the 10th of Muharram became sunnah.

II. Zakat

And in that Ramadan as well, Zakat al-Fitr (زكاة الفطر) was revealed and became wajib. As we know, Zakat al-Fitr is the easier of the zakat (in our days, it's about $7-$10) — again, to make the Muslims used to the concept of zakat. Then within a few months, the same year, Zakat al-Mal (زكاة المال) was revealed (2.5% of your wealth).

III. Salah

And of course, at this point in time, the basic rulings of the salah (صلاة) had been perfected; the Prophet PBUH said, "Pray as you see me pray." And as we said, in Makkah, all of the salahs were two rak'at, and then when he PBUH moved to Madinah, Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha increased in length (4, 4, 3, 4).

IV. Purifications

Also, how you do taharah (طهارة), wudu (وضوء), the laws of janaba (جنابة) and ghusl (غسل), etc., all of these came down within these first two years.

So by the time the second Ramadan finishes, all of these laws have been ordained. A lot was happening in Madinah.

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3. Political and Military Developments

This is a whole new different ballpark. In Makkah, there were no military developments. The Prophet PBUH never once did anything military in Makkah. In Makkah, the Muslims were told to turn the other cheek, "Turn away from them" [Quran, 32:30], "Endure with beautiful patience" [Quran, 70:5], "Whatever they do to you, trust in Allah" [Quran, 26:216-217] — the Muslims were told to remain patient even though the sahaba were literally torn to shreds, like Yasir, Sumayyah, Bilal, et al. Think about it — technically, the Prophet PBUH could have told one of the sahaba to kill the persecutor of Bilal. But he understands that this is not the right way to do things, and he understands the repercussions. One needs to think 10 steps ahead and not just 1 step ahead. Even if Bilal is suffering, to kill his persecutor (Umayyah ibn Khalaf) would bring much more persecution, and the ummah cannot bear it now. One must look at the overall picture and weigh the benefits and the negatives — in Arabic, this is called masalih and mafasid (مصالح ومفاسد - pros and cons / benefits and harms).

In fact, in the early stage, some people wanted to fight, especially the youngest; but Allah criticized them: "Don't you see those people who were told (in the days of Makkah) to 'lower your hands, establish salah and pay zakat'? These same people who were bursting to fight, when permission was finally given (in the Madinan phase) to fight, all of a sudden, they balked" [see Quran, 4:77]. This shows us those who talk the loudest act the least. So Allah criticized them for their hesitancy and lack of enthusiasm now. And of course, Allah SWT then revealed verses that allowed jihad (جهاد) and qital (قتال).

(Side note: Notice the verse mentions 'zakat.' It's worth noting, however, that every reference of zakat in the Makkan phase is optional charity; not compulsory. In Makkah, general rules of ethics came, but no real laws or obligatory commandments came down, other than praying 2 rak'at of salah five times a day.)

(Points of note: When we talk about jihad and qital, we are talking about historical realities of what happened in the time of the Prophet PBUH. We are being descriptive and not prescriptive. We are talking about the past, not about the present, and of course, not intending any type of terrorism be done. This disclaimer has to be given because of the perilous times that we live in — people are locked up merely for saying things that are taken out of context.)

The first verse that was revealed about jihad really underscores the philosophy of why Allah SWT allows jihad. It explains why Allah allows military fighting. Verses 39 to 40 of Surah al-Hajj provide the first concession for jihad, in which Allah says:

أُذِنَ لِلَّذِينَ يُقَاتَلُونَ بِأَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوا ۚ وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ نَصْرِهِمْ لَقَدِيرٌ

"Permission [to fight] has been given to those who are being fought, because they were wronged. And indeed, Allah is competent to give them victory" [22:39].

الَّذِينَ أُخْرِجُوا مِن دِيَارِهِم بِغَيْرِ حَقٍّ إِلَّا أَن يَقُولُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ ۗ وَلَوْلَا دَفْعُ اللَّهِ النَّاسَ بَعْضَهُم بِبَعْضٍ لَّهُدِّمَتْ صَوَامِعُ وَبِيَعٌ وَصَلَوَاتٌ وَمَسَاجِدُ يُذْكَرُ فِيهَا اسْمُ اللَّهِ كَثِيرًا ۗ وَلَيَنصُرَنَّ اللَّهُ مَن يَنصُرُهُ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَقَوِيٌّ عَزِيزٌ

"[They are] those who have been evicted from their homes without right — only because they say, 'Our Lord is Allah.' And were it not that Allah checks the people, some by means of others, there would have been demolished monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, in which the name of Allah is much mentioned. And Allah will surely support those who support Him. Indeed, Allah is Powerful and Exalted in Might" [22:40].

Breaking it down:

— Allah says, "Permission is given." Notice the phrase used, "permission is given," which means jihad is not the most important thing of Islam. Before, Allah had withheld those who wanted to retaliate; and now, permission is granted.

— Next, "Because they have been wronged." Notice here fighting is done for those or on behalf of those who have been wronged, against the oppressors. And no nation/tribunal/law would not recognize this type of fighting. Oppressed people whose rights have been taken away are allowed to fight if the only medium they have to get those rights back is to fight.

— Next, "And Allah is capable of protecting them."

— Next, "Those who were kicked out of their houses just because they said, 'Our Lord is Allah.'" Notice the reasoning of jihad is very clear: The oppressors wanted to kill you, they kicked you out of your houses, they confiscated your property, so *now* I am giving you permission to fight back. The philosophy of jihad is so clear: "Because they have persecuted you, permission is given." Any society on earth would justify and accept this as being a just cause. Subhan'Allah, America went to war because the British raised the taxes on tea — if that is a worthy cause, then wallahi, Islamic causes (to retaliate against oppressors) are a billion times more worthy.

— Next, [Sh. YQ got verse 22:40 and verse 2:251 mixed up, but the point made is still valid as both verses convey a similar message]: "Were it not for the fact that Allah allows wars, the world would go to chaos." You need to have people stand up and fight for the truth. And everybody —even pacifists— needs to understand that if people didn't oppose Hitler, the world would be a fascist state now. You have to stand up. This is what Allah is saying, "Had Allah not repelled a group of people by [the might of] another (i.e., had Allah not allowed war), corruption would have dominated the earth. But Allah is Gracious to all" [Quran, 2:251]. What is the reason people go to war in Islamic shariah? To fight against zulm (ظلم - injustice/oppression) and fasad (فساد - corruption). This is exactly what —in any society— is called a just war theory. You are allowed to go to war for certain causes. And we should not shy away from saying this. Yes, in our religion as well, we have something called jihad, and it is not what most non-Muslims think it to be; it's a noble cause for people who have been denied their rights and basic freedoms, to fight against those who have oppressed them, in order to get their rights and freedoms back.

Abu Bakr RA said, "When Allah revealed Surah al-Hajj, I knew there would be war." And of course, this would happen very soon after. (Side note: The majority of scholars say Surah al-Hajj was revealed right at the very end of the Makkan era; and some say right at the beginning of the Madinan era.)

Four Stages of Jihad

To summarize, the stages of jihad in the seerah of the Prophet PBUH can be divided into four primary phases:

1. Military jihad was forbidden — the jihad in the Makkan era was the jihad of the nafs (نفس - self) and soul: be patient, and "don't worry, Allah will take care of those who mock you" [see Quran, 15:95]. "Your job is only to deliver [the message], judgment is for Us" [Quran, 13:40]. This first stage lasted all 13 years of Makkah.

2. Permission is given for military jihad, but it's not made obligatory [see Quran, 22:39]. So in the beginning, jihad was on a volunteer basis. This was immediately after the Hijrah.

3. Jihad became wajib (obligatory) against the Quraysh only; not against the other tribes. This was the bulk of the Madani phase.

4. The Prophet PBUH engaged in jihad against all of the polytheists of Arabia. And this is when he said "أمرت أن أقاتل الناس حتى يقولوا لا إله إلا الله (I have been commanded to fight the people [i.e., the Arabs of my time] until they all testify to 'La ilaha illa Allah')." Jihad was against the entire peninsula.

Now after this, the scholars differed whether this commandment ("أمرت أن أقاتل الناس حتى يقولوا لا إله إلا الله") is still applicable. And this is a theoretical issue. In our times, no major scholar is discussing the issue. And for most of the ummah's history —after the time of the Umayyads (basically since the time of the Abbasids)— the Muslim khulafa by and large have not been engaged in war with other nations. By and large, the Islamic conquest took place in the first 150 years — and what Muslims conquered in the first 150 years is where Islam stands to this day, by and large (with small exceptions). This shows us that for the bulk of the history of the ummah, people did not interpret jihad to be an all-out war against all of mankind. They understood that there is a time and a place — and when there is no need, there is no reason to engage in jihad.

This therefore began the first of a series of expeditions that the Prophet PBUH and the sahaba engaged in. And there were many reasons for these expeditions — they had some specific goals:

1. The main goal was to show to the Quraysh that the Muslims had not fled weakly, but rather, they had fled and now will fight back and regain what was taken from them; to illustrate and establish that the Muslims are an independent political and military force. And note that for the first few years, up until the Battle of Khandaq [5 AH], the Muslims only targeted the Quraysh. No other Arab tribes were targeted unless they attacked first.

2. To cut off the oxygen supply, i.e., money, from the Quraysh. The Quraysh got their oxygen from Rihlat al-Shita'i wa al-Sayf — without this linkage, the Quraysh would have collapsed; this is what brought izzah and economic prosperity to the Quraysh and made Makkah the center of the entire Arabian Peninsula. So the Prophet PBUH wanted to attack both the Rihlat al-Shita' and the Rihlat al-Sayf (i.e., both up north to the Byzantine Empire and down south to Yemen).

To go to Syria from Makkah, the Quraysh had to pass right by Madinah — to get to Rome, or rather a city called Bosra, which was right at the tip of the Byzantine Empire, they had to pass by Madinah. (To this day, there are still ruins of the trading places that made Bosra famous — the same trading places that the Quraysh went to.) So the Prophet PBUH wanted to cut off these lifelines of the Quraysh, especially the one to Syria (and they also attempted Yemen, as we will discuss). And this shows the strategy of the Prophet PBUH.

3. To increase the size of the Islamic state. To make treaties with neighboring tribes and make the Islamic new state larger. And this is something that happened clearly after the Battle of Badr [2 AH] and the Battle of Uhud [3 AH] — Madinah expanded in its size. Neighboring tribes form alliances, so you become larger and larger.

Two Types of Military Expeditions

The scholars of seerah mention two types of military expeditions:

1. Ghazwa (غزوة) [plural: ghazawat (غزوات)] — is any military expedition that the Prophet PBUH himself accompanied. (And of course, anytime he accompanied, he was the commander.) Ghazwa is typically translated as "war" or "battle."

2. Sariyya (سرية) [plural: saraya (سرايا)] — is something that he PBUH commanded the sahaba to go on, and he did not accompany. Sariyya is typically translated as "expedition."

The ones that the Prophet PBUH accompanied, of course, are more important for us.

How many ghazawat and how many saraya were there?

As for ghazawat: There are a number of opinions: In Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, Zayd ibn Arqam (زيد بن أرقم) says, "The Prophet PBUH participated in 19 ghazwas and he only did 1 Hajj." In Sahih Muslim, another sahabi, Burayda (بريدة) says, "The Prophet PBUH participated in 19 ghazwas; and he fought in only 8 of them (meaning the rest didn't actually end up in a battle — he PBUH participated, but there was no battle for whatever reason: either a truce or the two sides never met)." This shows there are 8 that are of particular importance. What are these 8? There is a little bit of ikhtilaf (إختلاف - difference of opinion) as to what these 8 are:

One list is:

1. Badr (بدر)
2. Uhud (أحد)
3. Ahzab (أحزاب)
4. Al-Muraysi' (المريسيع) (a.k.a. Bani al-Mustaliq [بني المصطلق])
5. Al-Qadid (القديد)
6. Khaybar (خيبر)
7. Makkah (مكة)
8. Hunayn (حنين)

Another sahabi says:

1. Badr (بدر)
2. Uhud (أحد)
3. Ahzab (أحزاب)
4. Bani al-Mustaliq (بني المصطلق) (a.k.a. Al-Muraysi' [المريسيع])
5. Khaybar (خيبر)
6. Makkah (مكة)
7. Hunayn (حنين)
8. Ta'if (طائف)

The point is, for every military expedition that the Prophet PBUH engaged in and there was actually a battle, we have a lot of details about. And for the ones where there wasn't an actual battle, we don't have so much details — sometimes we just have a reference.

As for saraya: There are so many that the scholars don't really list all of them with many details; sometimes they will just mention with one line, and sometimes don't even mention it. One scholar mentions there were 24 saraya. Ibn Ishaq lists 30. Al-Waqidi lists 48. Ibn al-Jawzi (ابن الجوزي) (d. 597 AH) lists 56. It really depends on how you want to constitute a sariyya — a sariyya could even be 3 people going out to check out something, i.e., to spy. So how many saraya were there? Definitely around 30-40 or so, we can say.

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Ghazwa al-Abwa

It appears the first military expedition that the Muslims engaged in was that of al-Abwa — Ghazwa al-Abwa (غزوة الأبواء). This took place on the 12th of Safar, 2nd year of the Hijrah, i.e., 11 months after the Emigration of the Prophet PBUH. In this expedition, the Prophet PBUH heard of a caravan of the Quraysh, so the Muslims went out. But they couldn't get to it in time, so there was no actual battle.

However, the Prophet PBUH formed the first of many alliances — with the Banu Damra (بنو ضمرة), a local tribe around Madinah. So for the first time, the Muslim ummah expanded. We are getting the beginnings of an independent Islamic state. The military state reached a level that was another 100 miles outside of the city.

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Sariyya of Ubaydah ibn al-Harith

The second expedition that took place was the first time an arrow was shot in the Way of Allah SWT. It is called "the first arrow fi-SabiliLlah (في سبيل الله)." And because of this, it is mentioned with great pride by the one who did it (and he deserves to be proud). But again, no actual fighting occurred. Some arrows were passed back and forth, and no blood was shed, and then a neutral party came in and basically caused a type of truce, and the Quraysh went their way, and the Muslims went their way. This sariyya is called the Sariyya of Ubaydah ibn al-Harith (سرية عبيدة بن الحارث). And Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas was the first person to shoot that arrow in the Way of Allah SWT.

After this, the neutral tribe formed an alliance with the Muslims. So once again, in the wisdom of Allah AWJ, more tribes are embracing, if not the religion of Islam, at least the political state of Islam. What does it mean embracing the political state? They write a contract that they will not support the Quraysh; and if the Quraysh comes, they will inform the Prophet PBUH. And this, of course, makes them a part of the Islamic state.

This too happened within the 1st year of the Hijrah.

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Ghazwa al-Ushayra

The first significant expedition, even though, again, no blood was shed, was the Ghazwa al-Ushayra (غزوة العشيرة). The Prophet PBUH took around 150-200 sahaba to attack the Quraysh's most significant caravan. This is the annual caravan that went up to Syria. It's not small — it has in it at least 70-80 camels. Also, it has on it around 70%-80% of the wealth in Makkah. Because anyone who has any money in Makkah would invest in this caravan. Even if you are a woman —like Khadija RA used to do— you would invest in this caravan. It is the main source of money — they purchase some goods, send it to Syria, get the money back, purchase other goods, send it to Yemen, get the money back, and so on and so forth — this is how they get richer; by being the middleman between the trades and the goods up north and down south. Who was the leader of this particular caravan from Makkah that the Prophet PBUH was targeting? The famous Abu Sufyan ibn Harb (أبو سفيان بن حرب).

However, qaddar'Allah (قدر الله - Allah willed), they weren't able to cross paths. Some say it was a 'stroke of luck' that one of the people in the caravan accidentally strayed and happened to see the Muslims from the distance coming. So he rushed back to inform his people, and Abu Sufyan hastily went a way that otherwise he would have not gone. Obviously, it's the qadr of Allah — Allah made it so that Abu Sufyan finds out about the Muslims, so that he immediately diverts the caravan, so that it doesn't cross paths with the Muslims — and little did he (Abu Sufyan) realize that in his attempt to save the caravan, he would bring about an even bigger destruction to the Quraysh, as we will see in the upcoming episodes. Truly, "They plan, and Allah plans. And Allah is the best of planners" [Quran, 3:54].

So the caravan and the Muslims didn't cross paths — the caravan made it to Syria, and the Muslims, for now, decided to return to Madinah.

This expedition, Ghazwa al-Ushayra, serves as the first stage in the lead-up to the famous Major Battle of Badr — they involve the same caravan: As we have discussed, Ghazwa al-Ushayra is the thwarted interception attempt of the caravan on its journey up to Syria; and the Major Battle of Badr will involve the targeting of that same caravan on its return journey to Makkah. The details of the Major Battle of Badr (Ghazwa Badr al-Kubra) will be discussed in the next episode.

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Ghazwa Badr al-Sughra

There is another ghazwa, and it is called Ghazwa Badr al-Sughra (غزوة بدر الصغرى - the Minor Battle of Badr) — not to be confused with stage one of Ghazwa Badr al-Kubra which is Ghazwa al-Ushayra. Ghazwa Badr al-Sughra (or sometimes called Ghazwa Badr al-Ula [غزوة بدر الأولى - the First Battle of Badr]) is called the Battle of Badr because it took place on the Plains of Badr — but it has nothing to do with the Ghazwa Badr al-Kubra, as it didn't involve the Quraysh; rather, it involved one of the allies of the Quraysh.

What happened was that one of these allies of the Quraysh snuck into Madinah in the middle of the night and stole a bunch of camels from inside Madinah — and they killed 1-2 herders along the way. As soon as the Prophet PBUH found out, he gathered 70 of the Muhajirun and went out with them to look for these people who stole the camels. (And this was the first time they reached the Plain of Badr — hence why it's called the [Minor] Battle of Badr.) But because the raiders were 4-5 in number, they were much faster than the Muslims, and so they managed to flee the scene. So the Prophet PBUH was not able to capture them at this point in time.

And this shows us that even though he is the prophet of Allah, Allah didn't just gift him with miracle after miracle. Allah didn't just allow every expedition to be successful. Some of them he came back empty-handed, because there is a lesson to be learned even in this; because there are other wisdoms that we might not understand. But Allah's AWJ plan is infinitely wise.

One of the consequences of the First Battle of Badr was that the Prophet PBUH decided that he needed to have spies for reconnaissance (i.e., to monitor the tracks of the Quraysh and their allies). So the Prophet PBUH sent out groups of sahaba to find out what was happening with the Quraysh's trip to Yemen. Even though Yemen is on the opposite side (the southern point of Makkah), the Prophet PBUH still wants to know all the options. Because, of course, an attack on the Yemeni side would take the Quraysh completely by surprise — they would never expect the Muslims from up north (i.e., Madinah) to double back all the way around Makkah and try to attack them from the direction of Yemen. Now, interestingly enough, no attack of the Muslims actually took place — but the Prophet PBUH is not ruling it out. Look at this. He is keeping all options on the table. He sends out a reconnaissance expedition to see what is happening with the caravans of the Quraysh that go to Yemen — 'If we missed the caravan of the Quraysh from Syria, let us get the ones from the Yemeni side.' And so this is now called Sariyya Nakhla. Again, Sariyya Nakhla is the direct consequence of the First Battle of Badr:

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Sariyya Nakhla

The main incident we will discuss in this episode is the Sariyya Nakhla (سرية نخلة). It took place in the month of Rajab, 2 AH. The Prophet PBUH handpicked 8 of the Muhajirun, put his cousin Abdullah ibn Jahsh (عبد الله بن جحش) in charge, and gave him a letter, and told this group to go northeast, travel for 2 days, and then on the morning of the 2nd day to open the letter. (Side note: Notice every expedition thus far involves Muhajirun only. No Ansar.) After two days, Abdullah ibn Jahsh obeyed the Prophet PBUH and opened up the letter. The Prophet PBUH said to him in it, "When this letter of mine is read to you, proceed to Nakhla (eastern side of Makkah towards Ta'if)." So now they will have to double back and go down to Nakhla. And the Prophet PBUH said, "Watch the movement of the Quraysh and inform us of their preparations and actions. Do not force any of your companions to go — whoever wants to come back can come back [to Madinah]."

Now, why this strange letter?

Firstly, for utmost secrecy. Not even the people knew where they were going.

Secondly, for illusion — he sends them northeast and then they have to go down south. In a hadith, the Prophet PBUH said, "الحرب خدعة (war is deceit)." And Sun Tzu says a similar thing in his famous book: "All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make them believe we are near."

Also, the Prophet PBUH is giving them permission to come back because they are literally walking straight into Makkah, i.e., the enemy territory, unarmed and defenseless. 8 defenseless people don't stand a chance against the whole city. When Abdullah ibn Jahsh read the letter, he said to his companions, "Whoever wants shahada (martyrdom) and is eager to meet Allah, let him come with me. And whoever doesn't may go back to Madinah. But as for me, I am going to proceed onwards to Makkah." Literally, he is thinking there is no way this will be successful — but, 'if the Prophet PBUH wants it, let it be.' (But of course, as we know, Allah willed for all of them to return safely to Madinah, as we will see.) Obviously, all 8 of them followed the Prophet's PBUH message and proceeded with Abdullah ibn Jahsh. They had 4 camels, so two people to a camel. (Side note: There was never one person per camel for *any* expedition in the time of the Prophet PBUH. The Muslims didn't have such luxury. The Quraysh tried to do it in the Major Battle of Badr, but the Muslims could not.)

On the way to Nakhla, one morning, they woke up and a camel was missing. And it was the camel of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas and Utbah ibn Ghazwan (عتبة بن غزوان). So Sa'd and Utbah insisted, "You guys go ahead, leave us in the desert, and we will try to find our camel; the expedition must go on." So Sa'd and Utbah were left to find their camel/figure out another means to go back to Madinah. So 6 people then actually got to Nakhla. Nakhla is a small grove of date palms outside of Makkah. And they arrived at Nakhla on the 30th of Rajab. The last day of Rajab. And before even they set up camp, they saw in the distance a caravan coming. And they hid themselves waiting to see what it was. It turned out to be one of the smaller business caravans of the Quraysh coming back early from the trade, and it was loaded with goods complete to the top. And it didn't have any military protection since the Quraysh were so sure nothing would happen at this time. So the 6 began discussing amongst themselves what should be done. There were around 8-9 camels and just 3 men guarding them, so it was like a fortune, and it would have been easy to retrieve.

But there were 2 issues:

i) The Prophet PBUH only told them to get information. He didn't say 'don't fight,' but the purpose was information. Not an attack.

ii) A bigger problem is that it's the 30th of Rajab, i.e., it's the Sacred Month. And of course, in the Sacred Month, you are not supposed to fight. However, what made it so difficult was that there were literally just 1-2 hours left until Maghrib, and after Maghrib, it's Sha'ban! Transitioning out of the Sacred Month! So they began discussing what was to be done. They said, "If we wait until the sun sets, the caravan will be gone — but if we fight them now, we will be guilty of fighting in the Sacred Month."

And by the way, up until this point, the Muslims had not been successful with any capture missions. And this was an opportunity to get 8-9 camels loaded with spices/goods, etc. So this was a lot of benefit and blessings for the Prophet PBUH and the Muslims. So they went and attacked. One of the caravaneers was killed, and two of them were captured and taken as prisoners of war. And as they came, they went all the way back to Madinah.

When the Prophet PBUH saw them come back with all of this, and heard that they had killed someone, he realized this would be a very negative PR disaster. He told them, "I didn't command you to fight"—and he refused to accept any of the booty. And the Quraysh had a field day with this — they spread across the entire peninsula: "Look at these Muslims! They contradicted the shariah of Ibrahim and went against the Ashhur al-Hurum (أشهر الحرم - Sacred Months)! They shed the blood of an innocent person in the Sacred Month!" They made a very big brouhaha out of this. And Ibn Ishaq and others say the Prophet PBUH felt great stress — because the criticism in its place was valid: the Muslims shed blood in the Sacred Month. So the Prophet PBUH did not know what to do. (Side note: And it is said that even the Jews became happy at this. From the beginning, it was clear that the Jews would not be on the side of the Muslims.) As the fitna gained momentum, Allah revealed in the Quran:

يَسْـَٔلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلشَّهْرِ ٱلْحَرَامِ قِتَالٍۢ فِيهِ ۖ قُلْ قِتَالٌۭ فِيهِ كَبِيرٌۭ ۖ وَصَدٌّ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَكُفْرٌۢ بِهِۦ وَٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْحَرَامِ وَإِخْرَاجُ أَهْلِهِۦ مِنْهُ أَكْبَرُ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ۚ وَٱلْفِتْنَةُ أَكْبَرُ مِنَ ٱلْقَتْلِ

"They ask you about the Sacred Month — about fighting therein. Say, 'Fighting therein is great [sin], but averting [people] from the Way of Allah and disbelief in Him and [preventing access to] al-Masjid al-Haram and the expulsion of its people therefrom are greater [evil] in the Sight of Allah. And fitna is greater [evil] than killing...'" [2:217].

Wallahi, this is the height of eloquence. It's beautiful. Allah criticized the shedding of the blood, He did not sanction it —the Muslims should not have shed this blood and He affirms this— but then He gave a judgment that clearly shows that our Lord is a Lord who is al-Haqq (ألحق - the Absolute Truth) and decrees with haqq (حق - truth/justice); He criticized the Quraysh by saying, 'Who do you think you are? You are preventing people from coming to the Bayt al-Haram, and you have rejected Allah, and expelled people from Makkah. All of this is much worse in the Eyes of Allah. And the fitna (فتنة - trial and tribulation) that you are causing is far bigger [evil] than the blood that this person has shed.'

Ibn al-Qayyim comments: So Allah says in this verse that, 'The matter you have criticized the Muslims for is indeed a big sin — but if it so, then what you have done of rejecting Allah, of preventing people from coming to His House, and of expelling the Muslims who truly belong there (physically and spiritually), is yet a greater crime.' (Side note: Ibn Abbas said "fitna" in this verse means "shirk [شرك]." And no doubt, it is true that one of the references is shirk — but we can also be more encompassing and say that included in the fitna is the chaos, the breaking up of the tribes, and the expelling of the Muslims from their household, that the Quraysh has caused — this is also fitna. And Allah is saying this fitna AND the shirk is worse than the shedding of blood.) So Ibn al-Qayyim says Allah says, 'The shirk that you are upon, and the fitna that you have caused because of it, is even greater [evil] in the Sight of Allah than the crime of fighting in the Sacred Month.'

Again, it is worth noting that the verse is extremely eloquent — many scholars have had long discussions about how Allah AWJ phrased the verse — it is very atypical. There is even an academic paper in Western journals about the grammatical analysis of the verse.

In any case, once this verse was revealed, the Prophet PBUH accepted the booty and agreed to take the two prisoners of war. He sent a message to the Quraysh to send a ransom for these two, and stipulated, "We will not release these two prisoners until our two companions (Sa'd and Utbah) reach us safely." However, Sa'd and Utbah, in fact, were never seen by the Quraysh — and eventually, they found their camel, and after a week or two, made their way back to Madinah. So the two prisoners were released, and amazingly, one of them, al-Hakam ibn Kaisan (الحكم بن كيسان), accepted Islam. But he accepted Islam only after the ransom was paid for him. And this is not the only time this has happened. This scenario of accepting Islam as prisoners of war, contingent upon the payment of ransom, became a recurring theme in subsequent battles. Multiple times prisoners of war accepted Islam, but only after the ransom came — because they (the converts) wanted the money to be in the hands of the Prophet PBUH. So al-Hakam ibn Kaisan is the first example of many to come, including the older brother of Khalid ibn al-Walid.

(Al-Hakam ibn Kaisan later died a shaheed in one of the battles during the time of the Prophet PBUH.)

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Lessons From the Episode

1. Look at the infinite justice of Allah. And who is better at judging than Allah SWT? Allah did not exonerate the Muslims from their mistake, but He said the crimes of the Quraysh were much worse. This is the reality of the shariah of Allah — there is infinite justice.

2. We also see the different expeditions that the Prophet PBUH engaged in and they show us no victory comes with ease. Even the prophets of Allah will not be handed victory just like that — even they need to go out and sacrifice their families, loved ones, and themselves — the Prophet PBUH himself was injured — we will see all of these in the future battles. One needs to show dedication, determination, perseverance, and sincerity; and then Allah SWT will bless you with success. *Even* the prophets of Allah had to struggle, so how about those lesser than them (i.e., all of us).

3. Also see that the Prophet PBUH would always choose his immediate family to take the most dangerous task — he chose his cousin Ubaydah ibn al-Harith (عبيدة بن الحارث), his uncle Hamzah ibn Abdul Muttalib, his relative from his mother side Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, his cousin Abdullah ibn Jahsh, et al., to lead dangerous expeditions. (Side note: We didn't talk about some of these expeditions due to time constraints.) The point is, no one can accuse the Prophet PBUH of putting his family out of harm's way. Rather, he puts them right in front. Because the leader, the prophet, or any person, has to sacrifice himself and his loved ones before he is going to sacrifice others. And that is why in the ghazawat, the Prophet PBUH would be at the forefront, and in the saraya, he sent his own relatives, to show the people that nobody can accuse him of trying to protect his own family from the hardships of war.

4. Notice as well that up until now, only the Muhajirun are going on expeditions; no Ansar. — Why? Firstly, because the Muhajirun should not be made to forget about Makkah. Secondly, one of the main reasons why there are no Ansar is because of the Second Oath of Aqaba — it was an oath of protection; there was no offensive clause [see episode 25]. Thus, the Prophet PBUH as a wise leader never pushed the Ansar. In the Battle of Badr al-Kubra, as we will see, they will volunteer. But when they volunteer and it turns out to be an army, that is when the Ansar add their own condition: to join the Prophet PBUH even in offensive battles. We will talk about this in episode 37.

5. We see that in this early stage, jihad was not obligatory — it was voluntary. Even the 8 that the Prophet PBUH chose, he told them, 'If you want to go back, you can go back.' This is tadrib (تدريب - training) — he PBUH is raising the bar slowly to train the sahaba.

6. Non-Muslims in medieval and our times criticize and distort this picture and accuse the Prophet PBUH and the early Muslims of basically being highway robbers. They say the Prophet PBUH and the early Muslims financed themselves off of highway robbery. Brothers and sisters, this is the case with all of the enemies of Allah, that they take something and distort the truth in it. There is an element of truth, but they distort it in a sinister manner, and they then read in what they want, and then propagate it in an extremely negative manner. And this is exactly like Allah says: You are accusing the Muslims of this, but what are you doing? And you are ignoring the context. The Prophet PBUH is not targeting any tribe other than the Quraysh. This is a very important point. It's only them. All of the other transactions in Arabia are safe. And subhan'Allah, what is wrong with trying to get back your wealth from the people who confiscated your land and property? As we said, if our nation (Americans) attacked its government because of a raise of taxes on tea and that's why they killed the British soldiers and overturned the ships of Her Majesty and His Majesty, then subhan'Allah, what double standard is this? After all that the Quraysh had done, now the Prophet PBUH is getting back a fraction — and you want to read in something sinister?! This is the reality of those whose hearts are full of hatred — they take these little things and distort them and ignore the entire context of what is happening. And this is exactly what is happening now in our times. Malcolm X famously said in the 60s, "The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses." And this is so true even in our time: a little Palestinian kid throwing a stone, they make him to be the oppressor; and the military tank in front of him is made out to be the oppressed. This is the reality of the world that we live in.

We also see the hypocrisy of the Quraysh (and of all those who wish to oppose Allah and His Messenger) — they accuse the Muslims of a sin (which *might* be a sin) but who are they to accuse anyone of anything when the crimes they are guilty of, we cannot even compare them to what the Muslims have done? Wallahi, how true this is in the world that we live in now. Yes, things happen that we all disagree with — of terrorism of one side versus the other, which we all disagree with; but are they going to ignore where those are coming from? Are they going to ignore the context? Are they going to ignore the anger? Are they going to ignore their own zulm and oppression that has caused people to do another minor type of zulm and oppression?! You cannot fight terror with terror. Terrorism only leads to other terrorism. And just because a *country* does it, it doesn't mean it's not terrorism anymore. When you kill, it is going to come back to you. كما تدين تدان — what goes around comes around. Wallahi, the exact same thing we find now. The irony of ironies is they accuse Muslims of being terrorists but they ignore the policies that are taking place in the world that are the real policies of terrorism. And so many people are talking about this. Forget Muslims; read Noam Chomsky, Chris Hedges, Robert Fisk, Glenn Greenwald, et al. None of them accuse the Muslims of being the primary terrorist. Of course, none of them justifies the terrorism done by the small groups of Muslims that are fanatical, but they are putting it into context, just like Allah says in verse [2:217]. This is a very important lesson for us to learn from in the modern world that we live in —the hypocrisy of the Quraysh of the past, and of the modern powers of our times— so that insha'Allah ta'ala, we don't fall into the mistake of either of these extremists. We speak the truth whatever the truth is — even if it is against us, we will speak it; and if it is against others, we will also speak it.

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So all of these minor expeditions will lead up to the Major Battle of Badr which is the first and the biggest encounter where the table will completely turn; it is one of the biggest miracles of Islam. Allah called it Yawm al-Furqan (يوم الفرقان - the Day of Criterion) — the day that the Truth was made clear from the error, the day that victory was granted to the Muslims the type of victory that was unprecedented — and it was to have repercussions all the way down throughout Islamic history. The stage is set for the Battle of Badr.

[Transcribed by Br. Safwan Khan & Faizan]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Re-revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, December 2023]