seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Quran 88: In the name of God, the Gracious, the Merciful.
1. They ask you about the bounties. Say, “The bounties are for God and the Messenger.” So be mindful of God, and settle your differences, and obey God and His Messenger, if you are believers.
2. The believers are those whose hearts tremble when God is mentioned, and when His revelations are recited to them, they strengthen them in faith, and upon their Lord they rely.
3. Those who perform the prayer; and from Our provisions to them, they spend.
4. These are the true believers. They have high standing with their Lord, and forgiveness, and a generous provision.
5. Even as your Lord brought you out of your home with the truth, some believers were reluctant.
6. Arguing with you about the truth after it was made clear, as if they were being driven to death as they looked on.
7. God has promised you one of the two groups—that it would be yours—but you wanted the unarmed group to be yours. God intends to prove the truth with His words, and to uproot the disbelievers.
8. In order to confirm the truth and nullify falsehood, even though the guilty dislike it.
9. When you appealed to your Lord for help, He answered you, “I am reinforcing you with one thousand angels in succession.”
10. God only made it a message of hope, and to set your hearts at rest. Victory comes only from God. God is Mighty and Wise.
This is from the commentary.As this chapter deals with the battle of Badr, the first battle which the Muslims had to fight, it goes under the name of Anf ål, which means literally voluntary gifts, though it has also been applied to gains acquired in war, or what is generally called spoils of war. I prefer, however, the literal significance of the word. The battle had to be fought, yet the Muslim State had at the time no treasury, nor any arsenal, nor an army. Voluntary gifts were therefore called for, and not only this battle but all the succeeding battles which the Muslims had to fight were carried on only by voluntary gifts. The opening verses of the chapter lend support to this significance, as there we are told how the Muslims should prepare themselves for war
As regards numbers, the Muslims were only a third of the number of their opponents and as regards the efficiency of this small force, which consisted mostly of old men and raw and inexperienced youths, it was nothing as compared with the strong and sturdy Makkan warriors.
The circumstances of the battle of Badr have been misunderstood, even by some Muslims. Christian opinion on the point is summed up in Palmer’s note: “The occasion alluded to was one when Mu√ammad had made preparations for attacking an unarmed caravan on its way from Syria to Mecca, when Ab∂ Sufyån, who was in charge of it, sent word to Mecca and obtained an escort of nearly a thousand men; many of Mu√ammad’s followers wished to attack the caravan only, but the Prophet and his immediate followers were for throwing themselves on the escort”.
It is true that a caravan was returning from Syria, and an army had marched forth from Makkah; it is also true that some of the Muslims wished that they should encounter the caravan and not face the Makkan force. Had the Holy Prophet desired to plunder the caravan, he would have done so long before
Madßnah was situated at a distance of thirteen days’ journey from Makkah, so that if the Holy Prophet had actually an idea of plundering the caravan when it approached Madßnah, succour could not have reached Ab∂ Sufyån in less than a month, even if he had been apprised of the Holy Prophet’s intentions and had sent for aid from Makkah. And why should the Prophet have waited all this while and not plundered the caravan before help reached Ab∂ Sufyån?
Badr, where the encounter took place, lies at a distance of three days’ journey from Madßnah. Here, marching towards each other, the two armies met. This shows that the Makkan army had long been on its way to Madßnah, while the Muslims were as yet quite unprepared. The enemy had marched forth for ten days and the Muslims only for three days when the two forces encountered each other, which shows clearly that the Muslims had turned out to take the defensive against an invading force.
It is quite clear that the Holy Prophet only marched forth when the enemy had already travelled over threefourths of the way to Madßnah, and the caravan had left Madßnah far behind. Further, it is clearly stated here that a party of the believers were averse to fighting. They could not have been averse if they had to encounter only an unarmed caravan. What is said in the next verse makes it clearer still, they went forth as if they were being driven to death, because they knew that they were going to meet an enemy not only treble in numbers, but also much more powerful and efficient.
The two parties referred to were the unarmed caravan of the Quraish going to Makkah and the armed force of the Quraish that was on its way to Madßnah. Naturally, some of the Muslims desired that their encounter should take place with the unarmed Quraish caravan, which was now a long way from Madßnah, and not with the powerful army which was advancing against Madßnah.
By His words is meant here the fulfilment of His words, because the Prophet had declared at Makkah, long before the fight actually took place, that an encounter would take place between the Muslims and the Quraish, in which the former would be victorious. These prophecies had hitherto been laughed at by the Makkans, because they could never imagine that their power could be broken by such an insignificant community.
Ok... now we're getting into a story. How interesting.... these rebels are. They have no money but they have a cause. It's like walking into court without a lawyer or an expert witness. It's like walking into court armed by only the truth and walking out with a judgement in your favor. They didn't want to go to war. They were not prepared. They were not trained to take on a huge well trained army. They were too old or too young. They had to step out in faith. They were, according to the verses, scared to take on the army.
They could have taken on an unarmed caravan..... and robbed them of their spoils.... and raised a paid army. Instead they waited and because they waited, the armed guard caught up with the caravan.... and the army of old and young had to face the well armed, well trained, army that clearly outnumbered them. They were truly a rebel force.
Now.... check out verse 9. They were being reinforced by a thousand angels in succession. A team of angels.... those angels that fight unseen "powers and principalities" were made available to help a God fearing rebel force. According to the commentary.... this was just a description of their faith. But hey.... when a few hundred old men and young boys can whip well trained, well weaponized troops, when they were outnumbered.... there had to be some kind of force watching over them.
The Battle of Badr.... begins.
