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“Go you and your Lord and fight and we will stay here;”
Rather we shall say:
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“Go you and yourLord and fight and we will fight along with you.”
By Allâh! If you were to take us to Bark Al-Ghimad, we will still fight resolutely with you against its
defenders until you gained it.”
The Prophet (Peace be upon him) thanked him and blessed him.
The three leaders who spoke were from the Emigrants, who only constituted a minor section of the
army. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) wanted, and for the more reason, to hear the Helpers’ view
because they were the majority of the soldiers and were expected to shoulder the brunt of the war
activities. Moreover, the clauses of Al-‘Aqabah Pledge did not commit them to fighting beyond their
territories.
The Prophet (Peace be upon him) then said: “Advise me my men!”
by which he meant the Helpers, in particular. Upon this Sa‘d bin Mu‘adh stood up and said: “By
Allâh, I feel you want us (the Helpers) to speak.” The Prophet (Peace be upon him) directly said:
“Oh, yes!” Sa‘d said: “O Prophet of Allâh! We believe in you and we bear witness to what you have
vouchsafed to us and we declare in unequivocal terms that what you have brought is the Truth. We
give you our firm pledge of obedience and sacrifice. We will obey you most willingly in whatever you
command us, and by Allâh, Who has sent you with the Truth, if you were to ask us to plunge into
the sea, we will do that most readily and not a man of us will stay behind. We do not grudge the
idea of encounter with the enemy. We are experienced in war and we are trustworthy in combat. We
hope that Allâh will show you through our hands those deeds of valour which will please your eyes.
Kindly lead us to the battlefield in the Name of Allâh.”
The Prophet (Peace be upon him) was impressed with the fidelity and the spirit of sacrifice which his
companions showed at this critical juncture. Then he said to them: “Forward and be of cheer, for
Allâh has promised me one of the two (the lucrative course through capturing the booty or strife in
the cause of Allâh against the polytheists), and by Allâh it is as if I now saw the enemy lying
prostrate.”
In the immediate vicinity of Badr, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and his cavemate Abu Bakr
conducted a scouting operation during which they managed to locate the camp of Quraish. They
came across an old bedouin nearby whom they manipulated and managed to extract from him the
exact location of the army of the polytheists. In the evening of the same day, he despatched three
Emigrant leaders, ‘Ali bin Abi Talib, Az-Zubair bin Al-‘Awwam and Sa‘d bin Abi Waqqas to scout
about for news about the enemy. They saw two men drawing water for the Makkan army. On
interrogation, they admitted that they were water carriers working for Quraish. But that answer did
not please some Muslims and they beat the two boys severely in order to exact from them an
answer, even if it isn’t true, alluding to the caravan laden with wealth. The two boys thus lied, and
so they were released. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) w as angry with those men and censured
them saying: “On telling the truth, you beat them, and on telling a lie, you released them!” He then
addressed the two boys and after a little conversation with them he learned a lot about the enemy:
number of soldiers, their exact location and names of some of their notables. He then turned to the
Muslims and said: “Hearken, Quraish has sent you their most precious lives.”
The same night it rained on both sides. For the polytheists it obstructed further progress, whereas it
was a blessing for the Muslims. It cleaned them and removed from them the stain of Satan. Allâh
sent rain to strengthen their hearts and to plant their feet firmly therewith. They marched a little
forward and encamped at the farther bank of the valley. Muhammad (Peace be upon him) stopped
at the nearest spring of Badr. Al-Hubab bin Mundhir asked him, “Has Allâh inspired you to choose
this very spot or is it stratagem of war and the product of consultation?” The Prophet (Peace be
upon him) replied “It is stratagem of war and consultation.” Al-Hubab said: “This place is no good;
let us go and encamp on the nearest water well and make a basin or reservoir full of water, then
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