War… The Forced-Choice in Islam

6 Rabea’ El-Thani 1440H

The stage of establishing and the setting up of the State politically and sovereignly on the ground of Al-Madina Al-Munawara differs from that stage through which the Messenger of Allah and the Muslims lived at the beginning of the Prophet's commissioning in the holy city of Macca.
The difference lies in that he (P.B.U.H.) drew his attention towards enhancing his country and consolidating its political and social abilities without ignoring the process of building up its defensive military force from inside after applying the first nucleus of establishing his army which will hold the responsibility of defending of this entity from which a 'State' can come into being as well as providing its citizens without causing any harm or mischief to the rights of others save those who dare to transgress against the State or seek objectives counter to what Islam has programmed for itself in his new State and its juvenile government as to what it requires of peaceful instruments to consolidate its foundations and find to the whole of the people an access to its welfare and prosperity.
This matter, in particular, compelled him (P.B.U.H.) to take the last option (the compulsory option) which is embodied in the employment of a (defensive war) or what is called as:" War of retaliating aggression" with full power and insistence.
All that-is to be conducted with utmost Islamic manners - whether in time of peace or war. But this time he found himself in urgent need of using force in its proper position which never goes contradictorily with the peacefulness of his message and humanity of his principles and thus, he had managed his campaigns and battles.
The Battle of Badr
The Battle of Badr is considered the first military experiment of the Muslims against the Polytheists of Quraish.
On Friday, the 7th of Ramadhan, the 2nd of H., in the mid-way which connects Macca with Al-Madina Al-Munawara, this battle took place to ease the tension which Quraish had adopted against the Muslims in Al-Madina and to stop their conspiracies against them and against the noble Messenger.
The Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) has led an army mounting to (313) fighters to confront the evil Quraishi caravan under the leadership of Abu Sufyan who took an army of (10000) soldiers and both parties had met at a region called Al-Badr in an imbalanced battle with regard to the number of soldiers and equipment.
But the strong-willed Muslims in a campaign as such and what Allah, the Almighty, had extended to them of His divinely support; together with the Prophet's strictness in delivering the responsibility of administrating the battle to stalwart leaders, all that enabled the Muslims to kill (70) men and take the same number as captives at a time when less than a quarter of the Polytheists were killed of Muslims and without none to have fallen captives in the hands of the disbelievers.
Among the outcomes of this battle is that Muslims have gained considerable political and sovereign achievements as well as in security, ethical and media renown and had got a strategic weight in the region besides what he added to them of enhancement of confidence in their leader and his message- a matter which was positively reflected in consolidating and intensifying their faith in this fresh divine message and encouraged so many people to enter into Islam after breaking apart psychological and materialistic barriers with regard to Islam.
One can add to that what Islam has achieved in breaking the nose of the Polytheists, suppressing their interference and humiliating their artificial solemnity which is based on compulsion. This sudden and unexpected victory has given the Muslims a great lesson in the significance of organization, sound planning and the morale element represented by faith in the existence of Allah which will eventually humiliate the tyrants and oppressors regardless of what the opponent owns of power and trickery.
In addition to all that, this same victory has given the Muslims the impetus to recognize the necessity of the efficient leadership which was represented in the person of the Prophet himself (P.B.U.H.) and what he had chosen for them as a leader like Ali bin Abi Talib (P.B.U.T) who consolidated in them high morals, stalwartness, deep-rooted belief except that which is related to the divine supply of the unknown world as being provided with considering it as the weighty scale of right and truth even though this victory would open for them a greater horizon for harassment and transgression by the opponents in the forthcoming days.
The Battle of Uhud:
Quraish's loss in fighting against the Muslims in Badr has left a great deal of grudge and vexation in the hearts of the Polytheists of Macca followed by so many improper conducts and changes which grossly limited their due preparation for Uhud Battle whereas the tyrants proceeded on their evil preparations to launch a counter offensive over the Muslims for the sake of shaking hard their security by taking vengeance against the Muslims and consequently containing the Islamic flow which started a short time after the victory of the Muslims at Badr.
They began to prepare for that through what their trading bargains yield to them of profits and benefits and to this end, they raised this time an army mounting to (4000) fighters and some said: (3000) all equipped with arms, ammunition and a number not to be sneezed at of horses in addition to appointing their women as a moral defensive to them through provoking their men to fight against the enemies and disallowing them from fleeing the war and kindling their enthusiasm and zeal together with making so many of the slaves and serfs share them in the war after filling up their hearts with malice and grudge against the Prophet and his Islam and tempting them with release and freedom if they won victory over the Muslims' army.
With all these masses of fighters, they directed their way towards the Islamic Capital—Al-Madina Al-Munawara.
No sooner had the noble Prophet known about that than he began to equip his whole military force to protect his heavenly accomplishment and in order to reduce the amount of the losses, the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) decided to confront the opponents beyond Al-Madina Al- Munawara border, quite ready to encounter them with (1000) of fighters – from whom about (300) of them, owing to hypocritical reasons would withdraw from the battle to remain (700) fighters only.
Both armies met together at the suburban parts of Al-Madina Al- Munawara, definitely at the foot of the Mount of Uhud and that was on Saturday i.e. the 7th of Shawal in the third year of the Prophet's honorable migration at which he distributed the roles to be played by his appointed leaders and those of various ranks in the army in a disciplined manner like locating spear and arrow shooters at the foot of the mountain that is, in the rear, to constitute as a dam at the back and block ant gap that the enemy may make use of by his trickery in addition to their being - the shooters –a protective background force to the frontal side of the army with recommending them of the necessity of their abiding by these instructions.
Despite the fact of the immense imbalance of the two conflicting parties as to the numbers of fighters, their weapons, which flow in favor of the Polytheists and disbelievers; yet, in consequence, victory mostly would be the lot of the Muslims.
Thus, victory was achieved by the Muslims in their first round of the Muslims whereby they returned their solemnity and imposed full control over the enemy in the battlefield whereas the enemy started withdrawal and retreat from the battlefield.
When the horizon of victory came into sight, some of the Muslim shooters initiated the accumulation of spoils left by the enemy in the battlefield such as: weapons, ammunition, equipment, leaving meanwhile the locations of their military responsibility that were appointed to them by their unique Prophet and leader and which caused a great gap in the classes of the Muslims.
The Polytheists have seized this opportunity to turn back to them from behind the Muslims' army and could disperse their regular classes with spreading false news that the Prophet Muhammad was killed which soon led to complete deterioration in the classes of the Muslims and distraction of attention by this deceptive and sudden plot and this certainly affected much to sever here and there in addition to spreading anarchy between the individuals of the same army.
That really caused a great setback and destruction to the Muslims' army except the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) and the selective group of his appointed leaders namely: Imam Ali(P.B.U.H.) so that he could do his best in standing up for the Prophet (P.B.U.H) and the den of Islam and for this honorable stand towards Islam he deserved to be called out by Gabriel in the heavens (P.B.U.H.):
"No young boy is there but Ali; "No sword can be but Dhul-Faqar."
Gabriel made this heavenly call to strengthen the will of the army and encourage them to move forward and fight as one hand again and to re-arrange their shattered and escaped military force anew especially, when they came to know that the killing of the Prophet Muhammad was but a rumor and a hearsay, no more and thus they recollected themselves to gradually return to their usual positions which is resulted in that the enemy recognized their despair in winning victory over the Muslims.
Finally, the war came to an end, and became clear enough to Muslims that their leader and Prophet had been wounded in addition of the wounds of the hero of the battle Ali bin Abi Talib for he was the one who was shielding against the harm that may befall the Prophet save the martyrdom of the chosen number of the field commanders like Al-Hamza bin Abdul- Muttalib – the one whose chest was broken apart and had his liver chewed up as well by the women of the enemy as an expression of their deep-seated grudge against Islam and establishment of the foundation of terrorism of which we are now witnessing a replica of it today, such as the terrorism of ISIS and Al-Qaeda before it-at which Mas'ab bin Umair and a number mounting to (70) martyrs had paid the value manifold higher than one could expect.
All that was because of the shooters' disobedience to the Prophetic orders and their haste in collecting the spoils, together with their boasting of victory while the enemy's toll of death was no more than one third of the dead of the Muslim fighters who were martyred in that war.
The Battle of Al-Khandaq (Al-Ahzab)
The Polytheists were not at ease at what had befallen them a short time after the two battles of Badr and Uhud because of their defeat, breakdown and the collapse of their authority over the people which transferred on behalf of the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) as a consequence of what his religion has brought to the people of sagacity and complacency.
What has aggravated their fears and horrors is the escalation of the Muslims' power and the repute of this religion and the news of its spread all over Arabia.
And, this indeed has pushed the disbelievers forward to completing the rings of the series of their conspiratorial moves against Islam as a religion and resupplying them with a tremendous army to attack the Muhammadan Capital in Al-Medina Al- Munawara.
On the 5th of Shawal of the fifth year of the Prophetic migration, the Polytheists of Quraish gathered their scattered groups together and attached the tribes of Ghatfan to themselves.as well as Banu Al-Nadheer, Banu Quraidha (the Jewish) and invited other Arab tribes and they constituted a variety of parties aiming at putting obstacles in the way of this new religion and the killing of its leader namely, the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H)
But the news of the enemy's schemes is soon disclosed to the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) which made the Prophet deliberate with his companions on the matter of retaliating the enemy's such forthcoming offensive and they got to the decision of digging a trench around Al-Madina Al-Munawara to prevent the army of the Polytheists whose numbers mounted to (10000) fighters from assembling there in their different ranks and arms whereas within the trench's internal circumference almost (900) fighters or perhaps(3000) of Muslim fighters in that trench as a modern military plan.
The idea of the trench was the creation of Salman Al-Muhammadi (May Allah be pleased with him) which was hitherto unfamiliar to the Arabs' convention about the skills of war in addition to the benefits gained by the Muslims from their sense of intelligence in observing the moves of the enemy.
As in the usual wars in which Ali bin Abi Talib (P.B.U.H.) becomes the bearer of its standard, the Muslims won victory over the enemy in the battle of Al-Khandaq after Ali had made them taste the bitterness of their arrogance and absurd vanity amongst those who were killed was the bravest of the Arabs whom the Arabs have counted as equal to one thousand knights in courage, namely: Amr bin Abd Wud Al-Amiri whom the Prophet has counted Ali's stroke at him during the day of Al- Khandaq as being better than the worshipping of the two weighty treasures (Al-Thaqalain) for Ibn Wud was the head of evil in the Polytheist army and a menacing impediment against everyone who dared to fight him.
Building on the foregoing, verily, the sudden emergence of Ali bin Abi Talib (P.B.U.H) at the time being as a challenger against Amr bin Wud Al-Amiri is described as being: (the emergence of all faith against all Polytheism.)
Thus, with the killing of Ibn Wud the whole morale of the Polytheist army has been deteriorated and collapsed and aggravated the zealous crisis before the sober manipulation of the noble behavior of the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) and the scheme which Salman (May Allah be pleased with him) has submitted and the stalwartness of Ali bin Abi Talib (P.B.U.H.).