Remember Badr

SubhanAllah, the difficult situation of Gaza this Ramadhan should remind us of a similar “difficult” incident that happened in the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam), also in the month of Ramadhan, 2^nd year after the Hijrah – an incident that, if we were to witness at the time, would seem like a ‘hopeless’ situation – in an attempt of total annihilation of the Muslims and the complete inhibition of the “threat of Islam”, an army of 1,000+ Quraysh disbelievers, armed to the teeth, would go to war against a mere 313 group of ill-equipped and undertrained Muslims.

Yet Allah had sent His Divine Help upon the believers, and the tide of victory turned to favour The Prophet and his companions in a decisive victory – This was the Battle of Badr; “Yawm ul-Furqan” – the Day of Distinction (between Truth and Falsehood).  

When the companion Abu Hurairah first became Muslim, the first war he participated was the Battle of Mu’tah (7^th year AH) – where the Muslims were fighting a huge Roman army – and Abu Hurairah, feeling fearful, narrated:

“When the enemy’s army approached (during the battle of Mu’tah) we saw what none of us could imagine in numbers and arms. My eyes quivered.”

Thabit bin Aqram told me: “Abu Hurairah, it seems that you are staring at a huge army?”

I said: “Yes”

He said: “You were not with us at Badr. We did not win due to our numbers”

It really begs the question – Today, we are one fifth of the world, over one billion Muslims, we are no small number. Yet we cannot step up against the clear open oppression of this small “nation”?

Why are our brothers and sisters being oppressed, why are we being bullied left, right and centre – despite our numbers are so plenty?

Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam) foretold that this would happen and would inform us of the root cause :

يوشك الأمم أن تداعى عليكم، كما تداعى الأكلة إلى قصعتها

“The nations will summon each other to attack you, just like people would enthusiastically invite others to share their food.”

A man asked, “Will that be because of our small numbers at the time?”

The Prophet replied,

 بل أنتم يومئذٍ كثير،ولكنكم غثاء كغثاء السيل. ولينزعن الله من صدور عدوكم المهابة منكم، وليقذفن الله في قلوبكم الوهن

“No – in fact, you will be MANY at that time.

But your (mere numbers) will be like the froth and scum (the foam of the sea) that’s carried off by a wave (of water).

And Allah will remove from your enemies’ hearts, all the fear they have of you, and will Cast into your hearts al-Wahn (weakness).”

A questioner asked, “O Messenger of Allah, what is meant by this ‘weakness’?”

The Prophet said:

حب الدنيا و كراهية الموت

“Love of this world (the dunya), and a hatred for death”

(Narrated by Abu Dawud, Ahmad, classified as “sahih” by Al-Albani)

Our defeat isn’t caused by our numbers, our technology, our weapons, our skills or our training. The true cause of our collective defeat as an ummah is because of our weakness in faith. A faith so weak that we no longer forward to meeting Allah and His Rewards, we are attached to this dunya which does not last.

It is this same weak faith that makes us lack the guts to stand up against oppression, because of the fear of media backlash, because of how standing up for justice means we might jeopardize the food on our plate, never mind the consequences on the Day of Judgment. The same weakness of faith that makes us stingy in spending our money for the Cause of Allah.

This should be a reminder for us to strengthen our faith and our taqwa, to muster the courage to uphold the good and forbid the evil, even if it means taking a risk. Perhaps one day when Allah grants us the power and ability to do so, we might make the Change the World needs. But for now, let’s play our part in whatever way we can, and if we cannot help directly, pray for them, and increase in our Taqwa – May Allah strengthen this ummah through us, one day.. amin.

The Prophet said, "Whoever loves the meeting with Allah, Allah too, loves the meeting with him; and whoever hates the meeting with Allah, Allah too, hates the meeting with him." (Narrated by Al-Bukhari)