The Generalship of Muhammad: Battles and Campaigns of the Prophet of Allah

3. The Road to Badr

78  3 3 The Road to Badr It took the prophet about seven months to organize his first expedition .1 While there is some disagreement among the sources as to which expedition came first, for our purposes here this is immaterial. For the sake of clarity, the analysis made of these operations will generally follow the timeline established in al-Waqidi’s Kitab al-Maghazi and Ibn Sa῾d’s Kitab al-Tabaqat, unless other sources demand differently. Muslim chroniclers divide these expeditions into two types, the ghazwah and sariyah. The former represented a mission led by the Prophet personally while the latter was led by a lieutenant. An interesting aspect about the sariyah is that the term normally referred to a reconnaissance or forage collection mission.2 However, when used by such writers as al-Waqidi, the term took on the additional meaning of a raid, though probably still retaining some of the prior connotation of being a reconnaissance. These early raids were tasked to intercept Qurayshi caravans, and in this regard all were failures regarding their primary mission. Only one of these expeditions, with up to two hundred men, was led by Muhammad himself to recover some animals lost to a raid by a neighboring tribe. The raiders fled to the mountains, and Muhammad was unable to find them. Thus, this expedition also met with no success. Typically, the early expeditions sent out by the Prophet consisted of anywhere from seven to two hundred men, with almost all on foot, as there were few camels and even fewer horses.3 Only one small mission was sufficiently The Road to Badr · 79 mobile on camelback, but this one was too heavily outnumbered by enemy cavalry to achieve any real results.4 Although these preliminary expeditions against the Qurayshi caravans could be considered failures, they did succeed in their secondary purpose, to elevate the concerns of the Quraysh and serve notice that their economic interests were being tracked and threatened. Moreover, while seemingly insignificant, they would incite the Quraysh to react. Some biographers of the Prophet attempt to state or imply that these operations were never meant to attack the caravans, only to threaten them, and that Muhammad had war forced upon him.5 The early hadith and sira literature are more conclusive on this issue and clearly indicate that Muhammad was the one who started open combat with the Quraysh, these consisting of minor raids against Qurayshi caravans, their economic lifeline.6 Table 3.1. Early Raids Prior to the Battle of Badr Date Mission Enemy Muslims Leader Result July 622 Hijrah Jan 623 Sif al-Bahr; Quraysh 200 30 Hamzah No Fighting Feb 623 Rabigh; Quraysh unknown 60–80 ῾Ubaydah No Fighting Mar 623 Al-Kharrar; Quraysh 8–20 Sa῾d bin Abu Waqqas No Contact July 623 Buwat; Quraysh 100 200 Muhammad No Contact Aug 623 Al-Abwa; Quraysh 60 Muhammad No Contact Aug 623 Al- ῾Ushayrah; Quraysh 150–200 Muhammad No Contact Aug 623 Safwan; Kurz bin Jabir unknown 150–200 Muhammad Failure Oct 623 Nakhlah; Quraysh 4 8–12 ῾Abdullah bin Jahsh Victory Dec 623 Badr; Quraysh 700+ 314 Muhammad Victory Sources: The tables of battles presented were developed from Watt, Muhammad at Medina, Excursus B, 339–43, and Rehman Shaikh, Chronology of Prophetic Events, both cross referenced to Ibn Sa῾d’s al-Tabaqat and Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat. 80 · The Generalship of Muhammad In the list of actions used, the dates and numbers of enemy, where recorded, are approximations, and there is a modest measure of dispute about the dates. However, these do not alter the analysis as to what happened prior to the battle of Badr. After the hijrah, Muhammad strove to organize the community of believers and to prepare for offensive action against the Quraysh to the best of his ability and as resources would allow. His campaign against the Quraysh would focus on two axes of attack. The direct axis would be to hit the Qurayshi caravans in the field. The second would be to intimidate neighboring tribes especially those who had agreements with the Quraysh, to either rally under his banner or at least take a neutral posture. While the latter would not be as immediately efficacious as the former, it would still raise the level of threat to the caravans sufficiently to force the Quraysh to spend more resources to protect them. This is even more...