﴿ كَمَآ أَخْرَجَكَ رَبُّكَ مِنۢ بَيْتِكَ بِٱلْحَقِّ وَإِنَّ فَرِيقًۭا مِّنَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ لَكَٰرِهُونَ ﴾

“EVEN AS thy Sustainer brought thee forth from thy home [to fight] in the cause of the truth, although some of the believers were averse to it,”

In Sha‘ban, (2 A.H.) the eighth month of the Islamic calendar, it came to be known that a commercial caravan of the Quraysh, carrying goods worth about fifty thousand guineas, was returning from Syria to Makkah. It was on a route which passed close by Madinah. It was feared that the Muslims might attack this caravan of their enemies. So, the chief of the caravan, Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, sent word to the people of Makkah that they should rush to him with aid, otherwise the Muslims would capture the caravan. This news created a lot of fervour in Makkah. So, a troop of 950 horsemen (600 of them fully armoured) set out from Makkah for Madinah. The Prophet was also receiving all the news. Now the Muslims of Madinah were in between two groups—one was the caravan returning from Syria, and the other was the army advancing from Makkah to Madinah. One section of the Muslims had the idea that they should advance towards the caravan. Since this caravan had only 40 guards, it could be overcome and its goods captured. But God’s plan was different. In fact, God wanted to crush the strength of those who deny the truth rather than permit the Muslims to make some material gain. God, therefore, created special conditions and caused all the chiefs of the opponents to set out from Makkah and reach Badr, a place 20 miles from Madinah, so that they should finally perish forever after clashing with the Muslims. When the Prophet informed the Muslims of God’s plan, they all agreed and proceeded towards Badr. Their strength was only 313 and they were ill-equipped. But God gave them special aid, and they routed the army of the Quraysh. Seventy of their chiefs were killed and seventy were taken prisoner. The battlefield of Badr became the scene of Islam’s victory over the deniers of the Truth. Whenever it happens that there is material benefit on the one hand and religious benefit on the other, this division itself proves that God’s will and pleasure centre upon religious benefit and not upon material benefit.The target of Islamic effort is never the attainment of economic advantages. The purpose of Islamic struggle is always to break the strength of falsehood, either by ideological superiority or, through material power as dictated by the circumstances.