Seerah of Prophet Muhammed 36 - The Battle of Badr 1 - Yasir Qadhi | 10th October 2012
Seerah of Prophet Muhammed 36 - The Battle of Badr 1 - Yasir Qadhi | 10th October 2012
Recap
As we mentioned before, there were two threats facing the Muslims: Internal and external. As for the internal threats, Madinah was not yet unified, so there would always be a group of people who were not happy with the changes (i.e. the Jews and the mushriks who will eventually become the munafiqun — the Prophet PBUH dealt with the munafiqun until the end of his life). Externally the main difficulty right now is only the Quraysh of Makkah. (But slowly in the next few years, the entire Arabian Peninsula will become involved. So for the first time in human history, the entire peninsula will become polarized between two camps. And this polarization is the precursor to the unification of Arabia. The unification of Arabia which never happened in the history of humanity, it will happen for the first time under the Prophet PBUH. And how will all that happen? Of course primarily through military expeditions.)
The history of the Madani seerah is thus a history of military expeditions. We would like to know so much more information, but again, the chroniclers only recorded that which was the most important from their perspective; and so probably 80% of Madani phase is simply one battle after another. We will try our best to extrapolate the other incidents as they occur.
We discussed the minor events before Badr. One of them was the Sariyya al-Nakhla. Some sahaba were sent to find out information outside of Makkah; they saw an unexpected small caravan with booty and decided to raid it, killing one person in the process, and brought back the booty to the Prophet PBUH. But the Prophet PBUH said, "I didn't tell you to fight or kill anyone." Why was this problematic? Because it occurred in the sacred month. And Allah revealed the verse in Surah al-Baqarah [2:217].
The other incident was the Ghazwat al-Ushayra which was the part 1 of the Battle of Badr. How so? The Prophet PBUH knew the caravan of Abu Sufyan was going northwards to Syria. So the Ghazwat al-Ushayra was the intended caravan on the way up, and the Battle of Badr is the same caravan on the way down. So Ghazwat al-Ushayra set up Ghazwat al-Badr. But the caravan raiding didn't happen, as by the time the Prophet PBUH got there, Abu Sufyan found out what happened, so he took another route. Thus the Prophet PBUH never actually met the caravan. Other minor things happened and he formed some alliances and tribal agreements, so there was a success, but there was no military conflict in Ghazwat al-Ushayra. But because of Ghazwat al-Ushayra, Abu Sufyan was on high alert because he learned that the Prophet PBUH is interested in his caravan.
The concept of targeting caravans goes back even before this.
Targeting of Caravans
One of the particular incidents narrated in Sahih Bukhari shows us the targeting of caravans was something even the Ansar thought about. Sa'd ibn Mu'adh (the most vibrant and dynamic leader of the Ansar) was a close friend of Umayya ibn Khalaf (the owner of Bilal) in the times of Jahiliyyah. So whenever Umayya went north, he would stop over in Madinah and stay at the house of Sa'd. And likewise Sa'd stayed with Umayya whenever he went to Makkah. One time, in 1 AH, Sa'd went to Makkah (perhaps for business trips). And it was the custom of the time they would always do tawaf whenever they visit Makkah. So Sa'd asks Umayya, "When is a good time to do tawaf?" Umayya said, "Go at a time when no one else is there." So clearly, they knew some tension could happen if Sa'd is seen in the public. Why? Because it was known that Sa'd is helping the Prophet PBUH. Note his Islam is not known, but what is known is that he is supporting and protecting the Muslims - so Umayya says, "Go right in the heat of the sun when everyone is asleep."
Lo and behold Allah willed they meet Abu Jahal; and Abu Jahal asks Umayya, "Who is your friend?" He figures something is fishy as nobody does tawaf when everybody is going to sleep in this hot sun. Umayya says, "This is Sa'd ibn Mu'adh from Yathrib," and so Abu Jahal gets angry and says, "How is it possible that you are performing tawaf around the House in safety after you have given protection to the suba/صباء and claim you will help them?! (Note: the Quraysh called the Muslims "suba/renegades" i.e. "the people who have left the religion of our forefathers.") And now you have the audacity to come to Makkah and show your face and do tawaf in such safety?! Wallahi, were it not for the fact that you're a guest of Abu Safwan (Umayya), you would not return home in one piece!" This is an open threat, and the threat contradicts everything of their religion (and of Islam) - they knew that Makkah was sacred all the way from the time of Ibrahim AS [see Quran, 3:97]. So no one has the right to stop anybody from coming to Makkah. But when it came to Islam, the double standards began for the first time. Abu Jahal didn't even know Sa'd is a Muslim so he said, "You're helping the Muslims," but that is enough of a crime in his eyes that he is preventing Sa'd from coming to Makkah. Sa'd got very angry, raised his voice and said, "Wallahi, if you are going to threaten me and deprive me of tawaf, I will deprive you of something that is more painful to you than this (i.e. your trade routes to Syria)!" He said in front of the Ka'bah so that everybody in Makkah could hear.
And so the concept of targeting the caravans of the Quraysh wasn't just something the Prophet PBUH told them to do; even though, yes, up until this time, no Ansari has participated. But Sa'd is feeling the pressure, so he basically says, 'Khalas, tit for tat! You are going to threaten me?! Now you will see as well what we are going to do!' And that is exactly what he did - he then began to target the caravans of the Quraysh, as we will study.
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The Plain of Badr
What is Badr? It's an area or a location that is named after a well that is named after the person who dug the well. So Badr is a name of a human. Many centuries ago, Badr ibn Yakhlud (بدر بن يخلد) dug up a well, so the well was called the Well of Badr, and that whole plain/area around the well was then called the Plain of Badr. It's in between Makkah and Madinah, closer to Madinah than to Makkah - approximately 160 miles south-west of Madinah, 250 miles north of Makkah. It takes around 1 hour 10 mins in our times to get to Badr from Madinah by car. In those days it took around 3 days. Interestingly, less than a month before Badr, the change of the qibla happened (as we discussed), and it's a significant correlation. The change literally occurs 3 weeks before Badr; there is no doubt there's a symbolic change taking place. The qibla of the Muslims changed to Makkah and then the Muslims were granted the greatest victory of early Islam. It's as if there's a sign that now that the qibla has changed, and you've won the Battle of Badr, slowly Makkah as well will be yours.
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Incidents Leading Up to Ghazwat Badr al-Kubra
We get to the incident of Ghazwat Badr al-Kubra (غزوة بدر الكبرى). It's called the Great Battle of Badr in order to distinguish it from Ghazwat Badr al-Sughra (غزوة بدر الصغرى/the Small Battle of Badr that took place close to Badr but had nothing to do with the Quraysh or the caravan of Abu Sufyan).
Ghazwat al-Ushayra took place in Jumada al-Awwal of the 2nd year of the Hijrah. The Prophet PBUH went to the area of Ushayra (he didn't go to Badr) and he camped there for a few days, and he stayed there until the very first few days of Jumada al-Thani, and then he returned back to Madinah. When the time came that they expected the caravan back (and this is now in Ramadan), the Prophet PBUH began sending multiple spies to see where has the caravan reached. And we have at least 2 or 3 ahadith that mention different spies - so this means basically that over the course of every few days, he is sending out another few people. For example, in Sahih Muslim, Anas ibn Malik says that when the time came for the caravan's return, the Prophet PBUH sent a spy to inform him about the advent of the caravan; and when the spy returned, the Prophet PBUH made sure that nobody was sitting in the room except for Anas (he was excused because he was a 7 year old child), and the sahabi (spy) informed him about the whereabouts of the caravan.
In another hadith in Ibn Ishaq, it is mentioned that the Prophet PBUH sent Talha ibn Ubaydillah and Sa'id ibn Zayd (two famous sahaba) to monitor the activities. And they waited for the caravan and followed it for a while until it passed them by, and then they galloped back quickly to Madinah. And they reported to the Prophet PBUH that it was under the command of Abu Sufyan, and it had around 1000 camels in its entourage. Early history books say the Quraysh had never had such a large caravan in recent history (most likely due to economic factors prior to this - they acquired the Muslims' wealth i.e. they confiscated Muslim property and land; and perhaps other things happened that the books of history don't mention). This was a fortune in that day: The net worth would be around a 5-20 million dollars in our times. This would change the entire treasury and state of the Islamic state. So we can understand why the Prophet PBUH was so eager.
In our last lesson, we had already talked about how non-Muslim orientalists have skewed and have attacked the Prophet PBUH by saying he is a highway robber - but this is ridiculous, because most of that wealth was directly confiscated from the Muslims anyway. That's one of the main reasons why the caravan has so much money.
So the Prophet PBUH gathered some sahaba. And here is a little bit of contradiction what exactly happened. In Sahih Muslim it's reported the Prophet PBUH didn't announce where he's going - he just said, "We have a mission to undertake, so whoever has his animal ready should come with me." Some sahaba said, "Ya Rasulullah, my animal isn't ready. It's in another place of Madinah. Let me go get it ready." But the Prophet PBUH said, "No. Only those whose animals are right here and now. We are leaving right now." In Ibn Ishaq the Prophet PBUH said to the sahaba, "This is the caravan of the Quraysh, it's coming back to you. And it has in it the money of the Quraysh. So let us go out to meet it. Perhaps Allah will give it to you." How do we reconcile these two narrations? Allahu a'lam. But it seems when he stood in the masjid, he didn't announce who, where or what. Why? Because there could be spies. So the Prophet PBUH did not make any public announcement. Rather he said, "We have a mission to undertake, so whoever has his animal ready should come with me." "We are leaving right now." And indeed that's the ultimate surprise tactic; not even the sahaba knew where they are going. When the army leaves Madinah and the Prophet PBUH can see who he's with, THEN he announces to them, "This is the caravan of the Quraysh, it's coming back to you. And it has in it the money of the Quraysh. So let us go out to meet it. Perhaps Allah will give it to you." So he didn't mention where he is going in the beginning, until finally they left the city. And this shows again and again the meticulous planning of the Prophet PBUH. We have seen this in every major incidents - we have seen this in the Hijrah, Bay'at al-Aqaba, etc. Even though he is Rasulullah PBUH and he could put his trust in Allah SWT without doing anything, but that's against the sunnah. You do everything you can, and THEN you put your trust in Allah.
No one knew where they were going. The Prophet PBUH didn't even give the sahaba preparation. Why? Because this was easy prey. It's reported there were only 40 armed guards to this 1000s camels fortune. So the Prophet PBUH realized, "If we only have 200-300 people, that's all we need." And they don't even have to be armed to the hilt. So the Prophet PBUH basically said, "Whoever is ready, let's go now!" That is exactly what happened. And that is why we understand Badr was not meant to be a war. It was meant to be quick and easy confiscation of 1000 camels - the Muslims would outnumber the 40 guards, the guards would either run or stay and die, and the entire camels would be taken. What's vital is speed and urgency - what's needed is the Quraysh not find out. But Allah willed otherwise for a wisdom that was known to Him - which we will see clearly in the aftermath of the Battle of Badr. Note this also explains why none of the sahaba were fully armed - the animals that were taken were animals that happen to be there only. The entire army of 300+ people only had 2 riding horses and less than 100 camels. Why? Because it wasn't assumed that they would be needing fast horses and a lot of camels. This was easy prey, basically targeting a sitting duck. They just have to go, show them 300 people, and take the prize.
So the Prophet PBUH, when he reaches the first encampment and sets up tents, he takes a detailed survey of everyone participating. He makes an assessment - and he notices there are two people that are too young to participate. And these are al-Bara' ibn Azib (البراء بن عازب) and Abdullah ibn Umar (عبد الله بن عمر); they were under 14. Note in those times, 15 was basically what we would consider to be 18 i.e. they matured much faster. In every single major battle, we will continue to see this, that 11, 13 year olds want to participate, but the Prophet PBUH will tell them no. In their eagerness, they wanted to be 'men'. (In our times, we have dumbed down our own youth. If we were to treat them like adults, that young men would become adults faster. But because we have these false age of adolescents where biologically they are men or women, but intellectually we treat them like kids, so we are going to get problems. We Muslims firmly believe that Allah AWJ has made the age of puberty to be the age of intelligence. Therefore, if society were to treat these youngsters the way they deserve, with intellectual integrity, honesty, and respect, then these youngsters would grow up faster. And this isn't just Islamic, by the way. Hundreds of years ago, in every society, when you were 15-16, you were an adult.) Anyway, the two under age warriors were sent back.
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Number of Muslim Army
The final count was around 315, some books mention 313 or 317, but basically 310 and an odd number. These were all the volunteers. Around 83 of the Muhajirun, 62 of the Aws and 170 of the Khazraj. The Khazraj were double the Aws. (Why? Firstly because they were more than the Aws; secondly the % of Muslims in the Khazraj was more than in the Aws. Why? The Khazraj was generally the poorer tribe, and generally speaking, the poor convert before the rich.) The two horses belong to Zubayr ibn al-Awam (الزبير بن العوام) and al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad (المقداد بن الأسود). There were less than 100 camels; some books mention 70, so basically every three people had to share a camel. So they would take shifts and turns walking and then riding the camel.
Note there has to be some significance to this number "310 and something." It occurs in multiple places in our religion. Of them is in a famous hadith of Abu Dhar al-Ghifari where the Prophet PBUH was asked, "How many rasul are there?" The Prophet PBUH said, "310 and something." Also the number of people fighting with Dawud AS against Goliath was 310 and something.
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Sharing of the Camel
So the sahaba shared a camel, and the Prophet PBUH was assigned the camel of Ali ibn Abi Talib, along with Abu Lubaba (أبو لبابة). (Abu Lubaba was the famous sahabi who tied himself to the masjid as an act of repentance - out of guilt he deprived himself of food and water and said, "I won't leave until Allah forgives me." He was almost about to die when Allah revealed his repentance in the Quran. But he said no, "Until the Prophet PBUH comes and frees me I won't leave." So the Prophet PBUH himself came and untied Abu Lubaba from that pillar.) Imam Ahmad in his Musnad mentions a very beautiful incident now: Imagine if you had to share a camel with the Prophet PBUH. What would you do? You will say, "Ya Rasulullah, tafaddal (تفضل - go ahead) - you take the camel, we will walk." And so, both Ali and Abu Lubaba insisted, "Ya Rasulullah, we will walk, and you take the camel." The response of the Prophet PBUH is so sweet and gentle and profound. It's so full of wisdom. He could have said, "Yes." And wallahi, if he had said yes, who would have objected. He is Rasulullah! But forget even the religious side, he is the general, the commander, and the leader! The leader never travels in the same way as a soldier/private. So if he rode it, no one would have objected. Alternatively he could have said, "No, let's be fair. Let's share" - just be blunt and share. But rather, the Prophet PBUH allowed them to share in a manner that was very sweet and beautiful. He smiled back at them and said, "The two of you are not any younger/stronger than I am, and I am not in any less in need of the ajr (reward) than the two of you." Technically, Ali RA was around mid 20s, (and we don't know the age of Abu Lubaba), and the Prophet PBUH is 54-55, so actually the Prophet PBUH is senior in age. But he says, "The two of you are not any stronger than I am." And further, "Neither am I in any less need of the rewards from Allah that I will get if I walk." So when he said this to them, they had no response to this. How are you going to respond when he says, "I am doing this for the reward of Allah just like you." And so the Prophet PBUH insisted that they take turns on this one camel, and that is his way of enforcing the fairness and equitable treatment.
And it goes without saying the psychological repercussions of the Prophet PBUH walking: Imagine if you were in that army and experience all the discomfort from the heat, the desert sand, the thirst, etc., but then you see the Prophet PBUH walking - you cannot complain! This is the wisdom. Why was he so respected? Because he acted like a true prophet of Allah. And subhan'Allah, when you have a leader like this, what is going to happen? Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, they all lived the same lifestyle. When Umar conquers Jerusalem, he walks in while his slave is on the camel. And the people of Jerusalem thought Umar was the slave and the slave was Umar! Because what leader in the world would walk leading in his slave while he is walking. Where did Umar learn this from? He has the best teacher, the best master, the best mu'allim (معلم), and that is the Prophet PBUH.
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Mini Story 1: 'O You Who Believe, Fulfill Your Promises!'
Again the seerah is composed of small incidents, so we need to try to connect these 'disconnected incidents.' Another disconnected incident that happened before Badr is the lack of participation of Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman (حذيفة بن اليمان), and his father al-Yaman. They wanted to participate in Badr but they were held back because of a promise they made to the Quraysh. These two were once captured by the Quraysh, and the Quraysh were almost going to kill them, when finally one of the Quraysh decided, "You know what, let's just make them promise that they're not ever going to fight alongside Muhammad." Note Hudhayfah and his father weren't Muhajirs. His father wasn't from Makkah or Madinah. He came to Madinah in the days of Jahiliyyah because of a crime he had committed - so he abandoned his tribe, came to Madinah, and 'adopted' by the people of Madinah. And then he became a sahabi (i.e. accepted Islam) along with his son. So the two of them are neither Makki nor quite Madani, so when the Quraysh capture them, they don't have any direct animosity - rather they are people who are caught up in the situation. So one of the Quraysh has sympathy and says, "We won't kill you, but promise us you won't fight us alongside Muhammad." So when the Prophet PBUH heard this, he forbade them to fight in Badr or any ghazwa against the Quraysh. This shows us a Muslim is upon his word and promises. A Muslim is never a traitor no matter what - treaties must be respected and honored. Legally binding contracts have to be upheld. This shows us it's not allowed from a sharia perspective to break one's word: Therefore, if you have a visa and passport and live in a Western country, you cannot be a traitor to the state. Hudhayfah and his father, even though they were put on the verge of death by the Quraysh, and thus had no choice but to give their word, but when the Prophet PBUH heard this, he told them to uphold the promise, and did not allow them to fight in Badr. المسلمون على شروطهم (A Muslim is upon his word/promises) - this is a hadith. And in the Qur'an, Allah says, "O you who believe, fulfill your covenant." [Quran, 5:1]
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Mini Story 2: 'We Do Not Ask for Help From Pagans'
Another incident occurred when the Prophet PBUH is leaving Madinah, one of the pagans of Madinah who was known for his bravery and fighting skills marched up to the Prophet PBUH and said, "I wish to join you." The sahaba were happy to see him because they were getting a strong man. But the Prophet PBUH asked him, "Do you testify that Allah is your one Lord and I am the Messenger?" He said, "No." In response, the Prophet PBUH said, "إنا لا نستعين بمشرك (We do not ask for help from pagans)." So the man stayed where he was, and a few hours later caught up and again asked, "Allow me to come with you." Again the Prophet PBUH asked him, "Do you testify..." but he still said, "No." And so the Prophet PBUH replied, "We do not ask for help from pagans." A few hours later he comes back and asks to join again. The Prophet PBUH asks, "Do you testify..." and this time he says yes and recites the kalimah shahada i.e. he accepts Islam. At this point he was allowed to join the expedition of the Muslims.
On this hadith: "We do not ask for help from pagans," we have varying opinions. It has been used politically in our times, in Gulf War I, Gulf War II, etc. "Is it allowed to ask for military help from a non-Muslim?" The four schools of thought differ as to the extent of its implications. Some scholars say that you can never ask for any such help. Other scholars say that it is allowed with conditions. So there is a spectrum of opinion. Imam al-Nawawi says, "This hadith shows that the general rule is that you don't ask help from the pagan army. But there are exceptions. The Prophet PBUH himself asked helped from Abdullah ibn Urayqit (a pagan) at a time of great sensitivity (he was the guide during the Hijrah)!" Think about it - this man could have got 100 camels as a reward for turning the Prophet PBUH in. Yet the Prophet PBUH trusted his life with Abdullah ibn Urayqit, after Allah AWJ. So based on this, Imam al-Nawawi says if a person has a good opinion of Islam, and can be trusted, and the situation calls for it, then one can ask the help of mushriks against an enemy. Similarly, the Prophet PBUH asked help from Mut'im ibn Adi after Abu Lahab stopped giving protection to him (after Abu Talib died). The point being we should know that there is a spectrum of opinion. And frankly, each opinion has some strength and evidence to it. And in Sh. YQ's humble opinion, it is a case by case situation and basis - when such a situation arises, then the scholars of that region and land, let them talk among themselves and come to a conclusion. And this is an ijtihadi issue anyway.
Another interesting point: Subhan'Allah, our religion doesn't ask us to look into the chests of people. Here is a man, wallahi, the average person would doubt his Islam. Correct? The time, the place, and the circumstance - Once he says no, twice he says no, and the third time finally he basically says, "You know what? Okay, khalas. I'm a Muslim." Wallahi, the average person would doubt his Islam. But what does our religion tell us? Islam says, "Judge people by outward, and leave the inner to Allah SWT." Wallahi, we would be so much better if we simply followed this. Don't doubt people's intention. The Prophet PBUH asked him three times, "Are you a Muslim?" And there's a lot of money to be gained if he's a Muslim. So on the third time he goes, "Khalas. I'm a Muslim." And nobody questions his Islam. Let it be. And in fact, there is no denying that our religion give incentives for people to convert. Monetary sometimes, political at other times. Why? If they convert for any reason, because Islam is true, we are very confident that they will eventually convert for the right reason. We are so confident of our faith that, "You know what? Khalas! Convert for the money! No big deal! But what's going to happen? Slowly Islam and Iman will enter the heart." This is the reality that we see from people to this day and age who convert for secondary reasons - primarily in our times, for marriage and love.
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Spying Games
It seems we can guesstimate the Prophet PBUH left Madinah on the 12th of Ramadan in 2 AH. And he put in charge of Madinah Abdullah ibn Ummi Maktum (عبد الله بن أم مكتوم) - and subhan'Allah this sahabi was blind, but he was still put in charge. This shows Islam does not discriminate against people with disability. And this isn't the only instance. The Prophet PBUH put Ibn Ummi Maktum in charge of Madinah at least a dozen times. Why? Because he was a wise and sensible man. And his blindness did not come in the way of him being, in effect, the temporary mayor of Madinah.
In the mean time, Abu Sufyan is coming back from Syria and he's taking extra precautions. Why? Because he already found out during the Ghazwat al-Ushayra he was close to get caught by just one day. Thus on the way back, he took extra measures so much so he sent delegations out to spy on any spies. Ibn Ishaq mentions some Bedouins mentioned they saw two men spying on the camp (of course these two men are Talha and Sa'id ibn Zayd). The Bedouins took Abu Sufyan to Talha and Sa'id's campsite and he examined their camp and markings. In his intelligence and desperation, he open up the camel dung and found date seeds of Madinah. Then he said, "These are the dates of Yathrib." So Abu Sufyan panics. And this panic causes him to go into overdrive mode. And he does two things, both of which, qaddar'Allah (قدر الله - Allah willed), saved him, but also brought about the biggest disaster to the Quraysh. The two things are:
1. He took an unknown route. He hired a local guide and says, "Get us out of here. Take us from the shore." So he went from a much farther route, basically bypassing the entire city.
2. He sent for reinforcements by sending his fastest rider, Damdam ibn Amir al-Ghifari (ضمضم بن عمرو الغفاري), to Makkah to announce to the Quraysh, "Unless you do something, your caravan will be confiscated." i.e. "Unless you send reinforcements, your money will be destroyed." And Damdam was truly very fast, think about it: this was probably taking place on the 10th, and as soon as Talha and Sa'id reports back to Madinah, the Prophet PBUH said, "Let's go right now!" (he didn't want the news to get to Abu Sufyan, so he PBUH too was very quick), so within 2-3 days, Damdam must have reached Makkah, and the same day, they make the decision, and within 3 days, they come back and are at Badr. This is super fast speed.
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The Dream of Atikah bint Abdul Muttalib
One last thing to discuss: Events happening in Makkah before Damdam arrives that sets the stage, and that is the dream of Atikah bint Abdul Muttalib (عاتكة بنت عبد المطلب), the full sister of Abdullah and Abu Talib, and thus the full aunt of the Prophet PBUH. (Tangent: Did Atikah accept Islam or not? Ibn Ishaq mentions the only aunt of the Prophet PBUH who accepted Islam is Safiyyah RA. However Ibn Sa'd says Atikah also accepted Islam. He said she migrated to Madinah after this and died in Madinah. But truth be told, even Ibn Hajar finds this skeptical, because we don't have a single report about anything from Atikah after this dream - had she converted, we would have heard of stories like we have heard from Safiyyah. So Allah knows best. Ibn Sa'd says she converted, but Ibn Ishaq [who is the earlier and greater authority] says none of the aunts of the Prophet PBUH accepted Islam other than Safiyyah. One thing is for sure: We never hear of her after this dream.)
So Atikah had a dream three days before Damdam's arrival, so the Makkans have no clue what's going on. She woke up flustered and agitated, and she called her brother Abbas (she was closest to him in age and bond), and said to him, "I saw a dream that I am very concerned about." Abbas asked, "What happened? Tell me." She said, "In my dream, I saw that in three days, a crier will come to Makkah, racing on his camel, and he first goes to the Ka'bah and cries out, 'O you traitors! Meet your death in three days from now (i.e. 6 days from the point Atikah saw this dream),' and then the crier is on top of the Ka'bah and says the same thing. Then he's on top of the mountain of Abu Qubays (جبل أبي قبيس - which was the highest peak in the immediate vicinity) and says the same thing." So he said the same thing three times, "O traitor!" Note: Why are the Quraysh called traitors in the dream? Because for the first time in Arab history, they've betrayed the foundation of what they considered the most important to them, and that is blood (tribes); they have not allowed their tribesmen to basically live with them. Another opinion is that they are called traitors because they are traitors to the religion of Ibrahim AS - and this is also plausible. Then Atikah continues, "This crier picks up a large rock (from the mountain of Abu Qubays), topples it down the mountain, it cracks up at the base, and it keeps on rolling until it hits every house in Makkah."
What is the interpretation? It's pretty obvious. Clearly it's showing that whatever announcement this man will make will cause the death of these traitors in three days. And the rock hitting every house is the sign that every house will be struck with a calamity. What calamity? The death of multiple people in the household. Not a single household of the Quraysh was spared in the Battle of Badr.
Abbas became very worried and said to Atikah, "This dream is a very dangerous dream, and I am worried that if you tell it to people, you will get into trouble. So keep it to yourself. Don't tell anybody about this dream." (And it is said that Atikah used to see true dreams like this regularly. And we know that seeing true dream is something that Allah blesses some people with. E.g. The king at the time of Yusuf AS - he wasn't a Muslim, yet he saw these dreams [see Quran, 12:46]. These dreams can come to non-Muslims as well.) Abbas said don't tell anyone, yet he couldn't follow his own advice, he tells his best friend al-Walid ibn Utbah (الوليد بن عتبة) and says, "O al-Walid! Please don't tell anyone else." And al-Walid promised not to tell anybody, so Abbas told him of the dream. But then al-Walid goes and tells his father Utbah, and says, "Abbas made me promise not to tell anybody, so please don't tell anybody...," and told his father of the dream, so on and so forth, until within some time, all in Makkah knew about the dream. But Abbas still thinks nobody knows, because he has only told al-Walid.
And however you want to interpret the dream, there is clearly signs of doom and dread. The dream is clearly against the Quraysh, so they are not too happy about it.
Official narration:
In March 624, she reported a frightening dream to her brother Abbas. She had dreamed that a camel had halted near Makkah and that its rider had shouted: "Come forth, O people! And do not leave your men to face a disaster that will come three days hence!" Then the man had climbed a mountain and thrown down a rock, which had shattered, spraying pieces on every building in the city. Abbas warned Atikah not to tell anyone about this dream, but he told a friend, who told his father, and soon it was common knowledge in Makkah. Abu Jahal asked Abbas: "Are you not satisfied that your men should play the prophet, that your women should do so also? Atikah has predicted that there will be war in three days. If the three days pass and nothing happens, we will write you down as the greatest liars in Arabia!" Three days later, a messenger from Abu Sufyan arrived in the valley, stood up on his camel, and tore his shirt, shouting: "O Quraysh! The merchant-camels, the merchant-camels! Muhammad and his companions are lying in wait for your property, which is with Abu Sufyan! I do not think that you will overtake it! Help! Help!" Thus alerted, the Quraysh armed themselves for the Battle of Badr. However, Atikah's brother Abu Lahab did not join the army, saying he was afraid of Atikah's predictive dream.
In any case, Abbas goes to sleep, and by the time he wakes up, everyone in the city is gossiping. But he still doesn't know. So he goes about his business, then as was their custom, does tawaf after Asr. But he sees Abu Jahal, surrounded with his minions, and he says, "Ya Abbas, when you're done, come here." So he does tawaf and then come to Abu Jahal. Abu Jahal says, "O children of Abdul Muttalib, since when did you get a female prophetess?" He is being sarcastic. Abbas says, "What do you mean?" He says, "Are you not satisfied that you have a man who claim to be a prophet? You now want woman to be predicting the future as well? If it's true that a crier will come after three days, then it will happen; but if it doesn't happen, then by Allah, we will make a sign and place it on the door of the Ka'bah that the Banu Abdul Muttalib are the most lying of the Arabs known to men!" i.e. "We will publicly shame you!" Abbas narrates this hadith himself later on, and he says he was caught off guard so he denied everything.
But the news of what Abu Jahal did to Abbas humiliated the whole Banu Hashim tribe. Thus the Banu Abdul Muttalib are fuming. Before Abbas even gets back to his house, the women have already heard of what just took place (how news spreads!), and so when he comes back, they begin lashing out at him, "Are you not a man?! Could you not defend your own women? Have you no shame? You and your sister and your tribe was dissed and you just stand there and take it?" Until finally Abbas said he decided the next day to publicly refute Abu Jahal. Now it's no longer a matter of dream, it's now a matter of tribalism. And Abbas later narrates, "For the rest of the day, all the women of Banu Abdul Muttalib came and had it out with me." So now he is thinking, "What can I say tomorrow."
He wakes up the next day and goes to find Abu Jahal. And he narrates this first person in the Mustadrak of al-Hakim, "When I came to the Ka'bah, I saw Abu Jahal in the distance. But as soon as he saw me, he turned pale, turned his back to me, and walked away. I said, 'What is the matter with him? Doesn't he have the courage to face me now?' I went to go face him when I finally saw what had caused him to go pale." It's the third day. The crier has arrived and Abu Jahal has already heard him. So Abu Jahal is so embarrassed he cannot even face al-Abbas now. And of course the crier is none other than Damdam - and to give a melodramatic effect, Damdam mutilated his own camel (in one narration it's said he chopped its nose off, a'udhubiLlah!) and smeared the blood over the camel, had torn his clothes, looked disheveled, and entered Makkah riding backwards - all of this to give the impression that he himself had also been attacked. And then he cried out, "O Quraysh, your caravan! O Quraysh, your caravan! Your property and money with Abu Sufyan is being attacked by Muhammad and his companions right now! And you will not be able to defend it unless you act immediately! S.O.S! S.O.S!" (And of course it is all a lie, because as of yet, there is no actual attack happening.)
His announcement was "come and fight," but Atikah is saying, rather, this means "come and meet your death."
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Q&A
Usul al-Fiqh: Does the rulings upon the Prophet PBUH differ from the rulings upon the other Muslims? The response is: there are some elements/aspects of the shariah where what is unique to him is different than what he is legislated upon us. There are certain hadiths that have been interpreted in this light, that that was unique for the Prophet PBUH and it was not something that we need to follow. But these are exceptions and not the rules. And generally speaking, when these exceptions exist, he himself points it out. And the most famous example is that of wisal (وصال), which is fasting 2-3 days nonstop (i.e. without suhoor and iftar); or if it is explicitly mentioned in the Quran, e.g. where Allah says, "This is exclusively for you, not for the rest of the Believers" [33:50]. So it is true that this is something that exists in Usul al-Fiqh, but we don't invoke this principle unless there is an explicit evidence to show this. Otherwise, the general rule is that everything the Prophet PBUH did and said and approved, we are also told to follow it. Because he is our uswah (أسوة - role model). Now, this does play into fiqh, for example: drinking while standing. The Prophet PBUH apparently said in a hadith —and there is ikhtilaf whether it is authentic or not—: "Don't drink while standing"; but he himself drank while standing, as recorded in Bukhari. So how do we reconcile this? Some people say, it is khas (خاص - exclusive) for him, and majority say, "Well, this shows it is allowed. You can do it, but it's makruh to drink while standing." So this tension does exist in fiqh, but it should only be evoked when there is no other means of reconciliation. Also, the fact that he is doing this publicly for the communal benefit.