battle of badar

The Battle of BadarThe first battle between the believers of truth (Islam) and the forces of evil was fought on the battle field of Badar, 60 miles from Madinah towards Makkah. On one side stood a small group of 313 men of whom merely 60 of them wore armour, while facing them was arranged an army of one thousand warriors well armed and equipped. The believers had the strength of their Faith in Allah and His Prophet. They knew that Truth must prevail and falsehood must be destroyed. Thus it was this very Faith which brought about the Miracle and Truth did triumph.
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As soon as Abu Sufyaan got his caravan safely away from the Muslims, he sent another message to Makkah that they were safe and no longer required assistance. Abu Jahl was looking for an excuse to attack the Muslims. He had been making preparations for almost a year, thus he was not prepared to turn back after receiving the message from Abu Sufyaan. He marched towards Madinah with an army of 1000 men, 700 camels and 300 horses. Abu Jahl's men were well trained and well armed with spears, swords, bows and arrows, and shields.On hearing the news that the Kuffaar of Makkah had left with 1000 men to destroy the Muslims, Rasulullah made mushwarah (consultation) with the sahaba at Masji-e-Nabwi in Madinah. At the Mashwarah, Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (R.A.), Hazrat Umar (R.A.) from Muhajireen and Hazrat Saad bin Mu'az from the Ansaar and the rest of the Muslims showed their willingness and desire to defend Islaam against falsehood.When Rasulullah was satisfied with the decision, he began preparations for the defence of Islaam. Rasulullah left Madinah with 313 men including some teenage boys. They only had 3 horses, 70 camels and a few swords. When they reached BADR, which was a mountainous region, Rasulullah made dua to Allah and pleaded : 'O Allah! should this small group of believers perish this day, no one will be left on earth to worship you and carry your message to the world'.The battle took place on the 17th of Ramadhaan 2 A.H. Allah sent His mercy and the Kuffar lost the battle at the hands of the Muslims. Seventy of the Kufaar including the arch enemy of Islaam, Abu Jahl were killed and as many as seventy were taken as prisoners-of-war. Fourteen Muslims were martyred in the battle.It was a battle between good and evil, falsehood was defeated and Truth triumphed. The success of the Battle of Badr considerably strengthened the Muslims and their cause.

Battle Of Hunain

"After the conquest of Mecca, the Muslims stayed in the city for two weeks when a news soon broke out that a big army had been mobilized in the valley of Hunain to attack Mecca and to undo the victory of the Muslims. This time the Prophet assembled a force of twelve thousand warriors, which included two thousand non-Muslim Meccans. The Prophet was forced to make necessary preparations for defence. He felt the necessity of borrowing money for provisions and war supplies, therefore, according to Masnad (Cairo, 1895, 4:36) by Ahmad bin Hanbal (d. 241/855), "He took a loan of 30,000 dhirams from Abdullah bin Rabiah, a step-brother of Abu Jahl, who was very rich." He also wanted from Safwan bin Umayyah, who had not yet accepted Islam, to lend him the weapons of war. Safwan offered one hundred coats of mail together with their accessories. On 6th Shawal, 8/January 27, 630, the Prophet marched to Hunain to crush the powers of the four savage tribes, viz. Thaqif, Hawazin, Sa'd and Jasam. In order to reach the fertile valley of Taif, they had to pass through a narrow defile, called Hunain. It is a name of a valley running from Shara'il-ul-Mujahid, which is 11 miles east-north-east of Mecca, to Shara'i Nakhlah, which is 7 miles and then runs north towards Zeima. Between the Shara'i the valley is quite wide, about 2 miles in most places, but beyond the old Shara'i it narrows down to between a quarter and a half-mile, and as it approaches Zeima, it gets narrower still. It is this second portion of the Hunain valley, which is a defile, and the defile is narrowest near Zeima. Beyond Zeima the Taif route winds into the Wadi Nakhlat-ul-Yamaniyya. When the Muslim army entered the narrow defiles overlooking the valley, Hawazin sharp-shooters, securely hidden; sent forth a murderous rain of arrows, causing havoc among the Muslims ranks, who took to a wild flight, and only a handful were left with the Prophet. At this critical moment, writes Ibn Hisham (2:444), the Prophet raised his voice in a great cry, "O Muslims! I am here! I am the Prophet of God, and no one dare doubt my word. I am Muhammad, the son of Abdul Muttalib." But his cries were of no avail. The leading elements of Hawazin got to the place where the Prophet stood, and here Ali brought down the first infidel to fall at Hunain - a man mounted on a red camel, carrying a long lance at the end of which flew a black pennant. This man was chasing the Muslims as they fled. Ali pursued the man, and cut the tendons of the camel's hind legs with his sword. The man fell with the camel. The Prophet now moved towards the right with his handful Companions and took shelter on a rocky spur. He turned to Ibn Abbas and ordered him to call the Muslims to rally around him. Ibn Abbas was of large stature who had very resonant voice, which according to some accounts, could be heard long away. He shouted: "O' people of Ansars! O'people of the Tree (those who had taken oath of allegiance at Hudaibia)" No sooner did this inspiring call reach the ears of the retreating Muslims than they rallied again, and made a counter-attack. The tide turned at once, and the unbelievers took to flight and dispersed.It must be known that the Muslims had counter-attacked with such reckless courage that the enemy's ranks were broken and their forces split into two. One half fled widely from the field and retreated to their homes, the other half took refuge in their fortress of Taif. Thus, the Muslims pursued the fleeing enemy to the city wall of the fortified Taif, about 75 miles from Mecca by the old route, and laid siege to the city which lasted for a month or so. It is reported that the Muslims had used for the first time the advanced siege appliances of the day, such as the dababah (a wheeled structure made of brick and stone to provide a constant cover to besiegers) and the minjaniq (ballista, a wooden structure to hurl large stones to break through fortifications) newly acquired from the Jews of Khaibar. They caused considerable loss of life to the besiegers by the advanced defensive unit of shooting arrows with fireballs of bitumen as warheads against the wooden ballista. Later, the Prophet raised the siege on the advice of a wise Bedouin. Meanwhile, the defeated Hawazin sent six of their chiefs to seek peace and beg for mercy, which was accepted. This is called the battle of Hunain, in which the enemies lost seventy of their bravest. Six thousand captives including women and children, forty thousand sheep and goats, four thousand ounces of silver and twenty four thousand camels formed the booty of Hunain.

Baghdad in Islamic History

In 634 A.D., the newly-created Muslim empire expanded into the region of Iraq, which at the time was part of the Persian Empire. Muslim armies, under the command of Khalid ibn Waleed, moved into the region and defeated the Persians. They offered the mostly-Christian residents two choices: embrace Islam, or pay a jizyah tax to be protected by the new government and excluded from military service.
The caliph Omar ibn Al-Khattab ordered the foundation of two cities to protect the new territory: Kufah (the new capital of the region) and Basrah (the new port city).
Baghdad only came into importance in later years. The city's roots date back to ancient Babylon, a settlement as far back as 1800 B.C. However, its fame as a center for commerce and scholarship began in the 8th century A.D.
Meaning of the Name "Baghdad"
The origin of the name "Baghdad" is under some dispute. Some say it comes from an Aramaic phrase that means "sheep enclosure" (not very poetic...). Others contend that the word comes from ancient Persian: "bagh" meaning God, and "dad" meaning gift. "The gift of God...." During at least one point in history, it certainly seemed so.
The Capital of the Muslim World
In about 762 A.D., the Abbasid dynasty took over rule of the vast Muslim world and moved the capital to the newly-founded city of Baghdad. Over the next five centuries, the city would become the world's center of education and culture. This period of glory has become known as the "Golden Age" of Islamic civilization, when scholars of the Muslim world made important contributions in both the sciences and humanities: medicine, mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, literature, and more. Under Abbasid rule, Baghdad became a city of museums, hospitals, libraries, and mosques. (Check out the links to the right for the Baghdad Photo Gallery, which has pictures of some of these great monuments.)
Most of the famous Muslim scholars from the 9th to 13th centuries had their educational roots in Baghdad. One of the most famous centers of learning was Bayt al-Hikmah (the House of Wisdom), which attracted scholars from all over the world, from many cultures and religions. Here, teachers and students worked together to translate Greek manuscripts, preserving them for all time. They studied the works of Aristotle, Plato, Hippocrates, Euclid, and Pythagoras. The House of Wisdom was home to, among others, the most famous mathematician of the time: Al-Khawarizmi, the "father" of algebra (which is named after his book "Kitab al-Jabr").
While Europe festered in the Dark Ages, Baghdad was thus at the heart of a vibrant and diverse civilization. It was known as the world's richest and most intellectual city of the time, and was second in size only to Constantinople.
After 500 years of rule, however, the Abbasid dynasty slowly began to lose its vitality and relevance over the vast Muslim world. The reasons were partly natural (vast flooding and fires), and partly human-made (rivalry between Shia and Sunni Muslims, internal security problems).
The city of Baghdad was finally trashed by the Mongols in 1258 A.D., effectively ending the era of the Abbasids. The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers reportedly ran red, with the blood of thousands of scholars (a reported 100,000 of Baghdad's million residents were massacred). Many of the libraries, irrigation canals, and great historical treasures were looted and forever ruined. The city began a long period of decline, and became host to numerous wars and battles that continue to this day.