Islam had famous and interesting battles. All of these were based on religious belief. It=s amazing what people will do for something they believe in.
The Battle of Badr was the first Abeliever vs. disbeliever@ battle in the religion of Islam. The people that were fighting were the Meccans-also known as Quarish. They were the disbelievers in Islam. Then there was the Medinans, or Muslims, who were the believers in Islam.
The background of this battle is as following:
Muhammad=s followers in Mecca were being beaten, hurt, and even tortured. It got too hostile. Then Muhammad got asked to unite two rival tribes fighting in Medina. He united them by migrating up to Medina with his followers. The people who migrated up to Medina were called the Muhajirun-those that made the Higerah. In Medina many people converted to Islam. Those people were called Ansar, or helpers.
The battle took place in a small town southwest of Medina called Badr in A.D. 624. A small group of Medinans attacked a Meccan camel caravan. The caravan escaped. The Meccans heard of this and sent 950 men, 750 camels, 100 horses and food to last for days. The Muslims had 300 men and 2 horses. The Muslims strategically destroyed the wells near the Meccans and kept theirs up and running. The Muslims also made it so their backs faced a sandstorm while the Meccans=s eyes faced it. It=s this strategy that helped them win.
At first, poets from each side of the armies insulted each other. Then, instead of each army going at it as a whole, they had one on one combat. The Muslims won all of these. The Meccans, realizing they weren=t going to win, fled. In the end the Muslims only lost 14 people and the Meccans lost 75 people.
A year later, in A.D. 625, the Meccans struck back. Assembling an army of 3,000 men, they met the Muslims at Uhud. After a starting success, the Muslims were driven back and Muhammad himself was wounded. This battle was known as the Battle of Uhud.
Two years later, the Meccans forces attacked again. This time it was in Medina. The Meccans had an army of about 10,000. Yet this time the Muslims introduced a new defense. On the side of Medina where the Muslims were expecting the Meccans to attack, they dug a trench too deep for the Meccan calvary to clear without giving themselves away to the archers posted behind the earthworks. The Meccans were then forced to retire, so Mecca was then entirely n the hands of the Muslims. This battle is known as the Battle of Trench or the Battle of Confederates.
From reading this it is obvious that the Muslims were a smart and strategic army. Their strategic maneuvering helped them win a majority of their battles. It goes to show that using your brain could depend on winning or losing-and the Muslims were the winners.
©1998 Ian Freeman
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