There was a man from the Najjar tribe who was a Christian. Later, he converted to Islam and partially memorized Surah Al-Baqara and Surah Al-Imran. He eventually started working as a scribe for Rasulullah (saw).

Then, one day, he apostatized, renouncing Islam, and returned to Christianity. After accepting Christianity, he began to boast, saying, “I know what was revealed to Muhammad. Whatever I say will take place. What he had written down is what I desired.”

Shortly after, he passed away. When the Rasul of Allah heard of his death, he said, “The earth will not accept him.”

The Christians held their own funeral ceremony and buried him. However, the next morning, it was observed that the man’s body had come back to the surface, as if the earth had rejected him.

The Christians, baffled by the situation, believed it was the work of the Muslims and said, “This must be the work of these Muslims.” So they buried the man again, this time much deeper. However, the next morning, they found the man’s body had surfaced once more.

They were astonished and again, believed it to be the Muslims’ doing. This time, they dug a grave so deep that it couldn’t be unearthed in a single night. They placed the body inside and buried it. But to their surprise, the next morning, they discovered the man’s body, without its shroud, lying on the surface.

They concluded that it couldn’t be the work of Muslims or people anymore. They believed it was a divine act. The earth had refused to accept the body of a person who had made false accusations and lied so egregiously.

It was the second year of the Hijrah (the migration to Medina). During this time, while the people of Mecca made every effort to prevent the spread of Islam, they also spared no expense to expand their financial resources.

To achieve this goal, they sent a caravan of a thousand camels to Sham (Syria) with a substantial capital of fifty thousand dinars. This caravan was led by Abu Sufyan and proved to be highly successful in its business ventures.

However, the situation had now become even more dangerous. The Quraysh feared that the Muslims would retaliate due to their disruption of the Muslim pilgrimage route, so they were taking various precautions.

For this reason, they hired a guard of seventy men to accompany the caravan. Even so, as they approached the vicinity of Badr, their fears intensified. Badr was a place where the Muslims could potentially intercept them and seize their goods as a response to the Meccans’ interference with their journey.

The Muslims in Medina had received news of this caravan, and they were eagerly awaiting the day of its return. The caravan’s successful interception would be a significant event during that time.

Even those Meccans who had as little as five dirhams had contributed to this caravan, making it seem like all of Mecca’s capital had been invested in it. Striking the caravan would serve as a strong response to the persecutions carried out by the Meccan polytheists against the Muslims. Therefore, the Muslims were determined to intercept the caravan.

On the eighth day of Ramadan, the Rasul of Allah (saw) set out from Medina with over three hundred Muslims. They had two horses and seventy camels with them. Many of those who joined the expedition believed they were heading to intercept the caravan. Some Medina Muslims even decided not to participate in the expedition, as they thought the force accompanying the caravan was already too formidable for a successful attack, and they felt their participation was unnecessary.

Hadhrat Osman (ra) was unable to participate in the Battle of Badr due to the necessity of taking care of his ailing wife. Many of those who joined the expedition were also reluctant participants. Their reservations stemmed from the fact that they wanted the expedition to target the caravan.

In their view, the Muslims’ current resources were not strong enough for a direct confrontation with the polytheists. Such a battle, especially if it ended in defeat, could mean the end of Islam. On the other hand, they believed that a raid on the caravan had a high likelihood of success. This way, the Muslims could significantly improve their financial resources.

After these deliberations, our Master led an expedition with over three hundred Muslims, under the leadership of Hadhrat Ali, Musab bin Umair, and Sa’d bin Muaz.

The expedition set out towards the Makkah route through a mountain road. About a mile out of Medina, the caravan reached a place called Buyut-us-Sukya. Our Master stopped the entire group, provided them with rest, and allowed them to have a meal. During this break, he took the opportunity to individually inquire about the condition and well-being of his companions.

Among the group was Umayr (ra), who was the sixteen-year-old brother of Sa’d bin Abi Waqqas (ra). As our Master began to assess the Muslims, Umayr started looking for ways to avoid being noticed. This was because Rasulullah would separate the younger individuals and send them back to Medina. While they had been allowed to join the expedition, it was mainly to give the impression of a caravan raid.

At the same time, younger individuals like Abdullah bin Umar, Usama bin Zaid, Zaid bin Erkam, Rafi bin Hadic, Berc bin Azib, and Zaid bin Sabit had already been excluded. When it was Umayr’s turn, Rasulullah ordered him to return to Medina. Umayr, upon hearing this decision, started to cry.

Umayr implored our Master: “O Rasul of Allah, I desire to participate in this battle because I hope that Allah will grant me martyrdom. Please don’t prevent me.” Upon this earnest plea, our Master paused for a moment, then granted him permission to stay with the group.

Umayr’s desire to participate and the potential for martyrdom reminded Abdullah bin Amr (ra) of a previous expedition against the Jews, which had taken place not long ago. He went directly to the Rasul of Allah (saw) and informed him of his concerns. 

He said: “O Rasul of Allah, I hoped that by stopping here and reviewing the condition of the companions, it would lead to great benefit. Back then, we came to these people, the Banu Salim, and we examined the condition of our men. We assessed those who were capable of bearing arms and checked their weapons. We identified those who were too young or incapable of fighting and separated them from our group. Then we attacked the Jewish tribe of Banu Qainuqa. At that time, they were much stronger and in a superior position compared to us. Nevertheless, we defeated them. Subsequently, all the Jewish tribes submitted to us. Now, O Rasul of Allah, I hope that we can defeat the Quraysh in the same way.”

After this, our Master appointed Kays bin Sa’sa as the leader of the group and requested a full assessment of the situation. After excluding the children and those who couldn’t participate in combat, their numbers, according to various narrations, were 313.

Meanwhile, the caravan returning from Syria was getting closer to the location of Badr. The caravan’s leader, Abu Sufyan, had stopped the caravan at a considerable distance from the Badr well and proceeded directly to the well. At the head of the Badr well, there was a man named Majdi bin Amr, to whom he inquired if he had seen any of Muhammad’s scouts. Abu Sufyan continued, “I swear, there is no one in Mecca who has twenty dirhams without using it for trade and selling it to us. If you’ve seen one of them and keep it a secret from us, the Quraysh will never forgive you, and no Quraishi will make peace with you as long as water moistens your hair.”

When faced with such a bold question, Majdi spoke, “I swear, I haven’t seen a single enemy between you and Yathrib. However, I did see two men on camels who rested their camels on that hill, filled their water containers, and then returned.”

Upon hearing this information, Abu Sufyan quickly left and went to the spot where the camels were seen. All that was left of the camels was a few pieces of dung. For someone as astute as Abu Sufyan, there was only one thing left to do. He dismounted his camel and hurried to the dung left by the camels that had arrived before him. He crushed the dung with his foot and stirred it with the tip of his staff. Inside the dung were two or three undigested grains of fodder. He picked them up and examined them. These grains were fodder from Yathrib. It meant that the two camels that had come here were from Yathrib. So, two scouts from Muhammad’s army had arrived there some time ago! 

Indeed, with this remarkable investigation, Abu Sufyan had managed to confirm that Muhammad’s army had arrived at the head of the well of Badr. Now there was only one thing left to do: quickly return to the caravan and guide it onto the coastal road. This way, he might be able to save himself.

And the caravan turned onto the coastal road… The caravan people couldn’t understand why this route was taken and why they were traveling at such speed…