ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Biography of Imam `alĪ Ibn AbĪ-tĀlib The Expedition of Uhud In Badr, seventy renowned warriors of the Quraysh were killed. The other troops were shamed and ran away showing their backs to the theatre of war. This defeat caused the silence of death on the streets of Makkah. This was like the quiet of the ocean under which strong currents struggle to rise. It was like a dormant volcano that might erupt any time.

There was a wave of anger and sorrow in the hearts of the Quraysh. Their hearts were burning with the thought of revenge. With the fear that the anger might subside, they had prohibited people from shedding tears on the loss of the near and dear in the Battle of Badr. Besides, there was also a custom in the Arab society that women did not cry until they had avenged the loss of a dear person in a fight or a war. This spirit encouraged to wage another decisive war of revenge.

Abū-Sufyan, who had dreams of leading the Quraysh, got an opportunity after Abū-Jahl and other chiefs died in the Battle of Badr. To win the support of the masses he took a public oath that he would not oil his scalp until he did not take revenge for every Quraysh life lost in Badr. Therefore, in Dhul-Hijjah 2 A.H. he went with a contingent of two hundred men to cause destruction in al-Madinah. When he reached the outskirts of al-Madinah, he killed two men of Ansar who were working in the farms.

He also committed arson by setting fire to a date garden. When the Prophet (a.s) heard of this, he chased him up to a place called Kudr but he escaped with his men. This was the preface for the preparations for a bigger campaign. `Ikrimah ibn Abi-Jahl, Safwan ibn Umayyah, `Abdullah ibn Rabi`ah and other important persons gave the previous year’s profits as their war effort to a common fund for the warlike preparations. This was fifty thousand miskal of gold and one thousand camels.

They thought that their troops had to be financially strong to be able to fight a war successfully. Therefore, the Holy Qur’an says about them: “These infidels spend their riches to stop men from taking the Path of Allah. They will soon spend these riches, it will become the cause of craving and sorrow for them, and then they will be defeated. Those who adopted infidelity will be sent straight to the Hell.” The Quraysh had no problems for funding the war.

What they lacked were men of valor and bravery.