Seerah
6. Badr, Uhud and the Trench
Madinah under threat
6 min, Intro
Between 624 and 628, Makkah and Madinah fought three major battles. Then came a peace treaty. Many Muslims thought it was a humiliation. The Qur'an called it a clear victory.
Draft written with AI help: awaiting scholar review
The thread
Between 624 and 628 Makkah and Madinah fought three major battles. At Badr the few beat the many. At Uhud the Muslims lost, because archers left their post. At the Trench a ditch saved Madinah. Then came a truce that looked like defeat. The Qur'an called it a clear victory.
Badr, 624
Picture the wells of Badr in 624. On one side stands a Muslim force of around 313 men, with few horses. On the other, a Makkan army of about a thousand.
Against expectations, the Muslims win. Several of Quraysh's leaders are killed, including Abu Jahl.
The Qur'an reminds the Muslims that they were few and weak that day. Victory came from God, it says, not from their numbers.
Then there are the prisoners. They are treated well. Some are freed in exchange for teaching Muslim children to read.
وَلَقَدۡ نَصَرَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ بِبَدۡرࣲ وَأَنتُمۡ أَذِلَّةࣰۖ فَٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تَشۡكُرُونَ ١٢٣
123 Allah had helped you at Badr when you were weak; then fear Allah so that you may be grateful.
At Badr the few beat the many, and some prisoners bought freedom by teaching children to read.
Uhud, 625
Makkah had lost several of its leaders at Badr. In 625 it comes back with about 3,000 men.
The Prophet ﷺ places fifty archers on a small hill. His orders are strict: do not leave it, whatever happens.
The Muslims gain the upper hand. Then most of the archers leave their post to gather spoils.
Khalid ibn al-Walid, then a Makkan commander, leads his cavalry around the hill and attacks from behind. The Muslims are scattered. The Prophet is wounded. His uncle Hamzah is killed.
The Qur'an treats the defeat as a lesson in obedience and patience.
وَلَقَدۡ صَدَقَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ وَعۡدَهُۥٓ إِذۡ تَحُسُّونَهُم بِإِذۡنِهِۦۖ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا فَشِلۡتُمۡ وَتَنَٰزَعۡتُمۡ فِي ٱلۡأَمۡرِ وَعَصَيۡتُم مِّنۢ بَعۡدِ مَآ أَرَىٰكُم مَّا تُحِبُّونَۚ مِنكُم مَّن يُرِيدُ ٱلدُّنۡيَا وَمِنكُم مَّن يُرِيدُ ٱلۡأٓخِرَةَۚ ثُمَّ صَرَفَكُمۡ عَنۡهُمۡ لِيَبۡتَلِيَكُمۡۖ وَلَقَدۡ عَفَا عَنكُمۡۗ وَٱللَّهُ ذُو فَضۡلٍ عَلَى ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ ١٥٢
152 Indeed, Allah fulfilled His promise to you when you were slaying them by His permission, until you lost courage and disputed over the command and disobeyed after He had shown you what you liked [victory]. Among you are some who seek this world and some who seek the Hereafter. He then prevented you from [defeating] them so that He may test You, but He pardoned you, for Allah is Most Gracious to the believers.
Uhud was lost because the archers abandoned their post too soon.
The Trench, 627
After Uhud, Makkah does not come alone. In 627 a coalition of around 10,000 men marches on Madinah.
How do you stop an army that size? Salman al-Farisi, a Persian who had become Muslim, suggests a Persian tactic: dig a trench across the open approach. The Prophet ﷺ digs alongside everyone else.
The cavalry cannot cross. Weeks of siege follow. Then cold, a fierce wind and divisions in the coalition break it up. The army goes home.
It was Makkah's last attempt to destroy Madinah.
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱذۡكُرُواْ نِعۡمَةَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيۡكُمۡ إِذۡ جَآءَتۡكُمۡ جُنُودࣰ فَأَرۡسَلۡنَا عَلَيۡهِمۡ رِيحࣱا وَجُنُودࣱا لَّمۡ تَرَوۡهَاۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ بِمَا تَعۡمَلُونَ بَصِيرًا ٩
9 O you who believe, remember Allah’s favor upon you when [enemy] forces came against you, but We sent against them a violent wind and forces that you could not see. And Allah is All-Seeing of what you do.
A foreign idea from a former outsider, Salman, saved Madinah.
The treaty that looked like defeat
In 628 the Prophet ﷺ sets out with about 1,400 followers. They are going to perform the lesser pilgrimage, unarmed apart from travellers' swords. Quraysh block them at Hudaybiyyah.
He agrees a ten-year truce, and its terms seem one-sided. The Muslims must go home and return the next year. Makkans who flee to Madinah will be sent back. 'Umar is furious.
But here is the turn. Peace let people meet Muslims freely. Far more joined Islam in the next two years than in all the years before.
Surah al-Fath, revealed on the way home, called the truce a clear victory.
إِنَّا فَتَحۡنَا لَكَ فَتۡحࣱا مُّبِينࣱا ١
1 Indeed, We have given you [O Prophet] a clear conquest,
The truce that looked like losing brought more people to Islam than all the years before.