Radi (Radical): I am glad you two returned in good shape. I was worried about you.
Mani (Mainstream): Why should you be worried about us? We were with relatives and friends.
Radi: While you were gone, I managed to put a few other things aside and really studied Sura 8. To understand the sura, I discovered, it was necessary to know the problems Muhammad (pbuh) was having in Mecca with his own tribe, the Quraish.
Mani: It is a little hot. If we are going to discuss sura 8, let’s sit under that tree. Muhammad said quite a lot to the Meccans that led them to believe that they were going to lose their income from the Kaaba. That was too much for them to handle. They were ready to murder him for that.
Radi: What I understand is that many of the Quraish were outraged when they heard about the "Night Journey to Jerusalem". If it had not been for Abu Bakr swearing that he believed that story, no one would have ever heard of Muhammad again.
Modi (Moderate): You both seem to miss something even more important. When the Quraish discovered the Muslims were moving from Mecca to Medina in small groups, they decided that they had to put an end to Muhammad before he too escaped.
Radi: Na‘am (yes). That is when they decided that the team of assassins should be made up of one member of each of the families of the Quraish, except Muhammad’s family, to do the killing and avoid retaliation. They were willing to pay the blood money if it came to that.
Modi: Not only were they angry about Muhammad speaking against their gods and their way of life, they were also outraged that he would betray them by moving to Yathrib, their competitor city. Yathrib, on the other hand, welcomed him into their midst because of their feuding. They needed an arbitrator desperately.
Mani: And he told them up front that they would have to accept him as a prophet as well. But Modi, how did he obtain so much power there?
Modi: As soon as he began solving their feuding, he recognized that all the tribes needed new laws on dealing with each other and a new social culture. Since he was in the process of developing the new religion, he saw that the new Muslims and the tribes of Yathrib needed the same instructions.
Radi: So, while he was expanding tasks to deal with the people and the Muslims of Yathrib, he was also attaining more and more power that went with those tasks.
Modi: Right. He was a referee, magistrate, lawgiver, mayor, and chief financial officer of Yathrib, soon to be renamed Medina (Madinat an-Nabi, City of the Prophet). However, that was not so important to him as defeating the Meccans and bringing his new religion to them.
Mani: What made him attack the Meccans while he was still under strength?
Modi: Many scholars look toward the idea that Muhammad needed a fight to cement his position a little better in Medina and to let the Meccans know that the Muslims were no pushovers. I doubt that this thinking was complete. Remember, more and more Muslim families were leaving Mecca and coming into Medina with little more than their clothes and a few other possessions.
Radi: I can see that. They needed help to settle in, not to mention food and shelter.
Modi: Muhammad knew that there was a caravan on its way back from Syria with about $250,000 in trade goods. If he could attack and take that caravan, he could relieve the suffering of the new arrivals and also relieve a few other folks in Medina. At the same time, he could hurt the Quraish economically.
Radi: Muhammad went out to meet the Meccans, outnumbered three to one.
Mani: Not quite, Radi. The leader of the caravan got word to the Meccan militia that the caravan was now safe, so everyone could go home. Many of them did go home. The militia were not professional fighters, and they were scrambled before they could get ready for battle or even alert their allies in the area. Others wanted to go home but were coerced or shamed into staying. By the time the Muslims attacked, the Muslims were the superior force.
Modi: Sun Tzu said “There are battles that should not be fought and commands that should not be obeyed.” Badr, for the Meccans, is one of those battles. They were not ready for it, they did not have the heart for it, and a large number simply went home, feeling that there was no longer any need for a battle. The Muslims won the battle and took many spoils of war home with them.
Mani: What is even more important, Modi, they were now a power in Arabia.
Modi: You are right about that. They went from a small religion in a state to the state itself. Of course, Muhammad gave all the credit to the thousand angels that Allah sent to help.
Radi: It also helped that the war booty was shared generously with the fighters who actually fought the battle. Wasn’t that in the Qur’an, Sura 8, Ayat 41:
Mani: That sounds a little cryptic to me.
Modi: The revelation is saying in only so many words that it is not really spoils of war because Allah caused the victory. He could very well have withheld the victory to teach them a lesson. It is His bounty and is allowing the fighters and family of martyrs to share in this bounty.
Radi: But what about the angels? Were angels there or not?
Modi: Remember Muhammad Asad’s Note 14 [1]? Angels never actually physically fought in any battle. Of course, one might agree that Muhammad’s genius was worth more than a thousand angels in any battle.
Mani: Many imams are actually telling their pupils that angels fought in those battles and will help us against Western armies.
Modi: They should receive at least 100 stripes for each time they teach that nonsense. The same with the counselors who refuse to tell Muslim wannabes about what could happen if they become disillusioned by the religion and decide to leave it. Even the Catholics give their nuns a long opt-out period of time.
Radi: I believe in the angels. And you know how I feel about apostates.
Mani: Sometimes you think only with your knife.
Radi: Thou shalt not suffer an apostate to live.
Mani: Radi, you got that one wrong. It is, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” And it is a Christian saying, not ours, you dimwatt.
Radi: Whatever. I thought it sounded appropriate.
Mani: You know, if we get ourselves up from under this tree, we might have time to get a bite to eat before Bilal calls us to prayer.
Modi: I don’t know. We could give it a try.
Radi: I probably should go home first and do some chores.
Modi: Fine with me. I’m buying.
Radi: Aha! Where are we dining?
Mani: It figures.
HJS
Mani (Mainstream): Why should you be worried about us? We were with relatives and friends.
Radi: While you were gone, I managed to put a few other things aside and really studied Sura 8. To understand the sura, I discovered, it was necessary to know the problems Muhammad (pbuh) was having in Mecca with his own tribe, the Quraish.
Mani: It is a little hot. If we are going to discuss sura 8, let’s sit under that tree. Muhammad said quite a lot to the Meccans that led them to believe that they were going to lose their income from the Kaaba. That was too much for them to handle. They were ready to murder him for that.
Radi: What I understand is that many of the Quraish were outraged when they heard about the "Night Journey to Jerusalem". If it had not been for Abu Bakr swearing that he believed that story, no one would have ever heard of Muhammad again.
Modi (Moderate): You both seem to miss something even more important. When the Quraish discovered the Muslims were moving from Mecca to Medina in small groups, they decided that they had to put an end to Muhammad before he too escaped.
Radi: Na‘am (yes). That is when they decided that the team of assassins should be made up of one member of each of the families of the Quraish, except Muhammad’s family, to do the killing and avoid retaliation. They were willing to pay the blood money if it came to that.
Modi: Not only were they angry about Muhammad speaking against their gods and their way of life, they were also outraged that he would betray them by moving to Yathrib, their competitor city. Yathrib, on the other hand, welcomed him into their midst because of their feuding. They needed an arbitrator desperately.
Mani: And he told them up front that they would have to accept him as a prophet as well. But Modi, how did he obtain so much power there?
Modi: As soon as he began solving their feuding, he recognized that all the tribes needed new laws on dealing with each other and a new social culture. Since he was in the process of developing the new religion, he saw that the new Muslims and the tribes of Yathrib needed the same instructions.
Radi: So, while he was expanding tasks to deal with the people and the Muslims of Yathrib, he was also attaining more and more power that went with those tasks.
Modi: Right. He was a referee, magistrate, lawgiver, mayor, and chief financial officer of Yathrib, soon to be renamed Medina (Madinat an-Nabi, City of the Prophet). However, that was not so important to him as defeating the Meccans and bringing his new religion to them.
Mani: What made him attack the Meccans while he was still under strength?
Modi: Many scholars look toward the idea that Muhammad needed a fight to cement his position a little better in Medina and to let the Meccans know that the Muslims were no pushovers. I doubt that this thinking was complete. Remember, more and more Muslim families were leaving Mecca and coming into Medina with little more than their clothes and a few other possessions.
Radi: I can see that. They needed help to settle in, not to mention food and shelter.
Modi: Muhammad knew that there was a caravan on its way back from Syria with about $250,000 in trade goods. If he could attack and take that caravan, he could relieve the suffering of the new arrivals and also relieve a few other folks in Medina. At the same time, he could hurt the Quraish economically.
Radi: Muhammad went out to meet the Meccans, outnumbered three to one.
Mani: Not quite, Radi. The leader of the caravan got word to the Meccan militia that the caravan was now safe, so everyone could go home. Many of them did go home. The militia were not professional fighters, and they were scrambled before they could get ready for battle or even alert their allies in the area. Others wanted to go home but were coerced or shamed into staying. By the time the Muslims attacked, the Muslims were the superior force.
Modi: Sun Tzu said “There are battles that should not be fought and commands that should not be obeyed.” Badr, for the Meccans, is one of those battles. They were not ready for it, they did not have the heart for it, and a large number simply went home, feeling that there was no longer any need for a battle. The Muslims won the battle and took many spoils of war home with them.
Mani: What is even more important, Modi, they were now a power in Arabia.
Modi: You are right about that. They went from a small religion in a state to the state itself. Of course, Muhammad gave all the credit to the thousand angels that Allah sent to help.
Radi: It also helped that the war booty was shared generously with the fighters who actually fought the battle. Wasn’t that in the Qur’an, Sura 8, Ayat 41:
“And know that anything you obtain
of war booty-—then indeed, for Allah is one fifth of it and for the Messenger
and for [his] near relatives and orphans, the needy, and the [stranded]
traveler, if you have believed in Allah and in which We sent down to Our Servant
on the day of criterion-—the day when two armies met. And Allah, over all
things, is competent.”
Mani: That sounds a little cryptic to me.
Modi: The revelation is saying in only so many words that it is not really spoils of war because Allah caused the victory. He could very well have withheld the victory to teach them a lesson. It is His bounty and is allowing the fighters and family of martyrs to share in this bounty.
Radi: But what about the angels? Were angels there or not?
Modi: Remember Muhammad Asad’s Note 14 [1]? Angels never actually physically fought in any battle. Of course, one might agree that Muhammad’s genius was worth more than a thousand angels in any battle.
Mani: Many imams are actually telling their pupils that angels fought in those battles and will help us against Western armies.
Modi: They should receive at least 100 stripes for each time they teach that nonsense. The same with the counselors who refuse to tell Muslim wannabes about what could happen if they become disillusioned by the religion and decide to leave it. Even the Catholics give their nuns a long opt-out period of time.
Radi: I believe in the angels. And you know how I feel about apostates.
Mani: Sometimes you think only with your knife.
Radi: Thou shalt not suffer an apostate to live.
Mani: Radi, you got that one wrong. It is, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” And it is a Christian saying, not ours, you dimwatt.
Radi: Whatever. I thought it sounded appropriate.
Mani: You know, if we get ourselves up from under this tree, we might have time to get a bite to eat before Bilal calls us to prayer.
Modi: I don’t know. We could give it a try.
Radi: I probably should go home first and do some chores.
Modi: Fine with me. I’m buying.
Radi: Aha! Where are we dining?
Mani: It figures.
HJS
[1] Message of the Qur’an, Muhammad Asad, page 272[Partially adapted from Mawdudi's Introduction to Sura 8.]
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