First, we start with the incident of the Battle of Badr. In our previous discussion, there was an incident where the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) consulted Umar ibn al-Khattab about what action to take with the prisoners of war of Badr, and in the end, the decision that Allah Almighty gave was similar to that of Umar ibn al-Khattab. This was mentioned in our previous discussion. There are also several important incidents of Umar ibn al-Khattab related to the war. One is that Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, severed friendship and relations for the sake of Allah in the Battle of Badr. He set a shining example of enmity for the sake of Allah in the Battle of Badr. Allah Almighty tested the Muslims from various aspects. One of the difficult tests was that many of those who were in the enemy army were their relatives, some were their fathers, some were their brothers, some were their uncles or close relatives. For Umar ibn al-Khattab, he killed his own uncle in this battle. Alas ibn Hisham, he was killed by Umar ibn al-Khattab. Undoubtedly, that was a shining example of faith. That is, he took his stand because of giving priority to faith over relatives or anything else. Another incident is the incident of Suhayl ibn Amr related to him. Suhayl ibn Amr was a leading local person among the Quraysh. And he was a very eloquent speaker. At times, he would incite the disbelievers against the Muslims through his speech. He was very skilled in this. Incidentally, after the Battle of Badr, he was captured and fell into the hands of the Muslims. Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said, O Messenger of Allah, grant me permission to go and break Suhayl’s two front teeth. When he speaks, his tongue will come out and he will no longer be able to speak against Islam. He will not be able to speak against you. What did the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say? He said that I cannot cripple him. Because if I do this, Allah will cripple me. Even though I am a prophet. He also said that one day this Suhaili will do something that will make you happy, that you will be impressed by his work.
Suhail ibn Amr was a Muslim many years after the Battle of Badr when the Treaty of Hudaybiyah was signed. His role was truly amazing. He was a sincere devotee of Islam. After the death of the Prophet (peace be upon him), many people in Mecca became apostates. During a difficult test, even the governor of Mecca appointed by the Prophet (peace be upon him) went into hiding. It was a difficult task to handle the situation at that time. The person who came forward was Suhail ibn Amr (may Allah be pleased with him). He was once a pioneer against Islam. Now he came forward for Islam. He called the people of Quraysh and warned them that the death of the Prophet (peace be upon him) had strengthened Islam. If anyone wanted to leave Islam, I would cut off his head. Another incident after the Battle of Badr where Umar ibn al-Khattab’s foresight and insight comes to our attention. After the battle, when the local people under the leadership of Mecca were prisoners of war, it was decided to release them by paying a ransom. As a result, their relatives and relatives came to Medina with a ransom and were freeing them. One such father was the son of Umayr. He was also taken prisoner by the Muslims. Umayr came to Medina to free his son. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was sitting in a place with several other companions. They were discussing some matter and Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) was also present there. He saw Umayr coming and a sword hanging from his staff. As soon as Umar ibn al-Khattab saw him, he said, “This man is like a dog and he is an enemy of Allah. He has come here with some evil intention.” Seeing Umayr’s behavior and attitude, these words arose in Khattab. This person must have come with some evil intention and he told the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that Umayr, the enemy of Allah, has come and his intention does not seem good to me. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to him, “Bring him to me.” He seized him and brought him to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). He pressed Umayr’s sword against Umayr’s neck and brought him to him. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to him, “O my son, let him go.” Umayr said to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that first time he met him, “Good morning.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “The best greeting of yours is what Allah has taught us, and that is, Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu.” We know from another hadith that the people of Paradise will greet each other with the greeting of “Salaam.” The best greeting that Allah Almighty has taught us. Good morning and good evening, this is much better than these. Why have you come? I have come with a ransom to free my son. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Tell me the truth, why have you come?” He said, “I am telling the truth, that is why I have come to free my son.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) then said to him, “What is the purpose of your sword?” Umayr was a little frightened and he said, “What use are these swords? May they be destroyed. These swords did not benefit us in the battle of Badr. We were defeated. What use are these swords?” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) then said to Umayr, “You have not come because you have made a pact with Safwan ibn Umayya. You have met and spoken with Safwan.” You told Safwan next to the Kaaba that if you were not responsible for taking care of your daughters and what would happen to them if you died, if you were not a plant or if you were not very poor, you would not have cared and would have come to Medina and killed me. At that time Safwan told you that you should not think about it, I will take care of your daughters as my own daughters and I will make arrangements to pay your debts and the debts you have, then you agreed. You came to Medina with the intention of killing me. Umayr was quite surprised. Because when he was consulting with Safwan, the secret consultation was only with Safwan and he and no third person had any chance of knowing the news. Umayr’s condition changed in his heart. This news is not known to anyone except me and Safwan. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and you are the Messenger of Allah.
Umayr became a Muslim. Meanwhile, Safwan was in Mecca, hoping that Umayr would return from Medina and come and say that he had fulfilled his purpose. He had killed Muhammad. Happy, Safwan would go out every day to the entrance of Mecca and inquire whether Umayr was coming. And Safwan would tell his companions to wait and in a few days great good news would come. Umayr came and told Safwan that Safwan had become a Muslim. Safwan ibn Umayya did not fulfill his hope in his heart, but even though he saw that Umayr had now changed himself, he would stay away from killing the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and he himself was now a Muslim. When Umayr returned to Mecca, he was an enemy of Islam. After returning to Mecca, he was for Islam. Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was always alert and cautious. He was especially careful not to be careless or negligent about security.
The next event was the Battle of Khandaq. Umar ibn Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) participated in it. We know about the Battle of Khandaq that it was a gathering of the largest number of troops on behalf of the polytheists of Mecca and other Arab tribes. They had never been able to come to Medina with such a large number of troops to attack the Muslims. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to collect secret information at that time. And he received advance information that the polytheists were planning such an attack. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) advised Salman al-Farsi (may Allah be pleased with him) to dig trenches and through them he created a natural siege around Medina so that the infidels would never be able to attack us from this side. They had very little time there. It was a very difficult time of the year. They had to work day and night. They were digging trenches. Umar ibn Khattab was digging trenches and was a soldier for the Muslims, working day and night. In this regard, we find a hadith in Sahih Bukhari, where Jabir ibn Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that after the sun had set, my son Ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) came and was criticizing some of the leaders of the Quraysh tribe. He came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said, “O Messenger of Allah, I have not yet prayed the afternoon prayer.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “By Allah, I have not prayed either.” He says that we all went together to a certain place. When we went there, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) performed ablution for prayer. We performed ablution until the sun set. After the sun set, he prayed the afternoon prayer. Then he prayed the evening prayer. We see this incident in which Khattab and I were worried about the prayer and came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and asked what we should do in this situation. He led everyone in prayer.
In another hadith, we see that on the day of the Battle of the Trench, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) cursed the infidels and polytheists. He said, “May Allah fill their houses and graves with fire. Because they kept us busy in the war. They also prevented us from praying the Asr prayer in the middle. Even though the sun had set. Later, we know that Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) revealed the rule of Salatul Khauf or praying in a situation of fear on the battlefield. But He did not reveal such a rule during the Battle of the Trench. As a result, at that time, the Muslims did not have the opportunity to know how to pray on the battlefield. The following is the incident of the subsequent battle. The incident at that time, there was a misunderstanding between two companions of the Ansar and the Hajirin. And at one point in the incident, a Muhajirin companion kicked an Ansar companion in the back. A trivial incident, there was a misunderstanding and the hypocrites tried to make a big deal out of this incident. And they tried to use the opportunity to create a conflict. The Ansar started calling the companions O my Ansar brothers. The Muhajir companion started calling the Muhajirs O my Muhajir brothers. A division or division was created between them. The Ansar and the Muhajirs. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came there and he saw them and said, “What happened? Have you started like the days of ignorance?” During the days of ignorance, one of the biggest problems in the Arab region was this Asabiyya or tribalism or nationalism. Because of this, bloody wars would continue between them for years. The Islamic brotherhood was established there. And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came there and saw that the Ansar and the Muhajirs were divided into two. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told them to leave these things. Leave them. It is like a corpse that has completely decayed. There is nothing left of it. This is the end of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and he resolved the situation. The hypocrites took advantage of that incident and started their evil attempts. When the Muhajirun (emigrants) came, at that time they used to spread various kinds of propaganda and tried to create discontent among the people. Ubayda used to say that you have come here and it is an economic burden on the Ansar. The economic balance of Medina has been disrupted. The enemies try to attack us. We have brought danger upon us. Various kinds of talk were spread by him and his people.
The next jihad related to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the campaign to conquer Mecca. At that time, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was secretly preparing his army for the conquest of Mecca. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) did not want the people to know about this war preparation. Because he wanted to force them to surrender peacefully without bloodshed. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) knew the people of Mecca very well. Those polytheists were always arrogant and stubborn. If they had known about his advance news, they would have certainly tried to fight. And both sides would have suffered losses through the war. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) prepared his army in such a way that the people of Mecca would not have known about it. But by chance, a companion, Ibn Abi Quraish, was informing the people of Mecca about this through a letter. He was informing them that the army of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was coming to attack Mecca. He sent the letter through a slave girl. He left for the people of Mecca with the letter. On the other hand, the Muslim army also headed towards Mecca. Through Jibril, he informed the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Without delay, he quickly sent Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and Zubair (may Allah be pleased with him) to arrest the woman. And to bring her the letter. He quickly rode his horse and went to the specified place and found the woman and told the woman that you have the letter. Give us that letter. The slave woman refused and said that I do not have any letter. Either you give us the letter or we will search you and your body will be searched. If necessary, your clothes will be taken away. So this incident proves that in some cases and in some situations you have to be forced to deal harshly with people. Revealing “aura” under duress. It is permissible. When the woman saw that the companions were not making any false threats, she forced herself to take out her letter from her hair. She retrieved the letter from the hairpin and gave it to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) then sent Ibn Abi to that companion and asked him why he did such a thing. He replied, “O Messenger of Allah, do not make any hasty decision about me. Do not be hasty. I am not a Quraysh person. He was not a descendant of the Quraysh. He lived there with his family. He was an outsider. He had no relatives among the Quraysh. You say that I am only a person connected with them. All the emigrants who are with you have a relationship with the Quraysh. Therefore, the Quraysh protect their families and property, etc., while they are in Mecca. They have no such relationship with them. I thought that if I do them a favor or a kindness, perhaps they will protect my relatives for this reason.” He also said that I did not do this because I had become an apostate or abandoned the day or because of any satisfaction or attachment to disbelief. I did not do this because of any attachment to disbelief after embracing Islam. Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “O Messenger of Allah, give me permission. I will cut off his neck.” The Messenger of Allah (may Allah be pleased with him) stopped Umar and said, “He is a companion of Badr. He participated in the battle of Badr. And O my friend, do you not know what good news Allah Almighty gave about the companions of Badr?” He said, “Do whatever you wish, I have forgiven you.” Hearing this, Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)’s eyes filled with tears. And he said, “Allah and His Messenger know best.”
