The prestigious month of Ramadan is such a vast topic of discussion that it would take weeks even for the best of us to pen down the importance and blessings of these 30 holy days. It is conveyed all across Islamic teachings that the doors of blessings are opened wide towards the believers, mercy is showered upon those who are on the right path. It is the perfect time to right all the wrongs, fix all our misdeeds, show repentance and pray for God’s blessings. It is the perfect time for trying to over weigh our sins by our good deeds and may be counted among the true followers of Islam –the ultimate wish of every Muslim.
The history of this month also shows the efforts and hard work partaken by Muslims especially the Holy Prophet SAWW Himself and his blessed companions. Let us talk a little about some of the events that took place in this month and which every Muslim regards with honor and dignity. Some of the most important battles, more appropriately, some of the most important ghazwat were fought in the holy month of Ramadan which tells us just how blessed this month is that God chose these days to empower Islam in its nascence, sanctify Muslim ummah as well as save them from trouble when there was any.
The first large scale battle ever fought in the name of Islam was the battle of Badr –forever revered by Muslims all over even now. It was fought between the non-believing Quraish and the Muslims led by the Holy Prophet Muhammad SAWW. After Muslims migrated from Mecca to Medina to avoid the persecution of Quraish of Mecca the tension had escalated on different levels. Quraish was adamant of their stances and often there were skirmishes between the two factions. Finally, in order to bring this to an end a caravan of Quraish led by Abu Sufyan was intercepted by Muslims which resulted in the kufaar bringing their 1000 strong force towards the wells of Badr. Muslims were quicker to react and reached a strong defensive position in the area with a mere 313 men. Most of the Muslims were on foot as they had only 70 camels and just two horses, most of them were not armored and some didn’t have proper weapons. Yet, they gathered on the call of Prophet Muhammad SAWW! They gathered with all they had, everything they had brought at the time of migration was put up for use in the battle! The initial one on one fights were fought by Hazrat Imam Ali KUW, Hazrat Hamza RA and Hazrat Abu Ubaydah RA from the Muslim side and all three of them killed their opponents valiantly. There on proper battle started and with divine intervention Muslims defeated an army thrice their size. Only 14 Muslims were martyred while 70 of Quraish were killed with another 70 were captured. The arrogance of Abu Jahl was dismantled to the ground with his body when he was killed at the hands of two youths who were not stronger than maybe any of the other fighters. Muslims had their first victory over kufr on the 17th of Ramadan year 2nd Hijri.
The second most important battle that took place in the month of Ramadan was the battle of Tabouk. Fought between Muslims and the Roman Empire, it was actually a reaction to the treatment that the Roman leaders gave to Muslim delegations; 15 dignitaries sent to them were brutally killed in one incident and in another the governor of Basra (which was under Roman Caesar) killed the ambassador of Holy Prophet SAWW. Later on a force of 3000 brave Muslim fought against tens of thousands of Roman army men near the Syrian border which resulted in a shameful defeat to the non-believer. To worsen the situation for them, thousands of the locals of that area converted to Islam. The Caesar wanted revenge so he started planning a massive attack and gathered nearly 100,000 armed men. When the Prophet SAWW found out about it, he immediately formed an army of 30,000 Muslims and set off towards Tabouk. Even here, the Muslims were outnumbered 1:3 against the non-believers, but their faith in Allah SWT kept them steadfast. This was the largest army that the Muslims had ever formed. Muslims started the march in Rajab 9 A.H and reached the grounds of Tabouk in Ramadan. Though the Caesar’s army was stronger, he couldn’t stand to face it and was forced to withdraw his army even before the Muslims arrived. This was not just a nonviolent win it was a great strategic victory as the fear that had spread among the hearts of the enemies of Islam would now keep them at bay for some time, and the adjacent tribes who were already fed up of them now embraced Islam –the Muslim force grew even more strong!
This is just a short account of only two of the events that took place in the month of Ramadan, each of them bears magnanimous value in terms of the effect they had on the events after them. One made sure that the Quraish knew Muslims couldn’t be messed with any more, and the other proved Islam as a strong force that could make the Byzantines kneel if they planned to take up arms against it, this spread Islam nonviolently to even those areas that didn’t stand against Islam but witnessed its might. Allah always help those who stand on the right path, it is evident from the unwavering faith Muslims had in Prophet Muhammad SAWW and the rewards of that faith!
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