Commemorating Badr

Salat for the Night of Badr

Advice from Sayyidi Habib Umar bin Hafiz (may Allah protect him and benefit us by him) on the
night of Badr – recite this prayer in abundance:

‫س ِّل ْم‬ َ ‫ وعلى آ ِّل ِّه و‬،ِّ‫ وأَغِّثْنِّي بِّه‬،‫سيِّدِّنا ُم َح َّمد‬

َ ‫صحْ بِّ ِّه و‬ َ ‫يا َحي يا قَيو ُم‬
َ َ‫ص ِّل على َحبِّيبِّك‬

Ya Hayyu ya Qayyum salli `ala habibika sayyidina Muhammad wa aghithni bihi wa `ala alihi wa
sahbhihi wa sallim

O Living, O Sustainer, bestow prayers and peace upon Your Beloved, our Master Muhammad
and upon his Family and Companions and by him come to my aid!

Pleading for Inward and Outward Victory on the Night of Badr

“We wish for people to make a strong resolve to seek Allah’s victory over their lower selves
and to seek victory for the Ummah on the night of Badr (Friday night) specifically. We should
plead with Allah for this and repeat:

‫يا َحي يا قَيو ُم‬

‘Ya Hayyu Ya Qayyum’
(O Living, O Sustainer)

The Messenger of Allah ‫ ﷺ‬spent the night before Badr calling upon Allah with these names.

Badr was the Day of Discrimination between truth and falsehood. We ask that on the occasion
of Badr, by the secret of that discrimination, Allah ennobles the Muslims and lowers the Devil
and his allies in the east and west.

Beg Allah with your whole being and with truthfulness and Allah will respond just as He
responded to that first generation:

You cried for your Lord’s help and He responded. (8:9)

Allah will show mercy to later generations by virtue of that first generation. Just as He gave
them relief, He will give us relief.

If Allah wishes He will give you victory on that night over your lower self so it may be purified.
He will also give victory to the Ummah over its seen and unseen enemies.”

On the Day of Badr

On the 17th Ramadan we commemorate the Battle of Badr, which took place on that day in
the second year of the Hijrah. It is one of the most important events in the history of the
Ummah, and Allah describes it as the Day of Discrimination. Sayyidi Habib `Umar bin Hafiz
(may Allah protect him and benefit us by him) places great emphasis on commemorating it and
marks the event by completing the Qur’an in Tarawih on the eve of the 17th, after which there
are big celebrations in Dar al-Mustafa attended by thousands. The rest of the night is spent in
prayer, remembrance and supplication, since prayers are answered when the Qur’an is
completed.

Habib Umar reflects upon some of the lessons we can learn from Badr. Extracts from a Friday
khutbah, Masjid al-Rawdah, Tarim 12th Ramadan 1432 / 12th August 2011.

He began by praising Allah and bestowing prayers upon the Messenger of Allah. He then
enjoined people to have taqwa, attaining which is one of the aims of fasting and the wisdom
behind Allah making it compulsory upon us.

The realities of taqwa which the Imam of the People of Taqwa ‫ ﷺ‬and his Noble Companions
possessed were made manifest in days such as these in the second year of the Hijrah. In
Sha`ban of that year both fasting and Zakat were made compulsory. The Prophet and his
Companions then began fasting Ramadan in intense heat. On a day similar to this all those
years ago, your Prophet left his family and home and went out to Badr with around 313 of his
Companions. Why did he go out? To give victory to the religion of Allah and to convey the
message of his Lord. In spite of the heat and the difficulty of the journey he continued fasting
on some days but he also broke his fast on other days.

On the expedition he shared a camel with Sayyiduna `Ali and Sayyiduna Mirthad bin Abi
Mirthad and they each took it in turns to ride while the other two walked. They said to him:

“O Messenger of Allah, you ride and we will walk.”

He replied ‫ﷺ‬:

“Neither are you stronger walkers than me, nor am I in less need of the reward than you.”

Here he taught us several lessons. He taught us a lesson in sacrifice and in negation of pride
and satisfaction with one’s actions. He displayed his need for the reward of Allah, in spite of
the fact that even if he had ridden and let them walk, he would have received the reward for
their actions because he was the one that guided them to Allah. O believer, this is the Best of
Creation saying: “Nor am I in less need of the reward than you.” Do you think you are not in
need of the reward of Allah such that you leave prayers which you are able to perform or
gatherings of remembrance which you are able to attend? You are in need of the reward of
every action in Ramadan specifically and in the rest of your life. So expend your efforts – try to
reflect upon the Qur’an and to attend the gatherings of remembrance. It was the custom of
the early Muslims to hold gatherings after praying Tarawih and Witr in which the attributes
and etiquettes of the Chosen One were mentioned.

None of the Companions that went out expected to go into battle with Quraysh but Allah
wished to ennoble those great people. The Angel Jibril later asked the Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬how he and
his Companions regarded the people of Badr. He replied “They are the best of us.” Jibril said:
“Likewise we regard the angels of the heavens that attended Badr as being the best of us.”
They attained this rank because they gave victory to the best of people in the sight of Allah ‫ﷺ‬.
People naturally tend to choose that which is easier for their souls to bear but beyond that
easier choice there may be something greater awaiting. If Allah then decrees something which
is harder for the soul to bear the believer gains felicity by being content with the decree of
Allah in the knowledge that this is better for him. Sayyiduna `Ali said: “If the veil were to be
removed you would only choose what has already been decreed.”

Allah promised you one of the two groups that it should be yours. You wished that the
unarmed group should be yours, but Allah willed to establish the truth according to His words,
and to cut off the roots of the disbelievers.1

The Companions succeeded because of they had the love of Allah and His Messenger in their
hearts. Twelve nights of Ramadan have passed and you have not yet understood this concept.
Ramadan has only come so that you can be elevated. This love is the foundation of victory and
of honouring one’s covenant with Allah. We witness this in the words of the Companions on
the approach to Badr. The Messenger of Allah wished to hear their opinions after it had
become clear what they were confronting.

Sayyiduna al-Miqdad bin al-Aswad said:

“By Allah we will not say what the Children of Isra`il said to Musa: Go, you and your Lord and
fight, while we sit here!2 Rather we say: Go, you and your Lord and fight, and we are with you
fighting alongside you!”

Sayyiduna Sa`d bin Mu`adh said: “We believe in you and bear witness that your message is the
truth. Go forth to perform what Allah has commanded. Perhaps you wished something and
Allah willed something else. Make war with whoever you wish and make peace with whoever
you wish and we are behind you. Take from our wealth what you wish and leave what you
wish, and what you take is more beloved to us than that which you leave. By Allah, if you took
us to the sea and then plunged into it, we would follow you. You have left behind people (in
Medina). Our love for you is not more intense than their love.” They knew that love of Allah
and His Messenger was the foundation of their defence of truth and guidance. “Had they
known that there would be fighting not a single man would have stayed behind… perhaps
Allah will show you in us that which is a joy to your eye, O Messenger of Allah.”

When the Prophet heard this his face lit up like a piece of the moon.

He said:

“Go forth with good tidings for Allah has promised me one of the two groups – either the
caravan or the army. It is as if I can see the exact places where Quraysh will fall.”

He subsequently pointed out those exact places the day before the battle.

Look at the disparity between the two sides. The Muslims only had eight swords, two horses
and seventy camels, each of which three people shared. The Quraysh, on the other hand, had
hundreds of swords and spears, two hundred horses and they would slaughter nine or ten
camels a day for food not to mention the camels that were being used to carry the army. The
Quraysh approached arrogantly boasting about how they would defeat the Muslims. This is
characteristic of the people of opposition to Allah, and those heedless of Him. The Muslims,
however, approached in a state of humility and fear of their Lord, and Allah duly raised them.

Allah describes those that He loves as being:

Humble and compassionate in their dealings with the believers, severe in their dealings with
the rejecters. They strive for the sake of Allah and are unafraid of the reproaches of those that
find fault. That is the bounty of Allah, which He bestows on whom He pleases. Allah
encompasses all and knows all things. 3

In the second khutbah, after praising Allah and bestowing prayers upon the Messenger of
Allah, Habib `Umar once again enjoined people to have taqwa. He said if you clothe yourselves
in taqwa you will attain the secrets of fasting, the illumination of the night prayer and the
reality of the transaction with Allah.

With true love for Allah and His Messenger you will be able fulfil the commandments of Allah
and gain victory over your lower selves, over your desires and caprice, over this deceptive
worldly life and over those who disbelieve from the devils of mankind and jinn.

Among the Companions were youths, some of them only fifteen or seventeen years old. One
of those was Sayyiduna Harithah, who was one of the fourteen Companions martyred at Badr.
His mother came to the Messenger of Allah ‫ ﷺ‬upon his return to Medina.

She asked him:

“Where is my son? If he is in the Garden I will be content but if not you will see how I
behave!”

The Messenger of Allah said to her:

“Umm Harithah, do not be foolish – it is not one garden, but many, and your son has entered
the highest garden of Firdaws!”

O people who are planning for the future, is there any future greater than this? Let us make
firm the foundation of love so that we follow the path of those Companions, may Allah be well
pleased with them.

O Allah we love them for Your sake so show us their faces on the Day of Judgement and in
Paradise.

Let there be nothing in our houses which displeases Your Prophet Muhammad, whether it be
on our screens or in our behaviour. Help us to give this month its due and enable us to follow
the Chosen One, honouring the covenant between us and You.

Invoke abundant blessings upon him because this is what will bring you close to him on that
day. As he said:
“The closest people to me on the Day of Judgement are the ones who invoke the most
blessings upon me.”

1 Al-Anfal, 8:7 What is meant by the “two groups” is the caravan led by Abu Sufyan, which the
Muslims had originally set out to intercept, and the army which Quraysh sent out from Mecca.
The Muslims naturally did not wish to come up against a fully equipped army.

2 Al-Ma’idah, 5:24

3 Al-Ma’idah, 5:54