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Hamd-e-Bari Ta'ala and Naat-e-Rasool (sallalahoalaihiwassallam)

May 15, 2003 Thursday Rabi-ul-Awwal 12, 1424

Muhammad (pbuh), His military leadership

By Sardar F. S. Lodi

FOR an excellent example of good leadership in peace and war one must turn to the life of the
holy Prophet (PBUH) and see his achievements during his lifetime and those of his companions
thereafter.

The holy Prophet was born in Makkah in the year 570 AD. The divine call came when he was 40 years
old in the year 610 AD. The Prophet's wife Hazrat Khadeja was first convert to Islam. For the
next twelve years up to 622 AD while he was at Makkah, he spread the message of God and the
people embraced Islam as they believed in him and his message.

At the age of 52 in the year 622 AD, the holy Prophet migrated to Medina, about 400 km to the
north of Makkah, along with his followers. For the next ten years he set up the first Muslim
state in the world, governed, administered and led by him under the new and emerging laws of
Islam.

Two years after migration to Medina in 624, the first battle of Islam was fought against the
Makkans at Badr about 80 miles east of Medina towards the coast where 300 Muslims were pitched
against 1000 unbelievers of Makkah. It was a crucial battle and the very existence of Islam
itself was at stake. Before taking a final decision the holy Prophet always consulted his
companions. In this case the Muslims wanted to return to Medina and fight there, but the holy
Prophet wished to stand and fight at Badr and his desire prevailed. It was the correct decision
from the tactical and political point of view.

The Makkans had over three to one superiority in numbers which is considered adequate for a
breakthrough. But the holy Prophet gave his followers two tactical advantages, the choice of
ground and time of attack. He selected hard ground for his force and forced the Makkans to attack
through soft sand with the sun in their eyes. The Makkans were utterly defeated at Badr and
forced to retreat. It is the considered view of historians, both Muslims and Christians that the
battle of Badr was won by the Muslims with Allah's blessings and owing to the personal leadership
of the holy Prophet. He was able to galvanize his small force and motivate them with his personal
courage and conviction to attain victory.

A year later in 625 a force of about 3,000 Makkans arrived near Medina to defeat the Muslims.
This time the holy Prophet wished to fight around the city itself but accepted the advice of the
assembled elders to have the battle outside Medina. He led a force of about 1000 Muslims and the
battle took place near the hill of Uhad. Losses were heavy on both sides and Khalid bin Walid
with his cavalry nearly turned the tide for the Makkans at a crucial stage. The holy Prophet
though wounded was able to successfully exhort his followers to hold fast compelling the Makkan
force to withdraw.

Two years later in 627 AD the Makkans made yet another attempt to defeat and destroy the Muslims
in Medina. This time the attacking force was 10,000 strong, “probably the biggest force ever seen
in Arabia”. The holy Prophet could muster no more than 3,000 able bodied Muslims for the defence
of Medina, but he had a large ditch dug under his supervision around the vulnerable areas of the
city. This was a revolutionary idea at the time. These defences were able to halt the enemy
advance, punish his attempts to cross and eventually forced the Makkans to withdraw with
considerable losses.

These three battles fought by the early Muslims under the leadership of the holy Prophet in
adverse military conditions were to establish the supremacy of the new religion in the area.
After these battles the Quresh of Makkah realized that they could not eliminate the Muslims and
the Messenger of God by force of arms. Although these battles were comparatively on a smaller
scale fought in the obscurity of the desert yet they were to have a profound effect on the world
stage in the years to come, and changed for ever the course of history.

In March 628 the treaty of Hudaibiya was signed which showed the holy Prophet as a statesman who
could achieve his objective without resort to arms. To realize a dream the holy Prophet wished to
perform Umra and left Medina with about 1600 followers. When the Quresh heard of his journey they
deployed 200 horsemen to prevent his advance. The holy Prophet bypassed the horsemen by taking a
difficult route through the hills and reached Hudaibiya on the edge of the sacred territory of
Makkah, about 8 miles from the city.

The main points of the treaty stipulated that there would be peace between the two sides for 10
years. The Muslims would not perform Umra that year but could return the following year and stay
in Makkah for three days, when the Makkans would leave the city for that period. The treaty had
great strategic significance for the Muslims. It was drawn on the basis of equality and the
Muslims returned to Makkah the following year in their own right.

In September 628 the holy Prophet marched to Kheibar, an oasis 75 miles north of Medina, leading
1400 followers including 200 horsemen. Kheibar was an action against the Jews and consisted of a
series of battles, where some fortified positions had to be reduced. This was the first occasion
when the Muslims came across fixed defences. After subduing Kheibar the holy Prophet took Wadi al
Qura, a smaller oasis nearby, also inhabited by Jews.

In January 630 the holy Prophet occupied Makkah along with 10,000 followers. It was a “peaceful
capture of Makkah.” Having taken Makkah “the supreme triumph of the Apostle's career,” the circle
was complete. In February the holy Prophet defeated the tribe of Hawazin east of Makkah at Hunain
with 12,000 men. In spite of numerical superiority there was panic in the Muslim ranks when the
enemy attacked unexpectedly from both flanks. The situation was saved and gradually stabilized by
the holy Prophet's personal intervention and his call to arms till the Hawazin were defeated and
forced to flee.

In September 630 the holy Prophet led an expedition to the Byzantine frontier to the north as it
was reported that a large garrison of Byzantine troops had gathered at Tebook. According to
Martin Lings, the holy Prophet led an army of 30,000 men including 10,000 horsemen. At Tebook he
signed an agreement with the local Christian and Jewish leaders under which they were afforded
protection and in return they agreed to pay pool tax. This was the pattern followed later in all
cases.

It is a great achievement when we consider that from only two Muslims in 610 AD when the divine
call came, a large number of people had accepted Islam, before the migration to Medina in 622. In
the next 10 years before his death the holy Prophet was able to take Makkah and Taif to the south
and expand northwards into present-day Jordan and push back the outposts of the once mighty
Byzantine Empire. A large portion of western Arabia had converted to Islam.

It is astonishing to note that by 732 AD, a 100 years after the holy Prophet's death his
followers had defeated and overrun two mighty empires, Byzantine to the north and west and the
Persian Empire to the east. They had taken the whole of North Africa, crossed the Mediterranean,
taken Spain and crossed the Pyrenees into France. By 850 AD the Muslim Empire extended from the
Atlantic to the frontiers of China. As Sir John Glubb writes, “The Muslims conquered the greater
part of the known civilized world, if we exclude China. The Arab expansion, from a tangle of
mutually hostile nomadic tribes in a remote desert to the world's greatest empire, is one of the
most astonishing and dramatic incidents in world history.”

These remarkable achievements of the Muslims were due primarily to the outstanding leadership
qualities of one man - the holy Prophet and his explicit faith in the teachings of Islam. His
followers were also imbibed by the same spirit, which carried them across continents and pitched
them against two mighty empires, which were swept aside as the Muslim armies marched on.

The writer is a retired Lt-General of Pakistan army.