The battles (the battalions and the expeditions) of the Prophet
- Updated On Sunday, 27 July 2014
- Written by Allamah Qurashi
- Editor Faisal Shaheen
- Supervisor Sayyed Roohullah Musavi
- Published on Wednesday, 07 May 2014
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- Hits: Please explain the military strategy of the Prophet and the implicit goals
The expeditions that the Prophet himself led numbered twenty-nine in total. They are as follows: 1.Waddan 2. Al-Abwa' 3. Buwat 4. Al-Asheerah 5. The first expedition of Badr 6. The great battle of Badr (where the heroes of Quraysh were killed) 7. Banu Sulaym 8. As-Saweeq 9. Ghatafan 10. Thi Amr 11. Bahran 12. The battle of Uhud 13. Hamra' al-Asad 14. Banu an-Nadheer 15. That ar-Riqa' 16. The last expedition of Badr 17. Dawmat al-Jandal 18. Al- Khandaq 19. Banu Quraydhah 20. Banu Lihyan 21. Thi Qarad 22. Banu al-Mustaliq 23. Al-Hudaybiyah 24. Khaybar 25. Umrat (minor hajj) al-Qadha. 26. Al-Fath (the conquest of Mecca) 27. Hunayn 28. At-Ta'if 29. Tabuk. These are all of the expeditions that have been narrated by Ibn Hisham.1 As for the battalions that the Prophet (a.s.) Dispatched, there were 38 in total, where leadershipwas entrusted to Hiscompanions I think that the goals of those raids were as follows: First, Allah the Almighty had sent his messenger as a mercy to all the peoples and nations of the world to save them from their painful realities and guide them to being the best among creation. The tribes at the time of the Prophet (a.s.) lived in utmost ignorance and were plagued by numerous bad habits and practices in addition to idolatry. Therefore, the Prophet (a.s.) was ordered by Allah to carry out His mission to His people and take them to knowledge, guidance, high morals, and a noble life. His goal was to spread the high principles and values among those people and to liberate them from idolatry and the bad habits of the pre- Islamic age of ignorance. Second, Allah the Almighty willed that his Messenger command his followers to repel the dangers expected from some tribes and provinces against Islam. These dangers included those from the Jews who plotted day and night against the Prophet (a.s.) and his mission. The Jews formed a base and were joined by the hypocrites to overthrow the Islamic authority. Therefore, the Prophet (a.s.) was obliged to attack them to defend Islam and the Muslims from thee dangers of their treachery and show the power and authority of Islam. The goal was not to let other villages and tribes join the enemies of Islam. Third, in any case, the raids against those tribes and peoples did not seek to subjugatethem and take possession of their properties, but to prepare the way to know Islam. In other words, to prepare a pathy by which those could believe in Allah and His messenger, practice the rituals of the religion and give up the bad habits of the age of ignorance.
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Reference: 1 As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Hisham, vol. 4 p. 256.