The Battles and the Conquest of Makkah

The military campaigns of the Prophet, known as ghazawat when the Prophet participated personally and saraya when he dispatched forces under a commander, occupy a substantial portion of the Bidayah's seerah section. Ibn Kathir presents these campaigns not as historical curiosities but as divinely guided events that established the conditions for the spread of Islam across the Arabian Peninsula and beyond. The battle of Badr in the second year of Hijra is treated as the most significant single military event of the early Islamic era. Three hundred and thirteen believers, poorly equipped and facing a Qurayshi force of approximately one thousand, achieved a decisive victory. Ibn Kathir presents the Quranic verses of Surah al-Anfal that were revealed in connection with Badr as divine commentary on the battle, establishing the theological principle that victory is from Allah and that the Muslim community should not rely on numbers or material superiority. The killing of the Qurayshi leaders at Badr is presented as a turning point that established the credibility of the new Muslim community before the tribes of Arabia.

The battle of Uhud in the third year of Hijra is presented with its painful lesson of the consequences of disobeying the Prophet's command. The archers stationed on the mountain withdrew from their position in pursuit of the spoils of victory before the battle was decided, allowing the Qurayshi cavalry to encircle the Muslim force. Seventy companions were killed, including Hamzah ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib, the Prophet's uncle and one of the great heroes of early Islam. The Prophet himself was injured, and the false report of his death caused temporary disarray. Ibn Kathir draws out the Quranic lessons from Uhud extensively: that trials and setbacks are among the divine means of testing and purifying the believers, that the martyrs of Uhud achieved the highest station, and that the community's temporary reversal at Uhud was a consequence of a specific act of disobedience rather than evidence that the Muslims were abandoned. The battle of Khandaq (the Trench) in the fifth year saw the Medinan community survive a coalition siege through the strategic innovation of digging a trench, and the eventual dispersal of the coalition by a divine wind and internal disputes.

The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah in the sixth year represents one of the most theologically instructive events of the Medinan period. The Muslims set out for Makkah to perform 'Umrah and were blocked by the Quraysh, leading to negotiations that produced a treaty that appeared disadvantageous on its surface: Muslims who fled Makkah to Madinah would be returned, but Muslims who fled Madinah to Makkah would not be returned; the Muslims would withdraw for that year without performing 'Umrah. Many companions including 'Umar ibn al-Khattab were distressed by the terms, but the Prophet accepted them, and Allah revealed that it was 'a clear victory.' Ibn Kathir presents the Quranic and hadith material on this event as demonstrating the prophetic insight and the ultimate strategic wisdom of the treaty, which led to a period of peace during which Islam spread extensively. The subsequent breaking of the treaty by the Qurayshi allies provided the occasion for the Conquest of Makkah in the eighth year of Hijra, when the Prophet marched on Makkah with an army of ten thousand and the city was taken almost without bloodshed.

The Conquest of Makkah is presented by Ibn Kathir as the fulfillment of the divine promise made repeatedly in the Quran and as one of the great transformative moments of human history. The Prophet entered Makkah humbly, his head bowed in gratitude to Allah, and declared a general amnesty for the people of Makkah who had persecuted the Muslims for twenty years. The idols in and around the Ka'bah, numbering three hundred and sixty according to various narrations, were destroyed, and the Prophet declared 'Truth has come and falsehood has departed, indeed falsehood is ever departing.' The conversion of the Quraysh, including former enemies such as Abu Sufyan and Khalid ibn al-Walid who became among the greatest warriors of Islam, is documented. The battles of Hunayn and the siege of Ta'if followed closely, and the final year of the Prophet's life saw delegations from across Arabia coming to accept Islam, the event referred to in Surah al-Nasr as the coming of Allah's victory and the opening, signaling the completion of the prophetic mission on the Arabian Peninsula.