Medina being 250 miles or 12 stages
from Mecca, the aggressive army, after marching 8 stages, arrived at
Badr, which is 3 or 4 stages from Medina. Mahommad--with only 300
Moslems, more being from among the people of Medina than the
refugees--came out of Medina in self-defence to encounter the Koreish,
and the famous battle of Badr was fought only at thirty miles from
Medina. There could be no doubt that the affair was purely and
admittedly a defensive one.

Sura XXII, verses 39-42, copied at page 17 of this book, was first
published in the matter of taking up arms in self-defence after the
battle of Badr.

[Footnote 3: The idea of forbearance on the part of the Koreish, as
entertained by Sir W. Muir, is not borne out by their former conduct of
persecuting the believers and pursuing the fugitives among them. He
says: "Mahomet and Abu Bakr trusted their respective clans to protect
their families from insult. But no insult or annoyance of any kind was
offered by the Coreish. Nor was the slightest attempt made to detain
them; although it was not unreasonable that they should have been
detained as hostages against any hostile incursion from Medina"[A]. They
were contemplating a grand pursuit and attack on the Moslems, and had no
reason to detain the families of Mahomet and Abu Bakr as hostages whilst
they could not think that the Moslems will take the initiative, as they
were too glad to escape and live unmolested.]

[Footnote A: Muir's Life of Mahomet, Vol II, page 265.]

[Sidenote: The three battles waged by the Koreish against Mohammad.]

7. The Koreish carried on three aggressive battles against the Moslems
at Medina. The first, called the Battle of Badr, took place at thirty
miles from Medina, the Koreish having come down 250 miles from Mecca.
The second, called the Battle of Ohad, was fought at a distance of one
mile from Medina, the enemy having advanced 250 miles from Mecca. The
third was the battle of confederates, in which they had mustered an army
of ten thousand strong. The city was besieged for several days, and the
Moslems defended themselves within the walls of Medina which they had
entrenched. These were the only battles between the Koreish and
Mohammad, in each the latter always acted on the defensive. Neither he
attacked the Koreish offensively to take revenge, nor to compel them by
force of arms to accept his religion.

[Sidenote: These wars were purely in defence, not to redress their
wrongs or t