THE HOLY PROPHET MUHAMMAD ( PBUH )

AS A MILITARY COMMANDER

The Holy Prophet (s) was commander of the Muslim army in many battles fought against

enemies of Islam, foremost among whom were the Quraish of Makkah who had persecuted the

Muslims to the point that they had to migrate to Madinah. He was highly successful as a military

leader, which was mainly because of the leadership qualities that he possessed that made him

superior to his foes. He was kind and courteous to his people and his soldiers. He was also

trustworthy and honest, which earned him a lot of respect among his people, who called him ‘As-

Sadiq’ and ‘Al-Amin’, meaning truthful and faithful. He was true to his word, and the covenants

and pacts which he made with Arab tribes to earn their support against the non-Muslims. He

removed enmity and hatred against each other from the hearts of the Muslims and united them

against their common enemy. All the above traits were the reason why his troops had a high level

of love and respect for him which created in their hearts a brotherhood with their fellow Muslims

and made them strong and gave them an unshakeable will and a want to carry out the orders of

the Prophet (s) without doubt in their minds.

When the malicious intent of the Quraish to threaten the Muslims’ freedom and sovereignty in

Madinah became clear, the following ayaat were revealed:

"Permission to fight is given to those who are fought against because they have been wronged -

truly Allah has the power to come to their support- those who were expelled from their homes

without any right, merely for saying, 'Our Lord is Allah'..." (Quran, 22:39-40)"

The Prophet (s) had many characteristics which made him a great military commander and

enabled him to lead the Muslims to victory in numerous battles. They are explained below.

Intellectual traits

Reflection, Contemplation and Far-sightedness

The Prophet (s) chose the first soldiers for the battles and skirmishes to be fought from among

the Quraish and the Muhajirin without the involvement of the Ansar. The wisdom behind this

was that the Ansar had, in the Second Pledge of Aqabah, made an oath to help and support the

Prophet (s) and the Muslims in general, and they had already done a great deal by helping the

Muhajirs financially, and giving away half of their wealth and possessions to the migrants from

Makkah. The Ansar, or ‘the helpers’ were there to play a secondary role in the Muslims’ military

activities; they would assist while the Muhajirs obviously had to play the main role in battles.

Hence, after some time, the Prophet (s) made it clear to the Ansar that their participation in the

battles was required as well. We can also understand the extent of the wisdom of the Prophet (s)

from when he made treaties with desert tribes which enabled him to gain access to the trade

routes used frequently by the Quraish on their way to Syria. The Holy Prophet (s) would send

small groups of soldiers to raid the caravans of the Quraish. The greatest reflections of the Holy

Prophet (s) and his superiority of intellect were manifested in the following matters:

Planning and Organization

The Prophet (s) organized an army comprising of the Ansar and the Muhajirin. The Ansar were

the Muslims of the two tribes of Aus and Khazraj while the Muhajirin were of many different

tribes of Makkah. The Holy Prophet (s) appointed a commander for every tribe and a general

commander over them all. In every battle, he would organize the army differently depending on

the needs, natural resources, terrain and enmity and friendship. The soldiers were divided into

the front-line, the rear, the right and left flanks and the heart of the army. He also gave immense

importance to intelligence and information about the enemy so as to be able to fight them better.

Taking Decisions and Issuing Clear Commands

The Prophet (s) only issued clear and exact orders after he had got all the information about the

battle conditions and could make a firm and decisive judgment for the course of action. The

qualities that distinguished the Holy Prophet’s (s) commands were:

Studying the different aspects before issuing an order.

Not turning back after he had given the command.

Changing the commands when battle circumstances changed.

Maintaining the ability of offering continuous guidance throughout the battle.

He would decide on the realization of victory.

Skill and Intellectual Brilliance in Performing the Duties of a Commander

The Prophet (s), when selecting someone to command a company or battalion of soldiers that

were going to battle tested some people and then chose the one most suited to the job. For

example, he chose his uncle Hamza (RA) to lead one of the first Muslim missions, and chose

Abdullah ibn Jahsh to gather intelligence about the Quraish. These were people who were more

capable and skilled than others and had the insight to overcome their enemies in battle.

Another example of his intellectual brilliance in warfare was that, at the time of the battle, he

would focus his attacks on the points on the battlefield which would secure victory. For instance,

in the battles of ‘Bani Salim’ and ‘Dhi Amr’, he focused on the right flank, and in all other

battles, he would focus on his enemy’s weakness and exploit it.

The Prophet (s) also transferred and moved the command post from one point to another in the

battlefield in order to maintain control over the army. If he thought of a better place from where

to issue orders to the troops, he would move the command post there, as was the case in the

Battle of Khaybar, when he moved the central command post to a location more strategically

suitable than the original one.

He had the ability to face new scenarios in battle and was creative and resourceful and was well

aware of what would enable him to achieve victory. He employed these abilities of his to great

effect in all the battles that he commanded.

Perceptiveness and Understanding

The Prophet (s) had great insight and ingenuity. We can see the perspicacity of the Prophet (s) in

warfare in the fact that he invited Suhayl ibn Amr, the spokesperson for the Quraish, to accept

Islam. Suhayl was of great service to the cause of Islam and he foresaw the fall of the Byzantine

and Roman Empires and the spread of Islam in Arabia. We can also tell of the Holy Prophet’s (s)

insight in the Treaty of Hudaybiya, which looked to be humiliating for the Muslims but turned

out to be a huge victory, as mentioned in the Holy Qur’an:

“Indeed, We have given you, ( O Muhammad ) a clear conquest”.

In the Expedition of Tabuk, he (s) dismantled the borders of the Byzantine Empire so that it

would be open for further conquests by the Muslims and Islam could spread there as well. All

these decisions and choices were made by the far-sightedness of the Holy Prophet (s) in matters

of war.

Practical traits

Principles of warfare

The Prophet (s) always commanded his forces using principles based on attaining victory in the

battle and in the wars as a whole. These principles have been mentioned below:

Recruiting forces

Deploy them sparingly

Using surprise attacks at the appropriate time and place

Relying on speed that would help strikes in battle

Maintaining security for the forces

Acquiring intelligence

Organizing the troops

Maintaining co-operation between the cavalry and infantry and also between the two

flanks and the centre of the army

Strengthening the morale of the soldiers in a manner that they would not fear death.

The Holy Prophet (s) would adopt defensive and attacking strategies as needed. For example, in

the Battle of Trench, he used a defensive technique: he ordered his troops to dig a trench around

certain penetrable sides of Madina, helping with it himself, when the Quraish were known to be

coming in great numbers. He attacked the enemy in the Battle of Badr, when angels came to help

the Muslims. The methods by which offensive warfare was conducted by the Prophet (s) were:

1. Killing the people who were in the way of the Islamic revolution.

2. Quick retaliation against oppressors and tyrants.

3. Making pacts of unity with the neighbouring tribes.

4. Focusing the army’s strength in the more important fights against the enemy.

Pre-emptive warfare

The Prophet (s) founded the basis for this type of warfare which needed lesser soldiers and

resources, as in the raids on Quraishite caravans, which involved very few warriors, sometimes

as few as thirty. The basics of this type of war that the Prophet (s) used were: speed, stealth,

surprise attacks, acquiring of precise information, boosting the morale of the attacking soldiers

and minimizing losses.

The Noble Prophet (s) began conducting pre-emptive warfare in the battle of Bani Salim. He

carried out a surprise attack on the tribes of Ghatfan and Salim, which led to victory for the

Muslims. The same strategy was used in the battle of Dhi Amr, when the Prophet didn’t use all

his forces, rather using a lesser number of fighters than he had at his disposal. He also did this in

the Battle of Bani Mustalaq. The tribe had gathered on the shore to water their animals when the

Prophet (s) conducted an attack on them.

Lightining Strikes and Blitzes

The Prophet(s) commanded the use of lightning strikes and blitzes, for which he relied on the

following: (i) the psychological effect it would have on the enemy; (ii) swiftness in movement;

(iii) training in advanced archery skills; (iv) carrying out surprise attacks; (v) keeping the

preparations for surprise attacks secret; and (vi) reducing the load of munitions and supplies

carried by the army.

Lightning strikes established dominance and superiority and terrified the enemy, making them

surrender in many cases, without too much fighting, thus minimizing the loss of life on both

sides. These strikes also caused the enemy to be under immense pressure due to intense

hardships that they encountered. He mostly used this type of warfare in battles when the Muslims

were outnumbered and the Prophet (s) couldn’t gain superiority in numbers.

Chasing fleeing enemy soldiers

The Prophet (s) never allowed his troops to chase the enemy after they had given up and were

fleeing the battlefield. He let them go and always let the prisoners of war go free in exchange for

small things like payment, teaching of skills and reading and writing to Muslim children, which

was done in the Battle of Badr, when 70 prisoners were released in this manner.

Attacks and onslaughts

The Holy Prophet (s) used attack and offense whenever necessary, but in such an efficient and

flawless manner that no elite commander of the present day could do it any better. His attacks

had the following distinguishing features:

Stealth and Camouflage: This was used in the Battle of Bahran and Bani Salim.

Silence: This was used in all the offensive battles.

Surprise: Surprise was used in many missions, especially those of Khaybar and Bani

Quraiza.

Speed

Deception in time and place: This was another distinguishing feature of the attacks

conducted by the Prophet (s) against non-Muslims.

He (s) always used a commander for his army that was free of sickness or maladies that could

impede the commander in battle. Also, his choice of leader was always a person who was better

suited to the job at hand than anybody else. His army was always instructed to keep their voices

down and not create noise so as to prevent the enemy from knowing of their arrival for as long as

possible. He told his army to remove the bells from around the camels’ necks in the Battle of

Badr for the same purpose.

Trickery and Deception

The Prophet (s) once said “War is deception”. He used the tactic of misleading his enemy and

concealing the truth in matters of war so as to be better prepared to fight, because of his superior

knowledge. In the Battle of Ahzab, the Prophet (s) approved of Nuaym ibn Masud of the

Ghatfan, who was a Muslim, to create doubts in the minds of the Ghatfan tribe as to their

position with the Quraish. Nuaym did this to great effect; he made all the tribes question each

other’s motives, thus creating misunderstandings between them so as to help the Messenger of

Allah to victory. In some battles, the Prophet (s) instructed his commanders to increase the

movements of the army to deceive the enemy into thinking that reinforcements had arrived and

intimidate them. He told his soldiers to light a fire for every man when they camped outside

Makkah. Before its conquest, the Makkans saw ten thousand fires lighting up the desert, which

fooled them into thinking that a huge army had come to annihilate them at the head of which was

Muhammad (s), the person whom they had persecuted so much that he had to migrate to

Madinah. This scared them to no end and helped the Muslims achieve an easy victory with

minimal bloodshed.

Speed in Battle

The Prophet (s) used several kinds of speed in battle: a) swiftness in attack and defense; b) speed

in besieging; c) quickness in marching forward of the army; d) swiftness in acquiring intelligence

about the enemy; e) speed in counterattacks and f) quickness in raids.

Revolutionary and all-inclusive war

This type of war is based on rising against oppressors and tyrants with all the available resources.

The distinguishing features of the Islamic Revolution are given below:

Selecting appropriate agents

Establishing affinity between the people he conquered

Acquiring new friends and allies

Demonstrating how the Islamic system is superior to polytheism

Teaching the new ideology

Making people love faith and hate disbelief

Being the perfect role model as a leader.

Psychological warfare

The Holy Prophet (s) used to manoeuvre his troops and attack in such a way as to instil fear in

the hearts of the enemies. In this way he weakened his enemy’s resolve and determination and

demotivated them from fighting against the Muslims. A Jew who was granted amnesty once said

to the Prophet (s) : “The inhabitants of this place have been destroyed out of fear of you.” This

psychological war caused some troops of the enemy to flee on many occasions, decreasing their

number considerably, thus making it easier for the Muslims to win over them. Due to this type of

warfare, the forces of his army were known for:

Being invisible: In the Battle of Badr, angels came to the help of the Muslims, helping them

defeat the enemy. In the Battle of Trench, a storm of hail rained down down on the unbelievers

so strongly that they abandoned all hope and left. This was the kind of invisible attack that

terrified the non-Muslims.

Being undefeatable: The enemies of the Muslims always maintained that standing up against

them yielded no results. Many tribes of the Arabian Peninsula gave up and surrendered to the

Prophet (s) after long years of striving against him. A lot of people accepted Islam, realizing this.

The Holy Prophet (s) always instructed his armies not to hurt women or children or any innocent

people during battle. He also did not allow them to burn or loot unnecessarily and otherwise

damage innocent people’s property. He was always kind and forgiving towards the people that

he conquered. After the conquest of Makkah, he forgave the very people who had persecuted

him and his people for so long, saying: “go, you are free”. He even forgave Hind, the wife of

Abu Sufyan, who had chewed Hazrat Hamzah’s liver and desecrated his body. This shows how

compassionate the Prophet (s) was as a person and as a military commander.