(Friday Sermon - February 8, 2019 )

Background

According to one source, his name was Basbas bin Bishar. Hazrat Basbas^(ra) Juhani belonged to the Banu Sa‘idah bin Ka‘b bin Khazraj tribe of the Ansar. But according to Urwah bin Zubair, he belonged to the Banu Tureef bin Khazraj tribe. Hazrat Basbas^(ra) participated in the Battle of Badr and is counted among the Ansar Companions. (Usdul Ghaba, Vol. 1, p. 373, Basbas Al-Juhani^(ra), Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2003)

He is also known by the names Busaisa, Busais and Basbasa. (Usdul Ghaba, Vol. 1, p. 379, Basbah bin Amr^(ra), Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2003)

Participation in Battles

Apart from the Battle of Badr, he also took part in the Battle of Uhud. (Al-Tabaqaat-ul-Kubra, Vol. 3, p. 422, Basbas bin Amr^(ra), Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 1990)

On the day of Badr, with regard to the departure from Medina, Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad^(ra) writes the following in Sirat Khatamun Nabiyyin:

“Upon departing from Medina, the Holy Prophet^(sa) appointed Abdullah bin Ummi Maktum as the Amir of Medina in his absence. However, when the Holy Prophet^(sa) reached close to Rauha, which is situated at a distance of 36 miles from Medina, perhaps in the consideration that Abdullah was a blind man, and news of the imminent arrival of the army of the Quraish demanded that in his own absence the administration of Medina should remain strong, the Holy Prophet^(sa) appointed Abu Lubabah bin Munzir as the Amir of Medina and sent him back. It was ordered that Abdullah bin Ummi Maktum would only remain to be the Imamus-Salat, while Abu Lubabah would oversee matters of administration. Asim bin Adiyy was appointed as a separate Amir to oversee the additional population of Medina, i.e., Quba. It was from this very place that the Holy Prophet^(sa)  sent two companions named Basbas^(ra) and Adiyy^(ra) towards Badr, in order to gather intelligence with respect to enemy movements; and instructed that they return swiftly with intelligence.” (Sirat Khatamun-Nabiyyin, Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad^(ra), p. 354)

Incident Before the Battle of Badr

In the Friday Sermon two weeks ago, I mentioned the account of Hazrat Adiyy bin Abi Zaghba^(ra). I mentioned the incident in which Hazrat Basbas^(ra) and Hazrat Adiyy bin Zaghba^(ra) were sent to a certain place.  When the two of them reached Badr to acquire intelligence, Hazrat Basbas bin Amr^(ra) and Hazrat Adiyy bin Zaghba^(ra) sat their camels by a well, near a hill. They took out their leather water-bags, filled them up with the water from the well and had some to drink. Meanwhile, they overheard two women speaking to one another about the arrival of a caravan (Sirat ibn Hisham, p. 617, Basbas Wa Adiyy Yatajassusan Al-Akhbar, Turath Al-Islam, Egpyt, 1955). There was also a man standing beside them. In the end, they returned to the Holy Prophet^(sa) and informed him that they overheard the women discussing about a caravan due to arrive. The man who was standing there was Majdi. I have previously discussed this account in detail. The historian writes that the following morning Abu Sufyan reached the place where the caravan had arrived. He asked Majdi, “Did you see anyone who may have come here to gather intelligence?” He also asked, “If you hide the secrets of the enemy from us, then no one from the Quraish will ever make peace with you.” Majdi, i.e, the individual who stood there that day, replied, “By God, I did not see a single person here whom I do not know. No enemy of yours can be found between here and Yathrib. Even if there was someone, neither would he have been unable to hide from me, nor would I have hidden him from you.” He then said, “Although, I did see two riders stopping by here (pointing to where Hazrat Basbas^(ra) and Hazrat Adiyy^(ra) had sat their camels). They sat their camels there, drank some water and set off once again.” Abu Sufyan went to the area in which the two companions sat their camels and picked up the droppings of the camels to inspect them. He was suspicious, and therefore acted in this way. When he crushed the droppings, he found date-stones in the droppings of the camels. Abu Sufyan then said, “By God, this is the forage of the camels of Yathrib! They must have come from there and these were surely the spies of Muhammad^(sa) and his people (in other words, the two men had come from Medina as spies). From these camel-droppings, I can now see why they came here.” He further said, “I feel as if they are still nearby”. Thereafter he moved on swiftly with his convoy. (Kitabul Maghazi Lil Waqidi, pp. 40-41, Alam Al-Kutub, Beirut, 1984)

In that era, the Arabs not only had particular ways of gathering intelligence, they were also very skilled in deducing information [from their surroundings]. This has been mentioned under the section of the Battle of Badr in Sirat Khatamun Nabiyyin. Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad^(ra) writes:

“When the Holy Prophet^(sa) reached near Badr, motivated by some feeling, which narrations have not disclosed, the Holy Prophet^(sa) seated Hazrat Abu Bakr^(ra) behind himself, and proceeded ahead of the Muslim army. At that time, the Holy Prophet^(sa) encountered an old bedouin, from whom the Holy Prophet^(sa) gathered during the course of conversation, that the army of the Quraish had reached very close to Badr. Upon hearing this news, the Holy Prophet^(sa) returned and dispatched Hazrat ‘Ali^(ra), Zubair bin Al-Awwam^(ra) and Sa‘d bin Abi Waqas^(ra) and others to gather information. According to another narration, Hazrat Basbas^(ra) was also among them – initially they were sent to gather information about the caravan but now since they had heard that an army was approaching near, they were sent once again to gather information regarding the army and Hazrat Basbas^(ra) was among them. When these people arrived at the Valley of Badr, suddenly they noticed that a few Meccans were collecting water from a spring. These companions attacked this party, took captive an Abyssinian slave and brought him to the Holy Prophet^(sa). At the time, the Holy Prophet^(sa) was engaged in Salat. When the companions noticed the Holy Prophet^(sa) engaged in Salat, they began to interrogate the slave themselves, enquiring as to the whereabouts of Abu Sufyan’s caravan. Since this Abyssinian slave had come along with the army and was unaware of the caravan, he responded, ‘I am unaware of Abu Sufyan, but Abul-Hakam i.e., Abu Jahl, Utbah, Shaibah and Umayyah, etc., have encamped on the opposite side of the valley.’ The companions^(ra), who were more inclined to the caravan (as they only had knowledge of caravan approaching and this was the only thing on their minds), therefore thought that he was lying and desired to deliberately conceal the whereabouts of the caravan, upon which a few people began to beat and strike him. However, when they would strike him, due to fear, he would say, ‘Alright, I shall tell you.’ When they would release him, he would reiterate his initial response, ‘I am unaware of Abu Sufyan, but Abu Jahl, etc., are present nearby.’ When the Holy Prophet^(sa) heard this during his Salat, he quickly finished his Salat and forbade the companions from beating him and said, ‘When he tells the truth, you beat him and when he lies, you release him.’ Then, the Holy Prophet^(sa) gently enquired himself, ‘At this time, where is the army positioned?’ He responded, ‘On the opposite side of the hillock before you.’ The Holy Prophet^(sa) enquired, ‘How many men are there in the army?’ He responded, ‘A multitude, but I am unaware of the exact figure.’ The Holy Prophet^(sa) said, ‘Alright, then tell me how many camels are slaughtered daily for consumption?’ He responded, ‘Ten,’ (ten camels were slaughtered for them therefore apart from their other provisions for battle, they had also brought their provisions for food as well). The Holy Prophet^(sa) turned to the companions^(ra) and said, ‘It seems as if they are a force of 1,000 men if they are slaughtering 10 camels.’ This estimate actually turned out to be correct.” (Sirat Khatamun-Nabiyyin, Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad^(ra), pp. 355-356)