A Party Among the Believers Was Unwilling

But that was not the case with all of them. Not all of them had that idea in mind, because they had not come out prepared to fight a war — the reason they had come out of Madīnah was to raid a caravan, so they were lightly armed, and mentally they were not prepared to face off against an army. So some of them were reluctant, and in their hearts many of them wanted to raid the caravan; they did not really want to fight the army of Quraysh. Only the Qur'an could disclose what was in their hearts, for Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, knows what is in the hearts of people — unlike a historian writing a book of history, who goes by what he sees and does not really know what is inside the people of a particular era. Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, tells us:

It is just as when your Lord brought you out of your home for the Battle of Badr in truth, while indeed a party among the believers were unwilling. Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, is telling us — and it would not otherwise have been known — that some of the believers, and here at the Battle of Badr this is the cream of the crop, the very best, were nonetheless unwilling. Why? Because fighting is something disliked, and here it was, for some of them, the first time, and there is a fear that can occur in a person facing an enemy for the first time. Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, is saying that a party among the believers were unwilling, and that fighting itself, qitāl, is something disliked.

Fighting was prescribed upon you, and you dislike it — but you may dislike a thing while it is good for you. Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, also says: they dispute with you concerning the truth after it had become clear, as if they were being led to death while they were seeing it. And then Allah says: remember when Allah promised you that one of the two groups would be yours — meaning either the caravan or the defeat of the enemy — and you wished that the one without weapons would be yours. People wanted the caravan, because that caravan carried the wealth of the Muhājirūn, and they wanted it back. But Allah intended to establish the truth by His words and to cut off the disbelievers, that He should establish the truth and abolish falsehood, even if the guilty disliked it.

So Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, had a plan, while the people had a plan, and the plan of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, was greater than that of the people. Some in the army of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) only wanted to raid that caravan and take over its wealth, while Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, wanted this battle to be the first meeting between good and evil, and for it to be the Day of al-Furqān, the Criterion, as will be seen.