The Ranks at Badr

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), as already noted, was employing the method of formal ranks in the battlefield, rather than the method of Arab warfare, which was to attack and withdraw in a way that was not very organised. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was straightening the lines as if he was straightening the lines for prayer, and he was holding an arrow in his hand. And he came up to one of the soldiers, Sawād ibn Ghaziyyah, who was protruding a bit from the line, so the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) pushes him back with the arrow — sort of like, with the arrow in his stomach, he pushes him back. So Sawād ibn Ghaziyyah says: O Messenger of Allah, you hurt me — I want to retaliate. This is right before the battle, and he is saying to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) that he wants to retaliate just because he was hurt. What was the Messenger of Allah's response? Here one of his soldiers is saying that you hurt me, I want to retaliate now — it's your mistake, Sawād, why weren't you standing straight in the line? But the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) exposed his stomach and said: go ahead and retaliate, if that's what you want, go ahead. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) didn't get angry, he didn't get upset, he didn't order his soldiers to take Sawād and punish him for speaking in such a fashion to the leader of the army; the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) exposed his stomach and told him: Sawād, go ahead and retaliate — if I hurt you, go ahead and retaliate. Sawād ibn Ghaziyyah, may Allah be pleased with him, hugged the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and kissed his stomach — that was his retaliation. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told Sawād: what made you do that? Sawād ibn Ghaziyyah said: O Messenger of Allah, you can't see what is about to happen — I might die in a few moments, in a few hours; we're facing death right in front of us; I wanted the last thing in this dunyā to be my skin touching yours. This is how they loved the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). Sawād, who was hurt by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) accidentally, used this opportunity to kiss him and to hug him. They didn't see it that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was leading them to their death; they didn't see it that they were suffering all of this trouble because of him — they were willingly going ahead to face death for the sake of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and His servant and Messenger. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) then makes duʿāʾ for Sawād, that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, bless him.

This love of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is what the account of Sawād shows: it wasn't just words on their tongues, poetry, singing his praise — love for them meant that they would put everything on the line for him: everything, laid down for him, wealth, money, family, children, all sacrificable; when it came to him, they were willing to give everything up. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, made īmān beloved to them and adorned it in their hearts, so for them īmān was something that they loved; and it is related that none tastes the sweetness of īmān until three things are true of him — one of them is that Allah and His Messenger are dearer to him than anything else; and one of them is that he would dislike returning to kufr as much as he would dislike being thrown into the fire. That is when a person would really taste the sweetness of īmān. May Allah grant this love of Muḥammad (peace be upon him) — the love of his message, the love of his sunnah, the love of his way — and not merely make believers people who claim to love him and pay it lip service; and may Allah make believers love His Sharīʿah as He made the Companions love it, for Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says in the Qur'an that He made īmān beloved to them and adorned it in their hearts.