With the peaceful victory that the Muslims achieved at Bani An-Nadeer invasion, their control over Madinah was undisputedly established, and the hypocrites receded to a state of silence and stopped their artful machinations publicly. Consequently the Prophet had ample time to direct all his energies and human resources towards suppressing the desert bedouins and curbing their harmful provocations and wicked malicious practices of killing his missionaries and even contemplating an invasion of Madinah itself.[] Meanwhile, the Muslim scouting groups reported building up of bedouin troops of Bani Muharib and Tha‘labah of Ghatfan around Madinah. The Prophet , with the Muslims, hurriedly set out to discipline those new outlaws, cast fear into their hearts and deter them from perpetrating further wicked practices. These deterring operations were carried out repeatedly and did produce effective results. The rebellious hard-hearted desert bedouins were terrorized into the mountains, and Madinah remained completely immune against their raids.

In the context of these invasions, it is interesting to draw some prominence to a significant one ¾ Dhat Ar-Riqa‘ (rags) campaign ¾ which some scholars claim, took place in Najd ( a large area of tableland in the Arabian Peninsula) in Rabi‘ Ath-Thani or Jumada Al-Ula, 4 A.H. They substantiate their claim by saying that it was strategically necessary to carry out this campaign in order to quell the rebellious bedouins in order to meet the exigencies of the agreed upon encounter with the polytheists, i.e. minor Badr Battle in Sha‘ban, 4 A.H. The most authentic opinion, however, is that Dhat Ar-Riqa‘ campaign took place after the fall of Khaibar. This is supported by the fact that Abu Hurairah and Abu Musa Al-Ash‘ari (RA) witnessed the battle. Abu Hurairah embraced Islam only some days before Khaibar, and Abu Musa Al-Ash‘ari came back from Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and joined the Prophet at Khaibar. The rules relating to the prayer of fear which the Prophet observed at Dhat Ar-Riqa‘ campaign, were revealed at ‘Asfan Invasion and this beyond a shadow of doubt took place after Al-Khandaq (the trench) Battle in late 5 A.H.

The Invasion of Badr, the Second:

When the Muslims destroyed the power of the Arab-desert tribes and guarded themselves against their evils, they started preparations to encounter their great enemy. A year elapsed since they fought Quraish at Uhud. So it was due time to meet them and start war again in order to determine which of the two parties was worthy of survival.

In Sha‘ban 4 A.H., January 626 A.D., the Messenger of Allâh set out to Badr accompanied by one thousand and five hundred fighters and ten mounted horsemen, and with ‘Ali bin Abi Talib(RA) as standard bearer. ‘Abdullah bin Rawahah (RA) was given authority over Madinah during the Prophet ’s absence. Reaching Badr, the Muslims stayed there waiting for the idolaters to come.

Abu Sufyan’s forces comprised two thousand footmen and fifty horsemen. They reached Mar Az-Zahran, some distance form Makkah, and camped at a water place called Mijannah. Being reluctant, discouraged and extremely terrified of the consequences of the approaching fight, Abu Sufyan turned to his people and began to introduce cowardice-based flimsy pretexts in order to dissuade his men from going to war, saying: "O tribe of Quraish! Nothing will improve the condition you are in but a fruitful year — a year during which your animals feed on plants and bushes and give you milk to drink. And I see that this is a rainless year, therefore I am returning now and I recommend you to return with me."

It seems that his army were also possessed of the same fears and apprehensions, for they readily obeyed him without the least hesitation.

The Muslims, who were then at Badr, stayed for eight days waiting for their enemy. They took advantage of their stay by selling goods and earning double as much the price out of it. When the idolaters declined to fight, the balance of powers shifted to rest in favour of the Muslims, who thus regained their military reputation, their dignity and managed to impose their awe-inspiring presence over the whole of Arabia. In brief, they mastered and controlled the whole situation.

This invasion had many a name. It is called ‘Badr the Appointment’, ‘Badr, the Second’, ‘Badr, the Latter’, and ‘Badr Minor’.

With the Messenger ’s return from Badr, peace and security prevailed the whole area; and the Islamic headquarters, Madinah, enjoyed full security. The Prophet then deemed it fit and appropriate to head for the most distant areas of Arabia in order to subdue all hostile elements in order to force undisputed recognition out of friend and enemy alike.

After a six-month lull of military activities, the Prophet was reported that some tribes, in the vicinity of Doumat Al-Jandal, on the borders of Syria, were involved in highway robbery and plundering, and were on their way to muster troops and raid Madinah itself. He immediately appointed Siba‘ bin ‘Arfatah Al-Ghifari to dispose the affairs of Madinah during his absence, and set out at the head of 1000 Muslims in late Rabi‘ Al-Awwal, 5 A.H. taking with him a man, named Madhkur, from Bani ‘Udhrah, as a guide.

On their way to Doumat Al-Jandal, they used to march by night and hide by day, so that they might take the enemy by surprise. When they drew near their destination, the Muslims discovered that the highway men had moved to another place, so they captured their cattle and shepherds. The inhabitants of Doumat Al-Jandal had also fled in all directions for their lives and evacuated their habitations. The Prophet stayed there for 5 days during which he dispatched expeditionary forces to hunt for the enemy personnel but they detected none. He then returned to Madinah but en route he entered into a peace treaty with ‘Uyainah bin Hisn. Doumat Al-Jandal is located at about a distance of fifteen days march from Madinah and five from Damascus.

With this decisive and steady progress and wise strict plans, the Prophet managed to spread security, control the situation and make peace prevail the whole area. He also succeeded in shifting the course of events for the welfare of the Muslims by reducing the incessant internal and external troubles. The hypocrites were silenced, a tribe of the Jews evacuated while the other continued to fake good neighbourliness and seemingly faithful adherence to the covenants, the desert bedouins subdued and finally the archenemy Quraish no longer keen on attacking the Muslims. This secure strategic attitude created optimum circumstances for the Muslims to resume their logical course in propagating Islam and communicating the Messages of the Lord to all worlds.