The permission to fight and the expeditions before Badr

After the migration, permission to fight was revealed at Medina. Its purpose was to lift injustice from the believers and to establish the rites of God, not aggression. ^{1 2} Medina was under attack from the Arabs, who were united against it as if shooting from one bow, and the Muslims did not sleep except armed. ¹

The Prophet decided that the Muslims should extend their control over the Quraysh trade route from Mecca to Syria, by two means: concluding alliance or non-aggression treaties with the tribes living along this route, and sending expeditions one after another. ^{1 3} The purpose of these movements was reconnaissance, concluding treaties, warning Quraysh, and showing the tribes the strength of the Muslims. ³

The expedition of Nakhla took place in Rajab of the second year. God then commanded the Muslims to fight in Sha'ban of the same year, and revelation came down to make clear that it was to lift strife from religion. ² The book says that the verses, by their import, show that victory is ultimately for the Muslims, and that this had been kept hidden so that every man would be zealous in the way of God. ²

• Most of the detail on the order and number of the expeditions rests on the author's own investigation, and the sources differ. ⁴
• The book favours the view that permission to fight was revealed at Medina, not Mecca, though it does not claim certainty about the date of the revelation. ¹