Military Management in the Battles of the Prophet (s)
Scope Of Research
My method of research about the proposed subject is scientific and relies on fully documented evidence along with undisputed facts. It is based firstly on primary sources which form the foundation of the discussion and then secondarily turns to the more recent studies and views of contemporary scholars. In this research, differing viewpoints on military management (with the aim of finding the best one), the principles of war, the fundamental role of ideology (and motivation) and the art of war in its new form are discussed alongside each other. This paper comprises of six sections and one preface - wherein the most important available sources on this subject are mentioned.
Section One:
In this section, the traits and distinctions of the Arab military
before Islām have been mentioned and the most important points that are
related to their military management like: the purpose of battle, number
of combatants, means of transport etc. have been discussed.
Section Two:
This section consists of the important discussion on ‘Military Command’
in which issues like moral qualities of a commander are discussed. These
include: heightened intelligence, foresight and prudence, awareness of
matters that he is faced with, understanding the rules and principles of
war such as defensive warfare, sudden warfare, revolutionary warfare,
offensive warfare and psychological warfare.
Section Three:
This section aims to explain the workings of the military bases and
under this heading, details are given about staff headquarters and
management issues pertaining to it are discussed, including:
Department of planning: this department deals with the general policies
of the army, the enumeration of soldiers, arming them, understanding the
enemy and related issues.
Department of consultation: this is the consultative body or the
command post of the war and its members are all recognized for their
knowledge, acumen and understanding of issues pertaining to warfare.
Department of spiritual guidance: this department is responsible for
increasing the zeal of the fighters, studying the assignments and tours
of duty.
Section Four:
This section discusses the branch and department of ‘Security and
Intelligence’ that is responsible for gathering information and
intelligence from the enemy and analyzing it, and in the event of the
intelligence being true, passing it to the supreme commander so that he
may issue the correct orders.
Section Five:
In this section we discuss about the ‘Base of Operations’ which makes
arrangements for the required equipment for planning, execution,
training, creation and perfection of weaponry and all the other supplies
for warfare and includes the following departments:
Department of operations: this is the department that is responsible
for selecting the commander who leads the army in the battlefield,
studying the assignments and sending troops and contingents.
Department of training: this department is responsible for training the
fighters in the handling of all the tools used in battle including bows
and arrows, hand to hand combat etc.
Department of armament: this department is in charge of securing all
the supplies of war, weapons, military equipment etc.
Section Six:
This section deals specifically with the department of munitions that
has the responsibility of securing munitions, sending support,
transport, feeding the soldiers, providing army uniforms, overseeing
booty and its distribution and handling medical issues. This department
consists of the following sub-departments:
Department of munitions and relief support: this department has the task
of providing support to the troops by means of providing supplies and
fulfilling their other needs such as drinking water, tents, clothes and
also removing the injured and dead from the battlefield.
Department of booty: its responsibility is gathering the war booty and
categorizing, arranging and distributing it, and identifying those who
should be permitted to use it.
Department of medical services: the aim of this department is
protecting the wellbeing of the forces, providing medical treatment for
those who are injured and incapacitated in battle, and burying the dead.
In this section, the role of women in providing assistance is also discussed.
Conclusion:
In the end, we shall discuss the ‘growth of Islāmic Governance’ after
the migration of the Prophet (S) to Madina, the formation of the Islāmic
Government under his leadership. The details of his role in nurturing
the military forces during wartime and the beginning of the creation and
training of the corps will also be discussed. We will examine how this
army gained the ability of entering into battle and achieving decisive
victory.
In this regard, we find the causes of victory in the Muslim army to be the implementation of the principles and rules of war by their commanders – which the enemy was unaware of at that time and is more in line with the principles and rules of war of today. Similarly, the organization of the army in such a way that a strong spiritual ethos existed among the commanders and the troops, must be considered one of the greatest factors of the Prophet’s (S) success. When one studies the conquests that took place after the era of Prophethood, one finds that the Prophet (S) was considered the first conqueror of Islām, because he laid the groundwork and raised the primary pillar (of these conquests) through his own battles.