Apabila Rasulullah ﷺ yakin bahawa masyarakat Islam telah kukuh, dan setelah baginda menandatangani perjanjian dengan kabilah-kabilah Yahudi yang berjiran, baginda mula menyediakan landasan di Madinah untuk Jihad, kerana menjadi kewajipan Negara Islam untuk melaksanakan Islam di seluruh wilayah yang berada di bawah pemerintahannya dan untuk menyampaikan Risalah Islam melampaui sempadannya. Menyampaikan Risalah Islam sama sekali tidak boleh disamakan dengan kerja dakwah bersifat misi. Sebaliknya, ia menuntut agar manusia dijemput kepada Islam, diterapkan dengan konsep dan hukum-hukumnya, serta dihapuskan apa-apa halangan material yang menghalang pelaksanaan Risalah tersebut melalui keperluan material yang diperlukan.

When the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was assured that the Islamic society was firmly entrenched, and once he had signed treaties with the neighboring Jewish tribes, he set about preparing the grounds in Madinah for Jihad, for it is the duty of the Islamic State to implement Islam in the whole of the land under its rule and to convey the Message of Islam beyond its borders. Conveying the Message of Islam is by no means comparable to missionary work. Instead, it dictates the invitation of the people to Islam, acculturating them with its concepts and rules, and the removal of any material obstacle that stands in the way of implementation of the Message through the necessary material requirements.

Kaum Quraisy sentiasa menjadi halangan fizikal yang menghalang Risalah Islam. Oleh itu, satu pasukan petugas perlu disediakan untuk mengatasinya. Dengan mengambil kira perkara ini, dan dengan tujuan menyebarkan Islam di luar Madinah, Rasulullah ﷺ mula membina tenteranya. Baginda ﷺ mengambil beberapa langkah dengan menghantar beberapa ekspedisi yang direka untuk mencabar kaum Quraisy dan menggerunkan kaum munafik serta orang Yahudi di Madinah dan kawasan sekitarnya. Dalam tempoh empat bulan, baginda ﷺ menghantar tiga pasukan ke luar Madinah.

The Quraysh had always represented a material obstacle barring the Message of Islam. A task force thus had to be prepared to overcome it. Bearing this in mind, and with the objective of spreading Islam outside Madinah, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) began building his army. He (pbuh) took several steps by dispatching some expeditions designed to challenge the Quraysh and alarm both the hypocrites and the Jews in Madinah and nearby surroundings. In four months, he (pbuh) dispatched three units outside Madinah.

Beliau mengutus Hamzah ke tepi laut di kawasan al-‘Is, memimpin tiga puluh penunggang kuda dari kalangan Muhajirin, dengan tiada seorang pun dari kalangan Ansar yang turut serta. Hamzah bertemu Abu Jahl ibn Hisham bersama tiga ratus penunggang kuda di tepi pantai, dan hampir sahaja beliau hendak berperang dengannya, ketika Majdi ibn ‘Amr al-Juhani datang menjadi penengah di antara mereka, sehingga orang ramai berpisah tanpa berperang. Rasulullah ﷺ mengutus Muhammad ibn ‘Ubaydah ibn al-Harith bersama enam puluh penunggang kuda dari kalangan Muhajirin, tanpa seorang pun dari kalangan Ansar di antara mereka. Beliau bertemu Abu Sufyan yang memimpin lebih dua ratus penunggang kuda di lembah Rabigh. Sekali lagi, tiada peperangan berlaku kecuali Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas melepaskan sebatang anak panah pada hari itu. Rasulullah ﷺ juga mengutus Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas bersama dua puluh penunggang kuda menuju Makkah, tetapi mereka kembali tanpa berperang. Ekspedisi-ekspedisi ini membantu mewujudkan suasana perang di Madinah, dan turut menakutkan kaum Quraisy, yang mula benar-benar merasakan ancaman yang datang daripada Rasulullah ﷺ. Baginda ﷺ tidak berhenti setakat itu, malah keluar sendiri untuk melakukan serangan. Dua belas bulan selepas kedatangan baginda ke Madinah, baginda ﷺ keluar dalam satu serbuan mencari kaum Quraisy dan Bani Damrah sehingga sampai ke Waddan. Baginda ﷺ tidak bertemu kaum Quraisy pada hari itu, sebaliknya Bani Damrah mengadakan perjanjian damai dengan baginda. Selepas itu Rasulullah ﷺ keluar menyerang dengan satu pasukan dua ratus penunggang kuda dari kalangan Muhajirin dan Ansar, sehingga mereka sampai ke Buwat di kawasan Radwa. Mereka menuju ke arah satu kafilah yang terdiri daripada dua ribu lima ratus ekor unta, dikawal oleh seratus pejuang yang diketuai oleh Umayyah ibn Khalaf. Namun baginda ﷺ gagal memintas kafilah itu kerana ia telah melalui laluan yang berbeza daripada yang biasa digunakan. Tiga bulan selepas pulang dari ekspedisi ke Buwat, Abu Salmah ibn ‘Abd al-Asad ditugaskan mengetuai Madinah, dan Rasulullah ﷺ pula memulakan satu lagi serangan dengan memimpin lebih dua ratus orang Islam sehingga baginda tiba di al-‘Ushayrah di lembah Yanbu. Baginda berhenti di situ pada bulan Jumadil Awal dan menetap sehingga beberapa hari dalam bulan Jumadil Akhir berlalu. Peristiwa ini berlaku pada tahun kedua Hijrah. Sebab baginda berkhemah di situ ialah kerana baginda menunggu kafilah yang diketuai oleh Abu Sufyan, tetapi sekali lagi baginda gagal mencapai sasarannya. Namun usaha itu tidak sia-sia sepenuhnya, kerana melalui perjalanan tersebut Rasulullah ﷺ memperoleh satu perjanjian damai dengan Bani Mudlaj dan sekutu mereka dari Bani Damrah.

He sent Hamzah to the seashore in the neighborhood of al-‘Is at the head of thirty riders from the emigrants, with none of the helpers taking part. Hamzah met Abu Jahl ibn Hisham with three hundred riders on the shore and was about to fight him when Majdi ibn ‘Amr al-Juhani intervened between them, causing the people to separate without fighting. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) sent Muhammad ibn ‘Ubaydah ibn al-Harith with sixty riders from the Muhajireen, there not being a single one of the Ansar among them. He encountered Abu Sufyan at the head of more than two hundred riders in the valley of Rabigh. Again, no fighting took place except that Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas shot an arrow on that day. Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) also sent Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas with twenty riders towards Makkah, but they returned without fighting. These expeditions helped create an atmosphere of war in Madinah, and they also served to frighten the Quraysh, who began to seriously feel the threat coming from Allah’s Messenger (pbuh). He (pbuh) did not stop at that, but went out raiding himself. Twelve months after his arrival in Madinah he (pbuh) went forth on a raid looking for the Quraysh and Banu Damrah until he reached Waddan. He (pbuh) did not meet the Quraysh that day, and instead Banu Damrah made peace with him. After that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) went raiding at the head of a contingent of two hundred riders from the Muhajireen and Ansar, until they reached Buwat in the neighborhood of Radwa. They were making for a caravan composed of two thousand five hundred cattle protected by one hundred fighters led by Umayyah ibn Khalaf. But he (pbuh) failed to intercept the caravan due to the fact that it had traversed a different route than the one normally used. Three months after returning from the expedition to Buwat, Abu Salmah ibn ‘Abd al-Asad was left in charge of Madinah and the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) undertook another raid at the head of two hundred plus Muslims until he reached al-‘Ushayrah in the valley of Yanbu where he stopped during the month of Jumada al-Ula and resided until some days of Jumada al-Akhirah had passed. This was in the second year of Hijrah. The reason for his camping there was that he (pbuh) was waiting for a caravan headed by Abu Sufyan, but once again he missed his target. It was not entirely a wasted effort though, because the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) gained from his trip a peace treaty with Bani Mudlaj and their allies from Bani Damrah.

Beliau hanya sepuluh hari berada kembali di Madinah apabila Kurz bin Jabir al-Fahri menyerbu unta-unta gembalaan Madinah. Rasulullah ﷺ keluar mencari beliau, kerana Kurz adalah salah seorang sekutu kaum Quraisy. Rasulullah ﷺ sampai di lembah Safwan berhampiran Badar, tetapi Kurz terlepas daripada baginda. Inilah serbuan pertama ke Badar.

He (pbuh) had only been back in Madinah for ten days when Kurz ibn Jabir al- Fahri raided the pasturing camels of Madinah. Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) went out in search of him, Kurz being one of the allies of the Quraysh. Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) reached the valley of Safwan in the neighborhood of Badr, but Kurz eluded him. This was the first raid of Badr.

Begitulah cara Rasulullah ﷺ mula menentang kaum Quraysh bersama tenteranya, dengan menjelajahi Semenanjung dan mengutus ekspedisi-ekspedisi. Walaupun tiada pertempuran berlaku, Rasulullah ﷺ berjaya memperoleh kemajuan yang besar, yang membuka jalan bagi pertempuran-pertempuran yang lebih besar lagi, kerana serbuan-serbuan ini berfungsi sebagai latihan ketenteraan bagi tentera Muslim dan menyediakan mereka untuk peperangan. Ia juga menimbulkan rasa gerun dalam hati kaum Yahudi dan golongan munafik di Madinah, dan menghalang mereka daripada berfikir untuk menimbulkan kekacauan. Baginda ﷺ berjaya melemahkan semangat kaum Quraysh dengan menentang mereka, sambil meningkatkan semangat kaum Muslimin dengan sangat besar. Baginda ﷺ juga membentuk dan menguatkuasakan sekatan terhadap kafilah-kafilah kaum Quraysh dalam perjalanan mereka ke al-Sham, dengan menandatangani perjanjian bersama kabilah-kabilah yang berkhemah antara Madinah dan pantai Laut Merah, seperti Banu Damrah, Banu Mudlaj dan lain-lain.

That is how Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) began defying the Quraysh with his army, by roaming the Peninsula and sending out expeditions. Although no fighting took place, Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) achieved considerable gains which paved the way for still greater battles, since these raids served as military exercises for the Muslim army and prepared them for war. They also sent shivers down the spines of the Jews and the hypocrites of Madinah and discouraged them from entertaining any thoughts about causing trouble. He (pbuh) succeeded in demoralizing the Quraysh by defying them while boosting the morale of the Muslims a great deal. He (pbuh) also formed and enforced a blockade on the caravans of the Quraysh on their way to al-Sham by signing treaties with the tribes encamped between Madinah and the Red Sea coast, such as Banu Damrah, Banu Mudlaj and others.