The Battle of Badr Through the Lens of Hatred: Trifković's Islamophobic Narrative

Srđa Trifković (1954-), a Serbian-American publicist and historian, is notorious for his ultra-Islamophobic tendencies. His writings embody the worst excesses of both Orientalism and Islamophobia, spewing ignorance, arrogance, bigotry, and hatred towards Islam and Muslims.

What he produces is neither scholarship nor the hyperbolic readings, but a structured and carefully articulated venom aimed at everything connected with Islam - its faith, societies, cultures, and civilization.

This should surprise no one, for Trifković has mastered the most abject tricks of Orientalism and the most degrading labels of Islamophobia, honed in the advanced centers of these pseudo-scientific movements in both Serbia and the West.

Under his belt he carries the barbaric and disgraceful ultranationalist penchants of Serbia, combined with the hypocritical yet deadly refinements of Western Islamophobia. One can easily imagine, then, the depth of his hostility towards Islam. In short, he exemplifies the worst kind of figure ever produced to vilify Islam and its people. All that a normal soul in a globalized and diverse world ought to be, he refuses to become.

Trifković advocates his polemics and outright lies in two books: "The Sword of the Prophet" and "Defeating Jihad." As far as the Battle of Badr is concerned, the first book contains longer and more elaborate accounts. The second-published four years later and not devoted exclusively to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family)-offers only abridged reports, which are merely reproductions of the earlier material.

Inasmuch as he shows no interest in the ultimately affirmative or neutral features of the battle, Trifković does not mention them - nor any other in relation to the entirety of the Prophet's life. What he does highlight, however, are those aspects of the battle that fall prey to his prejudiced bent to twist and corrupt historical truth.

Thus, Badr is presented as the culmination of the "unleashing" of a new Muhammad in the wake of the hijrah. This "new Muhammad" in Madinah, after finding conducive conditions and facilitating circumstances, is portrayed as one of barbarism, meanness, and brutality. He is angry, unmerciful, bloodthirsty, and consumed by retribution. He is portrayed as a "vengeful warlord," rejoicing in killing, blood-spilling, and the beheading of his earlier purported adversaries.

According to Trifković, the raids on Makkan caravans were driven by urges to rob and steal. Such was a shortcut to enormous riches, perfectly aligned with both the needs and predispositions of the new community. He claims that the Prophet was "short of money" and that his seventy fellow emigrants "were slow to adapt to the need for gainful employment," while other more zealous disciples "were itching for spoils of a different kind."

The most workable and, at the same time, consensual decision, Trifković argues, was to obtain what was needed by intercepting and depriving the wealthy caravans of Quraysh. To accommodate and facilitate this new culture, the Prophet is said to have approved armed raids against the Makkans. Using revelation and divine authority as a distraction, Trifković alleges, permission to fight was likewise legislated by the Prophet around the same time.

So desperate was the Prophet, Trifković maintains, that he was ready to trample over a series of ancient local traditions and norms, one of them being the total and unreserved respect for family connections and good rapport among kin. Not only did the Prophet violate this precept, Trifković reasons, by estranging himself from his tribe, but he also took arms against his kinsmen, which was an unprecedented act. In this view, Islam is seen as tearing all bonds asunder, loathing everyone and inducing everyone to loathe it, and setting itself against all while setting all against itself.

Moreover, Trifković insists that the victory at Badr was not, nor could it be, a miracle. Rather, it was interpreted and imposed as such by the Prophet himself. What had eluded him in daily life and in simpler matters-namely miracles-was suddenly achieved at Badr with the direct help of Allah and a thousand angels. Trifković claims this was little more than propaganda, the Prophet's advertisement of his cause. The concepts of God and angels functioned as ideological sedatives, numbing critical thought and sustaining conformity.

Trifković projects Badr as an opportunity for the Prophet to settle old scores with those who merely opposed him or crossed his path. The Prophet is depicted as wholeheartedly embracing this chance and reveling in it to the fullest. As one would expect from ordinary Islamophobes-let alone from one of their godfathers such as Trifković-there is no mention whatsoever of the constant and relentless persecution endured by Muslims in Makkah, who were forced to flee for their lives and their faith when existence became unbearable, and who then had to defend their new home and sanctuary in Madinah against enemies who never rested in their malicious designs. Nor is there any acknowledgment of the profound implications of living justly, freely, and honorably-implications that necessarily include the right of self-defense in whatever form might keep a raging and ferocious enemy at bay.

The reason for this is clear: Trifković is a sworn enemy of Islam, of Muslims, and of human decency itself. Whoever stands against them, he supports unquestioningly and loyally. As the proverb goes, "the enemy of my enemy is my ally and friend." For him, the question of who is right and who is wrong, where justice lies and where injustice prevails, was never an issue. The only thing that mattered was what Muslims were doing, and who stood with them or against them.

As long as Islam remains what it is, and Muslims remain who they are, they must be targeted. Their only "crime" is that they are Muslims, the followers of truth and the opponents of falsehood and oppression in all its forms and intensities. And, of course, those who stand on the side of falsehood are never content with that.

Applying this principle, Trifković raises objections to the execution of two hard‑core Makkan criminals captured at Badr-al‑Nadr ibn al‑Harith and 'Uqbah ibn Abi Mu'ayt - whose conduct was a plague upon the fabric of life, yet a cancer upon existence. To him, their fate was simply a manifestation of who the Prophet and the Muslims were: murderous barbarians devoid of kindness, compassion, or forgiveness.

Trifković's fabricated view is that the Prophet never forgave al‑Nadr ibn al‑Harith because he told tales more captivating to the people of Makkah than those contained in the Qur'an. To put it differently, Trifković depicts the Prophet as feeling defeated and humiliated by someone supposedly more intelligent, wiser, and articulate. Unable to counter in the same manner, he is said to have harbored feelings of hatred and vengeance. Badr, according to Trifković, was a golden opportunity for the Prophet to redress grievances and settle old accounts.

As for 'Uqbah ibn Abi Mu'ayt, Trifković claims he was executed despite begging for mercy, pleading to be spared so that he might care for his little daughter-his cries, he insists, falling on the deaf ears of the cold‑blooded Muslim executioners.

Trifković's additional drivels include the claim that, against the backdrop of contextualizing and vindicating Badr, unbelievers were branded as "the worst animals," while the Prophet was supposedly crowned with the holy and righteous duty of being "the enemy of infidels." According to his disfigurement of truth and reality, killing, enslaving, and robbing non-Muslims-including Jews and Christians-was not merely divinely sanctioned but outright mandated.

Needless to say, Trifković does not mention at all that the overwhelming majority of prisoners were spared, later either ransomed or even set free, often after being treated with exceptional kindness, sometimes at the expense of the Muslims' own wellbeing. Nor does he wish to see or acknowledge that intrinsically Islam is never directed against specific persons or groups, but only against evil, injustice, and oppression wherever they may appear and whoever may commit them, whether Muslims or non‑Muslims. Islam is blind to all other considerations.

The objective of Badr was to confront rampant wickedness and vice and to strike at their very roots, so that the reign of terror might be broken and people could begin to live freely, making their own decisions without fear or coercion.

If it were Trifković's way, a serial killer dressed elegantly and carrying out his crimes with sophisticated means would be praised as a man of fashion and finesse; or a serial rapist who recites poetry in the ears of his victims while committing his crimes would be celebrated as a poet.