In Sha‘ban 4 A.H., January 626 A.D., the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) set out to Badr  accompanied by one thousand and five hundred fighters and ten mounted horsemen, and with ‘Ali bin
Abi Talib as standard bearer. ‘Abdullah bin Rawahah 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, Second’, ‘Badr, the Latter’,  and ‘Badr Minor’.
THE INVASION OF DOUMAT AL-JANDAL:
With the Messenger’s return from Badr, peace and security prevailed the whole area; and the Islamic  headquarters, Madinah, enjoyed full security. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) 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 (Peace be upon him) 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 (Peace be upon him) stayed there for 5 days during which he despatched 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 (Peace be upon him)  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.