November 1, 2026
On 21 October 2026, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan and Indonesia signed the “Badr Memorandum of Understanding” in Doha. The official statement from Qatar’s Ministry of Defence describes it as cooperation in defence manufacturing, research and development, and technical training.
In Islamic doctrine, the name Badr has a precise meaning. It is the site of the first major military victory in jihad by Mohammed against the Kafirs (non-Muslims).
Badr in Islamic Doctrine
The Battle of Badr took place during Ramadan in 624. Around 300 Muslims faced about 1,000 of the Quraysh tribe. Sura 8 of the Koran (“The Spoils”) is devoted to the battle, and the Koran 8:41 refers to it as the Day of Discrimination that decisively separated Muslims from Kafirs. Allah is said to have cast terror into the hearts of the Kafirs in order to grant the Muslims victory (Koran 3:123-126; 8:9-12).
Seventy Quraysh leaders were killed and seventy taken captive. Mohammed taunted the corpses as his soldiers threw them into a well. The spoils of war were distributed according to rules that then became standard and include taking slaves as domestic and sexual slaves.
This was the first jihad battle that took place after the hijra (the migration of Mohammed to Medina). It began the pattern that has repeated itself consistently across Islam’s 1400-year history. First, Islamic migration to new lands. Then, slowly consolidate power. Finally, when Islamic political power is strong enough, use force against the Kafir.
The Doctrinal Pattern Established at Badr
Mohammed is the perfect example for all Muslims for all time (Koran 33:21), so his decisions at Badr became the template. Jihad comprises 31 % of the primary Islamic texts (9 % of the Koran, 21 % of Bukhari, 67 % of the Sira). Its aim is the establishment of the whole world under Islamic rule.
Badr was also a major turning point for Islam’s popularity. After thirteen years of preaching in Mecca, Mohammed had only about 150 followers. He gained more in Medina when he began to be a politician. But jihad brought him enormous success. When he died, all of Arabia was Islamic. The same methods - raids, battles, demands for submission, and the distribution of spoils - continued in the campaigns that followed.
Badr is the foundational event that demonstrated how the doctrine of jihad works in practice and what kind of power results from it.
What can be done to Kafirs
All of the following practices established at Badr follow the example of Mohammed:
- Killing Kafirs in battle: Kafirs can be fought and killed.
Koran 8:12, 8:15-17, 8:39; Hadith, Muslim 1763. - Taking and distributing spoils of war (ghanima): Property taken from the defeated belongs to Allah, Mohammed, and the fighters.
Koran 8:41; Koran 8:69. - Prisoners of war may be executed or ransomed: Prisoners may be executed (especially leaders or those who severely opposed) or ransomed.
Koran 8:67-69; Hadith, Muslim 1763. - Enslavement of captives (including women and children as part of spoils): Captives can be enslaved and distributed. Sexual access to female captives (“those whom your right hands possess”) is permitted in Islamic doctrine. The practice of taking captives as spoils began with early campaigns including Badr (though large-scale female enslavement is more explicitly documented in later expeditions such as Banu Qurayza and Hunayn).
Koran 4:24, 23:5-6, 33:50 (general rules on captives/concubines).
The 2026 Badr Pact
All four states that signed the Badr Memorandum of Understanding are Islamic countries. Their choice of name is not a neutral reference. In the language of Islamic doctrine, Badr is the first successful jihad against the Kafir and the beginning of Political Islam’s territorial expansion.
Naming a defence agreement after that battle is a clear symbol of how Mohammed’s example is alive and relevant today. Someone died for Mohammed today, as they have done every day for the last 1400 years. In signing the agreement, these four states follow Mohammed’s example and place their military cooperation inside the civilizational framework established at Badr: constant jihad against the Kafir.
CSPII examines Islamic doctrine as it is written in the Trilogy. Badr is jihad. The treatment of the Kafir that began there remains part of the doctrine. When Islamic states deliberately invoke that name for a military pact, we should understand at whom the weapons are pointing.
📚 Sources
(1) The Koran
(2) Hadith collections, Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim
(3) Statistical analysis of jihad in the Trilogy: https://www.cspii.org/learn-political-islam/methodology/statistical-analysis-political-islam/trilogy-text-devoted-jihad/
(4) Announcement of Badr military pact: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/turkey-qatar-pakistan-indonesia-sign-defence-cooperation-accord-ankara-says-2026-10-21/