The Battle of Badr

The Battle of Badr was the first major battle between the Muslims of Medina and Quraysh. It was fought on Friday, 17 Ramadan 2 AH (March 624 CE), at the wells of Badr ¹. It began as a pursuit of a trade caravan and ended in a clash between two armies. The Muslims came out of it with a victory that changed the balance of power in the Hijaz ².

Quraysh's caravan was returning from al-Sham with the wealth of the people of Mecca: about a thousand camels, worth no less than fifty thousand dinars, with about forty men. The Prophet mobilised his companions to intercept it ³. He set out with three hundred and some ten men (reported as 313, 314 and 317), without preparation for battle: only two horses and seventy camels ⁴. Abu Sufyan sensed the danger. He diverted the caravan toward the coast and sent to Mecca for help, so Quraysh's army set out, about 1,300 strong at first. After the caravan had been saved, the army continued its march to Badr out of the insistence of its commander, Abu Jahl. Al-Akhnas ibn Shariq withdrew with the Banu Zuhra (about three hundred), so that its strength came to about a thousand ⁵.

In the valley of Dhi Afran, the Prophet ﷺ received news of both armies together, and he held a consultative council. Abu Bakr, Umar and al-Miqdad ibn Amr answered for the Emigrants. For the Ansar, who were the majority of the army, Sa'd ibn Mu'adh answered: "Proceed with us in God's blessing" ⁶. The Muslims reached the water of Badr first. On the advice of al-Hubab ibn al-Mundhir, they camped at the water nearest to the enemy. They built a basin and filled in the other wells, and they set up the command post (al-'arish) on high ground ⁷.

The fighting opened with a duel. Utba and Shayba, the sons of Rabi'a, and al-Walid ibn Utba came out, and Ubayda ibn al-Harith, Hamza and Ali met them. The reports differ on who faced whom. The three Qurashis were killed, and Ubayda was wounded and died on the way back at al-Safra ⁸. Then the Muslims held firm against the idolaters' attacks until they were ordered into a general charge. Tradition relates accounts from that day of angels descending in support ⁹. Quraysh's lines collapsed. Muadh ibn Amr ibn al-Jamuh and Muawwidh ibn Afra' struck Abu Jahl and left him incapacitated, and Abdullah ibn Mas'ud cut off his head ¹⁰.

Fourteen men of the Muslims were martyred: six of the Emigrants and eight of the Ansar. Seventy of the idolaters were killed and seventy were captured, most of them leaders and nobles ¹¹. The bodies of the idolaters' dead were thrown into a well, and the corpses of Quraysh's nobles were put into Tawi, one of the wells of Badr ¹². On the return journey, two captives were executed: al-Nadr ibn al-Harith at al-Safra and Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt at 'Irq al-Zabya. Both had been among the most hostile to the call in Mecca ¹³.

In Medina, the Prophet consulted his companions about the captives. Abu Bakr favoured taking ransom and 'Umar favoured execution. The matter came to rest on ransom, from four thousand dirhams down to one thousand, and whoever could not pay taught ten boys of Medina to write. A rebuke came concerning this in Surat al-Anfal ¹⁴.

Surat al-Anfal was revealed as a whole in commentary on Badr. Its subjects include the reluctance of those who disliked going out, the rain that purified the Muslims and steadied their feet, the reinforcement of angels, the verse on the throwing at Badr, the distribution of the spoils after the dispute over booty, and the rebuke over taking ransom before the enemy was subdued ¹⁵. In the second year, fasting in Ramadan and zakat al-fitr were prescribed, and the first festival of the Muslims was the festival of breaking the fast in Shawwal 2 AH ¹⁶.

The book describes Badr as the first decisive battle of Islam. It defeated the leadership of Quraysh that had driven the Muslims out. After it, Abdullah ibn Ubayy and those with him embraced Islam outwardly, and the tribes around Medina were struck with terror ¹⁷. Historians from outside the tradition see Badr as the turning point from a persecuted community to a regional power that negotiates and fights ¹⁸.

The details of the mobilisation before the battle, the Prophet's departure in pursuit of the caravan, the departure of Mecca's army to protect it, and the reconnaissance and the rain are in the card Mobilisation before Badr ^{3 19}.

The details of the dead, the captives, the spoils, and news of Mecca and Medina are in the card After Badr, as is the revelation of Surat al-Anfal concerning the spoils ^{13 20}.

The speaker sets Badr out as the first of the images of victory and defeat that he compares, and makes it the starting point of his search for a single cause ²¹.

He gives the number of Muslims at Badr as about three hundred and thirteen, and of the people of Mecca as about a thousand (needs_source) ²². He says Abu Sufyan secured the caravan by another route while Abu Jahl pressed on to Badr, and that Abu Sufyan had sent a man calling for help for the caravan ²³.

He recounts pledges made at Badr. One companion told the Prophet that they would not say to him what the Children of Israel said to Moses, "go you and your Lord and fight"; they would fight with him ²⁴.

He says Gabriel descended with five thousand angels to guard the Prophet at Badr (needs_source) ²⁵.

He says Umar sent four veterans of Badr as reinforcements to Amr ibn al-As (may God be pleased with him) in Egypt, each to be counted as a thousand, and that Umar reckoned by faith and not by numbers. The figures he gives for this are inconsistent (needs_source) ^{26 27 28}. He returns to the reckoning and says that each of the four Badr veterans was a community in himself ²⁹.

He recounts the Prophet's dealings with Abbas after Badr, and Abbas's remark that a groan kept him awake at night. The transcript does not make clear whose groan it was (needs_source) ³⁰.

In the judge's sermon that the speaker recites, "the days of Badr" are listed among the battles that the judge enumerates ³¹.