We will discuss the actual gist of the battle.

The problem is we cannot describe

an entire battle in one go. What we have is a series of small specific battles
between two people. And this is our narration/version - we want to have much mor
e details but we don't have as many as we want. Again another issue is the chron
ological order of the battles - we simply don't know.
Of the stories that occured at the beginning is that of Umaid ibn Al-Humaan. Whe
n the mushrikoon ran towards the muslims, and the muslims charged foward, the pr
ophet PBUH said "Stand up and embrace Jannah whose width is as much as the dista
nce between heavens and Earth". Umaid was eating some dates to strengthen himsel
f, but when he heard this he said "Bakin bakin" i.e. he is trivialising it. The
prophet PBUH said "what do you mean?" Umaid said "If this is the truth, what is
the use of living here, I want to be apart of the people of Jannah". Umaid said
"If I live long enough to finish these dates, its too long of a life". And he is
one of the handful of sahaba who died in Badr. Indeed the Badri sahaba were the
most elite, and of them the shuhada of Badr were at a higher level - so Umaid i
bn Al Humaan was a very high level sahabi.
Its also narrated the prophet PBUH said "do not throw your arrows until they com
e into distance; then when they come shower them with arrows but save them from
later on". And in Abu Dawud the prophet PBUH said "Don't unsheeth your swords un
til they are right on you". And at some point in time, the prophet PBUH picked u
p a handful of dust and threw it in the faces of the mushrikoon, and he said "ma
y these faces be cursed". And its said every single mushrik was blinded for a sh
ort while. It would make sense this happened right when the mushriks were chargi
ng at the muslims. And as we said Allah references this in the Quran.
Did the prophet PBUH himself fight in Badr? There is some contraversy here. The
majority opinion is the prophet PBUH did not fight in most of the battles; he wa
s a military commander maintaining the order etc. But as for Badr it appears to
be he was physically fighting; what ibn Hajar say is he would fight, and then go
back to his tent to make dua, and then would repeat. This is based on a narrati
on by Ali RA "On the day of Badr we saw the prophet PBUH was the closest of us t
o the enemy, and when the fighting got tough we would seek protection through hi
m" i.e. coming close to him. And Ali RA said "the prophet PBUH was the most aggr
essive/brave of us". Ali RA narrates he came to see what the prophet PBUH was do
ing in his tent and he found him in sadajah so he went away to fight. And then h
e came back again to find the prophet PBUH still in sadajah so he went away. And
then he came back for the third time and the prophet PBUH was still in sadajah.
After this he left and the muslims were victorious. So Ali RA narrates both of
these narrations thus the only way to reconile is that the battle lasted multipl
e hours, therefore the prophet PBUH was alternating between fighting and making
dua. Remember the battle was on a Friday, 17th Ramadan 2H. And Abu Bukr RA would
stay with him wherever he went; Abu Bukr RA guarded him while he made dua.
We also know from the Quran Allah sent down exactly 1000 angels. That:
[Remember] when you asked help of your Lord, and He answered you, "Indeed, I wil
l reinfoce/help you with a thousand from the angels, following one another."
Allah says here "I will HELP you" i.e. not "you sit back and relax - NO, you do
your job and I will help you". And Allah says in the Quran
[Remember] when your Lord inspired to the angels, "I am with you, so strengthen
those who have believed. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbeli
eved, so strike [them] upon the necks and strike from them every fingertip."
Notice here the angels helped the believers. The believers are raising the sword
and fighting, but the angels complete the action. Not that the believers did no
thing - no. Now imagine Allah is telling the angels to go and strike them. This

is the angels Allah is inspiring.

A number of stories have been narrated where the sahabah saw the angels. We alre
ady mentioned as soon as the prophet PBUH lowered his hands he said "Allah has a
nswered our prayer, here is Jibreel AS, turbaned, armed and riding a horse with
the angels". Notice thus even the angels have horses etc. So Allah has created c
reatures way beyond our imagination. And why are they armed? Allah wants to show
us even the angels need to put in the effort. Of the stories mentioned, in Musl
im, ibn Abbass narrates one of the sahaba was in pursuit of a mushrik, and he he
ard a rider calling out to his horse "Go forth Hayzoom" and he saw the mushrik h
e was about to attack, his nose was instantly chopped off. Before the muslim cou
ld lower his sword, the angel whipped the mushrik's nose off. Again the angels '
helped' the believers - they didn't just win the battle. And when he told the pr
ophet PBUH what happened, the prophet PBUH said "you have told the truth, that w
as a help Allah had sent down from the third heaven".
When Abbass was brought as a prisoner of war, and he was a strong warrior; the A
nsari who brought him was a small, stout person and so Abbass was very angry and
embarrased and when got to the prophet PBUH before the Ansari said anything he
said "Oh messenger this man did not capture me!" But the Ansari said "NO I captu
red him". Abbass is looking around he said "The man who captured me had parted h
is hair, and he was the most beautiful man I've ever seen, on the most beautiful
horse". The Ansari said "No I was the one". The prophet PBUH said "Be queit for
Allah helped you with a noble angel".
As we said the prophet PBUH specified two people should not be killed; in one na
rration its said the prophet PBUH specified that all of Banu Hashim must not be
killed. Why? Because they have been forced to fight (recall abu Lahab didn't eve
n come). Along with this he said not to kill Abu Bhuktari since he helped broke
the boycott. Thus the prophet PBUH here is 'returning the favour'. So clear cut
those who treat us with kindness we must return the favour. If people stand for
truth and justice their kufr dosen't stop us from respecting them and standing w
ith them in noble causes.
Yet another unamed Ansari narrated his father was persuing an enemy and before h
e could lift his sword, he saw a man dead in front of him. So this ansari said h
is father knew he was being helped.
Zubair ibn Al Awwam whom the prophet PBUH called his 'helper' - his wife was Asm
a bint Abu Bukr and his son was Abdullah ibn Zubair. So it's mentioned the Zubai
r was wearing a yellow turban during the battle. Thus to imitate him all the ang
els came down in a yellow turban. This is a great honour all the angels came in
the same clothes as him. And Allah chose these 1000 angels himself. Jibreel AS o
nce asked the prophet PBUH "What do you think of those who participated in Badr?
" The prophet PBUH said "We think they are the best". And Jibreel AS said "Simil
arly those who participated from the angels are also the best". This shows us th
e angels also have ranks.
Why did Allah send 1000 angels when frankly one was enough? When Allah wanted to
destory the people of Lut AS, Jibreel AS came in his real form, took one tip of
his wing and just touched the ground with one portion. And that was so powerful
the whole city jumped up and turned onto its face. Throughout the Quran and Sun
nah the entire message given is "you don't get anything for free". Even if that
effort isnt worth the result i.e. Jannah is not worth our actions. But we need t
o pay some price and put effort in. Allah will look at the quality of our effort
. Thus when the sahabah are literally walking into death, then Allah sent His an
gels to help them. The angels were just helpers - everytime we hear of an incide
nt, the sahabi was doing something and the angel finishes it off. You have to fo
llow the means to get to the end. Even Maryam AS when she is alone and in labour
, Allah says "don't worry I'll bless you... BUT you need to shake the tree". She

cannot stand up so Allah said "OK do what you can i.e. shake the tree". Even Ma
ryam AS in that state, still she dosen't get it for free. The point is so profou
nd here. If this is the case for someone like Maryam AS when she is giving birth
to Isa AS, what about us? Yes Allah will give what is decreed IF we strive to g
et it. This is the most important lesson of badr. The victory was ultimate but i
t wasn't given until the muslims when the whole 9 yards in the thick of the batt
le. When they go right to the very end and put their trust in Allah, then Allah
says "ok you passed the test". Ibn Abbass also narrates that never did the angel
s fight with the believers except for Badr.
We also have the story of Ukaasha. He hit the armour of someone and his sword br
oke. And he complained to the prophet PBUH that "I don't have a sword". So the p
rophet PBUH picked up some twigs and said "here take this". So Ukaasha without a
seconds thought went out with the twigs, raised them and suddenly they transfor
med into the best sword he's ever seen. And he fought with these swords in every
battle until he died a shaheed against Musaylama. Look at the tawaqul here. The
prophet PBUH gives him twigs! He dosen't say "You give me twigs?!" The prophet
PBUH said "Go fight!" Can you imagine? Just twigs. It's said also they buried hi
m with that sword.
Of the stories, one of the highlights of Badr is the killing of Abu Jahal, Amar
ibn Hishaam. And the prophet PBUH said he is the pharoh of this ummah. And Allah
willed he be killed by two young teenagers, around 16/17 years old. There's gre
at wisdom here: that this great tyrant will be killed by some teenagers. It's an
other humiliation for him, but an honour for them and the Ansar. Abdur Rehman ib
n Awf RA said when he was battling in Badr, he wanted strong people by his side
so if they finish their 1 on 1 battle they could help him. But he narrates that
when he turned to his left and right he saw young small men fighting. So he was
dissapointed. But ibn Abbass narrates suddenly one of these boys poked him and w
hispered in his hear "where is Abu Jahal?" Now it turns out both of these were f
riends and they had a competition of who would kill Abu Jahal. Now they are both
young ansari and so they haven't seen Abu Jahal. So one of them poked him and s
aid "Have you seen Abu Jahal before? I have heard he has disrespected the prophe
t PBUH and I've given an oath to Allah if I see him my shadow will overlap with
his until one of two of us is dead". And so Abdur Rehman said barely when he got
to his position the other guy poked him and asked the exact same question. And
so when he heard this he felt comforted the two on either side had spirit. "And
so when we were fighting I saw in the distance Abu Jahal. So I shouted out loud
"this is your companion"". As soon as he said the two of them ran into the army
to get to him. Note Abu Jahal was being protected by his men including Ikrimah b
in Abu Jahal i.e. his son. So these two kids make their way to the grove where A
bu Jahal is. And their names were Mu`adh bin `Amr ibn Al-Jamuh and Muawwad ibn A
l Afrah. And Mu`adh bin `Amr ibn Al-Jamuh's father was a leader of the Banu Sala
ma. Mu'adh himself took the shahada at the second treaty, bayah tul Akabah. So h
e is around 16 now. He raced foward to the trees, and scared he isn't going to g
et to Abu Jahal he jumped forward with his sword but he isn't able to reach the
upper portion of Abu Jahal. So he in the air and the full force of the sword com
es smashing down onto the left leg of Abu Jahal and it completely disconnects. I
krimah is trying to defend his father so Ikrimahs sword chops off the entire rig
ht arm of Mu'adh simulatenously. And Mu'adh after this lived with one arm for hi
s entire life. And Mu'ad later narrated that his arm hung on to his body with ju
st one tendon, and it got in his way, so he put it on his foot, bent down and ri
pped it off. This is a 16/17 year old kid. He is using his left hand for the res
t of the battle. This is Mu`adh bin `Amr ibn Al-Jamuh. And he died a natural dea
th in the khilafah of Uthman.
Mua'wwad ibn Al Afrah's mother who was called Al Afrah was so pious all her chil
dren were named after her. Mua'wwad was that person who voluntered to fight in t
he mubaraza. And Al Afrah had three sons, two of them became shaheed in Badr (bo
th brothers who stood up for the mubaraza). And it's said Mua'wwad also managed

to strike a blow to Abu Jahal, and they both come rushing back to the prophet PB
UH saying "I killed Abu Jahal etc" and they started arguing as to who killed him
when the prophet PBUH said "show me your swords - you both killed him". So the
honour of killing Abu Jahal goes to both of them. But Mu'ad was the one to get t
he armour of Abu Jahal since Mua'wwad died. In Islamic law whoever you kill in a
war you get the personal belongings. so Mu'ad got a mini fortune. Note after Ba
dr finished the prophet PBUH told the sahabah "where is Abu Jahal find his body"
. So a number of sahabah split out and it was Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (the 6th conve
rt to Islam, the one who humiliated many times as he was a low cast) who found h
im. And Abu Jahal was breathing heavily and was about to die. And so ibn Masud p
laces his foot on the chest of Abu Jahal and says "Do you finally admit Allah ha
s disgraced you?" To the very end he remained stubborn "How have I been disgrace
d? A person killed by his own people (i.e. shame on you)". So to the very end he
's still trying to throw the blame back on the muslims. He said "tell me what's
the result of the battle?" And so ibn Masud said "Allah and His messenger have w
on". Abu Jahal then noticed the foot on his chest and out of arrogance he said "
You have stepped on a high place oh son of a shepard". At this ibn Masud pulled
his sword out to killed Abu Jalah; but his sword was too dull. So he got the swo
rd of Abu Jahal and delivered the final blow. And he came back to the prophet PB
UH and said "I found the corpse of Abu Jahal". And the prophet PBUH said "do you
swear by Allah?" This was said 3 times. And at this the prophet PBUH went to se
e the body and said "this is the pharoh of our ummah".
Another story is that of Ummayah ibn Khalaf who met a very evil end. And indeed
in this story we see Allah's justice is infinite. That as you do unto others it
shall be done unto to you. Ummayah ibn Khalaf was a coward; and he tried to brib
e him out. Deep down inside he was scared. He was scared of leaving Mecca and he
remained a begging coward right to the end. When he was the Quraysh had fled, h
e began to look for people to be on his side. Abdur Rehman ibn Awf had a very st
rong bond with Ummayah in the days of Jaheleya, so much so that even after he co
nverted to Islam they remained good friends. Before he became muslim Abdur Reham
n was called Abdu Amrin - and so Ummayah said to him "I still want to call you A
bdu Amrin because I don't know who this Rehman is". But Abdur Rehman said no - s
o Ummayah said "fine I will call Abdul Illah". So when he sees Abdul Illah passe
s by Ummayah holds onto him with two hands. And he notices Abdur Rehman has in h
is hands the armour of someone he had killed. And he said "Oh Abdul Illah protec
t me, take me as a prisoner and I will give you as much as you want". And even o
n the battle Abdur Rehman is a businessman so he throws away the armour and he t
akes Ummayah and another child back to the camp of the muslims as prisoners of w
ar. Before they get to the camp, and note they are still on the battlefield. Not
e here the laws of war has not been revealed yet. The war booty (ganeema), priso
ners of war (anfal) etc all had not been revealed.
Now, Allah intended Bilal RA to see Abdur Rehman holding Ummayah's hand as a pri
soner. And Bilal RA says "Ummayah ibn Khalaf the leader of the kuffar - you are
giving him security?! Over my dead body". And Abdur Rehman starts pleading "Calm
down Bilal calm down". But Bilal kept on raising his voice until he called the
Ansar and told them "this is that person who totured me". And subhanAllah its am
azing how Allah has preserved the honour and story of Bilal - everyone knows it.
So Abdur Rehman has to negotiate "these are my prisoners they have entrusted my
self to me". But Bilal RA keeps on saying "you will not save this man". Until fi
nally they surround Abdur Rehman and begin prodding Ummayah. So much so Abdur Re
hman is trying to stop them and they would go underneath his hand. And Abdur Reh
man was actually wounded on his foot from trying to protect Ummayah. But eventua
lly both Ummayah and his son were killed. And subhanAllah the same voice that ca
lled out "Ahadun ahad" i.e. "One God One Lord" is the voice that stopped Ummayah
from being taken as a prisoner. And Ummayah ibn Khalaf was the only person not
buried. The rest were - but Ummayah, when they found his body after the battle h
ad finished, he died on a bed of pebbles (which is what he put Bilal on). And wh
enever they tried to lift him up, the flesh on his back would decompose. This is

truly Allahs kudr. And for the sake of covering him up, the took the same burni
ng hot pebbles of the desert and just threw it on him.
Abu Ubayda Amr ibn Al Jarah. His father Jarah was on the side of the Quraysh, an
d he was a bitter enemy who was so angry and jealous his own son was on the side
of muslims. Whenever Jarah would see his own son he would make his way to him t
o kill out out of jealousy. But Abu Ubayda would go somewhere else out of respec
t and love. But out of the blue suddenly Jarah came out to attack Abu Ubayda and
in self defence he killed his own father. After this the people started talking
that "he killed his own father". Now this is something bad enough in these days
out of pure humanity but especially in those jaheleya tribalism days it was wor
se. But Allah revealed in the Quran:
"You will not find a people who believe in Allah and the Last Day having affecti
on for those who oppose Allah and His Messenger, even if they were their fathers
or their sons or their brothers or their kindred. Those - He has decreed within
their hearts faith and supported them with spirit from Him. And We will admit t
hem to gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally. Allah is
pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him - those are the party of Allah
. Unquestionably, the party of Allah - they are the successful."
SubhanAllah this verse is a praise of Abu Ubayda from Allah.
Now even though the prophet PBUH forbade the killing of Abbass, the Banu Hashim
and Abul Bhuktari, unfortunately Abul Bhuktari was killed. Abu Hudhayfa ibn 'Utb
a, the son of Utbah ibn Rabbiah, whose own son was Salim Mawla Abu Hudhayfa (the
famous recitor of the sahabah who was Abu Hudhayfa's freed slave - there are al
ot of hadith about him) and who is the brother of Hind (the wife of Abu Suffyan)
, when he heard the prophet PBUH say the Banu Hashim should not be killed, he sa
id "so our fathers, uncles and brothers (who all just died in the mubaraza) will
be killed, but the uncle and family of the prophet should not be killed?!" And
the news spread Abu Hudhayfa said this, and on top of this he swore to kill Al A
bbass. When the prophet PBUH heard this, he told Umar RA "Ya Abu Hafs, will the
face of the uncle of the prophet PBUH be struck with a sword?" meaning don't let
it happen. Umar RA said "he has commited nifaq let me take care of him" but the
prophet PBUH forbade him - rather, Umar RA went to him and settled him down. La
ter on Abu Hudhayfa used to say "I shall never feel safe about what I said unles
s Allah accepts me as a shaheed". And his dua was accepted and died a shaheed in
the battle of Yamama.
1. Firstly even the sahabah can fall into an error. Thus if we make a mistake ha
ve heart people far greater than you make far greater mistakes. Imagine someone
swearing they will kill the uncle of the prophet PBUH. But he repented and Allah
accepted the forgiveness.
2. Notice the wisdom of the prophet PBUH - he handled it by telling Umar RA and
he knew Umar RA would put him into his placed. He was irritated but he realised
Abu Hudhayfa's brother, uncle etc all just died. So the prophet PBUH is angry bu
t there's no consequences because the emotional state is overlooked.
After the battle was finished, and all the bodies are thrown into the well, when
the body of Utbah is being dragged (his father) Abu Hudhayfa felt pale. On this
the prophet PBUH said to him "Perhaps you find this difficult" and Abu Hudhayfa
says "I have no doubt my father died on kuffar, but I knew from him wisdom, lov
e and great care" - and frankly Utbah was of the better of the Quraysh. So he is
saying his father was a good person, and he hoped Allah guided him to Islam. So
prophet PBUH made dua to Abu Hudhayfa, and this is also his way of showing Abu
Hudhayfa there are no hard feelings everything is forgotten.
Regarding Abul Bhuktari, an ansari saw him and told him "Ya Abul Bhuktari we hav

e been commanded not to harm you so surrender and let us take you to camp". But
Abul Bhuktari said "how about my friend?" so the ansari said "we have no laws ab
out him". But Abul Bhuktari said "no - let not the woman of the Quraysh say I di
d not fight and that I was a coward". And so he charged forward and the ansari h
ad to kill him in self defence, and the prophet PBUH pardoned the ansari for kil
ling him.