Battle of Badr

The Battle of Badr, considered one of the most important wars in Islamic history, was a watershed moment for Muslims. The Muslim community, commanded by Prophet Muhammad, fought this battle at Badr, Madinah province, against a Quraysh army led by Abu Jahl. During this battle, Muslims killed several major Qurayshi leaders, including Umayyah ibn Khalaf and Abu Jahl. According to popular belief, Muslims' victory in this fight cleared the ground for Prophet Muhammad's position to be strengthened. 

The victory was credited to divine intervention along with Prophet Muhammad's strategic talents and valour, making it the most decisive battle in Islamic history. The Battle of Badr narrative has been passed down in the history of Islam for centuries as a key event. It is well-known as the first major skirmish between the Qurayshite Mecca and Muslims. It's also mentioned in the Quran, the Muslim sacred book.

Background of the Battle of Badr

Arabia was thinly populated at the time of the conflict, with only a few Arabic-speaking peoples. Some were Bedouin, pastoral nomads who lived in tribes; others were agriculturalists who lived in oasis in the north or more fertile and densely inhabited areas in the south (now Yemen and Oman). Many polytheistic religions were practised by the majority of Arabs. Judaism, Christianity (including Nestorianism), and Zoroastrianism were also followed by tribes.

Muhammad was born into the Ban Hashim clan of the Quraish tribe in Mecca in approximately 570 C.E. He is supposed to have had a spiritual revelation while meditating in a cave outside of Mecca when he was approximately forty years old. He began preaching to his family, first in private and then in public. His teaching drew some adherents while alienating others. Muhammad was guarded by his uncle Ab Tlib throughout this time. When his uncle died in 619, Ban Hshim's authority fell to 'Amr ibn Hishm,' one of Muhammad's opponents, who withdrew protection and intensified persecution of the Muslim minority.

With blatant acts of violence against Muslims being performed by their fellow Quraishi tribesmen in 622, Muhammad and many of his companions fled to Medina, a nearby city. The Hijra is the Arabic word for migration, and it marks the start of Muhammad's reign as a political and religious leader.

The Battle of Badr

Prior to the fight, the Muslims and Meccans had engaged in a series of smaller skirmishes in late 623 and early 624, as Muslim ghazawt became increasingly common. Badr, on the other hand, was the first large-scale clash between the two armies. Muhammad learned from his intelligence sources in the spring of 624 that a commerce caravan led by Abu Sufyan and escorted by thirty to forty men was returning from Syria to Mecca. 

The caravan was supported with money left behind by Muslims in Mecca before their departure for Medina. To mock the Muslims, the Quraysh sold all of their possessions and used the proceeds to support this caravan. Muhammad assembled a force of 313 soldiers, the greatest army the Muslims had ever fielded.

The March to Badr

Muhammad was able to assemble a force of 313-317 soldiers. The actual number varies depending on the source, but it is widely accepted to be 313. This army was made up of 82 Muhajirun, 61 'Aws, and 170 Khazraj. They were ill-equipped and unprepared for a major fight. They only had two horses, which belonged to al-Miqdad ibn 'Amr and az-Zubayr ibn al-'Awwam. The army possessed 70 camels in all, which meant that two to three men could ride one camel at a time. 'Ali ibn Abu Talib and Marthad ibn Abi Marthad al-Ghanawi shared a camel with Muhammad.

Ibn Umm Maktum was entrusted with the guardianship and administration of Medina, although this was later passed on to Abu Lubaba ibn 'Abd Al-Mundhir. Mus'ab ibn 'Umair al-Qurashi al-'Abdari was given a white standard by Muhammad. The army was split into two battalions, one made up of 82 Muhajirun and the other of 231 Ansar. 'Ali ibn Abu Talib was in charge of the Muhajirun flag, whereas Sa'd ibn Mu'adh was in charge of the Ansar flag. az-Zubayr was in charge of the right flank, while al-Miqdad was in charge of the left. Qays bin Abi Sa'sa'ah was in charge of the army's rear.

The army marched out from the north along the major road to Mecca, led by Muhammad. He sent Basbas al-Juhani and 'Adi al-Juhani to scout for the Quraish at Safra'. Uthman, the future Caliph, stayed behind to care for his unwell wife Ruqayyah, Muhammad's daughter, who later died of illness. Salman al-Farsi was also unable to participate in the combat since he was not yet a free man.

The Muslim Plan

Around this time, word of the Meccan army's departure reached the Muslim army. Because there was still time to escape and because many of the fighters were recent converts (dubbed Ansar or "Helpers" to distinguish them from Quraishi Muslims) who had just vowed to defend Medina, Muhammad quickly convened a council of war. They would have been within their rights to refuse to combat and leave the army under the rules of the Medina Constitution. They did, however, swear to fight as well, with Sa'd bin 'Ubada proclaiming, "If you [Muhammad] command us to throw our horses into the sea, we will do it." However, the Muslims continued marching towards Badr in the hopes of avoiding pitched combat.

Both forces were within a day's march from Badr by March 15. At the Badr wells, certain Muslim fighters (including, according to some reports, Ali) rode ahead of the main column and grabbed two Meccan water bearers. The Muslims were shocked to hear them state they were with the main Quraishi army, as they had expected them to say they were with the caravan. According to some legends, Muhammad exclaimed, "Mecca hath flung unto you the richest morsels of her liver," when he heard the names of all the Quraishi nobles accompanying the army. Muhammad ordered a forced march to Badr the next day, and they reached ahead of the Meccans. 

The Badr wells were on the eastern side of a valley known as "Yalyal," on a gentle slope. A large hill known as 'Aqanqal hemmed in the valley on the western side. When the Muslim army arrived from the east, Muhammad formed his army at the first well he saw, but one of his troops apparently convinced him to relocate his army westwards and occupy the well nearest to the Quraishi army. The order was then given to fill in the remaining wells, forcing the Meccans to fight the Muslims over the last available source of water.

The Plan of Mecca

While little is known about the Quraishi army's march from the time it left Mecca until it arrived just outside Badr, there are a few points worth noting: unlike many Arab armies, the Meccan army did not bring their women and children along on missions to motivate and care for the troops. The Quraish appear to have made little or no effort to contact their numerous supporters scattered across the Hejaz. In their rush to safeguard the caravan, the Quraish may have lacked the opportunity to plan an effective campaign. Furthermore, it is thought that they anticipated a straightforward triumph.

Since Muhammad's troops had destroyed or taken possession of all of the city's wells, a few Makkans approached the Muslim-controlled well to collect water. Except for Hakim ibn Hizam, who later converted to Islam, they were all shot. The Quraish broke camp and marched towards the Badr Valley around midnight on March 13th (17 Ramadan). A survey of the Muslim position was conducted by 'Umayr ibn Wahb al-Jumahi, who reported 300 warriors eager to fight to the death. He reported that the Muslims were not going to be reinforced and that they were not preparing any ambushes after another scouting operation.

The Day of the Battle

On March 17, after midnight, the Quraish broke camp and marched into the Badr Valley. It had rained the day before, and they had difficulty moving their horses and camels up 'Aqanqal's hill (sources say the sun was already up by the time they reached the summit). The Meccans established a new camp inside the valley after they descended from 'Aqanqal’. They sent out a spy, Umayr ibn Wahb, to reconnoitre the Muslim lines while they rested. Muhammad's army was limited, according to Umayr, and there were no additional Muslim reinforcements who could join the battle.

This disheartened the Quraish even more, as Arab fights were typically low-casualty events, and sparked yet another round of quarrelling among the Quraishi leadership. Amr ibn Hishm, on the other hand, quelled the lingering dissent by appealing to the Quraishi's sense of honour and insisting that they carry out their blood retribution, as per Muslim tradition.

The conflict began with al-Aswad bin 'Abdul-Asad al-Makhzumi, a member of Abu Jahl's Banu Makhzum clan, swearing that he would drink from the Muslims' well, destroy it, or die for it. One of Muhammad's uncles, Hamza ibn 'Abdul-Muttalib, rushed out in response to his screams and the two began fighting in a duel. Hamza punched al-Aswad in the leg before killing him with another strike. Seeing this, Utbah ibn Rabi'ah, his brother Shaybah ibn Rabi'ah, and their son al-Walid ibn 'Utbah emerged from the Makkan lines, clad in armour and shields.

Three Madani Ansar emerged from the Muslim ranks, only to be rebuffed by the Meccans, who didn't want to start any unnecessary feuds and only intended to fight the Muhajirun, keeping the conflict inside the tribe. As a result, Hamza sought and summoned Ubaydah ibn al-Harith and 'Ali ibn Abu Talib. The first two duels, between 'Ali and al-Walid, and Hamza and Shaybah, were short and sweet, with both sides killing their opponents quickly. Hamza looked at 'Ubaydah after the fight between Ali and Walid and saw that he was gravely injured. Shaybah was then attacked and slain by him.

Ubaydah was then taken back into the Muslim lines by Ali and Hamza. Later, he died of a sickness. Following these duels, both sides unleashed a hail of arrows, and several more duels ensued, the majority of which were won by the Muslims. The Makkans went on the attack and attacked the Muslim lines.

Both armies started shooting arrows at each other at this point. Two Muslims were murdered, as well as an unknown number of Quraish. Before the battle, Muhammad instructed the Muslims to strike with their ranged weapons and engage the Quraish with melee weapons only as they advanced. Now he gave the order to assault, hurling a handful of rocks at the Meccans and shouting, "Defaced be those faces!" The Muslim troops attacked the Quraishi lines, yelling "Y manr amit!" Several Qur'anic scriptures speak to thousands of angels descending from Heaven at Badr to slaughter the Quraish, demonstrating the magnitude of the Muslim invasion.

It's worth noting that early Muslim sources take this tale literally, as Muhammad mentions the Angel Jibreel and his role in the battle in multiple hadiths. In any case, the Meccans, who were outmanned and uninterested in fighting, broke and fled. The conflict itself was brief, lasting only a few hours and ending in the early afternoon.

You can have a look at the Battle of Badr map here:

Result of the Battle of Badr

According to Al-Bukhari, the Meccans suffered 70 deaths and 70 captures. Unless the real number of Meccan troops present at Badr was much smaller, in which case the percentage of troops lost would have been higher, this would be 15-16 percent of the Quraishi force. The number of Muslims killed is typically reported to be 14, or around 4% of their deployed soldiers. The large disparities between the loss totals on each sideshow that the fighting was quite brief and that the majority of the Meccans were murdered during the withdrawal, according to the sources.

Several Meccan Quraish were taken as prisoners by the Muslims during the war. The Muslim army was immediately divided about their fate. A comparable episode is described in 1 Samuel 15 of the Bible, in which God punishes Saul for sparing the lives of prisoners whom God had ordered him to slaughter. The Meccan Quraishi prisoners were only allowed to leave if they taught ten Muslims how to read. There was no proof of incarceration, and the detainees were kept safe and fed during that time. In the case of Umayyah, his former slave Bilal was so focused on killing him that one of the Muslims guarding Umayyah was stabbed by his associates.

Muhammad also gave the order for around twenty of the deceased Quraishis to be buried in the Badr well shortly before he left. This occurrence is mentioned in a number of hadiths, and it appears to have been a great source of fury among the Quraish of Mecca. Shortly after, numerous Muslims who had lately been captured by Meccan friends were carried into Mecca and executed as a form of retaliation for the defeat.

Any Meccans related to those killed at Badr would feel bound to seek retribution against members of the tribe who had slaughtered their relatives, according to the customary blood feud (equivalent to Blood Law). On the Muslim side, there was a strong desire for retribution, as the Quraishi Meccans had harassed and tortured them for years. The surviving prisoners, however, were quartered with Muslim families in Medina and treated nicely, either as kin or as potential sources of ransom cash, after the initial killings.

Did You Know?

Conclusion

Thus, in this article we have learned about the Battle of Badr in detail. We learned about what this battle is about, the major parties involved, its background as well as the result of the Battle etc. This battle is one of the of important battles fought in Islamic history and found its mention in the holy book of Islam i.e. Quran.