We will discuss the actual gist of the battle. Now the problem comes with the actual battle is that we cannot describe a battle between hundreds of people except with specific stories between individuals. It's not possible to describe an entire battle as this is the old-style battle where you are one-on-one. What we have is a series of small incidents —that is all that we know— maybe 10-15 incidents of specific battles between two people. And this is our narration/version of the Battle of Badr. We want to have much more details, but unfortunately, we don't have most of these details recorded. What we have is literally probably around 15 stories, and that is about it. And again, another issue is the chronological order of the battles — we simply don't know.
Umayr ibn al-Humam RA
Of the stories that occurred at the beginning is that of Umayr ibn al-Humam (عمير بن الحمام). When the mushrikun ran towards the Muslims, and the Muslims charged forward, the Prophet PBUH said, "Stand up and embrace Jannah whose width is like the heavens and the earth." Umayr was eating some dates to strengthen himself; and when he heard this, he said, "Bakhin bakhin (بخ بخ)" — an archaic Arabic phrase used to trivialize something. The Prophet PBUH said, "What do you mean? (i.e., how are you trivializing this?)" Umayr said, "What I mean, ya Rasulullah, is that, if this is true, then what use is it to remain living here?! I *want* to be of those people of Jannah!" The Prophet PBUH said, "You are of those people." When Umayr heard this, he threw away the dates and said, "If I live long enough to finish these dates, then it is too long of a life!" — and he stood up and charged into the army. And he is one of the handful of sahaba who died in the Battle of Badr. Indeed, the Badriyun (بدريون - Participants of [the Battle of] Badr), as it is, were the most elite of the sahaba — and of them, the shuhada of Badr were at a higher level — so Umayr ibn al-Humam RA was a very high-level sahabi.
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The Battle of Badr
It's also narrated that when the army began to charge, the Prophet PBUH said, "Do not throw your arrows until they come within distance; then when they come, shower them with arrows — but save some for later on."
And in Abu Dawud, the Prophet PBUH said, "Don't unsheathe your swords until they are right upon you."
And at some point in time —perhaps now or perhaps before this— the Prophet PBUH picked up a handful of dust and threw it in the direction of the faces of the mushrikun, and said, "May these faces be cursed." And it's said every single mushrik was blinded for a short while. (It would make sense that this happened right when the mushriks were charging at the Muslims.) And as we said, Allah SWT references this in the Quran in Surah al-Anfal [8:17].
Did the Prophet PBUH himself fight in the Battle of Badr? There is some controversy here. The majority opinion is the Prophet PBUH did not fight in most of the battles —he was a military commander maintaining order, etc.— but as for Badr, it appears to be that he was physically fighting, along with making du'a in the tent. So what Ibn Hajar and others opine is that he PBUH would fight, and then go back to his tent to make du'a, and then would repeat. This is based on a narration by Ali RA in Musnad Imam Ahmad: "On the Day of Badr, we saw the Prophet PBUH was the closest of us to the enemy, and when the fighting got tough, we would seek protection through him," i.e., coming close to him. And Ali RA said, "The Prophet PBUH was the most aggressive/brave of us on that day." Now, Ali RA himself also narrates he came to see what the Prophet PBUH was doing in his tent and he found him in sajdah, saying, "Ya Hayyu ya Qayyum, ya Hayyu ya Qayyum (يا حي يا قيوم ، يا حي يا قيوم - O the Ever-Living, All-Sustaining; O the Ever-Living, All-Sustaining)," so he (Ali) went away to fight. And then he came back again to find the Prophet PBUH still in sajdah, so he went away. And then he came back for the third time and the Prophet PBUH was still in sajdah. And after this, Allah SWT wrote victory for the Muslims, so he didn't come back for the fourth time. So Ali RA narrates both of these narrations (that the Prophet PBUH was in the tent, and that he PBUH was in the front of the army) — thus, the only way to reconcile is that the battle lasted multiple hours, and therefore, the Prophet PBUH was alternating between fighting and making du'a. Remember, the battle was on a Friday, the 17th of Ramadan, 2 AH. And Abu Bakr RA would stay with the Prophet PBUH wherever he went — he guarded him while he made du'a. This is what Ibn Kathir and Ibn Hajar mentioned.
Did the Prophet PBUH himself fight in the Battle of Badr? There is some controversy here. The majority opinion is the Prophet PBUH did not fight in most of the battles —he was a military commander maintaining order, etc.— but as for Badr, it appears to be that he was physically fighting, along with making du'a in the tent. So what Ibn Hajar and others opine is that he PBUH would fight, and then go back to his tent to make du'a, and then would repeat. This is based on a narration by Ali RA in Musnad Imam Ahmad: "On the Day of Badr, we saw the Prophet PBUH was the closest of us to the enemy, and when the fighting got tough, we would seek protection through him," i.e., coming close to him. And Ali RA said, "The Prophet PBUH was the most aggressive/brave of us on that day." Now, Ali RA himself also narrates he came to see what the Prophet PBUH was doing in his tent and he found him in sajdah, saying, "Ya Hayyu ya Qayyum, ya Hayyu ya Qayyum (يا حي يا قيوم ، يا حي يا قيوم - O the Ever-Living, All-Sustaining; O the Ever-Living, All-Sustaining)," so he (Ali) went away to fight. And then he came back again to find the Prophet PBUH still in sajdah, so he went away. And then he came back for the third time and the Prophet PBUH was still in sajdah. And after this, Allah SWT wrote victory for the Muslims, so he didn't come back for the fourth time. So Ali RA narrates both of these narrations (that the Prophet PBUH was in the tent, and that he PBUH was in the front of the army) — thus, the only way to reconcile is that the battle lasted multiple hours, and therefore, the Prophet PBUH was alternating between fighting and making du'a. Remember, the battle was on a Friday, the 17th of Ramadan, 2 AH. And Abu Bakr RA would stay with the Prophet PBUH wherever he went — he guarded him while he made du'a. This is what Ibn Kathir and Ibn Hajar mentioned.
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The Army of 1,000 Angels
We also know from the Quran that Allah SWT sent down 1,000 angels:
إِذْ تَسْتَغِيثُونَ رَبَّكُمْ فَٱسْتَجَابَ لَكُمْ أَنِّى مُمِدُّكُم بِأَلْفٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةِ مُرْدِفِينَ
"[Remember] when you cried out to your Lord for help, He answered, 'I will reinforce/help you with a thousand angels — followed by many others'" [Quran, 8:9].Notice 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:
Notice here that the angels *helped* the believers. The believers are raising the sword and fighting, and the angels complete the action. Not that the believers did nothing and the angels took charge of them. No.
إِذْ يُوحِى رَبُّكَ إِلَى ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةِ أَنِّى مَعَكُمْ فَثَبِّتُوا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ۚ سَأُلْقِى فِى قُلُوبِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ ٱلرُّعْبَ فَٱضْرِبُوا۟ فَوْقَ ٱلْأَعْنَاقِ وَٱضْرِبُوا۟ مِنْهُمْ كُلَّ بَنَانٍۢ
"[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 disbelieved, so strike [them] upon the necks and strike from them every fingertip'" [Quran, 8:12].Notice here that the angels *helped* the believers. The believers are raising the sword and fighting, and the angels complete the action. Not that the believers did nothing and the angels took charge of them. No.
A number of stories have been narrated that the sahaba saw the angels. We already mentioned in the last lesson that as soon as the Prophet PBUH lowered his hands, he said, "Allah has answered our prayer. Here is Jibril, turbaned, armed, and riding a horse." Notice even the angels have horses, which leads to the interesting theological question that there are animals within the realm of the angels. (And we know for a fact that even jinn have animals.) Allah has created creatures way beyond our imagination. "And He creates what you do not know" [Quran, 16:8].
Why are the angels armed? Allah wants to show us even the angels need to put in the effort.
Of the stories mentioned, in Sahih Muslim, Ibn Abbas narrates that one of the sahaba was in hot pursuit of a mushrik, and he heard the sound of a whip coming from in front of him, and he heard a rider (an angel) calling out to his horse, "Go forth, Haizum (حيزوم)!" and he saw the mushrik he was about to attack, his nose was instantly chopped off. Before the Muslim could lower his sword, the angel chopped the mushrik's nose off. (Again, the key point here is the angels *helped* the believers — for every action that they began, the angels completed it. We need to put in the effort, *then* Allah will help us.) And when the sahaba told the Prophet PBUH what happened, the Prophet PBUH said, "You have told the truth — that was a help Allah had sent down from the Third Heaven."
Al-Abbas (the uncle of the Prophet PBUH) would later be brought as a prisoner of war (from the mushrik side) —and he was a strong warrior— and the Ansari who brought him was a small, stout person — so Abbas, embarrassed, when he got to the Prophet PBUH, said, "This man did not capture me!" And the Ansari said, "No, I captured him!" Abbas looked around trying to see the 'man' who captured him, and he said, "No. The man who captured me had parted his hair, and he was the most handsome man I have ever seen, on the most beautiful horse of black and white mixture. But I don't see where he is [now]." The Ansari said, "No, ya Rasulullah. I was the one." The Prophet PBUH said to the Ansari, "Be quiet, for Allah helped you with a noble angel."
As we said, the Prophet PBUH specified two people should not be killed. In one narration, it's 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 even come). Along with this, he said not to kill Abu al-Bukhturi since he helped break the Boycott. Thus the Prophet PBUH here is returning the favor. Those who have done good for the Muslims, they will be remembered. This clearly shows us that we as Muslims living in a non-Muslim land, we look at the sympathetic non-Muslims, we see who is supporting the cause of freedom for every religion to practice its faith, and we do not treat them the same way we treat Islamophobes. This is clear-cut from the seerah. Those who treat us with justice and dignity and kindness, we must return the favor. There are some isolationists amongst us who say 'all kuffar this, all kuffar that' — but wallahi, this mentality is wrong. Yes, those non-Muslims have kufr; but some kuffar, they also stand for truth and justice. Their kufr does not prevent them from standing up for truth. And Abu al-Bukhturi was one such person. And Mut'im ibn Adi was another person. If people stand for truth and justice, their kufr shouldn't stop us from respecting them and standing with them in noble causes.
Yet another unnamed Ansari, his son narrated that his father (i.e., the unnamed Ansari) was pursuing an enemy — and before he could lift his sword, he saw a man fall dead right in front of him with a sword wound. So this son of the Ansari said his father knew he was being helped. (Technical note: A sahabi who is unknown does not affect the validity of the hadith chain. The chain is still authentic. Whereas if you don't know the name of the second or third or fourth person in the chain, then for sure the hadith is weak. As for the sahaba, if somebody says, "One of the sahaba said," or, "My father (who is a sahabi) said," and we don't know his name, we do not care, because جهالة الصحابي لا تضر — the fact that the Companion is unknown does not affect the chain.)
There is also a beautiful hadith in Mustadrak of al-Hakim: Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, whom the Prophet PBUH called his hawari (حواري - disciple), was wearing a yellow turban during the battle. And to imitate him, all the angels came down in the same garment as al-Zubayr, including the yellow turban. This is a great honor for Zubayr ibn al-Awwam — all the angels came in the same clothes as him. And Allah chose these 1,000 angels Himself, and He blessed them through the Battle of Badr. Later in the seerah, Jibril AS once asked the Prophet PBUH (and this hadith is in Bukhari): "What do you think of those (Muslims) who participated in the Battle of Badr?" The Prophet PBUH said, "We think they are the best of all of us." And Jibril AS said, "And similarly, those who participated in the Battle of Badr from the angels, we too think the same." This shows us the angels also have ranks. And the elite of them are those who participated in Badr.
Now, why did Allah send 1,000 angels when frankly one was enough? When Allah wanted to destroy the people of Lut (لوط - Lot) AS, it is said Jibril AS came in his real form, took one tip of his wing, and he just hit the ground next to the cities with it, and the hit was so powerful the cities flipped all the way up and then they came crashing down. So then why does Allah AWJ send 1,000 angels? Again, here we get to the simple fact that throughout the Quran and sunnah, the entire message that is given is: You don't get anything for free. Not even Jannah! You have to put in an effort. Even if that effort is not worth the result, i.e., Jannah is not worth our actions. We don't *earn* Jannah — but we need to pay some price and put the effort in. Allah will look at the quality, and not the quantity, of our effort. Thus, when the 300+ sahaba were literally walking into death, then Allah sent His angels to help them, to complete each of their actions. The angels were just mukammal (مكمل - completer/finisher) and mumid (ممد - helper) — and we gave so many examples. Every time we hear of an incident, the sahabi is doing something, then the angel finishes it off. Think about that. Never do we hear of an incident where the angel does the whole chore for the sahaba. You have to follow the means to get to the end. You have to traverse the path to get to the destination. You need to get there. And even if you are not able to, Allah will bless you — but you need to put in the dedication to do so. Subhan'Allah, even Maryam AS, when she was alone and in labor, Allah said, 'Don't worry, I will bless you... *but* you need to shake the tree.' She could not stand up, so Allah said, okay, do what you can, i.e., shake the tree [see Quran, 19:25]. Even Maryam AS in that state, still didn't get it for free. The point is so profound here. If this is the case for someone like Maryam AS when she was giving birth to that miraculous child Isa AS, then how about us? This is one of the most important lessons of the Battle of Badr. The victory was ultimate, it was miraculous, but still, it wasn't given until the Muslims went the whole nine yards in the thick of the battle.
Al-Abbas (the uncle of the Prophet PBUH) would later be brought as a prisoner of war (from the mushrik side) —and he was a strong warrior— and the Ansari who brought him was a small, stout person — so Abbas, embarrassed, when he got to the Prophet PBUH, said, "This man did not capture me!" And the Ansari said, "No, I captured him!" Abbas looked around trying to see the 'man' who captured him, and he said, "No. The man who captured me had parted his hair, and he was the most handsome man I have ever seen, on the most beautiful horse of black and white mixture. But I don't see where he is [now]." The Ansari said, "No, ya Rasulullah. I was the one." The Prophet PBUH said to the Ansari, "Be quiet, for Allah helped you with a noble angel."
As we said, the Prophet PBUH specified two people should not be killed. In one narration, it's 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 even come). Along with this, he said not to kill Abu al-Bukhturi since he helped break the Boycott. Thus the Prophet PBUH here is returning the favor. Those who have done good for the Muslims, they will be remembered. This clearly shows us that we as Muslims living in a non-Muslim land, we look at the sympathetic non-Muslims, we see who is supporting the cause of freedom for every religion to practice its faith, and we do not treat them the same way we treat Islamophobes. This is clear-cut from the seerah. Those who treat us with justice and dignity and kindness, we must return the favor. There are some isolationists amongst us who say 'all kuffar this, all kuffar that' — but wallahi, this mentality is wrong. Yes, those non-Muslims have kufr; but some kuffar, they also stand for truth and justice. Their kufr does not prevent them from standing up for truth. And Abu al-Bukhturi was one such person. And Mut'im ibn Adi was another person. If people stand for truth and justice, their kufr shouldn't stop us from respecting them and standing with them in noble causes.
Yet another unnamed Ansari, his son narrated that his father (i.e., the unnamed Ansari) was pursuing an enemy — and before he could lift his sword, he saw a man fall dead right in front of him with a sword wound. So this son of the Ansari said his father knew he was being helped. (Technical note: A sahabi who is unknown does not affect the validity of the hadith chain. The chain is still authentic. Whereas if you don't know the name of the second or third or fourth person in the chain, then for sure the hadith is weak. As for the sahaba, if somebody says, "One of the sahaba said," or, "My father (who is a sahabi) said," and we don't know his name, we do not care, because جهالة الصحابي لا تضر — the fact that the Companion is unknown does not affect the chain.)
There is also a beautiful hadith in Mustadrak of al-Hakim: Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, whom the Prophet PBUH called his hawari (حواري - disciple), was wearing a yellow turban during the battle. And to imitate him, all the angels came down in the same garment as al-Zubayr, including the yellow turban. This is a great honor for Zubayr ibn al-Awwam — all the angels came in the same clothes as him. And Allah chose these 1,000 angels Himself, and He blessed them through the Battle of Badr. Later in the seerah, Jibril AS once asked the Prophet PBUH (and this hadith is in Bukhari): "What do you think of those (Muslims) who participated in the Battle of Badr?" The Prophet PBUH said, "We think they are the best of all of us." And Jibril AS said, "And similarly, those who participated in the Battle of Badr from the angels, we too think the same." This shows us the angels also have ranks. And the elite of them are those who participated in Badr.
Now, why did Allah send 1,000 angels when frankly one was enough? When Allah wanted to destroy the people of Lut (لوط - Lot) AS, it is said Jibril AS came in his real form, took one tip of his wing, and he just hit the ground next to the cities with it, and the hit was so powerful the cities flipped all the way up and then they came crashing down. So then why does Allah AWJ send 1,000 angels? Again, here we get to the simple fact that throughout the Quran and sunnah, the entire message that is given is: You don't get anything for free. Not even Jannah! You have to put in an effort. Even if that effort is not worth the result, i.e., Jannah is not worth our actions. We don't *earn* Jannah — but we need to pay some price and put the effort in. Allah will look at the quality, and not the quantity, of our effort. Thus, when the 300+ sahaba were literally walking into death, then Allah sent His angels to help them, to complete each of their actions. The angels were just mukammal (مكمل - completer/finisher) and mumid (ممد - helper) — and we gave so many examples. Every time we hear of an incident, the sahabi is doing something, then the angel finishes it off. Think about that. Never do we hear of an incident where the angel does the whole chore for the sahaba. You have to follow the means to get to the end. You have to traverse the path to get to the destination. You need to get there. And even if you are not able to, Allah will bless you — but you need to put in the dedication to do so. Subhan'Allah, even Maryam AS, when she was alone and in labor, Allah said, 'Don't worry, I will bless you... *but* you need to shake the tree.' She could not stand up, so Allah said, okay, do what you can, i.e., shake the tree [see Quran, 19:25]. Even Maryam AS in that state, still didn't get it for free. The point is so profound here. If this is the case for someone like Maryam AS when she was giving birth to that miraculous child Isa AS, then how about us? This is one of the most important lessons of the Battle of Badr. The victory was ultimate, it was miraculous, but still, it wasn't given until the Muslims went the whole nine yards in the thick of the battle.
Ibn Abbas also narrates that, "Never did the angels actually fight with the believers except on the Day of Badr," i.e., in every other occasion, they merely were backups — they were present, but didn't physically fight; except for Badr.
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Ukasha ibn Mihsan RA
We also have the story of Ukasha ibn Mihsan (عكاشة بن محصن). He hit the armor of someone and his sword broke. And he complained to the Prophet PBUH, "Ya Rasulullah, I only have one sword. What am I going to do now?" The Prophet PBUH picked up some twigs and said, "Here, go fight with this." So Ukasha, without a second thought, went out with the twigs, raised them, and suddenly, they transformed into the best sword he had ever seen. Look at the tawakkul here. This is what you call Iman. And he fought with this sword in every battle until he died a shaheed against Musaylimah [much later on, during the khilafa of Abu Bakr, 11 AH]. And it is said they buried him with that sword (but this is one of those legends Allah knows how true it is).
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The End of Abu Jahal
Of the stories, one of the highlights of the Battle of Badr is the killing of Abu Jahal Amr ibn Hisham (أبو جهل عمرو بن هشام). And the Prophet PBUH said he is the fir'awn (pharaoh) of this ummah. And Allah willed he be killed by two young teenagers around 16-17 years old. There is great wisdom here, that this great tyrant will be killed by some teenagers. It's another humiliation for him, and an honor for the two teenagers and the Ansar.
Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf RA said when he was battling in Badr, he wanted strong people by his side so that if they finished 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 disappointed. And their names were Mu'adh ibn Amr ibn al-Jumuh (معاذ بن عمرو بن الجموح) and Muawwidh ibn Afra' (معوذ بن عفراء). And Mu'adh ibn Amr ibn al-Jumuh's father was a leader of the Banu Salama. Mu'adh himself took the shahada at the Second Covenant of Aqaba. And he is around 16 now. Ibn Abbas narrates: Suddenly, one of these boys poked Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf and whispered in his ear, "Where is Abu Jahal?" It turns out both of these boys were friends and they had a competition between them to see who would kill Abu Jahal. They are both young Ansaris, so they haven't seen Abu Jahal. So one of them poked Abd al-Rahman and said, "O uncle, have you seen Abu Jahal before? I have heard he has disrespected the Prophet PBUH, and I have given an oath to Allah that if I see him, my shadow will overlap with his [and they won't part] until one of the two of us is dead." And so Abd al-Rahman said, "If I see him, I will tell you." And barely had he got back to his position when the other boy poked him and asked the exact same question. And he told him the exact same answer. And so when Abd al-Rahman heard this, he felt comforted that although these guys are young, they both have spirit. Ibn Hajar and others mention that Abu Jahal was standing in a grove of trees — a type of protection. And he was surrounded by his men, most importantly by his son Ikrimah (عكرمة) who was a strong, young man.
Abd al-Rahman narrates further, "And so when we were fighting, I saw in the distance Abu Jahal. So I shouted out loud [to the boys], 'This is your 'companion'!'" As soon as he said that, the two of them darted into the army to get to him. They make their way to the grove where Abu Jahal is. Mu'adh ibn Amr raced forward through the trees, and scared that he wasn't going to get to Abu Jahal, he jumped forward with his sword to try to get the remaining distance before somebody stopped him. But he wasn't able to reach the upper portion of Abu Jahal. We can imagine that he is now in the air, and so the full force of his whole body is now coming down. And his sword came smashing down onto the left leg of Abu Jahal, and it completely severed his leg. Ikrimah, trying to defend his father, his sword chopped off the entire right arm of Mu'adh simultaneously. (And Mu'adh after this lived with one arm for his entire life.) And Mu'adh later narrated that his arm hung onto his body with just one tendon, and it got in his way in Badr, so he put it on his foot, bent down, and ripped it off. This is a 16-17 year-old. And he used his left hand for the rest of the battle. This is Mu'adh ibn Amr ibn al-Jumuh. (And he lived a long life and died a natural death in the khilafah of Uthman RA.)
The second of the two was Muawwidh ibn Afra' — recall he was the one who volunteered to fight in the mubaraza. His mother Afra' was so pious that all her children were named after her. Afra' had three sons, and two of them became shaheed in the Battle of Badr (both brothers who stood up for the mubaraza). Muawwidh, we don't know exactly where his blow landed on Abu Jahal, but it also struck somewhere in his body. So he also gets a blow to Abu Jahal. And so both Mu'adh and Muawwidh come rushing back to the Prophet PBUH saying, "I killed Abu Jahal," "I killed Abu Jahal," and they started arguing as to who killed him when the Prophet PBUH said, "Show me your swords." They both showed him the swords. The Prophet PBUH said, "The both of you have killed him" — meaning both of these wounds together will cause his death. So the honor of killing Abu Jahal goes to the both of them. But Mu'adh was the one to get the armor of Abu Jahal (since Muawwidh was later martyred in the battle). In Islamic law, whoever you kill in a war, you get their personal belongings. So Mu'adh got a mini fortune.
To finish up the story of Abu Jahal: After the Battle of Badr had finished, the Prophet PBUH told the sahaba, "Go and find the body of Abu Jahal." So a number of sahaba split out and it was Abdullah ibn Mas'ud who found him. (Note: Ibn Mas'ud is the 6th convert to Islam — the one who was humiliated many times in Makkah as he was a low caste.) Abu Jahal was breathing heavily and was about to die. So Ibn Mas'ud places his foot on the chest of Abu Jahal and says, "Do you finally admit Allah has disgraced you, O enemy of Allah?" But to the very end, Abu Jahal remained obstinate and stubborn, he responded, "How have I been disgraced? A person killed by his own people" — meaning Abu Jahal is trying to put the blame on the Muslims, that, "Shame on you [for killing your own tribesman]!" To the very end, he tried to throw the blame on the Muslims. Then he asked Ibn Mas'ud, "Tell me, what is the result of the battle? Who has won today?" Ibn Mas'ud said, "Allah and His Messenger have won." Abu Jahal then noticed the foot on his chest — and out of arrogance, he said, "You have stepped on a high place, O son of a shepherd." At this, Ibn Mas'ud pulled his sword out to kill Abu Jahal; but his sword had been made dull by the whole day of Badr, so he got the sword of Abu Jahal and delivered the final blow using his own sword. So Ibn Mas'ud got the honor of giving Abu Jahal the final blow. (But note it's not the full honor since Abu Jahal would have died anyway.) He then came back to the Prophet PBUH and said, "Ya Rasulullah, I found the corpse of Abu Jahal." The Prophet PBUH asked, "Do you swear by Allah?" He said, "Yes, I swear by Allah." "Do you swear by Allah?" "Yes, I swear by Allah." "Do you swear by Allah?" "Yes, I swear by Allah." — 3 times, as this was a very big news. And then the Prophet PBUH said, "Show me [the body]." So they went to see the body, and this was when the Prophet PBUH said, "This was the fir'awn (pharaoh) of this ummah" — and this was the only time he said this.
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The End of Umayyah ibn Khalaf
Another story is that of Umayyah 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 you.
When the Quraysh had fled, Umayyah began to look for people to be on his side. One of his best friends in the days of Jahiliyyah was Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf — so much so that even after Abd al-Rahman converted to Islam, they remained good friends.
(Tangent: Before Abd al-Rahman became Muslim, his name was Abd Amr [عبد عمرو]. So when he converted, he changed his name to Abd al-Rahman. But Umayyah said to him, "I cannot call you this because I don't know who this 'Rahman' is." Abd al-Rahman said, "I will not respond to my old name Abd Amr." So Umayyah said, "Okay, I will call you Abd al-Ilah [عبد الإله]." And Abd al-Rahman said he was fine with that, so he would always be called Abd al-Ilah by Umayyah.)
So when Umayyah sees Abd al-Rahman pass by during the Battle of Badr, he holds onto him with two hands —and he notices Abd al-Rahman has in his hands the armor of someone he had killed— so Umayyah says, "O Abd al-Ilah, what if I were to give you much more than this armor? What if I were to give you many milking camels? Get rid of this armor! Protect me! Take me as a prisoner, and I will give you as much as you want!" Begging for his life to the very end. And, even on the battlefield, Abd al-Rahman is still a businessman — so he throws away the armor, and he takes Umayyah and his son back to the camp of the Muslims as prisoners of war.
2 things to note:
1. The laws of war have not yet been revealed — as we will see later, the Muslims didn't know what to do with the prisoners of war, ransom, booty, etc. All of this, [laws pertaining to them] will come down later on.
2. Technically, they are still on the battlefield, and this is a key point. They are not actually in the safety zone (the camp) yet. So it's a gray area.
Now, Allah willed Bilal RA sees Abd al-Rahman RA holding Umayyah's hand as a prisoner. So Bilal RA says, "Umayyah ibn Khalaf the leader of the kuffar! You are giving him security?! Over my dead body!" And Abd al-Rahman starts pleading, "Calm down, Bilal. Calm down. These are my prisoners." But Bilal kept on raising his voice until he called the Ansar and told them, "This is that man who tortured me!" And subhan'Allah, it's amazing how Allah AWJ has preserved the honor and story of Bilal — it's well known even to our children; how much more so amongst the sahaba. Everyone knows it. So when Bilal showed Umayyah to the Ansar, now Abd al-Rahman had to negotiate with all of them, "These are my prisoners, they have entrusted themselves to me." But Bilal RA kept on saying, "You are not going to save this man." Until finally, they surrounded Abd al-Rahman and began prodding Umayyah. So much so that it's said Abd al-Rahman tried to stop them with his own body, and he was actually wounded on his foot from trying to protect Umayyah. But eventually, both Umayyah and his son were killed. And Abd al-Rahman would say till he died, "May Allah have mercy on Bilal. Not only did he stop me from getting my two ransoms, but I never got the armor back as well."
Subhan'Allah. The same voice that called out, "Ahad-un-ahad (One God, One God)", that was the voice that caused Umayyah's death. That same loud voice, Allah AWJ willed that it came back to haunt Umayyah. And it was that voice that brought the help of the Ansar and managed to kill Umayyah ibn Khalaf before he reached the safety of the camp.
And Umayyah ibn Khalaf was the only person who was not buried on the Day of Badr. The rest were. Umayyah, after the battle had finished, the Muslims found his body on a bed of pebbles (which was what he would use to torture Bilal with). And whenever they tried to lift him up, the flesh would just decompose — so they couldn't pick him up. This is truly Allah's qadr. So they had to leave him on those pebbles — and for the sake of covering a dead body, they put more pebbles on top of him. They took the same burning hot pebbles of the desert and just threw them onto his body. Truly, كما تدين تدان (as you do unto others, so it shall be done unto you).
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The Father of Abu Ubaydah Amir ibn al-Jarrah
Abu Ubaydah Amir ibn al-Jarrah (أبو عبيدة عامر بن الجراح) RA, one of the Ten Promised Jannah, his father Jarrah was on the side of the mushriks, and he was a bitter enemy who could not stand his son having converted. In the Battle of Badr, he wanted to kill his own son. Whenever Jarrah would see Abu Ubaydah, he would make his way to him to kill him. And every time Abu Ubaydah sees his father coming, he would go somewhere else out of respect and love; until finally, his father surprised him. Out of the blue, suddenly Jarrah came jumping on him to kill him. And in self-defense, Abu Ubaydah killed his own father. After this, the people began speaking, that, "He has killed his own father." And Abu Ubaydah felt a great amount of sadness. "What have I done..." — Now, this is of course something bad enough in our times (out of pure humanity); but especially in those Jahiliyyah tribalism days, it was worse. So Abu Ubaydah really felt depressed and sad.
At this, Allah SWT revealed in the Quran the last verse of Surah al-Mujadila (سورة المجادلة):
Subhan'Allah. This verse is a praise for Abu Ubaydah from Allah. In our religion, there is no question that one's ultimate loyalty always is to Allah SWT — and every other loyalty is conditional to that loyalty. This is simply a given in Islam; there is no room for negotiation in this regard.
لَّا تَجِدُ قَوْمًۭا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْـَٔاخِرِ يُوَآدُّونَ مَنْ حَآدَّ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ وَلَوْ كَانُوٓا۟ ءَابَآءَهُمْ أَوْ أَبْنَآءَهُمْ أَوْ إِخْوَٰنَهُمْ أَوْ عَشِيرَتَهُمْ ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ كَتَبَ فِى قُلُوبِهِمُ ٱلْإِيمَـٰنَ وَأَيَّدَهُم بِرُوحٍۢ مِّنْهُ ۖ وَيُدْخِلُهُمْ جَنَّـٰتٍۢ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ رَضِىَ ٱللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا۟ عَنْهُ ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ حِزْبُ ٱللَّهِ ۚ أَلَآ إِنَّ حِزْبَ ٱللَّهِ هُمُ ٱلْمُفْلِحُونَ
"You will never find a people who [truly] believe in Allah and the Last Day loyal to those who defy Allah and His Messenger, even if they were their parents, children, siblings, or extended family. For those [believers], Allah has instilled faith in their hearts and strengthened them with a spirit from Him. He will admit them into Gardens under which rivers flow, to stay there forever. Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him. They are the party of Allah. Indeed, Allah's party is bound to succeed" [Quran, 58:22].Subhan'Allah. This verse is a praise for Abu Ubaydah from Allah. In our religion, there is no question that one's ultimate loyalty always is to Allah SWT — and every other loyalty is conditional to that loyalty. This is simply a given in Islam; there is no room for negotiation in this regard.
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Abu Hudhayfah RA
Abu Hudhayfah ibn Utbah (أبو حذيفة بن عتبة) RA is the son of Utbah ibn Rabi'ah, one of the three who died in the mubaraza. (Tangent: One of the famous reciters of the Quran among the sahaba named Salim Mawla Abi Hudhayfah [سالم مولى أبي حذيفة] is Abu Hudhayfah's freed slave. There are a lot of hadith about Salim. He has a beautiful voice. And Abu Hudhayfah's sister is Hind [هند] the wife of Abu Sufyan.)
When Abu Hudhayfah heard the Prophet PBUH say the Banu Hashim should not be killed, he said, "So our fathers, uncles, and brothers will be killed, but the uncle and family of the Prophet PBUH will not be killed?!" — the Jahiliyyah tendency came out in him. And the news spread that Abu Hudhayfah said this — and on top of this, he swore to kill al-Abbas. When the Prophet PBUH heard this, he told Umar RA, "O Abu Hafs (أبو حفص), will the face of the uncle of the Prophet PBUH be struck with a sword?" — meaning don't let it happen. Umar RA said, "Ya Rasulullah, he has committed nifaq (hypocrisy); let me take care of him (kill him)." But the Prophet PBUH forbade him from doing that, so Umar RA went to Abu Hudhayfah and made sure he was put into place. Later on, Abu Hudhayfah used to say, "I shall never feel safe against the consequences of that one sentence (that I said) unless Allah accepts me as a shaheed," i.e., "I made a big mistake. I'm always going to be worried about it unless Allah accepts me as a shaheed." And his du'a was accepted and he died a shaheed in the Battle of Yamama [12 AH].
A number of points here:
1. Firstly, realize even the greatest of the sahaba, they are human and they can fall into an error. Therefore, if one of us makes a mistake, take heart that people far better than us have fallen into far bigger mistakes than us. Imagine someone swearing they will kill the uncle of the Prophet PBUH; can you imagine how guilty he must have felt afterward? But he repented and Allah accepted the repentance.
2. Notice the wisdom of the Prophet PBUH — he handled the situation in a very wise manner. He knows Umar will put Abu Hudhayfah in his place, so he expresses his frustration to Umar. He didn't directly go to Abu Hudhayfah because that would have been too humiliating for Abu Hudhayfah. And he PBUH realizes Abu Hudhayfah's brother, uncle, and father all just died, so he excused him and didn't take him to task. There are no consequences because one's emotional state is overlooked.
As we will see in the next episode, after the battle was finished, all of the bodies of the mushriks were thrown into the well. And when the body of Utbah was being dragged to be thrown into the well, Abu Hudhayfah's face became very pale. You could see the effects of grief on him. Upon this, the Prophet PBUH said to him, "Perhaps you find this difficult," and Abu Hudhayfah said, "Ya Rasulullah, I have no doubt my father died upon kufr — but I knew from him wisdom, love, and great care." (And indeed, frankly, Utbah was of the better of the Quraysh.) So he is saying his father was a good person, and he had hoped that Allah AWJ would guide him to Islam — and so when he died in kufr, that grieved him. So the Prophet PBUH made du'a for Abu Hudhayfah — and this is his way of showing Abu Hudhayfah that there are no hard feelings — everything is forgiven.
1. Firstly, realize even the greatest of the sahaba, they are human and they can fall into an error. Therefore, if one of us makes a mistake, take heart that people far better than us have fallen into far bigger mistakes than us. Imagine someone swearing they will kill the uncle of the Prophet PBUH; can you imagine how guilty he must have felt afterward? But he repented and Allah accepted the repentance.
2. Notice the wisdom of the Prophet PBUH — he handled the situation in a very wise manner. He knows Umar will put Abu Hudhayfah in his place, so he expresses his frustration to Umar. He didn't directly go to Abu Hudhayfah because that would have been too humiliating for Abu Hudhayfah. And he PBUH realizes Abu Hudhayfah's brother, uncle, and father all just died, so he excused him and didn't take him to task. There are no consequences because one's emotional state is overlooked.
As we will see in the next episode, after the battle was finished, all of the bodies of the mushriks were thrown into the well. And when the body of Utbah was being dragged to be thrown into the well, Abu Hudhayfah's face became very pale. You could see the effects of grief on him. Upon this, the Prophet PBUH said to him, "Perhaps you find this difficult," and Abu Hudhayfah said, "Ya Rasulullah, I have no doubt my father died upon kufr — but I knew from him wisdom, love, and great care." (And indeed, frankly, Utbah was of the better of the Quraysh.) So he is saying his father was a good person, and he had hoped that Allah AWJ would guide him to Islam — and so when he died in kufr, that grieved him. So the Prophet PBUH made du'a for Abu Hudhayfah — and this is his way of showing Abu Hudhayfah that there are no hard feelings — everything is forgiven.
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Abu al-Bukhturi
Now, even though the Prophet PBUH forbade the killing of al-Abbas, the Banu Hashim, and Abu al-Bukhturi, unfortunately, Abu al-Bukhturi was killed. An Ansari saw him and told him, "O Abu al-Bukhturi, we have been forbidden from harming you, so surrender yourself and let me take you back to the camp." But Abu al-Bukhturi said, "How about my friend?" The Ansari said, "We have no laws about him." So Abu al-Bukhturi said, "No. Let not the women of Quraysh say that I saved myself at the expense of my friend." So he charged forward and the Ansari had to kill him in self-defense. The Ansari then came to the Prophet PBUH and told him, "Ya Rasulullah, I tried my best to take him prisoner like you said, but he refused except to fight, so I had to kill him." So the Prophet PBUH excused him for killing Abu al-Bukhturi.
[Transcribed by Br. Safwan Khan & Faizan]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Re-revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, January 2024]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Re-revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, January 2024]
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