غزوة بدر

The Battle of Badr — fought on the seventeenth of Ramadan, 2 AH (March 624 CE) — is the most significant military engagement in early Islamic history. The Quran names it Yawm al-Furqan: the Day of Criterion. Before Badr, the Muslims were a migrant community in Medina, outnumbered and militarily untested. After Badr, they were a force whose victory had been confirmed by divine intervention and the Quraysh understood that the balance of power in Arabia had shifted permanently. The battle originated when the Prophet ﷺ received intelligence about a Qurayshi caravan returning from Syria — 1,000 camels loaded with trade goods, led by Abu Sufyan. He set out with approximately 313 companions to intercept it. Abu Sufyan rerouted the caravan safely and sent word to Mecca for the army to return. Abu Jahl insisted they continue to confront the Muslims. The Qurayshi army of approximately 950-1,000 faced the Muslim force of 313 across the valley of Badr. The Muslims had two horses; the Quraysh had 700 armored fighters and 100 cavalry. The night before, the Prophet ﷺ prayed with raised hands until Abu Bakr took them down: 'It is enough, O Messenger of Allah — Allah will fulfill what He has promised you.' The battle began with single combat: Qurayshi champions killed by Hamza, Ali, and Ubaydah ibn al-Harith. Then the armies met. The Prophet ﷺ threw a handful of gravel toward the Qurayshi ranks at a decisive moment. The Quran records: 'You did not throw when you threw, but Allah threw' (8:17). The Qurayshi formation broke. Seventy Qurayshi were killed — including Abu Jahl, who had organized the Meccan persecution for thirteen years, killed by two young Ansari men — and seventy were taken prisoner. Fourteen Muslims were martyred. The prisoners were ransomed; those with no wealth were released after teaching ten Muslim children to read and write. Surah al-Anfal, revealed in the aftermath, frames the battle as a divine act — the believers as instruments, Allah as the primary cause. The companions of Badr occupied the highest distinction in Islamic memory: the Prophet ﷺ said Allah had looked upon them and said: 'Do what you will — I have forgiven you.'