It was a Friday morning. The 17th day of Ramadan. The Muslims were heading for a battle. They were going to fight for their faith, and the outcome was uncertain. They might be victorious, and Islam would spread further, or they might die, and their deaths would become a testimony to their faith, but Islam would suffer…

Knowing the gravity of the situation, our Master (saw) stood on the battlefield, looking at his small army of 314 Muslims, facing over a thousand Quraysh fighters. He raised his hands and began to pray:

“O Allah, fulfill Your promise to me. O Allah, grant victory to this small group of believers. If this group is destroyed, undoubtedly, the religion of Islam will disappear!”

At this point, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (ra) was with our Master (saw). When he saw our Master’s persistent supplication, he couldn’t hold back and said, “O Rasul of Allah, indeed Allah will fulfill His promise to you.”

After these words from Hadhrat Siddiq, a sense of tranquility came over our Master… When he regained his composure, he said to Hadhrat Siddiq, “Good tidings, O Abu Bakr! Allah’s help has indeed arrived! That figure you see is Gabriel. He stands upon the sand dunes, holding his horse’s reins, armed, and awaiting orders.”

Then, he put on his armor and recited the 45th verse of Surah Al-Qamar as he left his tent…

“Soon that community will be defeated and they will turn their backs and flee!”

Omar (ra) later recounted this moment with the following words:

“When this verse was revealed, I thought to myself, ‘I wonder who will be defeated and who will be victorious?’ Finally, on the day of the Battle of Badr, when I saw the Rasul of Allah (saw) recite this verse, I understood that the Almighty Allah intended to defeat the Quraysh polytheists.”

Meanwhile, among the polytheists, Utbah bin Rabi’ah was still working to prevent going to battle, and this led to constant conflicts with Abu Jahl. Utbah’s efforts were in vain as Abu Jahl consistently opposed him. The Battle of Badr was destined, and one cannot change what is meant to be…

And thus, the Battle of Badr began. During the start of this battle, Allah had given orders to the angels as mentioned in Surah Al-Anfal: 

“Indeed, I am with you, so secure the believers... I will cast fear into the hearts of the deniers... Strike them upon their necks (anchor the deniers upon their delusion) and strike all their fingers.”[1]

Allah had also revealed to our Master:

“Remember when you asked for help from your Rabb and He answered you, “Indeed I will reinforce you with a thousand angels in succession.”[2]

Upon this revelation, our Master sought Divine aid: “O Allah, grant us assistance and support!” In response to his plea, three thousand angels were sent to provide support…

Nearly every companion who was present in the Battle of Badr told in various places that Allah had reinforced them with angels, and that this was clearly visible... As a side note, which I find necessary to mention here... As our older readers will know, in our recent history, during the defense of Gallipoli against the British and their allies, Muslim soldiers who defended the Bosphorus Strait with great sacrifice also saw angels among them in traditional Islamic attire. In fact, later, a British author wrote: 

“That day, within the Turkish army defending Gallipoli, there were people with attire and bags that we had never seen before... and the assistance of these individuals greatly contributed to their defense, and some of them captured some of us...”

The Battle of Badr began with isolated skirmishes. Utba bin Rabi’a, who was in command of the Quraysh, challenged the Muslims. He took his brother Shaybah and his son Walid with him and challenged the Hashim clan, asking for opponents from them.

In response to this challenge, Utba’s Muslim son, Abu Hudhayfa, wanted to oppose them. However, Rasulullah prevented him. Then, the Ansar - Mu’adh, Mu’awwidh, and Abdullah bin Revaha - expressed their desire to go out and fight the Quraysh.

However, our Master did not want the first to engage in battle to be from his own side, so he prevented them as well.

“O Ali! O Hamza! O Ubayd ibn Haris! Show these people the strength of Islam... Make it clear to those who seek to extinguish the light of Allah with falsehood where their limits are!”

During those times, it was customary for individual champions from opposing armies to come forward before the regular battle commenced. A brave warrior from one army would challenge an equally skilled counterpart from the opposing side, and they would engage in combat. Sometimes, this process was repeated two or three times to heighten the excitement.

So, Ali and Hamza (may Allah be pleased with them) confronted the polytheists. They had helmets on their heads and armor on their backs. Utbe initially couldn’t recognize them due to their helmets and asked, “Identify yourselves so that we can know who you are. If you are like us, we will fight you. Who are you?”

Our side introduced themselves:

“I am Ubeyd ibn Haris!”

“I am Ali ibn Abdulmuttalib!”

“I am Hamza!”

These names were among the most courageous within the Quraysh, so the polytheists accepted them as worthy rivals and said, “Yes, you are our equals! Show yourselves!” 

And they then attacked...

Ubeyd ibn Haris (ra) engaged in combat with the elderly Utbe ibn Rebia. Ali (ra) confronted Velid ibn Utbe and Hamza (ra) faced off with Sheybe ibn Rebia.

Hadhrat Ali defeated Velid, and Hadhrat Hamza quickly overcame Sheybe… Both opponents were killed…

Ubeyd and Utbe, due to their old age, couldn’t easily achieve a result, yet they had wounded each other to a point where they couldn’t stand anymore. Ali and Hamza quickly reached them and killed Utbe. Thus, three of the most stubborn Meccan polytheists had met their fate at the beginning of the Battle of Badr.

Because Ali (ra) was the first to appear in the battle, he later said, “On the Day of Judgment, I will be the first to kneel for judgment with the polytheists in the sight of Allah.”

During the first encounter, Utbe had severely wounded Ubeyd in the leg, cutting his ankle and causing him to lose a significant amount of blood. Ali and Hamza carried him back to the presence of our Master (saw). Ubeyd, in his wounded state, asked “O Rasul of Allah, am I a martyr or not?” Our Master replied, “Yes, you are a martyr.”

Shortly after the battle had ended Ubeyd (ra) succumbed to his wounds and passed away… He returned to Allah as a martyr. 

Now it was time for the full-scale battle to begin.

The polytheists underestimated the believers and wanted to eliminate them as quickly as possible. In response, Allah made the polytheists appear insignificant in the eyes of the believers to encourage them for the battle. This matter is described in the following verse: 

“And remember when you met them in opposition, He showed them to you as few and made you appear to them as few... Thus, Allah accomplished a matter already destined! All things will eventually return to Allah.”[3]

On the other hand, Satan, who incited the polytheists to go to war, eventually abandoned them and fled. Satan had succeeded in his deceptions by taking on the appearance of a human, pitting the polytheists against the Muslims. In the end, as he always does, he deserted his allies. This situation is described in Surah Al-Anfal:

“Satan made their deeds appear alluring to them and said, “No one can overcome you today! Indeed, I am with you” ... But when the two armies sighted each other, he turned on his heels and said, “Indeed I am not with you! Indeed, I see what you do not see... And indeed, I fear Allah... Allah is Shadid al-Iqab (severe in enforcing the due consequence of an offence).”[4]

As mentioned above, the angels came to assist the Islamic army, numbering over five thousand. During the battle, our Master assigned specific angels to accompany certain companions. He told Ali and Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with them) that one of them had Gabriel, and the other had Michael and Israfil besides them.

In the heat of battle, many times, the Muslims witnessed the death of their opponents even before they could strike their swords. As the Muslims and the polytheists were fully engaged in combat, our Master (saw) took a handful of sand, threw it towards the enemy, and prayed, “May their faces be blackened! O Allah, cast fear into their hearts and make their feet tremble.”

During the battle, Abu Eyyub el-Ansari, Khalid bin Zeyd (ra), was assigned to be the guard of our Master (saw). When our Master saw him on the battlefield, he called him to stay close to him throughout the battle. Thus, Hadhrat Khalid, who is still known as Eyup Sultan in Istanbul, was assigned to protect the Rasul of Allah (saw) during the battle.

The battlefield was a chaotic scene, with the two sides so intermingled that it was difficult to distinguish one from the other. As time passed, the Muslims gained the upper hand, and they began to kill or capture the leaders of the Quraysh polytheists one by one.

However, Sa’d bin Muaz (ra), who also stood by our Master (saw) to defend him during the battle, was not pleased with the situation. Our Master asked:

“O Sa’d, by Allah, it seems to me that you do not approve of what your companions are doing.”

Sa’d then explained his thoughts:

“Yes, O Rasulullah, indeed! In this first battle where Allah has confronted us with the polytheists, it is better to kill them and inflict a severe defeat upon them from which they will never recover, rather than capturing them alive and letting them go.”