It is narrated from Qais bin Abad that I heard Abu Dharr swear and say that these (upcoming) verses were revealed on the day of Badr about these six individuals: Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), Hamza, and Ubaidah bin Al-Harith, and Utbah bin Rabi’ah, Shaybah bin Rabi’ah, and Walid bin Utbah. (The verses are) { ہَذَانِ خَصْمَانِ اخْتَصَمُوا فِی رَبِّہِمْ }.

Narrated from Hazrat Umar bin Khattab, he states: When the day of Badr came, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) looked towards his companions. They were a little more than three hundred, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) looked at the polytheists, and they were a little more than one thousand. So, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) turned his blessed face towards the Qiblah, then he (peace and blessings be upon him) stretched out both his hands. And at that time, he (peace and blessings be upon him) was wearing his cloak and waist-wrapper. He (peace and blessings be upon him) supplicated: O Allah! Where is what You promised me? O Allah! If this group of Muslims is destroyed, then You will never be worshipped on this earth again. The narrator says: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) continued to seek help from his Lord and kept praying to Allah until his blessed cloak fell off. Then Hazrat Abu Bakr came to him. The narrator says: Hazrat Abu Bakr took hold of his cloak and put it back on him (peace and blessings be upon him). Then Hazrat Abu Bakr stood behind him and said: O Messenger of Allah! What you have asked from your Lord is sufficient for you. Your Lord will soon fulfill the promise He made to you. So Allah revealed this verse {إِذْ تَسْتَغِیثُونَ رَبَّکُمْ فَاسْتَجَابَ لَکُمْ أَنِّی مُمِدُّکُمْ بِأَلْفٍ مِنَ الْمَلاَئِکَۃِ مُرْدِفِینَ }.

2. Then when this day (of Badr) came and the two sides confronted each other, Allah defeated the polytheists. Seventy of them were killed and seventy were taken captive. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) consulted Hazrat Abu Bakr, Hazrat Umar, and Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with them). Hazrat Abu Bakr said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! These (captives) are our cousins, our people, and our brothers. My opinion is that you take ransom from them. What we take from them as ransom will be a strength against the disbelievers, and perhaps Allah will guide them, so they will become our helpers.

3. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O son of Khattab! What is your opinion? I said: By Allah! My opinion is not the same as Abu Bakr’s. But my opinion is that you hand over so-and-so, a relative of Umar, to me so that I may strike his neck. And hand over Aqeel to Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) so that he may strike his neck, so that Allah may know that there is no compassion in our hearts for the polytheists. These people are the chiefs, leaders, and guides of the polytheists.

4. What Hazrat Abu Bakr had presented pleased the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), but what I had said did not please him. And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) took ransom from the polytheists.

5. Then the next day, Hazrat Umar says: I presented myself to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the morning, and he and Hazrat Abu Bakr were both sitting and weeping. He says: I asked: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! Tell me, what is making you and your companion weep? If I know the reason for weeping, I will also weep, otherwise, I will weep just because you both are weeping. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The opinion your companions presented to me regarding ransom—verily, the punishment was brought before me closer than this tree (he pointed to a nearby tree). And Allah revealed these verses: from { مَا کَانَ لِنَبِیٍّ أَنْ یَکُونَ لَہُ أَسْرَی حَتَّی یُثْخِنَ فِی الأَرْضِ، تُرِیدُونَ عَرَضَ الدُّنْیَا } to { لَوْلاَ کِتَابٌ مِنَ اللہِ سَبَقَ لَمَسَّکُمْ فِیمَا أَخَذْتُمْ }, that is, ransom { عَذَابٌ عَظِیمٌ}. Then the spoils of war were made lawful for the companions.

6. Then when the next year, the day of Uhud came, the companions were recompensed for the ransom they had taken on the day of Badr. Thus, seventy companions were martyred, and the companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) fled, and the front tooth of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was broken, and the helmet on his blessed head was broken, and blood flowed on his blessed face.

Hazrat Hisham narrates from his father that Ruqayyah, the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), passed away while he (peace and blessings be upon him) had set out towards Badr. She was the wife of Hazrat Uthman. So Hazrat Uthman and Hazrat Usama bin Zaid stayed behind that day. Then, when they were burying her, during that time Hazrat Uthman heard the sound of takbeer. So Hazrat Uthman said: O Usama! What is this sound of takbeer? Hazrat Usama looked and it was Hazrat Zaid bin Harithah, who was riding the jad‘a (nose-cut) she-camel of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he was giving the people of Badr the glad tidings of the destruction of the polytheists. (Upon this) the hypocrites said: By Allah! This is not (a credible) thing. This is nothing but a lie. Until the polytheists were brought, bound and tightly secured.

Hazrat Ubaidah Aslami narrates that on the day of Badr, seventy individuals from among the polytheists were taken captive and seventy polytheists were killed. Then the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, gathered the Ansar and gave them the choice (regarding the captives) and said: Whatever you wish (will happen). If you wish, you may kill them, and an equal number from among you will be killed. And if you wish, you may take ransom, so that you may gain strength in the way of Allah through it. The Ansar said: O Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him! We will take ransom, through which we will gain strength in the way of Allah, and an equal number from among us will be killed. The narrator says: Thus, on the day of Uhud, an equal number of the Companions were killed as the number of the disbelievers.

Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) also narrates a hadith from the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) similar to the hadith of Abdur Rahim.

It is narrated from Hazrat Zaid bin Yathi’ that on the day of Badr, Hazrat Abu Bakr was with the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in a shelter. The narrator says: The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) began to supplicate and said:“O Allah! Help this group. If You do not help, then Your worship will not be performed on the earth.”Hazrat Abu Bakr submitted: These are your supplications with your Lord. By Allah! Allah Almighty will surely fulfill the promise made to you.

Narrated from Hazrat Yahya bin Abdullah that the captives of Badr were brought. At that time, the wife of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Hazrat Saudah bint Zam’ah, was sitting with the women mourning for the sons of Afra, Auf and Mu’awwidh, along with the family of Afra. This incident took place before the command of hijab for women was revealed. Saudah says: The captives were brought. So I came towards my house and suddenly, in the corner of the chamber, I saw Suhail bin Amr, while both his hands were tied to his neck. When I saw him, I could not control myself and I said,“Abu Yazid! You have surrendered yourself with your own hands. Why did you people not die an honorable death?”Hazrat Saudah says: By Allah! No one warned me except the voice coming from the house of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), saying,“O Saudah! Is there anything above Allah and His Messenger?”I said,“O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! By Allah! When I saw Abu Yazid, I could not control myself, and what I said, I said.”

It is narrated from Hazrat Abdullah that when it was the day of Badr, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: What is your opinion regarding the captives of Badr? Hazrat Abu Bakr said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! (These people) are your own people and tribe. You should seek their survival and their repentance. Perhaps Allah Almighty will turn towards them (i.e., grant them guidance). And Hazrat Umar said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! These people denied you and expelled you (from the city). Bring them forward so that we may strike their necks. And Hazrat Abdullah bin Rawaha said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! You are in a valley where there is plenty of wood. So kindle a fire in this valley upon them, then throw them into that blazing fire. (Upon this) Abbas said: May Allah sever your ties of kinship. The narrator says: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) remained silent and did not give any answer to the companions, then he stood up and went inside. People began to say: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) will accept the opinion of Abu Bakr, and (some) people said: He will accept the opinion of Umar, and (some) people said: He will accept the opinion of Abdullah bin Rawaha. Then the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came out and said:“Indeed, Allah Almighty has softened the hearts of some men regarding these (captives), so much so that they have become softer than milk. And He has hardened the hearts of some people regarding them, so much so that they have become harder than stone. And O Abu Bakr! Your example is like that of Ibrahim, he said: { فَمَنْ تَبِعَنِی فَإِنَّہُ مِنِّی، وَمَنْ عَصَانِی فَإِنَّکَ غَفُورٌ رَحِیمٌ}. And your example, O Abu Bakr! is like that of Isa, he said: {إِنْ تُعَذِّبْہُمْ فَإِنَّہُمْ عِبَادُکَ، وَإِنْ تَغْفِرْ لَہُمْ فَإِنَّکَ أَنْتَ الْعَزِیزُ الْحَکِیمُ }. And your example, O Umar! is like that of Musa, he said: { رَبَّنَا اطْمِسْ عَلَی أَمْوَالِہِمْ، وَاشْدُدْ عَلَی قُلُوبِہِمْ، فَلاَ یُؤْمِنُوا حَتَّی یَرَوُا الْعَذَابَ الأَلِیمَ }. And O Umar! your example is like that of Nuh, he said: { رَبِّ لاَ تَذَرْ عَلَی الأَرْضِ مِنَ الْکَافِرِینَ دَیَّارًا }. You people are poor at this time, so none of them will be released except with ransom or by execution.”Hazrat Ibn Mas’ud said: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! Exempt Suhail bin Bayda, for I have heard him mention Islam. Ibn Mas’ud says: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) remained silent.“So I have never feared on any day as much as I feared that day that (perhaps) stones might fall upon me from the sky.”Until the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Suhail bin Bayda is exempted. (Upon this) Allah Almighty revealed this verse: { مَا کَانَ لِنَبِیٍّ أَنْ یَکُونَ لَہُ أَسْرَی حَتَّی یُثْخِنَ فِی الأَرْضِ } to the end of the verse.

It is narrated from Hazrat Hakam. He says: On the day of Badr, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) killed only ‘Uqbah bin Abi Mu‘ayt after capturing him.

It is narrated from Hazrat Saeed bin Jubair that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on the day of Badr imprisoned and executed three men: Uqbah bin Abi Mu'ait, Nadr bin Harith, and Tu'aymah bin Adi. And Nadr bin Harith was captured by Miqdad.