It is narrated from Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that on the day of the Battle of Badr, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) reviewed his companions and they were a little over three hundred, and when he reviewed the polytheists, they appeared to be more than a thousand. Seeing this, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) turned towards the Qiblah and raised his hands in supplication. At that time, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was wearing a cloak. While supplicating, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Allah! Where is Your promise? O Allah, fulfill Your promise. O Allah, if this small group of Muslims is destroyed today, then never again will You be worshipped on the earth." In this way, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) continued to implore his Lord persistently, until his blessed cloak fell off. Seeing this, Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) stepped forward, picked up the Prophet’s cloak and placed it on him, and embraced the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) from behind, saying: "O Messenger of Allah! You have supplicated much to your Lord, He will surely fulfill His promise." Thereupon, Allah the Exalted revealed this verse: "Remember when you were calling upon your Lord for help, and He responded to you, 'I will help you with a thousand angels coming in succession.'" When the battle of Badr commenced and the two armies met, by the grace of Allah, the polytheists were defeated. Seventy of them were killed and seventy were captured and taken as prisoners. Regarding these prisoners, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) consulted Sayyiduna Abu Bakr, Sayyiduna Ali, and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with them). Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) advised: "O Messenger of Allah! These people are our brothers and relatives. My opinion is that you take ransom from them; the wealth will strengthen us against the disbelievers, and it is possible that Allah may guide them, so they will become our supporters." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Ibn Khattab, what is your opinion?" I said: "My opinion is not the same as Abu Bakr’s. My opinion is that you hand over so-and-so, who is a close relative of Umar, to me, and I will strike off his neck with my own hand. You hand over Aqil to Ali, and he will strike off his neck. Grant Hamza dominance over so-and-so, and he will kill him with his own hand, so that Allah may know that there is no leniency in our hearts for the polytheists. These people are the chiefs, leaders, and ringleaders of the polytheists. When they are killed, disbelief and polytheism will die their own death." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) preferred the opinion of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and left mine, and took ransom from them. The next day, I came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and saw that he and Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) were sitting and weeping. I said: "O Messenger of Allah! What is the matter that you and your companion (Abu Bakr) are weeping? Please tell me, so that if I can weep, I may join you, and if not, I will at least try to weep." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The punishment that was shown to me as a result of your companions advising me to take ransom was so close that it appeared as near as this tree, and Allah has revealed this verse: 'It is not for a Prophet to have prisoners...' till the end of the verse. Later, the spoils of war were made lawful for them. The following year, when the Battle of Uhud took place, seventy Muslims were martyred as a consequence of taking ransom at Badr, and the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) dispersed, leaving the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The blessed tooth of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was martyred, the links of his helmet pierced into his blessed head, his blessed face was filled with blood, and this Qur’anic verse was revealed: 'When a calamity befell you, although you had inflicted twice as much (on the enemy), you said: How did this happen?' Say: 'It is from yourselves.' Surely Allah is Able to do all things." The meaning is that this defeat was due to taking ransom.