The Battle of Badr (Arabic: غزوة بدر), fought March 17, 624 CE (17 Ramadan 2 AH in the Islamic calendar) in the Hejaz of western Arabia (present-day Saudi Arabia), was a key battle in the early days of Islam and a turning point in Muhammad's struggle with his opponents among the Quraish^[1] in Mecca. The battle has been passed down in Islamic history as a decisive victory attributable to divine intervention or the genius of Muhammad. Although it is one of the few battles specifically mentioned in the Muslim holy book, the Qur'ān, virtually all contemporary knowledge of the battle at Badr comes from traditional Islamic accounts, both hadiths and biographies of Muhammad, written decades after the battle. There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... Quraish (Arabic: ‎ translit: ) is the Meccan tribe that the Islamic prophet Muhammad belonged to before he received the revelations of Islam. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 419 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (910 × 1302 pixel, file size: 593 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Muhammad sending waves of horsemen into combat at the Battle of Badr in an illustration from the Siyer-i Nebi (The Life of the Prophet), written... The Siyer-i Nebi is a Turkish epic about the life of Muhammad, completed around 1388, written by Mustafa son of Yusuf of Erzurum, a Mevlevi dervish on the commission of Sultan Berkuk, the Mameluke ruler in Cairo. ... This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... A Muslim is a believer in or follower of Islam. ... This article is about the city in Saudi Arabia. ... Quraish (Arabic: ‎ translit: ) is the Meccan tribe that the Islamic prophet Muhammad belonged to before he received the revelations of Islam. ... This article is about the city in Saudi Arabia. ... Muhammad in a new genre of Islamic calligraphy started in the 17th century by Hafiz Osman. ... Amr ibn Hishām (d. ... Muhammad, viewed by Muslims as the last prophet of Islam, was, amongst other things, a military leader during the last ten years of his life. ... The Banu Qaynuqa (also spelled Banu Kainuka, Banu Kaynuka, Banu Qainuqa, Arabic: ) were one of the three main Jewish tribes living in the 7th century of Medina, now in Saudi Arabia. ... Combatants Muslims Quraysh-led Coalition Commanders Muhammad Abu Sufyan Strength 700 3,000 Casualties 70 dead 22 The Battle of Uhud was fought on 23 March, 625, between a force from the small Muslim community of Medina, in what is now north-western Arabia, and a force from Mecca, the... Banu Nadir (Arabic: ) were one of the three main Jewish tribes living in the 7th century of Medina, now in Saudi Arabia. ... Combatants Muslims Quraysh-led Coalition Commanders Muhammad Abu Sufyan ibn Harb Strength 3,000 10,000 Casualties only few few hundreds or more The Battle of the Trench or Battle of the Ditch (Arabic غزوة الخندق), also known as or Battle of Confederates (Arabic غزوة الاحزاب) was an attack by the non-Muslim Ahzab... Detail from miniature painting The Prophet, Ali, and the Companions at the Massacre of the Prisoners of the Jewish Tribe of Beni Qurayzah, illustration of a 19th century text by Muhammad Rafi Bazil. ... This article or section needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ... Combatants Muslim army Jews of Khaybar oasis Commanders Muhammad  ? Strength 1,600  ? Casualties 16  ? The Battle of Khaybar was fought in the year 629 between Muhammad and his followers against the Jews living in the oasis of Khaybar, located 150 kilometers (95 miles) from Medina in the north-western part... Combatants Muslim Arabs Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine) Christian Arabs Commanders Zayd ibn Harithah†, Jafar ibn Abu Talib†, Abdullah ibn Rawahah†, Khalid ibn al-Walid Heraclius, Theodorus, Shurahbil ibn Amr al-Ghassani Strength 3,000 (Ibn Qayyim)[4][5] 3,000 (Ibn Hajar)[6][5] 200,000 according to Muslim... Combatants Muslims Quraish Commanders Muhammad Khalid ibn al-Walid Abu Sufyan ibn Harb Strength 10,000 Unknown Casualties 0 0 Mecca was conquered by the Muslims in January 630 AD (10th day of Ramadan8 AH). ... The Battle of Hunayn is the name of a battle where the prophet Muhammad participiated in the year 630 CE. Categories: Military stubs | Islam-related stubs ... The Battle of Autas or Auras was an early battle involving Muslim forces, fought in the year 630. ... The Siege of Taif took place in 630 CE, as the Muslims besieged the city of Taif after their victory in the Battle of Hunayn. ... 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The Qurān [1] (Arabic: , literally the recitation; also called The Noble Quran; also transliterated as Quran, Koran, and Al-Quran), is the central religious text of Islam. ... This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... The Hadith (الحديث, pl. ...

Prior to the battle, the Muslims and Meccans had fought several smaller skirmishes in late 623 and early 624, as the Muslim ghazawāt had become more frequent. Badr, however was the first large-scale engagement between the two forces. Muhammad was leading a raiding party against a Quraish caravan when he was surprised by a much larger Quraishi army. Advancing to a strong defensive position, Muhammad's well-disciplined men managed to shatter the Meccan lines, killing several important Quraishi leaders including Muhammad's chief antagonist, 'Amr ibn Hishām. For the early Muslims, the battle was extremely significant because it was the first sign that they might eventually defeat their enemies in Mecca. Mecca at this time was one of the richest and most powerful pagan cities in Arabia, which fielded an army three times larger than that of the Muslims. The Muslim victory also signalled other tribes that a new power had arisen in Arabia and strengthened Muhammad’s authority as leader of the often fractious community in Medina. Local Arab tribes began to convert to Islam and ally themselves with the Muslims of Medina; thus, the expansion of Islam began. The Battle of Waterloo by William Sadler. ... Ghazw (plural ghazawāt) (Arabic: غزو) is an Arabic word meaning an armed incursion for the purposes of conquest, plunder, or the capture of slaves and is cognate with the terms ghāziya and maghāzÄ«. In pre-Islamic times it signified the plundering raids organized by nomadic Bedouin warriors against... In military science, defense (or defence) is the art of preventing an enemy from conquering territory. ... Amr ibn Hishām (d. ... Pagan and heathen redirect here. ...

Background

Muhammad

Main article: Muhammad

At the time of the battle, Arabia was sparsely populated by a number of Arabic-speaking peoples. Some were Bedouin; pastoral nomads organized in tribes; some were agriculturalists living either in oases in the north or in the more fertile and thickly settled areas to the south (now Yemen and Oman). The majority of Arabs were adherents of numerous polytheistic religions. There were also tribes that followed Judaism, Christianity (including Nestorianism), and Zoroastrianism. Muhammad in a new genre of Islamic calligraphy started in the 17th century by Hafiz Osman. ... A Bedouin man on a hillside at Mount Sinai Bedouin, (from the Arabic (), is a desert-dwelling Arab nomadic pastoralist, found throughout most of the desert belt extending from the Atlantic coast of the Sahara via the Western Desert, Sinai, and Negev to the Arabian Desert. ... For the 2006 historical epic set in Kazakhstan, see Nomad (2006 film). ... Polytheism is belief in, or worship of, multiple gods or divinities. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is... Nestorianism is the doctrine that Jesus exists as two persons, the man Jesus and the divine Son of God, or Logos, rather than as a unified person. ... Zoroastrianism is the religion and philosophy based on the teachings ascribed to the prophet Zoroaster (Zarathustra, Zartosht). ...

Muhammad was born in Mecca around 570 CE into the Banū Hāshim clan of the Quraish tribe. When he was about forty years old, he is said to have experienced a divine revelation while he was meditating in a cave outside Mecca. He began to preach to his kinfolk first privately and then publicly. Response to his preaching both attracted followers and antagonized others. During this period Muhammad was protected by his uncle Abū Tālib. When he died in 619, the leadership of the Banū Hāshim passed to one of Muhammad's enemies, 'Amr ibn Hishām,^[2] who withdrew the protection and stepped up persecution of the Muslim community. BanÅ« Hāshim (Arabic: بنو هاشم) was a clan in the Quraish tribe. ... Quraish (Arabic: ‎ translit: ) is the Meccan tribe that the Islamic prophet Muhammad belonged to before he received the revelations of Islam. ... http://www. ... Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib (d. ...

In 622, with open acts of violence being committed against the Muslims by their fellow Quraishi tribesmen, Muhammad and many of his followers fled to the neighboring city of Medina. This migration is called the Hijra and marked the beginning of Muhammad's reign as both a political as well as a religious leader. This article is about the city in Saudi Arabia. ... For other uses, see Hijra. ...

The Battle

A map of the Badr campaign.

In the spring of 624, Muhammad received word from his intelligence sources that a trade caravan, commanded by Abu Sufyan and guarded by thirty to forty men, was travelling from Syria back to Mecca. The caravan was funded with at least 50 thousand Dinars .Then The Prophet said to the Muslims"this is the Quraish's Caravan Funded with Money, let's raid it may Allah reward it to us " . Muhammad gathered an army of about 314 men, the largest army the Muslims had ever put in the field yet, to try to take back what is rightfully theirs.^[3] Image File history File links Badr_Campaign. ... Image File history File links Badr_Campaign. ... Abu Sufyan ibn Harb was the leader of the Banu Abd Shams clan of the Quraish tribe, and was the chieftain of the entire Quraish tribe, making him one of, if not the most powerful men in Mecca during the lifetime of Muhammad. ...

The march to Badr

Muhammad commanded the army himself and brought many of his top lieutenants, including Hamzah and future Caliphs Abu Bakr, Umar, and Ali. The Muslims also brought seventy camels and three horses, meaning that they either had to walk or fit three to four men per camel.^[4] However, many early Muslim sources, including the Qur'an, indicate that no serious fighting was expected,^[5] and the future Caliph Uthman stayed behind to care for his sick wife. ^[6] To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Anglicized/Latinized version of the Arabic word خليفة or Khalifah, is the term or title for the Islamic leader of the Ummah, or community of Islam. ... Abu Bakr As Siddiq (Arabic ابو بكر الصديق, alternative spellings, Abubakar, Abi Bakr, Abu Bakar) (c. ... For other uses, see Umar (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Ali (disambiguation). ... Uthman, Othman, Osman, Usman, or Ozman (Arabic: عثمان) is a male Arabic given name meaning the chosen one amongst the tribe of brave and noble people, honest, caring, sincere, genuine, and attractive. The following people share this name: Uthman Ibn Affan Osman I Uthman I, a Marinid caliph Usman dan Fodio...

As the caravan approached Medina, Abu Sufyan began hearing from travelers and riders about Muhammad's planned ambush. He sent a messenger named Damdam to Mecca to warn the Quraish and get reinforcements. Alarmed, the Quraish assembled an army of 900-1000 men to rescue the caravan. Many of the Quraishi nobles, including Amr ibn Hishām, Walid ibn Utba, Shaiba, and Umayah ibn Khalaf, joined the army. Their reasons varied: some were out to protect their financial interests in the caravan; others wanted to avenge Ibn al-Hadrami, the guard killed at Nakhlah; finally, a few must have wanted to take part in what was expected to be an easy victory against the Muslims.^[7] Amr ibn Hishām is described as shaming at least one noble, Umayah ibn Khalaf, into joining the expedition. ^[8] Amr ibn Hishām (d. ... Tha champion of Quraish, killed by Ali ibn Abu Talib in the battle of Badr. ... Father of Safwan ibn Umayah Umayah bin Khalaf was the head of the of Bani Lou’ai. ...

By this time Muhammad's army was approaching the wells where he planned to waylay the caravan, at Badr, along the Syrian trade route where the caravan would be expected to stop. However, several Muslim scouts were discovered by scouts from the caravan^[9] and Abu Sufyan made a hasty turn towards Yanbu.^[10] NASA photograph of Yanbu al Bahr Yanbu, Saudi Arabia Yanbu al Bahr (Arabic: ينبع spring by the sea), also known simply as Yanbu, Yambo, or Yenbo, is a major Red Sea port in the Al Madinah province of western Saudi Arabia. ...

The Muslim plan

Around this time word reached the Muslim army about the departure of the Meccan army. Muhammad immediately called a council of war, since there was still time to retreat and because many of the fighters there were recent converts (Called Ansar or "Helpers" to distinguish them from the Quraishi Muslims), who had only pledged to defend Medina. Under the terms of the Constitution of Medina, they would have been within their rights to refuse to fight and leave the army. However, according to tradition, they pledged to fight as well, with Sa'd bin 'Ubada declaring, "If you [Muhammad] order us to plunge our horses into the sea, we would do so."^[11] However, the Muslims still hoped to avoid a pitched battle and continued to march towards Badr. A council of war is a term in military science that describes a meeting held to decide on a course of action, usually in the midst of a battle. ... Ansar (Arabic: الأنصار, meaning aiders, or patrons) refer to a class of warriors who are renouned for there arsenal of weapons and the speed and mobility of there arabian horse. ... The Constitution of Medina is the earliest known written constitution. ...

An Iranian depiction from 1314 of the council of war held by the Muslims.

By March 15 both armies were about a day's march from Badr. Several Muslim warriors (including, according to some sources, Ali) who had ridden ahead of the main column captured two Meccan water carriers at the Badr wells. Expecting them to say they were with the caravan, the Muslims were horrified to hear them say they were with the main Quraishi army.^[11] Some traditions also say that, upon hearing the names of all the Quraishi nobles accompanying the army, Muhammad exclaimed "Mecca hath thrown unto you the best morsels of her liver."^[12] The next day Muhammad ordered a forced march to Badr and arrived before the Meccans. Image File history File links Badr_Council. ... Image File history File links Badr_Council. ...

The Badr wells were located on the gentle slope on the eastern side of a valley called "Yalyal". The western side of the valley was hemmed in by a large hill called 'Aqanqal. When the Muslim army arrived from the east, Muhammad initially chose to form his army at the first well he encountered, but he was apparently persuaded by one of his soldiers to move his army westwards and occupy the well closest to the Quraishi army. Muhammad then gave the order to fill in the remaining wells, so that the Meccans would have to fight the Muslims for the sole remaining water source.

The Meccan plan

Scene from the film The Message: The approach of the Meccan army over 'Aqanqal.

By contrast, while little is known about the progress of the Quraishi army from the time it left Mecca until its arrival just outside Badr, several things are worth noting: although many Arab armies brought their women and children along on campaigns both to motivate and care for the men, the Meccan army did not. Also, the Quraish apparently made little or no effort to contact the many Bedouin allies they had scattered throughout the Hijaz.^[13] Both facts suggest the Quraish lacked the time to prepare for a proper campaign in their haste to protect the caravan. Besides it is believed since they knew they had outnumbered the Muslims by three to one, they expected an easy victory. A Bedouin man on a hillside at Mount Sinai Bedouin, (from the Arabic (), is a desert-dwelling Arab nomadic pastoralist, found throughout most of the desert belt extending from the Atlantic coast of the Sahara via the Western Desert, Sinai, and Negev to the Arabian Desert. ...

When the Quraishi reached Juhfah, just south of Badr, they received a message from Abu Sufyan telling them the caravan was safely behind them, and that they could therefore return to Mecca.^[14] At this point, according to Karen Armstrong, a power struggle broke out in the Meccan army. Amr ibn Hishām wanted to continue, but several of the clans present, including Banu Zuhrah and Banu Adi, promptly went home. Armstrong suggests they may have been concerned about the power that Hishām would gain from crushing the Muslims. A contingent of Banu Hashim, hesitant to fight their own clansmen, also left with them.^[15] Despite these losses, Hishām was still determined to fight, boasting "We will not go back until we have been to Badr." During this period, Abu Sufyan and several other men from the caravan joined the main army.^[16] Banu Zuhrah is a clan of the Quraish tribe. ... Banu Adi is a clan of the Quraish tribe. ... BanÅ« Hāshim (Arabic: بنو هاشم) was a clan in the Quraish tribe. ...

The day of battle

At midnight on March 17, the Quraish broke camp and marched into the valley of Badr. It had rained the previous day and they struggled to move their horses and camels up the hill of 'Aqanqal (sources say the sun was already up by the time they reached the summit).^[17] After they descended from 'Aqanqal, the Meccans set up another camp inside the valley. While they rested, they sent out a scout, Umayr ibn Wahb to reconnoiter the Muslim lines. Umayr reported that Muhammad's army was small, and that there were no other Muslim reinforcements which might join the battle.^[18] However, he also predicted extremely heavy Quraishi casualties in the event of an attack (One hadith refers to him seeing "the camels of [Medina] laden with certain death").^[19] This further demoralized the Quraish, as Arab battles were traditionally low-casualty affairs, and set off another round of bickering among the Quraishi leadership. However, according to Muslim traditions Amr ibn Hishām quashed the remaining dissent by appealing to the Quraishi's sense of honor and demanding that they fulfill their blood vengeance.^[20] this is a sahaba of Muhammad father of Wahb ibn Umayr. ...

The battle started with champions from both armies emerging to engage in combat. Three of the Ansar emerged from the Muslim ranks, only to be shouted back by the Meccans, who were nervous about starting any unnecessary feuds and only wanted to fight the Quraishi Muslims. So the Muslims sent out Ali, Ubaydah, and Hamzah. The Muslims dispatched the Meccan champions in a three-on-three melee, although Ubaydah was mortally wounded.^[21]

Now both armies began firing arrows at each other. Two Muslims and an unknown number of Quraish were killed. Before the battle started, Muhammad had given orders for the Muslims to attack with their ranged weapons, and only engage the Quraish with melee weapons when they advanced.^[22] Now he gave the order to charge, throwing a handful of pebbles at the Meccans in what was probably a traditional Arabian gesture while yelling "Defaced be those faces!"^[23][24] The Muslim army yelled "Yā manṣūr amit!"^[25] and rushed the Quraishi lines. The sheer force of the Muslim attack can be seen in several Qur'anic verses, which refer to thousands of angels descending from Heaven at Badr to slaughter the Quraish.^[24][26] It should be noted that early Muslim sources take this account literally, and there are several hadith where Muhammad discusses the Angel Jibreel and the role he played in the battle. In any case the Meccans, understrength and unenthusiastic about fighting, promptly broke and ran. The battle itself only lasted a few hours and was over by the early afternoon.^[23] For other meanings of the term, see melée (disambiguation). ... Gabriel delivering the Annunciation. ...

Aftermath

Casualties and prisoners

An Iranian depiction from 1314 of the Muslim pursuit following the battle

Al-Bukhari lists Meccan losses as seventy dead and seventy captured.^[27] This would be 15%-16% of the Quraishi army, unless the actual number of Meccan troops present at Badr was significantly lower, in which case the percentage of troops lost would have been higher. Muslim losses are commonly listed at fourteen killed, about 4% of their engaged forces.^[24] Sources do not indicate the number of wounded on either side, and the major discrepancies between the casualty totals on each side suggests that the fighting was extremely brief and that most of the Meccans were killed during the retreat. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1100x743, 442 KB) Summary Pursuit Scene from the Battle of Badr Jami al-Tawarikh (Universal History of Rashid al-din). ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1100x743, 442 KB) Summary Pursuit Scene from the Battle of Badr Jami al-Tawarikh (Universal History of Rashid al-din). ... Muhammad Ibn Ismail Ibn Ibrahim Ibn al-Mughirah Ibn Bardizbah al-Bukhari محمد بن اسماعيل بن ابراهيم بن المغيرة بن بردز&#1576...

During the course of the fighting, the Muslims took a number of Meccan Quraish prisoner. Their fate sparked an immediate controversy in the Muslim army.^[28]

Shortly before he departed Badr, Muhammad also gave the order for over twenty of the dead Quraishis to be thrown into the well at Badr.^[29] Multiple hadiths refer to this incident, which was apparently a major cause for outrage among the Quraish of Mecca. Shortly thereafter, several Muslims who had been recently captured by allies of the Meccans were brought into the city of Mecca and executed in revenge for the defeat.^[30]

According to the traditional blood feud (similar to Blood Law) any Meccans related to those killed at Badr would feel compelled to take vengeance against members of the tribe who had killed their relatives. On the Muslim side, there was also a heavy desire for vengeance, as they had been persecuted and tortured by the Quraishi Meccans for years. However, after the initial executions, the surviving prisoners were quartered with Muslim families in Medina and treated well, either as kin or as possible sources of ransom revenue. Blood Feud is the last episode of the second season of The Simpsons. ... Blood Law (akin to blood feud) is the English term for the traditional American Indian practice of killing an individual for an offence to another individual or group (tribe, clan, family, etc. ... In the early days of Islam at Mecca, the new Muslims were often subjected to abuse and persecution. ...

Implications

The battlefield today. The white walls most likely mark the graves of the Muslim dead.

The Battle of Badr was extremely influential in the rise of two men who would determine the course of history on the Arabian peninsula for the next century. The first was Muhammad, who was transformed overnight from a Meccan outcast into a major leader. According to Karen Armstrong, "for years Muhammad had been the butt of scorn and insults, but after this spectacular and unsought success everybody in Arabia would have to take him seriously."^[23] Marshall Hodgson adds that Badr forced the other Arabs to "regard the Muslims as challengers and potential inheritors to the prestige and the political role of the [Quraish]." The victory at Badr also allowed Muhammad to consolidate his own position at Medina. Shortly thereafter he expelled the Banu Qaynuqa, one of the Jewish tribes at Medina that had been threatening his political position. At the same time Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy, Muhammad's chief Muslim opponent in Medina, found his own position seriously weakened. Henceforth, he would only be able to mount limited challenges to Muhammad.^[31] Image File history File links Badr_battlefield. ... Image File history File links Badr_battlefield. ... The Banu Qaynuqa (also spelled Banu Kainuka, Banu Kaynuka, Banu Qainuqa, Arabic: ) were one of the three main Jewish tribes living in the 7th century of Medina, now in Saudi Arabia. ... Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy was a chief of some groups part of the Arab tribe Banu al-Khazraj at Medina (then known as Jathrib) and an opponent of Muhammad, who had undermined Abd-Allahs influence in that city. ...

The other major beneficiary of the Battle of Badr was Abu Sufyan. The death of Amr ibn Hashim, as well as many other Quraishi nobles^[32] gave Abu Sufyan the opportunity, almost by default, to become chief of the Quraish. As a result, when Muhammad marched into Mecca six years later, it was Abu Sufyan who helped negotiate its peaceful surrender. Abu Sufyan subsequently became a high-ranking official in the Muslim Empire, and his son Muawiya would later go on to found the Umayyad Caliphate. Abu Sufyan ibn Harb was the leader of the Banu Abd Shams clan of the Quraish tribe, and was the chieftain of the entire Quraish tribe, making him one of, if not the most powerful men in Mecca during the lifetime of Muhammad. ... Quraish (Arabic: ‎ translit: ) is the Meccan tribe that the Islamic prophet Muhammad belonged to before he received the revelations of Islam. ... Muawiya was the name of two Ummayad caliphs. ... The Umayyad Dynasty (Arabic الأمويون / بنو أمية umawiyy; in Turkish, Emevi) was the first dynasty of caliphs of the Prophet Muhammad who were not closely related to Muhammad himself, though they were of the same Meccan tribe, the...

In later days having fought at Badr became so significant that Ibn Ishaq included a complete name-by-name roster of the Muslim army in his biography of Muhammad. In many hadiths, individuals who fought at Badr are identified as such as a formality, and they may have even received a stipend in later years.^[33] The death of the last of the Badr veterans occurred during the First Islamic civil war.^[34] Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yasar, or simply Ibn Ishaq (Arabic: , meaning the son of Isaac) (died 767, or 761 (Robinson 2003, p. ... The First Islamic civil war, 656–661 CE, followed the assassination of the caliph Uthman ibn Affan, continued during the brief caliphate of Ali ibn Abu Talib, and was ended, on the whole, by Muawiyas assumption of the caliphate. ...

Historical sources

Badr in the Qur'an

A modern-day highway leading to Badr.

The Battle of Badr is one of the few battles explicitly discussed in the Qur'an. It is even mentioned by name in Sura 3:123, as part of a comparison with the Battle of Uhud. Image File history File links Badr_Highway. ... Image File history File links Badr_Highway. ... The Qur’ān [1] (Arabic: , literally the recitation; also sometimes transliterated as Quran, Koran, or Al-Quran) is the central religious text of Islam. ... Sura (sometimes spelt Surah , plural Suwar ) is an Arabic term literally meaning something enclosed or surrounded by a fence or wall. ...

Allah had helped you at Badr, when ye were a contemptible little force; then fear Allah; thus May ye show your gratitude. Remember thou saidst to the Faithful: "Is it not enough for you that Allah should help you with three thousand angels (Specially) sent down? "Yea, - if ye remain firm, and act aright, even if the enemy should rush here on you in hot haste, your Lord would help you with five thousand angels Making a terrific onslaught. Qur'an: Sura 3:123-125

According to Yusuf Ali, the term "gratitude" may be a reference to discipline. At Badr, the Muslim forces had allegedly maintained firm discipline, whereas at Uhud they broke ranks to pursue the Meccans, allowing Meccan cavalry to flank and rout their army. The idea of Badr as a furqan, an Islamic miracle, is mentioned again in the same surah. Surat Al-Furqan (Arabic: سورة الفرقان ) (The Criterion, The Standard) is the 25th sura of the Quran with 77 ayat. ...

"There has already been for you a Sign in the two armies that met (in combat): One was fighting in the cause of Allah, the other resisting Allah; these saw with their own eyes Twice their number. But Allah doth support with His aid whom He pleaseth. In this is a warning for such as have eyes to see." Qur'an: Sura 3:13

Badr is also the subject of Sura 8: Al-Anfal, which details military conduct and operations. "Al-Anfal" means "the spoils" and is a reference to the post-battle discussion in the Muslim army over how to divide up the plunder from the Quraishi army. Though the Sura does not name Badr, it describes the battle, and several of the verses are commonly thought to have been from or shortly after the battle. Surat al-Anfal (Arabic: سورة الأنفال ) (the Spoils of War)[1] is the eighth chapter of the Quran, with 85 verses. ...

Traditional Muslim accounts

A contemporary Muslim lecture on the battle.

Main article: Historiography of early Islam

Virtually all contemporary knowledge of the Battle of Badr comes from traditional Islamic accounts, both hadiths and biographies of Muhammad, written down decades after the battle. There are several reasons for this: first, many Arabs of the Arabian peninsula were illiterate and oral traditions were the default method of passing on information. By the time the Armies of Islam had conquered the more literate Arabs of Syria and Iraq, practically all Quraish had been converted to Islam, eliminating any chance of a non-Muslim account of the battle. Second, as Muslim hadith compilations were assembled, the original manuscripts became redundant and were destroyed at what Hugh Kennedy called a "depressingly high" rate.^[35] Finally, the Muslims killed at Badr are regarded as martyrs by most pious Muslims, which has most likely stymied any serious attempts at archeological excavation at Badr. Image File history File linksMetadata Battle_of_Badr_-_Tawfiq_Chowdury. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Battle_of_Badr_-_Tawfiq_Chowdury. ... The historiography of early Islam is the study of how various historians have treated the events of the first two centuries of Islamic history. ... The Hadith (الحديث, pl. ... Literacy is the ability to use text to communicate across space and time. ... Historically, a martyr is a person who dies for his or her religious faith. ...

Modern references

Military

Because of its place in Muslim history and connotations of victory-against-all odds, the name "Badr" has become popular among both Muslim armies and paramilitary organizations. "Operation Badr" was used to describe Egypt's role in the 1973 Yom Kippur War and Pakistan's actions in the 1999 Kargil War. In Iraq, the armed wing of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq calls itself the Badr Organization. Operation Badr may refer to either of the following wars: Yom Kippur War Called Operation Badr by Arabs Kargil War Codenamed as Operation Badr by Pakistan This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Combatants  Israel  Egypt,  Syria,  Iraq Commanders Moshe Dayan, David Elazar, Ariel Sharon, Shmuel Gonen, Benjamin Peled, Israel Tal, Rehavam Zeevi, Aharon Yariv, Yitzhak Hofi, Rafael Eitan, Abraham Adan, Yanush Ben Gal Saad El Shazly, Ahmad Ismail Ali, Hosni Mubarak, Mohammed Aly Fahmy, Anwar Sadat, Abdel Ghani el-Gammasy, Abdul Munim... Combatants  India  Pakistan, Kashmiri secessionists, Islamic militants (Foreign Fighters) Strength 30,000 5,000 Casualties Indian Official Figures: 527 killed,[1][2][3] 1,363 wounded[4] 1 POW Pakistani Estimates: 357-4000 killed[5][6] (Pakistan troops) 665+ soldiers wounded[5] 8 POWs. ... The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) (Arabic: المجلس الأعلى للثورة الإسلامية في العراق ) is an Iraqi political party. ... Badr Organization (Arabic: منظمة بدر ) (previously known as Badr Brigade or Bader Corps -- not to be confused with the Badr Brigade in the Jordanian Army) was the armed wing of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC). ...

The Message

Scene from the film The Message depicting the Muslim army at the Battle of Badr.

The Battle of Badr was featured on the big screen in the 1976 film The Message. Although the film was reasonably faithful to the event, it made some notable changes. The Quraishi army was depicted as having women in tow, when the women were noticeably absent. It also suffered no defections before the battle, though in the film Abu Sufyan refused to take part. The champion combat in front of the wells consisted of three one-on-one fights, instead of a three-on-three melee. Also, since neither Muhammad nor Ali were shown (though Ali's sword was shown) due to religious concerns, Hamza became the nominal commander of the army. The battle itself seemed be based more along the lines of Zulu, with the Quraishi army launching an all-out charge on the Muslim lines which in real life might have routed the smaller army. Both Amr ibn Hishām and Umayyah were killed in the battle, and their deaths marked the climax of the fighting. The film presented a highly-sterilized version of the aftermath, omitting all post-battle executions as well as the Muslim debate over the prisoners. Image File history File links The_Message_-_Badr. ... Image File history File links The_Message_-_Badr. ... The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ... The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ... Zulu is a 1964 adventure film depicting the Battle of Rorkes Drift between the British Army and the Zulus. ...

See also

• Battle of Uhud
• Jihad
• Muhammad as a general
• Participants at the Battle of Badr
• Pre-Islamic Arabia
• Rules of war in Islam

Combatants Muslims Quraysh-led Coalition Commanders Muhammad Abu Sufyan Strength 700 3,000 Casualties 70 dead 22 The Battle of Uhud was fought on 23 March, 625, between a force from the small Muslim community of Medina, in what is now north-western Arabia, and a force from Mecca, the... For other uses, see Jihad (disambiguation). ... Muhammad, viewed by Muslims as the last prophet of Islam, was, amongst other things, a military leader during the last ten years of his life. ... A list of participants at the Battle of Badr. ... Pre-Islamic Arabia, the history of Arabia before the rise of Islam in the 630s, is not known in great detail. ... The rules of war in Islam are the basic religious laws of war governing the military conduct of the mujahideen (literally those who struggle [for the Islamic faith]). These rules are part of a broader Islamic military doctrine encompassed by what some Muslims call Lesser Jihad. ...

Footnotes

For other uses, see Hijra. ... Combatants Muslims Quraish Commanders Muhammad Khalid ibn al-Walid Abu Sufyan ibn Harb Strength 10,000 Unknown Casualties 0 0 Mecca was conquered by the Muslims in January 630 AD (10th day of Ramadan8 AH). ... Abu is an Arabic term meaning father of. It should be followed by another word to form a complete name, for example Abu Nidal, Abu Sayyaf. ... Jahl is the Arabic word for ignorance, thoughtlessness, arrogance (as opposed to rational judgement) and passion (as opposed to self-control). ... The term date can refer to: A day according to a calendar; see calendar date. ... This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library. ... In Muslim tradition, Bilal ibn Rabah (died c. ...

References

Books and articles

• Ali, Abdullah Yusuf (1987). The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation & Commentary. Tahrike Tarsile Qur'an; Reissue edition. ISBN 0-9403-6832-3. 

• Armstrong, Karen (1992). Muhmmad: Biography of the Prophet. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-0625-0886-5. 

• Crone, Patricia (1987). Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam. Blackwell. 

• Hodgson, Marshall (1974). The Venture of Islam: The Classical Age of Islam. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-34683-8. 

• Lings, Martin (1983). Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources. Inner Traditions International. ISBN 0-8928-1170-6. 

• Nicolle, David (1993). Armies of the Muslim Conquest. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-8553-2279-X. 

• Watt, W. Montgomery (1956). Muhammad at Medina. Oxford University Press. 

This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Karen Armstrong (b. ... Patricia Crone, Ph. ... Marshall G.S. Hodgson (1922 - 1968), was an Islamic scholar and a world historian at the University of Chicago. ... The University of Chicago Press is the largest university press in the U.S. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including The Chicago Manual of Style, dozens of academic journals including Critical Inquiry, and a wide array of texts covering... Martin Lings Martin Lings (Abu Bakr Siraj Ad-Din) (January 24, 1909 – May 12, 2005) was a lifelong student and follower of Frithjof Schuon and a British scholar of Sufism. ... David Nicolle is an historian specialising in the Military history of the Middle Ages, with a particular interest in the Middle East. ... One of the Men-at-Arms Series. ... William Montgomery Watt is a English Islamic scholar. ... Muhammad at medina is a book about Islam writen by the non-Muslim Islamic scholar William Montgomery Watt. ...

Online references

• Translation of Malik's Muwatta.. USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts. Retrieved on January, 2006.
• Translation of Sahih Muslim.. USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts. Retrieved on January, 2006.
• Translation of Sahih al-Bukhari.. USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts. Retrieved on January, 2006.
• Partial Translation of Sunan Abu-Dawud.. USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts. Retrieved on January, 2006.

For other uses, see January (disambiguation). ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see January (disambiguation). ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see January (disambiguation). ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see January (disambiguation). ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Battle of Badr

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

The Holy Qur'an/Al-Anfal

• Manaqib Ashab al-Badriyyin A prayer citing the virtues and exploits of the Muslims who took part in the battle.
• Badr at IslamAnswers.Net
• The Battle of Badr at Al-Islam.Org
• The first battle of Islam at Badr: Islamic Occasions Network
• Hope Springs Eternal A nice multimedia presentation at IslamOnline.Net
• MSN Virtual Earth: A modern-day satellite image of Badr, now called "Badr Hunayn".
• Tafsir (Sura 8: verse 11 to 18) - Battle of Badr: Analysis of Qur'anic verses by Irshaad Hussain.

Coordinates: 23°44′N, 38°46′E Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is one of a family of wiki-based projects run by the Wikimedia Foundation, running on MediaWiki software. ... Image File history File links Wikisource-logo. ... The original Wikisource logo. ... The Constitution of Medina is the earliest known written constitution. ... The Banu Qaynuqa (also spelled Banu Kainuka, Banu Kaynuka, Banu Qainuqa, Arabic: ) were one of the three main Jewish tribes living in the 7th century of Medina, now in Saudi Arabia. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...