The Life of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq

Chapter 4. The Battle of Badr, 624CE

The Muslims destroy the wells of Badr

When Abu Sufyan saw that the caravan was safe, he sent word to the Quraysh, ‘You came out to save your caravan, your men and your merchandise. Now that God has saved them, you should return to Mecca.’

But Abu Jahl said, ‘No, by God, we will not return home until we have been to Badr!’

Meanwhile one of the Ansar advised Muhammad and his men to go to the well nearest to the enemy, make a halt there, destroy all the other wells beyond it, and build a cistern for themselves, so that they would have plenty of water and the Quraysh would have none. Muhammad agreed that this was an excellent stratagem and it was immediately carried out. The wells were filled in and a cistern was built and filled with water from which the Muslims refilled their drinking vessels. [The action of destroying wells in this desert land was as heinous as that of attacking a caravan in a sacred month. It contravened all tribal convention and honour at the time.]

Then they made Muhammad a shelter of palm branches with his riding camels standing by, so that if the worst occurred, he could ride back to Medina.

The Quraysh, having set out at dawn, now advanced. When Muhammad saw them coming down the hill into the valley, he cried, ‘O Allah, here come the Quraysh in all their arrogance, denying You and accusing Your apostle of falsehood. O Allah, grant me the help You promised and destroy them this very morning!’

The Quraysh are reluctant to join battle with their kin

On the Quraysh side, their leader, Utba b. Rabia, rose to speak and said, ‘O people of Quraysh, we have nothing to gain by waging war on Muhammad and his companions. Afterwards, each one of us would always be looking with hatred at the face of another who has slain one of his relatives. Let us return home now and leave Muhammad to the rest of the Arabs!’

But Abu Jahl said, ‘No, by God we will not return until God has decided between us and Muhammad,’ and sending for Amir b. al-Hadrami, he said, ‘Remind them of the murder of your brother at Nahkla!’

Amir cried out, ‘Alas for Amr! Alas for Amr!’ And war was declared, and all was lost as the Quraysh held obstinately to their evil course and Utba’s wise words were wasted on them.

The beginning of the battle

Next, Utba b. Rabia stepped forward between his brother Shayba and his son al-Walid b. Utba, and they challenged the Muslims to single combat. Three men of the Ansar came out against them, but the Quraysh rejected them, saying that they had no quarrel with them, and their herald shouted, ‘O Muhammad! Send forth against us men of equal rank from our own tribe!’

The apostle then called on Ubayda b. Harith, Hamza, and Ali, and when the Quraysh heard their names, they accepted them as their peers. Now Ubayda was the eldest of them, and he faced Utba, while Hamza faced Shayba and Ali faced al-Walid.

Before long Hamza killed Shayba and Ali killed al-Walid. Ubayda and Utba exchanged two blows with each other that laid them both low.

Hamza and Ali then turned on the wounded Utba and despatched him with their swords. They lifted Ubayda and carried him back to his companions. Ubayda’s leg had been cut off and his life was ebbing away. On being brought to the apostle, he asked, ‘I am a shahid (martyr), am I not, O apostle of God?’

‘Yes, indeed you are,’ Muhammad replied.

And as he died, Ubayda uttered these words, ‘I hope for a life close to Allah in the highest heaven, with houris fashioned like the most beautiful statues.’

Muhammad incites men to martyrdom with the promise of Paradise

Then the two armies advanced towards each other. The apostle had ordered his men not to attack until he gave the command, and if the enemy were to approach them, they were to hold them off with hails of arrows. As the battle raged, Muhammad incited the Muslims, saying, ‘By Allah, any man who dies today fighting with courage against the enemy will surely enter Paradise!’

Umayr b. al-Humam was eating some dates which he had in his hand. ‘What!’ cried he, ‘Is death in battle the only thing that stands between me and Paradise?’ And casting the dates aside, he seized his sword and plunged into the battle and fought valiantly until he was slain.

Then Auf b. Harith, son of Afra, said, ‘O apostle of God, what makes the Lord laugh with joy at His servant?’

‘When he plunges into the midst of battle without armour!’ replied Muhammad.

So Auf took off his coat of mail and cast it aside; then he too seized his sword and fought until he was killed in action.

As the battle raged, Muhammad told the Muslims that Allah had sent them ‘a thousand angels, in squadrons one behind the other!’ (Sura 8.9)

Then he took a handful of pebbles and turning towards the Quraysh, shouted, 'Allah’s curse be upon those faces!’ as he threw the pebbles at them, and ordered the Muslims to charge.

The Quraysh, were routed. Allah killed many of their chiefs and took many of their nobles as prisoners.

The Muslims slaughter the Quraysh

During the rout, the apostle stayed in the shelter, with Sa’d b. Muadh and some of the Ansar standing guard at the entrance to protect him against enemy attack. While the Muslims were taking prisoners, the apostle saw disapproval on Sa’d’s face, and said, ‘You seem to disapprove of what the men are doing!’

‘Yes, by Allah, I certainly do!’ cried Sa’d, ‘This is the first defeat that Allah has inflicted on the infidels and I prefer to see them killed than be left alive!’

Then the Muslims began slaughtering the fleeing and wounded Quraysh. [This was a full-scale slaughter that contravened all existing tribal codes of honour about the ransoming and release of prisoners.]

And Muhammad said, ‘I know that some of my family, the Beni Hashim, were forced to come out against their will and had no desire to fight us; so if any of you meet Abul-Bakhtari, or my uncle al-Abbas, do not kill them, for they were made to come out against their will.’

Abu Hudhayfa said, ‘Are we to kill our own fathers, sons and brothers and spare al-Abbas? By Allah, if I find him I will stick my sword in him!’

Then the apostle said to Omar, ‘Do you think that the face of the apostle’s uncle should be marked with a sword?’

Omar replied, ‘By Allah, the man is a false Muslim! Let me strike off his head!’

Afterwards, Abu Hudhaya used to say, ‘I never felt safe after my words that day. I was in constant fear that only martyrdom would atone for them.’

The reason why the apostle forbade the killing of Abul-Bakhtari was because he had defended the apostle against the people of Mecca. He had never insulted him or done him harm, and he had played a great part in ending the boycott of the Beni Hashim. However, Abul-Baktari, on being told he had been spared, preferred to die fighting with his friend, Junada, one of the Beni Layth, saying, ‘The women of Mecca shall not have cause to say that I forsook a companion in order to save myself!’

And as he fought, he recited this rajaz (verse): ‘A son of the free does not give up a friend until he dies, or sees him safely on his way!’

The Muslims hack Umayya b. Khalaf and his son to death

Abdul-Rahman, one of the Muslims, later recounted how he was carrying some coats of mail that he had taken as plunder when he saw his old friend Umayya b. Kalaf standing holding his son Ali by the hand.

‘Why don’t you take me prisoner?’ Umayya asked him. ‘My ransom will be worth far more to you than those coats of mail.’

So Abdul-Rahman cast aside the coats of mail and took Umayya and his son by the hand and walked off with the pair of them as his prisoners. But then Bilal saw Umayya and recognised him as the master who had tortured him in Mecca in order to make him renounce his faith, and he cried, ‘The worst of the infidels, Umaya ibn Khalaf! I’d rather die than see him live!’

Bilal kept on shouting the same words over and over again until they were surrounded by a group of Muslims. As Abdul-Rahman was trying to protect Umayya, one of the group drew his sword and struck off the boy’s leg.

Abdul-Rahman shouted to Umayya, ‘Make your escape! I cannot help you any longer!’

The Muslims then hacked both the father and son to death with their swords. Afterwards, Abdul-Rahman used to say, ‘Allah forgive Bilal! I lost my coats of mail and then he robbed me of my captives!’

Muhammad rejoices over the death of Abu Jahl

Then the apostle ordered that Abu Jahl should be sought amongst the slain. Abdullah b. Masud went and found Abu Jahl at his last gasp and put his foot on his neck and said to him, ‘Now Allah has put you to shame, you enemy of Allah!’

Abu Jahl replied, 'How has Allah put me to shame? I’m nothing more than a man you have killed. Tell me, how went the battle?’

When Abdullah told him that it went in favour of Allah and His apostle, Abu Jahl replied, ‘You have climbed high, you little goatherd!’

Then Abdullah hacked off his head and delivered it to the apostle, saying, ‘Here is the head of the enemy of Allah, Abu Jahl!’ And he threw down the head in front of Muhammad who gave hearty thanks to Allah.

Muhammad mocks the dead Qurayshi leaders

Muhammad then ordered that the bodies of the dead Quraysh should be thrown into a pit. Afterwards, during the night, his companions heard him ranting at the bodies, ‘O people of the pit, O Utba, O Shayba, O Umayya, O Abu Jahl, you were evil kin to your prophet. You called me a liar when others believed in me; you cast me out when others took me in; and you fought against me when others fought beside me! Have you found that what Allah promised you is true? Because I have found that what my Lord promised me is true!’

His companions asked, ‘Are you talking to the dead?’

Muhammad retorted, ‘They can hear me as well as you can, but they cannot answer me back!’ [Thus did Muhammad slake his thirst for revenge: depriving his fallen enemies of a decent burial, and taunting their headless bodies thrown ignominiously into a pit, an unforgivable outrage and precursor to a decade of pitiless killings, assassinations and warfare until his death in 632CE.]

The division of the spoils and incitement to terror against disbelievers

Then Muhammad ordered that all the spoils should be collected together, and when the Muslims quarrelled about it, Allah sent down the 75 verses of Sura 8: The Spoils of War:

‘They will ask you about the spoils. Know that of what you take as booty a fifth belongs to Allah and the apostle and next of kin and orphans and the poor and the wayfarer.’ (Sura 8.41)

‘Fight the unbelievers until persecution is no more and religion is all for Allah!’ (Sura 8.39)

‘If you could see the angels as they carry off the souls of the unbelievers, smiting their faces and their backs, saying “Taste the torment of the Fire!”(Sura 8.50)

‘Surely the worst of beasts in the sight of Allah are the blasphemers who will not believe!’ (Sura 8.55)

‘Let not the unbelievers think they will ever get away. Muster against them all the armed force and cavalry at your command, that you may strike terror into the enemies of Allah!’ (Sura 8.59-60)

Muhammad orders the beheadings of al-Nadr and Uqba

Then Muhammad began his return journey to Medina with forty-four captives, among them al-Nadr b. al-Harith and Uqba b. Abu Muayt [who used to oppose him in Mecca, claiming that he was merely repeating ‘tales of the ancients’ in the Quran.]

Muhammad took with him the spoils of war seized from the unbelievers until he came out of the pass at al-Safra where he halted on a sand hill and divided the plunder that Allah had bestowed upon the Muslims equally, and there at al-Safra, he ordered al-Nadr to be beheaded by Ali.

When they arrived at Irqul-Zabya, Muhammad also ordered Uqba to be executed. Uqba cried, ‘But, Muhammad, what about my children?’

‘They will go to Hell!’ replied the apostle.

[Although, al-Nadr was a cousin of his, Muhammad could not afford to ransom these two men and risk their continued mockery.]

Muhammad orders the Beni Qaynuka to convert or die

After the Battle of Badr, Muhammad summoned the Jews of the Beni Qaynuka to their marketplace and spoke to them thus, ‘O Jews, beware lest Allah bring upon you the same retribution that He brought upon the Quraysh! Submit yourselves to Islam! You know that I am a prophet sent by Allah. You will find it in your scriptures and in God’s covenant with you!’

‘O Muhammad,’ they replied, ‘do not delude yourself, just because you defeated a people with no experience of war. By God, if war breaks out between us, you will find we are real warriors!’

They were the first of the Jews to break the Charter [of Medina] and go to war, and Muhammad laid siege to them until they surrendered to him unconditionally.

As preparations were being made for their execution, Abdullah b. Ubayy, leader of the Khazraj, whose staunch allies they were, went to Muhammad and said, ‘O Muhammad, treat my allies kindly.’

But Muhammad ignored him. Abdullah repeated his request, but Muhammad simply turned away from him, whereupon Abdullah grasped the collar of his robe. Muhammad’s face darkened with anger and he said, ‘Damn you, let go of me!’

Abdullah replied, ‘No, by God, I will not let go until you treat my allies kindly. They defended me from all my enemies. Would you destroy them in a single morning?’ Muhammad replied, ‘They are yours,’ but commanded that the Jews should go into exile.

[Had it not been for Abdullah’s intervention, Muhammad would have had the Jews put to the sword for refusing to submit to Islam. The Beni Qaynuka were goldsmiths. Whilst Muhammad did allow them to take their women and children into exile with them, he seized all their possessions, and the Muslims found much fine weaponry and armour in the forts, along with the tools of their trade.]

And Allah sent down concerning this: ‘Believers, take not Jews or Christians as your friends. They are allies only of each other. Whoever befriends them becomes one of them. Allah does not guide wrongdoers.’ (Sura 5.51)

Muhammad apostle orders the assassination of Ka’b

When Ka’b b. al-Ashraf, of the Jewish Beni al-Nadir tribe at Medina heard news of Badr, he asked, ‘Is this true? Did Muhammad actually have such noble and kingly men killed in cold blood?’

He then went to Mecca, where he denounced Muhammad and recited poetry lamenting the Quraysh whose bodies had been thrown into the pit at Badr. He also composed insulting verses about Muslim women, so Muhammad said, ‘Who will rid me of this man?’

Muhammad b. Maslama, a foster-brother of Ka’b, said, ‘I will kill him for you, O apostle of God!’

However, he delayed for three days without food or drink, [wrestling with his conscience because ties between foster-brothers were sacred] until the apostle told him that he should use whatever deceit was necessary and absolved him in the matter. Then Ibn Maslama conspired with others to send Silkan, Ka’b’s foster brother, to visit Ka’b. After they had recited poetry together, Silkan claimed to be an enemy of Muhammad, and promised to bring valuable weapons to Ka’b’s house later that night as a pledge of good faith.

The apostle told the conspirators to go in Allah’s name and prayed to Allah to help them before returning to his house. It was a moonlit night when they came to Ka’b’s fort, and Silkan called out to him. Ka’b went walking with his foster brothers and friends, suspecting no evil, until on a pre-arranged signal, they suddenly cried, ‘Smite the enemy of Allah!’

So they smote at him with their swords, and their swords clashed over his head to no effect. Muhammad b. Maslama pulled out a dagger and killed Ka’b by stabbing him in the stomach and down to the groin.

[They then went back to Muhammad, who was standing at the door of the mosque, and threw down Ka’b’s head before him and he praised Allah for his death.]

This attack on Ka’b cast terror amongst the Jews, and there was not a single Jew in Medina who did not fear for his life after that.

Muhammad orders his followers to kill Jews

The next day, Muhammad said to his followers, ‘Kill any Jew that falls into your hands!’

So Muhayyisa b. Masud fell upon Ibn Sunayna, a Jewish merchant who was on close social and business terms with his family, and slew him. Whereupon Muhayyisa’s elder brother, Huwayyisa, who was not a Muslim at the time, began to beat him, saying, ‘Why did you kill Ibn Sunayna when we benefited so much from his trade?’

Muyayyisa replied, ‘If the person who commanded me to kill him had commanded me to kill you, I would have cut off your head.’

‘What!’ his brother cried, ‘If Muhammad had commanded you to kill me, would you really have done so?’

‘Yes, by Allah,’ replied Muhayyisa, ‘if the apostle of Allah had commanded me to cut off your head, I would certainly have done so.’

His brother exclaimed, ‘What a marvellous faith this must be – to inspire you to such an act!’ And he immediately converted to Islam.