The Battle of Badr

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Amir bin Rabi'ah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "The morning of Badr was a Monday, when seventeen days of Ramadan had passed."
Musaddad recorded this narration in his Musnad; in its chain, the narrator Mu'adh bin al-Muthanna was in doubt, in narrating from his shaykh Musaddad, whether Musaddad's teacher was Yahya or Khalid.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Usayd Malik bin Rabi'ah (may Allah be pleased with him) (after his eyesight had gone) that he said: "If I could see today, I would show you the valley and the pass at Badr from which the angels came out; I have no doubt about it, nor any hesitation or uncertainty."
Imam Ishaq bin Rahwayh narrated this in his Musnad. In its chain, Muhammad bin Ishaq has stated explicitly that he heard it directly (tahdith); however, there is vagueness in the chain because the narrator from Banu Sa'idah is unnamed (mubham). But the basic event of the angels' descent and participation in the Battle of Badr is firmly established by the Noble Qur'an and other sahih hadith.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "On the day of the Battle of Badr I reached Abu Jahl; I went close to him and struck him, and Allah Almighty destroyed him. Then I came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and informed him of it. At that time I found Aqil bin Abi Talib with him (peace and blessings be upon him) as a captive. He asked (me): 'Did you really kill him?' I said: 'Yes!' He said: 'You have lied!' I said: 'O enemy of Allah! Do you call me a liar?' He asked: 'Then what mark did you see on his body?' I said: 'I saw a mark on his thigh like the ring (brand) of a camel.' He said: 'You have spoken the truth; that was the mark of branding with fire which he had done because of shawkah (a skin disease).'"
And Abu Jahl was saying (these verses as he was dying): "What grievance can this fierce war have against me? I am a nine-year-old camel, young and strong; for a day like this my mother gave birth to me."
I (Ibn Hajar) say: This story of Abu Jahl was also narrated by Abu Dawud and other hadith scholars through Abu Ubaydah from his father, but its wording differs from this; and this chain is da'if (weak).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) concerning the saying of Allah Almighty: "And when He showed them to you, when you met, as few in your eyes, and made you appear few in their eyes" [Surah al-Anfal: 44], that he said: "(At the Battle of Badr) the enemy appeared so few in our eyes that I said to a man beside me: 'Do you think they are seventy?' He replied: 'I think they are a hundred.' Until, when we took one of their men captive and asked him about their number, he said: 'We were a thousand.'"
I (Ibn Hajar) say: This chain is sahih (authentic), provided that Abu Ubaydah heard it from his father, for there is disagreement (among the scholars) about whether he heard from his father.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that Allah Almighty had initially made it obligatory upon the Muslims that one of them should fight against ten (of the enemy), but this command weighed very heavily and was difficult for them. So Allah Almighty lightened it for them, reducing this burden and setting the limit that one man should fight against two. On this occasion Allah Almighty revealed this verse: "If there are twenty steadfast among you, they will overcome two hundred" [Surah al-Anfal: 65]. Then Allah Almighty said: "Had it not been for a decree from Allah that preceded, there would have touched you, for what (ransom) you took, a great punishment" [Surah al-Anfal: 68]; this refers to the spoils of the Battle of Badr, and the meaning of Allah Almighty's words is: "I do not punish anyone who has disobeyed Me until I have first warned him." Then Allah Almighty said: "O Prophet, say to those of the captives who are in your hands" [Surah al-Anfal: 70] (to the end of the verse). Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: By Allah, this verse was revealed about me; when I informed the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) of my acceptance of Islam and asked him (peace and blessings be upon him) to take into account the twenty uqiyah of gold that had been taken from me (as ransom), Allah Almighty gave me in return twenty slaves, each of whom has abundant wealth in his hands for trade; and along with this worldly reward, I have complete hope for the forgiveness and pardon of Allah Almighty.
This chain is sahih (authentic). Ibn Marduyah narrated it in the same way in his al-Tafsir al-Musnad from Ahmad bin al-Husayn, from Abdullah bin Muhammad, from Ishaq; and Imam al-Tabarani recorded it from the hadith of Yazid bin Harun, from Ibn Ishaq.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jubayr bin Mut'im (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "Before the rout and defeat of the polytheists, while the people were fighting each other, I saw something like a black cloak coming down from the sky, which looked like black ants (in its multitude). I had no doubt at all that they were the angels, and immediately after that the enemy suffered a crushing defeat."
Its chain is hasan (good), provided that Ishaq bin Yasar heard it directly from Sayyiduna Jubayr (may Allah be pleased with him).

It is narrated from Zayd bin Ali that he said: On the day of the Battle of Badr, the shi'ar (the special battle cry) of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was: 'Ya Mansur, amit' (O you who are granted Allah's help and victory, put (the enemy) to death!).
Its chain contains Muhammad bin Umar al-Waqidi, whom most hadith scholars have criticised and declared da'if (weak); however, words of this kind regarding battle cries are also reported in other books of sirah and hadith.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna al-Miswar bin Makhramah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said to Sayyiduna Abd al-Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him): "O dear uncle, tell me about your story and what happened to you on the day of the Battle of Badr." He replied: "Recite from after verse one hundred and twenty of Surah Al Imran, and you will find our whole story there: from 'And when you went out at dawn from your household to post the believers at their stations for battle' [Surah Al Imran: 121] up to Allah Almighty's words 'that they would lose heart' [Surah Al Imran: 122]." He said (explaining it): "This is about those who sought safe conduct from the polytheists (during the fighting). (Continue reciting in this way) until you reach Allah's words 'while you were looking on' [Surah Al Imran: 143]." He said: "This refers to the believers' desire to meet the enemy and fight (which was surging in their hearts before the battle). (Then keep reading) until you reach His words 'when you were killing them by His permission' [Surah Al Imran: 152] (and you will learn of our steadfastness and of Allah's help)."
Imam Abu Ya'la narrated it in his Musnad. Although the text mentions the words "the day of Badr", the context and the Qur'anic verses clearly describe the events of the Battle of Uhud.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered me on the day of the Battle of Badr to blind those wells (of the disbelievers) (that is, to fill them with earth and stones and block them so that they could not be used)."
Imam Abu Ya'la al-Mawsili recorded this hadith in his Musnad (4252); it establishes the permissibility, as a strategy of war, of weakening the enemy's material resources and strength.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "At the Battle of Badr I was at a well, drawing water from it. Meanwhile a very fierce wind blew, then another severe wind came, about which I think I had never seen a stronger wind except the first one that had blown before it; then a third time another very powerful wind blew. The first wind was Mika'il (peace be upon him), who came with a thousand angels on the right side of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); the second wind was in the form of Israfil (peace be upon him), who came with a thousand angels on the left side of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); and the third wind was Jibril (peace be upon him), who came with an army of a thousand angels. At that time Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was on his (peace and blessings be upon him) right side, and I was on his (peace and blessings be upon him) left. Then when Allah Almighty inflicted a crushing defeat on the disbelievers, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) mounted me on a horse. When I had settled upright on it, the horse jolted me until I was thrown up onto its neck. So I supplicated to Allah Almighty, and Allah, Glorified and Exalted, made me firm upon it. Then I struck the enemy with my spear so much that the blood reached my armpit."
[Recorded by al-Bazzar in his Musnad: 649, Abu Ya'la: 549, and al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak: 4487] The chain of this hadith contains Musa bin Ya'qub al-Zam'i and Abu al-Huwayrith (Abd al-Rahman bin Uthman), who are criticised narrators (mutakallam fihim), and for that reason there is weakness in the chain of this narration.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: We were praying with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) during the Battle of Badr when suddenly the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) smiled during his prayer. When he (peace and blessings be upon him) had finished the prayer, we said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), we saw that you smiled in the prayer?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "In fact, Mika'il (peace be upon him) passed by me, and there were traces of dust on his wings; he was returning from searching for and pursuing the enemy. He smiled on seeing me, so I too smiled on seeing him."
The chain of this hadith contains the narrator al-Wazi' bin Nafi', who is da'if (weak) and matruk al-hadith (abandoned in hadith), because of which this narration is, in scholarly terms, severely weak.