After Badr: the dead, the captives, the spoils, and the news in Mecca and Medina

Fourteen men of the Muslims were martyred at Badr, six of the Muhajirun and eight of the Ansar. About seventy of the polytheists were killed and about seventy taken captive, and the defeat was crushing for Quraysh. ¹ The dead were thrown into the well, and then the Prophet called out to them by name. ²

The polytheists fled scattered toward Mecca. The first to bring them the news there was al-Haysaman ibn Abd Allah al-Khuza'i. Safwan ibn Umayya (may God be pleased with him), whose father and brother had been killed, was in al-Hijr. ² Abu Lahab used to listen for news. When Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith (may God be pleased with him) said that men on white horses with piebald marks had met the army, Abu Rafi', client of al-Abbas, said: "Those were the angels." Abu Lahab struck him, and his wife Umm al-Fadl struck him with a pole and split his head open, and he died seven nights later. ^{2 3} Mecca forbade wailing over the dead, so that the Muslims would not rejoice. ³

The Prophet sent two messengers with the news: Abd Allah ibn Rawaha to the people of the upper quarter (al-'Aliya), and Zayd ibn Haritha to the people of the lower quarter (al-Safila). The Jews and the hypocrites had spread rumours that the Prophet had died, until they saw Zayd on al-Qaswa', when one of them said that Muhammad had been killed. ⁴ When the victory was confirmed, joy spread through Medina. The news reached Usama ibn Zayd (may God be pleased with him) as they were levelling the soil over the grave of Ruqayya, the Prophet's daughter. ⁴

A dispute arose over the spoils between those who had gathered them, those who pursued the enemy, and those who had surrounded the Prophet. A verse of Sura al-Anfal came down about them, and the Prophet divided the spoils among the Muslims after taking out the fifth. ⁵ Then al-Nadr ibn al-Harith was killed at al-Safra, killed by Ali, and Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt was killed at 'Irq al-Zabya, who had thrown the entrails of a slaughtered camel on the Prophet and choked him with his cloak. ⁵

The Prophet consulted his Companions about the captives. Abu Bakr said to take ransom, and Umar said to strike their necks. The Prophet took Abu Bakr's view, and they both wept. When Umar asked him, he said: "Their punishment was shown to me as closer than this tree." ⁶ A verse of Sura al-Anfal came down rebuking the taking of ransom before the enemy had been thoroughly crushed. Ransom was then taken, from four thousand dirhams to a thousand, and whoever had no ransom taught the sons of the Ansar to read and write. ⁷

The Prophet released Abu al-As, husband of Zaynab, after he was ransomed with a necklace of hers that had been with Khadija, on condition that he let Zaynab go. She then emigrated with the help of Zayd ibn Haritha (may God be pleased with him) and a man of the Ansar. ⁷

In the second year of the Hijra the fast of Ramadan and zakat al-fitr were ordained, the rates of zakat were set out, and it was the first festival the Muslims celebrated after this victory. ^{8 9}

• The book says that the reports about Abu Lahab's death and burial place differ, and it prefers what it relates from Umm al-Fadl. ³
• The book relates from Abu Talha that the Prophet called out to them in the well, and in another report that the Prophet told Umar that the dead do not hear. ²