The Battle of Badr was the first major battle between the Muslims of Medina and Quraysh, fought on Friday 17 Ramadan 2 AH (March 624 CE) at the wells of Badr 1. It began as the pursuit of a trade caravan and ended as a clash of two armies, which the Muslims won 2.
A Quraysh caravan of about a thousand camels was returning from Syria with the wealth of the Meccans, and the Prophet ﷺ called on his companions to intercept it 3. He set out with just over three hundred men, unprepared for battle, with at most two horses and seventy camels 4. Abu Sufyan sent to Mecca for help and the army of Quraysh came out; he then turned the caravan to the coast and saved it, but the army, urged on by its commander Abu Jahl, marched on to Badr, about a thousand strong 5. The Muslims reached the water of Badr first and, on the advice of al-Hubab ibn al-Mundhir, camped at the well nearest the enemy 6. The fighting opened with single combats in which three men of Quraysh fell; then their lines broke and Abu Jahl was killed 7 8. Fourteen Muslims were killed, and of the polytheists seventy were killed and seventy captured 9. Ransom was settled on for the captives, and one who had none taught ten boys of Medina to write 10. The author of al-Raheeq al-Makhtum calls it a decisive battle whose victory all the Arabs acknowledged, and says the Bedouin around Medina were alarmed by it 11.
This narrative was written with AI help from the sources it cites, and has not yet been read by a human editor.