What was most striking about the victory was that it was precisely the leaders and prominent figures who had been killed or taken prisoner. Of the Muslims, 14 were martyred: 6 from the Muhajirun and 8 from the Ansar. The Prophet ﷺ ordered Abdullah ibn Rawahah and Zaid ibn Harithah to return to Madinah with the good news. The Prophet ﷺ himself would remain at Badr for three more days. As narrated by Anas ibn Malik ﵁, this was not specific to Badr:
Whenever the Prophet ﷺ had defeated a people, he would remain on the battlefield for three nights.
There were several reasons for this:
1. He ﷺ wanted to make sure the battle was truly over. By remaining on the battlefield, it could be confirmed that no fleeing enemy fighters were still in the area, and that if any remained, they were in fact on their way home. It also served to gather the prisoners.
2. Burying the dead The martyrs had to be buried, and this was done on site at the battlefield. In the case of Badr as well, none of the martyrs were buried outside of Badr.
3. The war spoils Collecting and organizing the spoils of war also required time. Someone had to be appointed to take on this task. That person ensured the spoils were distributed fairly among the fighters. In the case of Badr, Ka’b al-Ansari ﵁ was assigned this responsibility.
4. Rest After winning the battle, the Prophet ﷺ wanted to give his men time for well-deserved rest and to discuss the battle and the victory. The wounded could also be treated.
5. Identifying fallen enemies Finally, time was also needed to collect the bodies of the fallen, identify them, and then dispose of the remains. It also happened that wounded survivors were still found.
In the case of Badr, the Prophet ﷺ instructed that the bodies of the polytheists be thrown into one of the wells of Makkah. The Prophet ﷺ stood over the well and said:
Prophet ﷺ: O 'Utbah ibn Rabi’a, O Shaybah ibn Rabi’a, O Umayyah ibn Khalaf, O Abu Jahl ibn Hisham, O so-and-so, have you found what your Lord promised you to be true? For I have found what my Lord promised me to be true.
'Umar ibn al-Khattab ﵁: O Messenger of Allah, why do you address people who have begun to decompose?
Prophet ﷺ: By the One in whose Hand is the soul of Muhammad, you do not hear what I say to them any more clearly than they do. The only difference is that they are unable to answer me.
Dispute over the Spoils and the Prisoners
'Ubadah ibn al-Samit ﵁ said:
We set out with the Prophet ﷺ and I was present at Badr. The two groups clashed in battle and Allah ﷻ decreed defeat for the enemy. Some of us pursued the fleeing enemy to kill them. Others occupied the enemy camps and collected their belongings. Others stood guard around the Prophet ﷺ to prevent the enemy from launching a surprise attack. All three groups were occupied with their respective tasks until nightfall, when everyone was gathered. Those who had collected the spoils said: “We were the ones who collected them, so no one else can lay claim to them.” Those who had pursued the enemy said: “You deserve them no more than we do. We drove the enemy away and forced them to abandon their belongings.” And those who had stood guard around the Prophet ﷺ said: “You deserve the spoils no more than we do. We stood guard over the Messenger ﷺ of Allah out of fear that the enemy might attack him unexpectedly. That is what we were occupied with.”
The following verse was revealed:
يَسۡـَٔلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلۡأَنفَالِۖ قُلِ ٱلۡأَنفَالُ لِلَّهِ وَٱلرَّسُولِۖ فَٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَأَصۡلِحُواْ ذَاتَ بَيۡنِكُمۡۖ وَأَطِيعُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥٓ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤۡمِنِينَ
They ask you (O Muhammad) about the war spoils. Say: "The war spoils are for Allah and His Messenger." So fear Allah and settle all disputes among yourselves, and obey Allah and His Messenger, if you are believers.
Surah Al-Anfal: 1
In another narration, 'Ubadah ﵁ was asked about this surah and he ﵁ explained:
It was revealed concerning us, the people of Badr. We had a dispute over the spoils and displayed bad manners in the process. Upon this, Allah took the spoils from us and gave them to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who then divided them fairly among us.
At the opening of the verses of Surah Al-Anfal, Allah ﷻ made it clear that the spoils were no longer controlled by individual fighters, but that Allah ﷻ and His Messenger ﷺ would determine their distribution. The believers had to submit to this and be content with the division. Allah ﷻ later revealed in the surah the verse:
وَٱعۡلَمُوٓاْ أَنَّمَا غَنِمۡتُم مِّن شَيۡءٖ فَأَنَّ لِلَّهِ خُمُسَهُۥ وَلِلرَّسُولِ وَلِذِي ٱلۡقُرۡبَىٰ وَٱلۡيَتَٰمَىٰ وَٱلۡمَسَٰكِينِ وَٱبۡنِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ إِن كُنتُمۡ ءَامَنتُم بِٱللَّهِ وَمَآ أَنزَلۡنَا عَلَىٰ عَبۡدِنَا يَوۡمَ ٱلۡفُرۡقَانِ يَوۡمَ ٱلۡتَقَى ٱلۡجَمۡعَانِۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيۡءٖ قَدِيرٌ
And know that whatever spoils of war you have obtained, one fifth of it is for Allah and for the Messenger, and for the near relatives and the orphans, and the needy and the wayfarer; if you believe in Allah and in what We sent down upon Our servant on the Day of Distinction, the day the two armies met. And Allah is capable of all things.
Surah Al-Anfal
This revelation purified the Companions ﵃ of greed, miserliness, and similar worldly desires. They left room only for sincerity toward Allah ﷻ. Allah ﷻ therefore granted them not only the victory, but gave them more than they had initially desired or expected. 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr ﵁ said:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ set out on the day of Badr accompanied by 315 of his Companions. When he ﷺ reached Badr, the Prophet ﷺ said: “O Allah, they are hungry, fill them. O Allah, they are barefoot, provide them with mounts to ride. O Allah, they are unclothed, so clothe them.” Allah ﷻ then granted them the victory on the Day of Badr, such that every man was clothed and returned with one or two camels.
The Prophet ﷺ also gave a share of the spoils to those who had not actively participated in Badr because the Prophet ﷺ had assigned them a specific task. They were thus treated equally in the distribution of the spoils with those who had actively taken part.
Prisoners of War
Ibn 'Abbas ﵁ narrated:
Messenger of Allah ﷺ: What do you think we should do with these prisoners?
Abu Bakr ﵁: O Prophet of Allah, these are our cousins and fellow tribesmen. I am of the opinion that we should demand ransom for them, and as a result we will gain strength against the disbelievers. And perhaps Allah will guide them to Islam.
Messenger of Allah ﷺ: 'Umar, what do you think, O son of al-Khattab?
'Umar ﵁: No, O Messenger of Allah. I disagree with Abu Bakr. Instead, I think you should give us authority over them so that we may strike their necks. Give 'Ali authority over 'Aqil so he may strike his neck. Likewise, give me authority over (so-and-so) so I may strike his neck. For they are the leaders and foremost figures of disbelief.
'Umar ﵁ later said that the Prophet ﷺ did not lean toward his proposal, but rather toward what Abu Bakr ﵁ had said. The following day, 'Umar came to the Prophet ﷺ and Abu Bakr ﵁, and both were sitting weeping.
'Umar ﵁: O Messenger of Allah, tell me what makes you weep. If I am able to weep, I will also weep. And if I have no tears, I will pretend to weep because I see you both weeping.
Messenger of Allah ﷺ: I weep over what your companions advised me regarding asking for ransom. Allah ﷻ then revealed: “It is not befitting for a Prophet to have prisoners of war until he has subdued (the enemies) in the land. You desire the fleeting goods of this world, but Allah desires (for you) the Hereafter. And Allah is Almighty, All-Wise.”
Allah ﷻ demands in this verse that no softness or signs of weakness be shown during a phase in which a state is emerging, otherwise the enemy will not fear it and will be quick to attack again.
Given the crimes the leaders of Quraysh had committed, the Prophet ﷺ was very lenient and merciful in his treatment of the prisoners. Some of them he set free after they paid ransom. Others he released out of pure mercy without receiving any ransom from them. Still others he freed after they had first taught ten Muslims to read and write.
There were also Qurayshi prisoners whom the Prophet ﷺ had to deal with firmly. These were 'Uqbah ibn Abi Mu’ayt and al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, two of the greatest enemies of Islam. Had they been left alive, they would undoubtedly have continued waging war against Islam by every means at their disposal. In this phase of the da’wah, it was not wise to release them. As a result, the Prophet ﷺ gave the order for their execution. When 'Uqbah heard that he was about to be executed, he said:
'Uqbah: Woe to me! O people of Quraysh, why am I singled out to be killed from among all the prisoners here!
Prophet ﷺ: Because of your hostility toward Allah and His Messenger.
'Uqbah: O Muhammad, it would be better for you to show me kindness. Treat me as you would any other man of my people. If you kill them, then kill me. If you ask ransom for them, then let me be like them. O Muhammad, who will look after my children?
Bring him forward, O 'Asim. And 'Asim brought him forward and struck him on the neck.
As for al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, he too was one of the most despicable and wicked of the Qurayshi leaders. He originally came from Hirah, where he had become familiar with the stories told in the courts of kings. Whenever the Prophet ﷺ attended a gathering to warn the people about the punishment visited upon earlier nations, the Prophet ﷺ had barely departed before al-Nadr would take his place and say:
By Allah, O people of Quraysh, I have better things to tell you than he does. Come sit around me and I will tell you that which is better.
He would then tell stories about the kings of Persia, Rustum, and Esfandiyar, and say:
What makes Muhammad’s speech better than mine?
This, combined with his persecution of Muslims, demanded a fitting response, and for that reason he too was executed on the order of the Prophet ﷺ. It was 'Ali who carried out the execution.
The treatment of the prisoners of war at Badr was unprecedented in the Arab world. In an era when prisoners were routinely tortured, sold as slaves, or simply killed, the Prophet ﷺ set a standard that would be cited centuries later as an example of mercy in wartime. He ﷺ gave the order: “Treat the prisoners well.” The Companions ﵃ took this command so seriously that they gave up their own food in favor of their captives.
In general, the prisoners were treated very well. Allah ﷻ says:
وَيُطۡعِمُونَ ٱلطَّعَامَ عَلَىٰ حُبِّهِۦ مِسۡكِينٗا وَيَتِيمٗا وَأَسِيرًا
And they give food, despite their love for it, to the poor, the orphan and the captive.
Surah Al-Insan
The brother of Mus’ab ibn Umair ﵁, who was not yet a Muslim at the time and was one of the prisoners of Badr, said:
I was one of the prisoners of Badr and the Prophet ﷺ said: “Treat the prisoners well.” I was held by a group of men from the Ansar. Whenever they had their lunch or dinner, they would eat dates and give me wheat (which was considered better than dates). This was because the Prophet ﷺ had urged them to do so.
Abu al-'As ibn Rabi’a ﵁, also a prisoner at Badr, said:
I was held by a group of men from the Ansar. Whenever it was time for lunch or dinner, they would give me bread while they ate dates, even though they had little bread and ate dates every day. They cared for me so well that whenever they got hold of bread, they would pass it on to me to eat.
Al-Walid said similar things but added:
They let us ride while they walked.
This treatment led some of the nobles of Quraysh to embrace Islam, or at the very least develop an appreciation for the teachings of Islam regarding mercy.