Day of battle

Meccan plan

“	[The] Arabs will hear how we marched forth and of our mighty gathering, and they will stand in awe of us forever.	”
— Abu Jahl

By contrast, while little is known about the progress of the Quraishi army from the time it left Mecca until its arrival just outside Badr, several things are worth noting: although many Arab armies brought their women and children along on campaigns both to motivate and care for the men, the Meccan army did not. Also, the Quraish apparently made little or no effort to contact the many allies they had scattered throughout the Hijaz.^[36] Both facts suggest the Quraish lacked the time to prepare for a proper campaign in their haste to protect the caravan. Besides, it is believed they expected an easy victory, knowing they outnumbered the Muslims by three to one.^{[citation needed]}

When the Quraishi reached Juhfah, just south of Badr, they received a message from Abu Sufyan telling them the caravan was safely behind them, and that they could therefore return to Mecca.^[37] At this point, according to Karen Armstrong, a power struggle broke out in the Meccan army. Abu Jahl wanted to continue, but several of the clans present, including Banu Zuhrah and Banu Adi, promptly went home. Armstrong suggests they may have been concerned about the power that Abu Jahl would gain from crushing the Muslims. The Banu Hashim tribe wanted to leave, but was threatened by Abu Jahl to stay.^[38] Despite these losses, Abu Jahl was still determined to fight, boasting "We will not go back until we have been to Badr." During this period, Abu Sufyan and several other men from the caravan joined the main army.^[39]

Day of battle

Further information: List of participants at the Battle of Badr

At midnight on 13 March, the Quraish broke camp and marched into the valley of Badr. It had rained the previous day and they struggled to move their horses and camels up the hill of 'Aqanqal. After they descended from 'Aqanqal, the Meccans set up another camp inside the valley. While they rested, they sent out a scout, Umayr ibn Wahb to reconnoitre the Muslim lines. Umayr reported that Muhammad's army was small, and that there were no other Muslim reinforcements which might join the battle.^[40] However, he also predicted extremely heavy Quraishi casualties in the event of an attack (One hadith refers to him seeing "the camels of [Medina] laden with certain death").^[41] This further demoralized the Quraish, as Arab battles were traditionally low-casualty affairs, and set off another round of bickering among the Quraishi leadership. However, according to Arab traditions Amr ibn Hishām quashed the remaining dissent by appealing to the Quraishi's sense of honor and demanding that they fulfill their blood vengeance.^[42]

The death of Abu Jahl, and the casting of the Meccan dead into dry wells

The battle began with champions from both armies emerging to engage in combat. Three of the Medinan Ansar emerged from the Muslim ranks, only to be shouted back by the Meccans, who were nervous about starting any unnecessary feuds and only wanted to fight the Muhajirun, keeping the dispute within the clan. So Hamza approached forward and called on Ubaydah ibn al-Harith and Ali to join him. The Muslims dispatched the Meccan champions in a three-on-three melee. The first fight was between Ali and Walid ibn Utbah; Ali killed his opponent. After the fight between Ali and Walid, Hamza fought Utbah ibn Rabi'ah, and Ubaydah fought Shaybah ibn Rabi'ah. Hamza killed Utbah; however, Ubaydah was mortally wounded by Shaybah. Ali (and, according to some sources, Hamza as well) killed Shaybah. Ali and Hamza then carried Ubaydah back into the Muslim lines, where he died.^[43][44][45]

Now both armies began showering each other with arrows. A few Muslims and an unknown number of Quraish warriors were killed. Before the battle, Muhammad had given orders for the Muslims to attack first with their ranged weapons and only afterwards advance to engage the Quraish with melee weapons. Now he gave the order to charge, throwing a handful of pebbles at the Meccans in what was probably a traditional Arabian gesture while yelling "Defaced be those faces!"^[46][47] The Muslim army yelled "Yā manṣūr amit!"^[48] "O thou whom God hath made victorious, slay!" and rushed the Quraishi lines. The Meccans, understrength and unenthusiastic about fighting, promptly broke and ran. The battle itself only lasted a few hours and was over by the early afternoon.^[46] The Quran describes the force of the Muslim attack in many verses, which refer to thousands of angels descending from Heaven at Badr to terrify the Quraish.^[47][49] Muslim sources take this account literally, and there are several hadith where Muhammad discusses the Angel Jibreel and the role he played in the battle.^{[citation needed]}