About a thousand men marched out of Mecca and took to the road of Badr. When Muhammad heard of this frightening news, he called a council of war. The Muslims were strictly disciplined and desperate and had been carefully drilled by Muhammad. Suddenly he emerged as a good military tactician. He had lined them up in close formation and they began by bombarding the enemy with arrows, drawing their swords for hand-to-hand fighting only at the last moment.

Despite their superior numbers, the Quraysh soon found to their astonishment that they were getting the worst of it. They fought in the old Arab style with careless bravado and each chief led his own men, so the army lacked a unified command. By midday, the Quraysh who had expected to only have to make a show of force, panicked and fled in disarray, leaving about fifty of their leading men dead on the field.

Victory for Muhammad

The Muslims were jubilant. They began to round up prisoners and, in the usual Arab fashion, started to kill them, but Muhammad put a stop to this. A revelation came down saying that the prisoners of war were to be ransomed. He also stopped the Muslims squabbling over the booty, and the camels, horses, armor and equipment were divided up equally. Muhammad had no wish to eliminate the Quraysh. Somehow he would have to win them over; to this end, even in the first flush of victory, he treated the Quraysh prisoners fairly.

The Koran developed a humane policy towards prisoners of war. It decreed that they must not be ill-treated in any way and must be either released or returned for ransom. If there were no ransom forthcoming, the prisoner must be allowed to earn money to buy his freedom: his captor is urged to help him with the payments out of his own resources and the freeing of captives praised as a virtuous and charitable act. The humane and fair treatment paid off. Some of the prisoners were so impressed by life in the umma that they converted to Islam.

The victorious army began the trek home. For years Muhammad had been the butt of scorn and insults, but after this spectacular and unsought success everybody in Arabia would have to take him seriously. This unexpected victory of a sudden reversal of fortune seemed like an act of God, filling the people with new confidence and conviction.

Not all the Helpers were enthusiastic about his enhanced prestige. Despite the euphoria and pride in the victory, most thoughtful Muslims knew very well that it might not be so easy to defeat the Quraysh another time. The Quraysh would have to retaliate to retrieve their honor and prestige, on which their success was based.

Jews Support Quraysh

The army was welcomed ecstatically when it marched into Medina, to the great discomfiture of the three main Jewish tribes. The Jewish tribes were horrified by Muhammad’s new standing in Medina and saw Mecca as a natural ally. The Jewish tribes were formidable. They had sizable armies and impressive fighting power and, in the event of a Meccan attack, might well join the Quraysh to get rid of the upstart.