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MUSLIM WARRIORS OF THE BATTLE OF BADR: THEIR NUMBER
Allah, the Glorified and the Exalted, says in the Holy Qur'an:
And Allah certainly helped you at Badr when you were weak. So be in reverential awe of Allah that perhaps you may be thankful (3:123).
The Battle of Badr is the most important battle in all human history as it firmly established Islam as a universal religion for the whole of humanity till the end of time. It took place in 2 A.H, 624 C.E. The beloved holy Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu 'alayhi wa Sallam, together with 313 of his Companions and angels sent by Allah to help them, defeated about 1000 better armed polytheists of Makkah.
The Companions of Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu 'alayhi wa Sallam, who took part are the Muhajirin and the Ansar. The Muhajirin are the Muslims from Makkah who had migrated to Madina. The Ansar are the Muslims of Madina who helped them settle in Madina.
The two main tribes of Madina were Aws and Khazraj. The Ansar (Helpers) of Madina, are thus classified either as Awsi (belonging to the Aws tribe) or Khazraji (belonging to the Khazraj tribe).
The 'Asharatu'l Mubash-shara, the ten who were promised Paradise by the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, are listed first. The rest of the Companions are listed in alphabetical order. (The letter dâ does not occur because none of the Companions of Badr had names starting with that letter). The Companions who are known by their kunya (plural: kuna), that is, as "fathers of so-and-so", are traditionally listed last.
Fourteen Sahaba (Companions) were martyred in the Battle of Badr. Their names are shown in bold. Al-Fatiha!
Mawla means "freedman, freed from slavery". So, "mawla Rasulillah" means one emancipated from slavery by the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
Abu means "father of". So, Abu Ayyub means "father of Ayyub".
Halif means ally. So 'Usaymah halif min Ashja' means 'Usaymah, an ally from the clan of Ashja'
According to the Ahadith in Jami' us-Sahih of Imam al-Bukhari (Vol. 5, p. 201, Hadith Numbers 292-294), the number of warriors in the Battle of Badr were more than 310 of whom more than 60 were the Muhajirin (from Makkah) and more than 249 were the Ansar (from Madina). According to scholars of sirah (history, biography), 313 companions took part in the Battle of Badr of whom 82 were the Muhajirin and 231 were the Ansar (61 Awsi and 170 Khazraji). Wallahu A'lam (Allah Knows Best).
The number of Companions that are normally listed in Classics of Muslim Spirituality are more than those who actually took part because there are some Companions who were considered by the Holy Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu 'alayhi wa Sallam to be Ahl Badr (The Warriors of Badr) even though they were not actually present because they were sent by him on special assignments elsewhere at that time.
Another reason why the list is greater than 313 is that in some instances, Muslim historians and the 'ulama (the learned) are not absolutely sure from the evidence they have collected whether a particular Companion was actually present at Badr or not. So, perhaps they have decided to err in including the name rather than to err in leaving it out. For that reason perhaps, Imam ibn Kathir lists 321, Imam al-Barzanji lists 368, Mawlana Khalid al-Baghdadi lists 366, Shaykh 'Abdur Rahman Chohravi mentions 357, Shaykh Mustafa Rushdi ad-Dimishqi has 356 while Shaykh 'AbdurRahman al-Azhariyy has 385. Incidentally, the Imam al-Barzanji cited here is the same Imam al-Barzanji who composed the famous Mawlid (Birth of Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu 'alayhi wa Sallam), named after him as the Mawlid al-Barzanji.
Siddiq Noormuhammad
1423/2002
Toronto, Canada