Ibn Isḥāq narrates via Yazīd b. Rumān from Ḥazrat ʿĀʾisha, who said:
The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded that the dead be thrown into the well. They were cast into it. However, Umayya b. Khalaf did not fit into the well, for he had swollen within his armor and filled it. Though they tried to throw him in, his body began to fall apart, so they left him in place and covered him with earth, stones, and the like. When the others were thrown into the well, the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
– O people of the well! Have you found what your Lord promised you to be true? Indeed, I have found what my Lord promised me to be true!
The Companions (ṣaḥāba) said to him:
– O Messenger of Allah! Are you speaking to a dead people?
– They have learned what their Lord promised them. Ḥazrat ʿĀʾisha said:
People say that the Messenger of God said: "They certainly heard what I said to them." However, the Messenger of God only said: "They certainly learned."
Ibn Isḥāq narrates via Ḥumayd al-Ṭawī from Anas b. Mālik, who said:
The Companions (ṣaḥāba) of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) listened to him at night. He was saying:
– O people of the well! O ʿUtba b. Rabīʿa, O Shayba b. Rabīʿa, O Umayya b. Khalaf, and O Abū Jahl b. Hishām! – Thus he enumerated those who were in the well – Have you found what your Lord promised you to be true? Indeed, I have found what my Lord promised me to be true.
Upon this, the Muslims said:
– O Messenger of Allah! Are you calling out to a dead people?
– You do not hear what I say better than they do. However, they cannot respond to me.
Ibn Isḥāq said: According to what some people of knowledge have told me, the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
"O people of the well! You are the tribe of a prophet who treated his prophet the worst. You denied me, while others affirmed me. You expelled me from among you, while others sheltered me. You fought me, while others aided me. Have you found what your Lord promised you to be true? Indeed, I have found what my Lord promised me to be true."
I say: This is one of the ḥadīths interpreted (taʾwīl) by Ḥazrat ʿĀʾisha. Indeed, the ḥadīths she interpreted have been collected in a single juzʾ. Ḥazrat ʿĀʾisha believed that some of these ḥadīths conflicted with certain verses (āyāt). For example, this ḥadīth appears to conflict with the following verse:
"Indeed, you will not make the dead hear." (al-Fāṭir 35:22) In reality, the above ḥadīth does not conflict with this verse. The correct view is that of the majority of the Companions (ṣaḥāba) and the scholars who came after them. Ḥazrat ʿĀʾisha's opinion is not correct in this matter. May Allah be pleased with her and grant her contentment (riḍā).
Al-Bukhārī narrates via ʿUbayd b. Ismāʿīl from ʿUrwa, who said: When it was related to Ibn ʿUmar that he had narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), as a marfūʿ ḥadīth, that the deceased would be punished in his grave due to the weeping of his family, Ḥazrat ʿĀʾisha said: The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) only said: "The dead is punished for his own mistakes and sins, and his family is now weeping over him." This is similar to the statement of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him): He stood by the well at Badr, in which were the bodies of the slain idolaters, and addressed them. Then he said: "Indeed, these hear what I say and know that what I said is true." I then recited to him the following verses (āyāt):
"Indeed, you will not make the dead hear." (al-Rūm 30:52)
"Indeed, you will not make those in the graves hear." (al-Fāṭir 35:22) Upon my recitation of these verses, the Messenger of God said: "That is so when their places in the Fire have been prepared for them." There are several explicit ḥadīths indicating that after burial, the dead can hear what is said outside. As we will explain in the chapter on funerals in our book "Aḥkām al-Kabīr." Al-Bukhārī narrates via ʿUthmān from Ibn ʿUmar, who said: "The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stood by the well of Badr and said:
‘Have you found what your Lord promised you to be true?’ Then he continued:
‘They are now hearing what I say to them.’ When these words were related to Ḥazrat ʿĀʾisha, she said: When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘They now know that what I said to them is true,’ I recited to him the verse: ‘Indeed, you will not make the dead hear.’ (al-Rūm 30:52)
Al-Bukhārī narrates via ʿAbdullāh b. Muḥammad from Abū Ṭalḥa that on the day of Badr, the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded that the bodies of twenty-four of the slain leaders of Quraysh be thrown into a foul well lined with stones. When he had prevailed over the idolaters, he stayed there for three nights. On the third day, he ordered the loads to be tied and the departure to begin. Then he set out, and his Companions (ṣaḥāba) followed him, saying: ‘He must be going to attend to some need.’ Finally, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stood at the mouth of the well and called them by name and by their fathers’ names: ‘O so-and-so son of so-and-so! O so-and-so son of so-and-so! Would it not have pleased you to obey Allah and His Messenger? Indeed, we have found what our Lord promised us to be true. Have you also found what your Lord promised you to be true?’
Ḥazrat ʿUmar said:
– O Messenger of God! Why do you speak to lifeless bodies?
– By Allah, in Whose hand is the soul of Muḥammad, you do not hear what I say better than they do!
Qatāda said: "Allah revived those idolaters and made them hear the words of His Messenger, in order to rebuke, humiliate, and take vengeance on them, and to cause them regret and remorse."
Imām Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal narrates via Yūnus b. Muḥammad from Anas, who said: The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) left the bodies of the slain idolaters at Badr on the ground for three days, until they began to decompose. Then he went to them and said:
– O Umayya b. Khalaf, O Abū Jahl b. Hishām, O ʿUtba b. Rabīʿa, O Shayba b. Rabīʿa! Have you found what your Lord promised you to be true? Indeed, I have found what my Lord promised me to be true.
Anas says: ʿUmar, hearing the voice of the Messenger of God, came and said:
– O Messenger of God! Are you calling out to them three days after their death? Can they hear your voice? Yet Allah the Exalted has said: ‘Indeed, you will not make the dead hear.’ Upon this, the Prophet said:
– By Allah, in Whose hand is my soul, you do not hear what I say better than they do. However, they cannot respond.
Ibn Isḥāq says that Ḥassān b. Thābit recited the following poem on this subject:
"I knew the land of Zaynab on the sandy hills. It was like a line of writing on a new page.
The winds follow one another, and every dark cloud from the spring rain is flowing and pouring.
Its image faded by evening, and after its beloved dweller, by evening it became a barren land. So, abandon remembrance every day, and turn back the ardor of your original heart.
Name for me someone who is not blemished by falsehood, except the one who brings truthful news.
Tell of what the King of kings did for us at Badr regarding the share of the idolaters.
In the morning, their gathering was as if it were Mount Ḥirāʾ, whose surroundings appeared as the sun inclined to set.
We met them with a group from among us.
Like lions of the forest, both young and old,
As for Muḥammad, they aided him in the heat and fire of battle against the enemies, with sharp swords in their hands and all the shining swords filling their sheaths,
The masters of Banū Aws and Banū Najjār, who powerfully supported the religion.
We left Abū Jahl and ʿUtba fallen, abandoned on the earth.
We left Shayba among men of noble lineage when attributed to a noble person.
When we cast them into the well in groups, the Messenger of God addressed them:
Did you not see the truth of my words? Does not the command of Allah take hold of hearts?
But they did not speak, and if they had, they would have said: You have spoken the truth, and you are one who finds the truth!"
Ibn Isḥāq said: When the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded that the bodies of the idolaters be thrown into the well, the body of ʿUtba b. Rabīʿa was dragged toward the well. At that moment, the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) looked at Abū Ḥudhayfa b. ʿUtba’s face and noticed his sadness and change of color. He asked: "O Ḥudhayfa, I think you are saddened because of your father. Is that so?" Ḥudhayfa replied:
"No, by Allah, O Messenger of God, I have no doubt about my father or his killing. I only knew my father as a man of insight, mildness, and virtue. Because of these good qualities, I hoped he would enter Islam and attain hudā (guidance). But after seeing these calamities befall him and all my hopes, I was saddened to see him die in kufr (disbelief)."
The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him), upon hearing this, prayed good for Ḥudhayfa and spoke well of him. Al-Bukhārī narrates via al-Ḥumaydī from Ibn ʿAbbās regarding the verse: "Those who exchanged the favor of Allah for disbelief..." (Ibrāhīm 14:28), that he said: "By Allah, those referred to in this verse are the disbelievers of Quraysh."
ʿAmr said: "The ungrateful ones mentioned in the above verse are the disbelievers of Quraysh. The favor of Allah is Muḥammad." As for the phrase "and led their people to the house of ruin," the place of ruin refers to the fire at the Battle of Badr, he said."
Ibn Isḥāq said: Ḥassān b. Thābit recites the following poem on this subject:
"My people are those who, while the people of the land denied, hosted and affirmed their Prophet.
They are only the best of tribes, the leaders of the righteous, and helpers with the Anṣār.
When the noble, chosen one came to them, they were gladdened by Allah’s decree,
Welcome, welcome, may you be in safety and abundance.
What a noble Prophet, what a noble distributor, what a noble neighbor.
They hosted him in a house where no evil is feared.
The house neighboring them is truly a house.
When he came to them as a Muhājir, they divided their wealth with him.
The share of the disbeliever is the Fire.
We and they marched to Badr for their destruction; had they known with certainty, they would not have marched.
He deceived their leader with guile, then abandoned them without help. For that vile one is most deceptive to his friends.
He said: I am your neighbor. I will protect you. He brought them to the worst place of arrival, full of humiliation and disgrace.
Then we met, and they turned away from their leaders. Some ascended high, while others scattered to the depths and low places."
Imām Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal narrates via Yaḥyā b. Abī Bakr from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: After the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) had finished with the dead, it was said to him: "Look to the caravan, for there is nothing else." ʿAbbās, while bound among the captives, called out to the Messenger of God: "This is not fitting for you." The Messenger of God asked:
– Why?
– Because Allah promised you one of the two parties, and He has fulfilled His promise to you.
Seventy of the disbelievers were killed at Badr. In this battle, one thousand angels were also present. According to Allah’s eternal decree, many of the remaining idolaters would later become Muslims. Had Allah willed, He could have destroyed them all at once with a single angel. The people only killed those who were utterly without good. Among the angels was Jibrīl, whom Allah had commanded, and who, by this command, had uprooted and overturned the cities of the people of Lūṭ, submerging seven cities with their various peoples, animals, lands, and fields.
There were also things known only to Allah. He lifted them from the earth to the edge of the sky with his wing, then turned them upside down and cast them down, raining stones upon them. As we have recounted in the story of the people of Lūṭ.
Allah commanded the believers to wage jihād against the disbelievers and explained its wisdom, saying:
"So when you meet those who disbelieve [in battle], strike [their] necks until, when you have inflicted slaughter upon them, then secure their bonds, and either [confer] favor afterwards or ransom [them] until the war lays down its burdens. That [is the command]. And if Allah had willed, He could have taken vengeance upon them [Himself], but [He ordered armed struggle] to test some of you by means of others." (Muḥammad 47:4) "Fight them; Allah will punish them by your hands and will disgrace them and give you victory over them and satisfy the breasts of a believing people and remove the fury in their hearts. And Allah accepts the repentance of whom He wills." (al-Tawba 9:14-15)
Abū Jahl was killed by a young man from the Anṣār. Then ʿAbdullāh b. Masʿūd came, took hold of his beard, and stood on his chest. Abū Jahl said to him: "O little shepherd! You have ascended a difficult place!" Then ʿAbdullāh cut off his head and brought it to the Messenger of God. Thus, Allah soothed the hearts of the believers. The killing of Abū Jahl in this manner pleased the believers more than if he had been struck by lightning, had his house collapse upon him, or died a natural death. Allah knows best.
According to Ibn Isḥāq, a group who had become Muslims but remained in Mecca and were compelled by Quraysh to fight at Badr were killed there. They had concealed their iman (faith) because they were oppressed and forced to renounce Islam. Among them were Ḥārith b. Zamaʿa b. Aswad, Abū Qays b. Faqīh (Abū Qays b. Walīd b. Mughirah), ʿAlī b. Umayya b. Khalaf, and ʿĀṣ b. Munabbih b. Ḥajjāj. Allah revealed the following verse about them:
"Indeed, those whom the angels take [in death] while wronging themselves – [the angels] will say, 'In what [condition] were you?' They will say, 'We were oppressed in the land.' The angels will say, 'Was not the earth of Allah spacious [enough] for you to emigrate therein?' For those, their refuge is Hell – and evil it is as a destination." (al-Nisāʾ 4:97)
Seventy people from Mecca were taken captive at Badr, as will be explained later. Among the captives were the Messenger of God’s uncle al-ʿAbbās, his cousin ʿAqīl b. Abī Ṭālib, and Nawfal b. Ḥārith b. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, among other relatives. Al-Shāfiʿī, al-Bukhārī, and others have used this as evidence that it is not obligatory to free every captive who is a relative, and have opposed the ḥadīth of Ibn Samura on this matter. Allah knows best. Among the captives was also Abū al-ʿĀṣ b. Rabīʿ b. ʿAbd Shams b. Umayya, who was the husband of the Messenger of God’s daughter Zaynab.