The Captives of Badr: A Divine Reproach and Two Counsels

The Morning the Victors Wept

Ramadan, 2 AH — March 624 CE. The Battle of Badr, the first major battle of Islam, was over. Roughly seventy men of the Quraysh lay dead, and roughly seventy more stood bound as prisoners. Among the roped captives were al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, the Prophet's own uncle; Aqil ibn Abi Talib, the full brother of Ali; and Abu al-As ibn al-Rabi, husband of the Prophet's daughter Zaynab. The victory was complete. Yet according to Sahih Muslim, when Umar ibn al-Khattab arrived the next day, he found the Messenger of Allah and Abu Bakr sitting and weeping. Umar said: O Messenger of Allah, tell me what makes you and your companion weep — if I find cause to weep, I will weep with you, and if not, I will try to weep with you. The answer he received, and the verse that had come down, have been the subject of exegesis, theology, and criticism for fourteen centuries.

This article does not mock any religion. It will do what we always do: open the books, present the texts exactly as they are, and ask three questions. On one side stands a verse of divine reproach; on the other, fourteen centuries of scholarly explanation of what that reproach did and did not mean. Both sides will be laid out from the primary sources, as-is. The verdict, as always, is yours.