On the day of Badr, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) looked at his companions and they were three hundred and some, then he looked at the mushrikeen and saw that they were one thousand or more. The Prophet of Allah (ﷺ) turned to face the qiblah, then he stretched forth his hands, wearing his upper and lower garment, and he said: “O Allah, where is Your promise to me? O Allah, accomplish for me what You have promised me! O Allah, if this small band of Muslims is destroyed, You will never be worshiped on earth.” He kept beseeching his Lord, calling out to Him, until his upper garment fell from his shoulders. Abu Bakr came to him, picked up his upper garment and put it back on him. Then he embraced him from behind and said, “O Prophet of Allah, this prayer of yours to your Lord will suffice, for He will accomplish for you what He has promised to you.” Then Allah revealed the words: “(Remember) when you sought help of your Lord and He answered you (saying): ‘I will help you with a thousand of the angels each behind the other (following one another) in succession’” (al-Anfal 8:9). On that day when the armies met (in battle), Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, caused the mushrikeen to be defeated, seventy of their men were killed and seventy were taken captive. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) consulted Abu Bakr, ‘Ali and ʼUmar (concerning the prisoners). Abu Bakr said, “O Prophet of Allah, they are our cousins, kinsmen and brothers. I think that you should accept a ransom for them, which will strengthen us against the kuffar, and perhaps Allah will guide them to Islam and they will become a support to us.” The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “What do you think, O son of al-Khattab?” I said: No, by Allah. I do not think as Abu Bakr thinks. I think that you should hand so and so—a relative of ‘Umar's—to me so that I may strike his neck, You should hand ‘Aqeel over to ‘Ali so that he may strike his neck, and you should hand over so and so to Hamzah (his brother) so that he may strike his neck, so that Allah will know that we have no mercy in our hearts towards the mushrikeen; these are their prominent figures and leaders. But the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) inclined towards the view of Abu Bakr, and he did not incline towards what I said, and accepted ransoms from them. The next day. I came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and found him with Abu Bakr, and they were both weeping. I said, “O Messenger ...

On the day of Badr, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) looked at his companions and they were three hundred and some, then he looked at the mushrikeen and saw that they were one thousand or more. The Prophet of Allah(ﷺ) turned to face the qiblah, then he stretched forth his hands, wearing his upper and lower garment, and he said: “O Allah, where is Your promise to me? O Allah, accomplish for me what You have promised me! O Allah, if this small band of Muslims is destroyed, You will never be worshipped on earth.” He kept beseeching his Lord, calling out to Him, until his upper garment fell from his shoulders. Abu Bakr came to him, picked up his upper garment and put it on him. Then he embraced him from behind and said: O Prophet of Allah, this prayer of yours to your Lord will suffice, for He will accomplish for you what He has promised to you. Then Allah revealed the words: `(Remember) when you sought help of your Lord and He answered you (saying): ‘I will help you with a thousand of the angels each behind the other (following one another) in succession` [al Anfal 8:9). On that day when the armies met (in battle), Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, defeated the mushrikeen; seventy of their men were killed and seventy were taken captive. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) consulted Abu Bakr, 'Ali and 'Umar رضي الله عنهم (concerning the prisoners). Abu Bakr said: O Prophet of Allah, they are our cousins, kinsmen and brothers, I think that you should accept a ransom for them, which will strengthen us against the kuffar, and perhaps Allah will guide them to Islam and they will become a support to us. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “What do you think, O son of al-Khattab?` I said: No, by Allah. I do not think as Abu Bakr thinks. I think that you should hand. So and so ­ a relative of ʼUmar's- ­ over to me so that I may strike his neck. You should hand ‘Aqeel over to ‘Ali so that he may strike his neck, and you should hand over So and so to Hamzah (his brother) so that he may strike his neck, so that Allah will know that we have no mercy in our hearts towards the mushrikeen; these are their prominent figures and leaders. But the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) inclined towards the view of Abu Bakr, and he did not incline towards what I said, and accepted ransoms from them. The next day, I came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and found him with Abu Bakr, and they were both weeping I said: O Messenger of ...

“My maternal aunt Hind asked the son of Abu Hala, who was a describer of the finery of Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace), to describe something of it that would be of interest to me, so he said: Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) was an honored dignitary, whose face shone with the radiance of the moon on the night of the full moon. He was taller than medium-sized, and shorter than the slender giant. His head was grand and impressive, with loosely curled hair. If his forelock became divided, he would part it. Otherwise his hair would not cross over his earlobes, and he would let it grow plentiful and long. He was bright of color, broad of forehead, endowed with arched eyebrows, perfect without being conjoined, with a vein between them that anger would cause to pulsate. The bridge of his nose was curved. He had a light that would rise over him, and someone who did not reflect on him would consider him haughty. He was thickly bearded, endowed with smooth cheeks, a wide mouth, cleft teeth, and a delicate strip of hair from the top of the chest to the navel. It was as if his neck were the neck of a statue shaped in pure silver. He was well proportioned in physique, firmly cohesive, with the stomach and the breast in even balance. He was wide-chested, broad-shouldered, endowed with stout limbs and very shiny bare skin. Between the top of the chest and the navel by a strip of hair like a line of writing, while his breasts and stomach were bare apart from that. He had hair on his arms and shoulders and the upper parts of his chest. His forearms were long. He had a sensitive touch of the hand. The palms of his hands and the soles of his feet were thickset. His extremities were well formed [sa’il (or he may have said sha’il)]. The hollows of his soles were very deep-set. His feet were so smooth that water bounced off them. When he left a place, he would go away striding decisively. He would tread inclining forward and walk comfortably. His gait was brisk. When he walked, it was as if he were descending a declivity, and when he looked around, he looked around altogether. He lowered his eyesight, and he spent more time looking at the ground than he did looking at the sky. The majority of his looking was observation. He would urge his Companions to proceed ahead of him, and he would be the first to greet anyone he encountered with the salutation ...

`Abdullah bin Shaddad came and entered upon `A`ishah (رضي الله عنها) when we were sitting with her, as he was returning from Iraq during the time when ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) was murdered. She said to him: O `Abdullah bin Shaddad, will you tell me the truth about what I am going to ask you? Tell me about these people whom ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) killed. He said: Why shouldn`t I tell you the truth? She said: Tell me about them. He said: When `Ali (رضي الله عنه) corresponded with Mu`awiyah and the two arbitrators gave their verdict, eight thousand of the pious rebelled against him and camped in a land called Haroora`, near Koofah. They criticised him and said: You have taken off a chemise that Allah caused you to wear and a title that Allah gave to you, then you went ahead and asked people to issue a decree concerning the religion of Allah. There is no ruling except the ruling of Allah, may He be exalted. When `Ali (رضي الله عنه) heard about their criticism of him and the reason why they had split from him, he told his caller not to admit anyone but those who had memorised the Qur`an. When the house was filled with people who had memorised the Qur`an, he called for a large Mushaf and put it front of him, and he started tapping it with his hand, saying: O Mushaf, tell the people. The people called out: O Ameer al-Mu`mineen, how could you ask it? It is only ink and paper, but we could speak on the basis of what we understand from it. What do you want? He said: These companions of yours who rebelled, between me and them is the Book of Allah, and Allah says in His Book concerning a woman and a man: `If you fear a breach between them twain (the man and his wife), appoint (two) arbitrators, one from his family and the other from hers; if they both wish for peace, Allah will cause their reconciliation.` [an-Nisa 4:35]. The ummah of Muhammad is more important with regard to life and sanctity than a woman and a man. They got angry with me when I wrote a document between me and Mu`awiyah and wrote `Ali bin Abi Talib [without adding the title Ameer al-Mu`mineen]. But Suhail bin `Amr came to us when we were with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) at al-Hudaibiyah, when he made a peace deal with Quraish, and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) wrote, `In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.` Suhail said: Do not write, In the Name of Allah, the ...