these Quraysh have come with their friends to belie thy messenger.

these Quraysh have come with their friends to belie thy messenger. O' God! we need thy help which thou hast promised. O God! should this small band of ours perish, there would be none left to worship thee." (12) Quraysh started the fight when Shaybah and `Utbah sons of Rabi ah, and Walid, `Ut- bah's son, advanced to challenge the Muslims to single combat. On the Prophet's order Hamzah, the Prophet's uncle, `Ubaydah son of Harith and `Ali son of Abu Talib met the three men respectively.

Hamzah and `Ali soon killed their opponents, while `Ubaydah was wounded by `Utbah who met his end soon with 'Ali's sword. After this victory of the Muslim com- batants a raging battle ensued. The Muslims fought with unprecendented spirit and valour. In the end the infidels were utterly routed leaving behind seventy dead and seventy pris- oners. Among those slain were eleven of the fourteen Meccans chieftains who had con- spired to kill the Prophet shortly before he left Mecca.

Their death dealt a severe blow to the Quraysh leadership. As to the Muslims; their losses were fourteen dead in all. But they had been instrumental in winning the most i mportant victory in their history. This was a divine victory as God said in the Qur'an: "You (Muslims) slew them not, but Allah slew them". (Qur an, 8:17) The Prophet was merciful and com- passionate not only to Muslims but also to his enemies. The treatment accorded to the pris oners of Badr amply confirms this fact.

The prisoners were fed while some of the Muslims remained hungry, "an act of benevolance which hardly finds any parallel in the history of mankind." The ransom fixed for the pris- oners was that those who knew to read and write should each teach ten Muslim boys the art. (13) The Battle Of Uhud Although the battle of Badr had resulted in a victory for the Muslims no peace or a treaty of any kind was concluded between the Meccans and the Muslims.

Not only the state of belligerency between the two com- munities continued to prevail, but also prepara- tions by Quraysh for a war of greater dimen- sions were to commence soon. `Ikrimah the son of Abu Jahl, who was killed in the battle of Badr, and many other chiefs of the Quraysh paid a visit to Abu Sufyan and proposed to take revenge from the Muslims if only he were to meet the cost of the expedition. Abu Sufyan agreed.

Accordingly the entire profits of Abu Sufyan's caravan were spent in prepa- ration for the coming war.