The Red Bulls

Prior to the battle, the Muslims and Meccans had fought several smaller skirmishes in late 623 and early 624, as the Muslim ghazawāt had become more frequent. Badr, however was the first large-scale engagement between the two forces. Advancing to a strong defensive position, Muhammad's well-disciplined men managed to shatter the Meccan lines, killing several important Quraishi leaders including Muhammad's chief antagonist, 'Amr ibn Hishām. For the early Muslims, the battle was extremely significant because it was the first sign that they might eventually defeat their enemies in Mecca. Mecca at that time was one of the richest and most powerful pagan cities in Arabia, which fielded an army three times larger than that of the Muslims. The Muslim victory also signalled other tribes that a new power had arisen in Arabia and strengthened Muhammad’s authority as leader of the often fractious community in Medina. Local Arab tribes began to convert to Islam and ally themselves with the Muslims of Medina; thus, the expansion of Islam began.

The Battle of Badr was featured in the 1976 film The Message. Although the film was reasonably faithful to the event, it made some notable changes. The Quraishi army was depicted as having women in tow, when the women were noticeably absent. It also suffered no defections before the battle, though in the film Abu Sufyan refused to take part. The champion combat in front of the wells consisted of three one-on-one fights, instead of a three-on-three melee. Also, since neither Muhammad nor Ali were shown (though Ali's sword was shown) due to religious concerns, Hamza became the nominal commander of the army. Both Amr ibn Hishām and Umayyah were killed in the battle, and their deaths marked the climax of the fighting.