312 THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMADAl-Bayhaqi stated, "It is related of Zayd h. Arqam that he was questioned about
the laylar al-gad7 and he replied, 'The night of the 19th, without doubt.' He went
on, 'And the day known as ~l-furgan~~ when the two forces met in hattle."'
Al-Bayhaqi stated, "It is well known from the works of the scholars of the
early military campaigns that that occurred on the 17th of Ramadan."
~l-~a~&~i then stated, "Abii al-Husayn b. Bishrm informed us, quoting
Abii 'Amr h. al-Sammak, quoting Hanbal b. Ishaq, quoting Ahn Nu'aym,
quoting 'Amr h. Wthmsn, who quoted Miisa h. Talha, as saying, 'Abii Ayyiib
al-Ansai was asked about the hattle of Badr, and he replied, 'It was either on the
17th or the 13th, or when either 11 or 17 days remained of the month."'
This is very strange.
The ha.? Ibn 'Asakir recounted in the biography of Qubath h. Ashyam
al-Laythi, through al-Wnqidi and others, with lines of authority going back to
him, that Quhsth was present at Badr on the side of the polytheists and that he
recounted their defeat despite the small size of the force of the Messenger of God
(SAAS). He stated, "I kept saying to myself, 'I only ever saw women take flight
from such as this.' I swear, if the Quraysh women had gone forth to battle bear-
ing only easily-drawn bows, they would have turned back Muhammad and his
men! And following the battle of al-Khondaq, 'the trench', I wished I had gone
to Medina and had looked into what Muhammad was saying. Islam had now
entered my spirit." He went on, "I then went there and asked after him and was
told he was over in the shade of the mosque with a group of his Companions. So
I went there, hut I was unable to distinguish him from the others. I made my
greetings and he asked me, 'So, Qubath b. Ashyam, you're the man who said of
Badr, "I only ever saw women take flight from such as this?" I replied, 'I bear
witness that you are the Messenger of God! This is something I never uttered,
not even muttering it. It's only what I said to myself. And were you not a
prophet, you'd not know of it! Let me now pledge to you my allegiance to Islam!'
And I accepted Islam."
The Companions, God be pleased with them, disagreed among themselves over
who should receive the spoils gained from the polytheists at Badr.
When the polytheists retreated, the Muslims performed three functions. One
group remained on watch guarding the Messenger of God (SAAS) aware that
any one of the polytheists might come back and attack him.
Another group pursued the polytheists, killing and capturing them.
A thud group gathered the spoils of the hattle from various places.
Each of these groups maintained that their activities were important and
entitled them to a greater share than the rest.
- The tern refem to that "clear differentiation" that occurred between the forces of gwd and
evil at the battle of Badr.