Battle of Badr

What began as an interception of Abū Sufyān's caravan became the first pitched battle of Islam when Quraysh marched a thousand men out to protect it. At the wells of Badr, on Friday 17 Ramaḍān of the second year, the Muslims — three hundred and thirteen, by the count the tradition preserved lovingly — broke the Makkan line. Abū Jahl and the better part of Quraysh's leadership were left among the seventy dead.

The Qurʾān calls it Yawm al-Furqān, "the day of the criterion" (8:41), and the victory transformed the community's standing across Arabia. The battle's roll of participants became a register of honour consulted for a century.

The 17th is the dominant transmission for the day, with the 19th also carried; the year and month are unanimous.