The three leaders who spoke were from the Emigrants, who only constituted a minor section of the  army. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) wanted, and for the more reason, to hear the Helpers’ view  because they were the majority of the soldiers and were expected to shoulder the brunt of the war  activities. Moreover, the clauses of Al-‘Aqabah Pledge did not commit them to fighting beyond their  territories.
The Prophet (Peace be upon him) then said: “Advise me my men!”  by which he meant the Helpers, in particular. Upon this Sa‘d bin Mu‘adh stood up and said: “By Allâh,
I  feel you want us (the Helpers) to speak.” The Prophet (Peace be upon him) directly said: “Oh, yes!”
Sa‘d said: “O Prophet of Allâh! We believe in you and we bear witness to what you have vouchsafed to  us and we declare in unequivocal terms that what you have brought is the Truth. We give you our firm  pledge of obedience and sacrifice. We will obey you most willingly in whatever you command us, and  by
Allâh, Who has sent you with the Truth, if you were to ask us to plunge into the sea, we will do that  most readily and not a man of us will stay behind. We do not grudge the idea of encounter with the  enemy. We are experienced in war and we are trustworthy in combat. We hope that Allâh will show  you  through our hands those deeds of valour which will please your eyes. Kindly lead us to the battlefield  in  the Name of Allâh.”
The Prophet (Peace be upon him) was impressed with the fidelity and the spirit of sacrifice which his  companions showed at this critical juncture. Then he said to them: “Forward and be of cheer, for Allâh  has promised me one of the two (the lucrative course through capturing the booty or strife in the  cause  of Allâh against the polytheists), and by Allâh it is as if I now saw the enemy lying prostrate.”
In the immediate vicinity of Badr, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and his cavemate Abu Bakr  conducted a scouting operation during which they managed to locate the camp of Quraish. They came  across an old bedouin nearby whom they manipulated and managed to extract from him the exact  location of the army of the polytheists. In the evening of the same day, he despatched three Emigrant  leaders, ‘Ali bin Abi Talib, Az-Zubair bin Al-‘Awwam and Sa‘d bin Abi Waqqas to scout about for news  about the enemy. They saw two men drawing water for the Makkan army. On interrogation, they  admitted that they were water carriers working for Quraish. But that answer did not please some
Muslims and they beat the two boys severely in order to exact from them an answer, even if it isn’t  true, alluding to the caravan laden with wealth. The two boys thus lied, and so they were released.
The
Prophet (Peace be upon him) was angry with those men and censured them saying: “On telling the  truth, you beat them, and on telling a lie, you released them!” He then addressed the two boys and  after a little conversation with them he learned a lot about the enemy: number of soldiers, their exact  location and names of some of their notables. He then turned to the Muslims and said: “Hearken,
Quraish has sent you their most precious lives.”
The same night it rained on both sides. For the polytheists it obstructed further progress, whereas it  was a blessing for the Muslims. It cleaned them and removed from them the stain of Satan. Allâh sent  rain to strengthen their hearts and to plant their feet firmly therewith. They marched a little forward  and encamped at the farther bank of the valley. Muhammad (Peace be upon him) stopped at the  nearest spring of Badr. Al-Hubab bin Mundhir asked him, “Has Allâh inspired you to choose this very  spot or is it stratagem of war and the product of consultation?” The Prophet (Peace be upon him)  replied “It is stratagem of war and consultation.” Al-Hubab said: “This place is no good; let us go and  encamp on the nearest water well and make a basin or reservoir full of water, then destroy all the  other  wells so that they will be deprived of the water.” The Prophet (Peace be upon him) approved of his  plan  and agreed to carry it out, which they actually did at midnight.
Sa‘d bin Mu‘adh suggested that a trellis be built for the Prophet (Peace be upon him) to function as  headquarters for the Muslim army and a place providing reasonable protection for the leader. Sa‘d  began to justify his proposal and said that if they had been victorious, then everything would be  satisfactory. In case of defeat, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) would not be harmed and he could go  back to Madinah where there were more people who loved him and who would have come for help if  they had known that he was in that difficult situation, so that he would resume his job, hold counsel  with them and they would strive in the cause of Allâh with him again and again.