shepherd  working for the Makkan aristocrats.
Ibn Mas‘ud then cut off his head and took it to the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) who, on  seeing it, began to entertain Allâh’s praise:
“Allâh is Great, praise is to Allâh, Who has fulfilled His Promise, assisted His servant and defeated  the confederates alone.”
He then set out to have a look at the corpse. There he said: “This is the Pharaoh of this nation.”
SOME SIGNIFICANT INSTANCES OF DEVOTION:
1. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) advised his companions to preserve the lives of Banu Hashim  who had gone out to Badr with the polytheists unwillingly because they had feared the censure of  their people. Among them, he named Al-‘Abbas bin ‘Abdul Muttalib and Abu Bukhtari bin Hisham.
He ordered the Muslims to capture, but not to kill them. Abu Hudhaifah bin ‘Utbah showed great  surprise and commented saying: “We kill our fathers, children, brothers and members of our  clan, and then come to spare Al-‘Abbas? By Allâh! If I see him I will surely strike him with my  sword.” On hearing these words, the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him), addressing ‘Umar  bin Al-Khattab, said “Is it fair that the face of the Messenger’s uncle be struck with sword?”
‘Umar got indignant and threatened to kill Abu Hudhaifah; the latter later said that extreme fear  had taken firm grip of him and felt that nothing except martyrdom could expiate for his mistake.
He was actually killed later on during Al-Yamamah events.
2. Abu Al-Bukhtari bin Hisham had already done his best to restrain his people, the Makkans, from  committing any act of folly against the Prophet (Peace be upon him) while the latter was still in
Makkah. He also neither hurt nor was reported to have uttered anything repugnant with regard  to the Prophet (Peace be upon him). He had as well been among the people who tried to  invalidate the boycott alliance taken against Banu Hashim and Banu ‘Abdul Muttalib.
Here, however, in the battle of Badr he insisted on fighting unless his compatriot was spared. Al-
Mujdhir bin Ziyad Al-Balwi, with whom he was engaged in combat, replied that the other was not  included in the Prophet ’s recommendation. The combat went on to end in Al-Bukhtari’s death.
3. ‘Abdur-Rahman bin ‘Awf and Omaiyah bin Khalaf had been close friends during the pre-Islamic  era. When the battle of Badr ended, ‘Abdur-Rahman saw Omaiyah and his son among the  captives. He threw away the armour he had as spoils, and walked with them both. Bilal, the
Prophet’s caller for prayer, saw Omaiyah and soon all the torture he had been put to at the hand  of this man dawned upon him, and swore he would have revenge on Omaiyah. ‘Abdur-Rahman  tried to ease the tension and address embarrassing situation amicably but with no success. The
Muslims gathered around and struck Omaiyah’s son with swords. At this point, ‘Abdur-Rahman  called upon his old friend to run for his life but he was put to swords from different people and  lay down dead. ‘Abdur-Rahman, completely helpless and resigned said: May Allâh have mercy on
Bilal, for he deprived me of the spoils, and I have been stricken by the death of my two captives.
4. On the moral level, the battle of Badr was an inescapable conflict between the forces of good and  those of evil. In this context, ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab did not spare the life of any polytheist even  his uncle on the maternal side Al-‘As bin Hisham bin Al-Mugheerah.
5. Abu Bakr shouted at his son ‘Abdur-Rahman, still a polytheist and fighting with them, “Where is  my wealth, you wicked boy?” The son answered that it was gone with the wind.
6. When the battle ended, the Muslims began to hold some polytheists in captivity. The Prophet
(Peace be upon him) looked into the face of Sa‘d bin Mu‘adh, the Head of the Prophet’s guards,  and understood that he was hateful to taking the enemy elements as prisoners. Sa‘d agreed to  what the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said and added that it was the first victory for the Muslims  over the forces of polytheism, and he had more liking for slaying them than sparing their lives.
7. On the day of Badr, the sword of ‘Ukashah bin Mihsan Al-Asdi broke down so the Prophet (Peace  be upon him) gave him a log of wood which he shook and it immediately turned into a long  strong white sword. ‘Ukashah went on using that same sword in most of the Islamic conquests  until he died in the process of the apostasy wars.
8. When the war activities had been concluded, Mus‘ab bin ‘Umair Al-‘Abdari saw his brother, still a  polytheist, being handcuffed by a Ansari. Mus‘ab recommended that the Helper tighten the knot  for the prisoner’s mother was wealthy enough to ransom her son. ‘Abu ‘Aziz, Mus‘ab’s brother,  tried to appeal to his brother through the family ties, but the latter firmly replied that the Helper  was more eligible for brotherhood than him.
9. When the Prophet (Peace be upon him) ordered that the corpses of the polytheists be dropped  into an empty well, Abu Hudhaifah bin ‘Utbah looked sadly at his dead father, who fought on the  side of the polytheists. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) noticed that and asked him about it.