2 of 4 · 2 AH · Ramadan, before the battle of Badr · Near Badr, on the road from Madinah
Sa'd ibn Mu'adh رضي الله عنه
The Council Before Badr
As the Muslim force neared Badr, the Prophet ﷺ learned that Quraysh was coming in strength, not just the caravan. He consulted his companions. The Muhajirun spoke well, but the Prophet ﷺ repeated, "Advise me, people," because the Ansar had pledged at 'Aqabah to protect him in their own town, and Badr lay far from it.
Sa'd ibn Mu'adh understood that the Prophet ﷺ was waiting to hear from them. He said that they had believed in him, testified that what he brought was true, and given him their word to listen and obey. If he took them to the sea and plunged in, they would plunge in with him, and not one man would stay behind.
The Prophet ﷺ's face shone, and he told them to go forward with good news, for Allah had promised him one of the two parties. Sa'd's reply is remembered because it turned a pledge to defend into a pledge to fight beside him wherever he went.
When the moment tests a promise made in easier days, honouring it in full is what turns it into loyalty.
Is there a promise you made in ease that would cost you more to keep now?
- Sahih Muslim 1779 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 3952 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Ibn Hisham, al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah (the consultation at Badr)Historical report
- Qur'an 8:5-7
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
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