His Submission to the Holy Prophet (sa)
In a narration by Hazrat Anas (ra), the Holy Prophet (sa) sought counsel from the companions (ra) about the Battle of Badr. Hazrat Sa‘d (ra) bin Ubadah also gave his advice. When the Holy Prophet (sa) was informed that Abu Sufyan was heading towards them, he sought advice from the companions(ra). The narrator states, “Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) gave his advice, but the Holy Prophet (sa) did not agree.
Similarly, Hazrat Umar (ra) wished to give his advice, but again the Holy Prophet (sa) did not accept it. Then, Hazrat Sa‘d (ra) bin Ubadah stood up and said: ‘O Messenger (sa) of Allah! You seek counsel from us. I swear by Him in Whose hand is my life, if you command us to jump into the sea with our horses, we will do so. If you command us to chase the enemy all the way to Barkul Ghimaad, we will do so.’” (This is a coastal city of Yemen, which is situated at a distance of five days’ travel from Mecca). The narrator then says, “The Holy Prophet(sa) gathered the people and they began the journey until they reached Badr.”
Having heard Hazrat Sa‘d (ra) bin Ubadah’s submission, the Holy Prophet (sa) began the journey along with his companions (ra) until they reached the plains of Badr. When they reached there, the people assigned to collect water for the Quraish were also there. Among those assigned was a boy with dark complexion from the Banu Hajjaj. The Muslims captured him and enquired about Abu Sufyan and his army. Initially they had heard that Abu Sufyan was travelling with a large army or group. Nonetheless, they enquired about Abu Sufyan from him. He said that he had no knowledge about Abu Sufyan, however, Abu Jahl, Utbah, Shaibah and Umayyah bin Khalf were certainly present in the army. When he said this, they began to hit him and so he said, “Alright, I will tell you about him. Abu Sufyan is also among them.”
However, when they let go of him and again enquired where Abu Sufyan was, he replied with the same response that he had no knowledge where Abu Sufyan was, although Abu Jahl, Utbah, Shaibah and Umayyah bin Khalf were among the army which had camped near Badr but Abu Sufyan was not with them. And so, when he repeated this statement of his, they again began to hit him. The Holy Prophet (sa) was offering his prayers at the time and when he became aware of this situation, he concluded his prayers and stated, “I swear by Him, in Whose hands is my life, when he speaks the truth, you beat him and when he utters falsehood, you let him go.” The narrator [of this tradition] states that the Holy Prophet (sa) then stated, “Whatever this young man is saying, is the truth.”
The Holy Prophet (sa) then pointed towards the exact spot with his hands where certain individuals from the enemy were going to fall in the battlefield of Badr. The narrator states that every single one of them was killed and fell in the exact spot where the Holy Prophet (sa) had already pointed out from before where they were going to die.
(Sahih Muslim, Kitabul Jihad wa al Siyar, Bab Ghazwah Badr, Hadith 1779) (Farhang Sirat, p. 57, Zawwar Academy Publications, Karachi, 2003)