Reconnaissance for the Battle of Badr
Hazrat Talha (ra) bin Ubaidullah did not participate in the Battle of Badr, however the Holy Prophet (sa) gave him a share from the spoils of war. The reason he did not participate in the Battle of Badr is that the Holy Prophet (sa) was aware that the caravan of the Quraish had departed from Syria and subsequently sent Hazrat Talha (ra) bin Ubaidullah and Hazrat Saeed (ra) bin Zaid 10 days prior to his own departure, in order to gather information about this caravan. Both of them set off and reached Haura, where they stayed until the caravan passed by. Haura was a resting place situated along the Red Sea, where caravans travelling between the Hijaz and Syria would pass by.
Nevertheless, the Holy Prophet (sa) came to know of this before Hazrat Talha (ra) and Hazrat Saeed (ra) returned. The Holy Prophet (sa) assembled the companions and set off in pursuit of this caravan of the Quraish. However, the caravan escaped taking another route, i.e., it quickly set off on a path along the coast. The people of the caravan continuously walked day and night in order to escape from those who were in search of them; i.e., the caravan of the disbelievers from Mecca. Hazrat Talha (ra) bin Ubaidullah and Hazrat Saeed (ra) bin Zaid set off towards Medina in order to inform the Holy Prophet (sa) of this caravan. They were unaware that the Holy Prophet (sa) had already departed for the Battle of Badr. They reached Medina on the same day the battle between the Quraish and the Holy Prophet (sa) took place in Badr. Both of them set off from Medina in order to present themselves before the Holy Prophet (sa) and met with him at Turbaan, while he was returning from Badr. Turbaan is a valley at a distance of nineteen miles from Medina, which has an abundance of sweet water wells. The Holy Prophet (sa) stayed there on his journey towards the Battle of Badr.
Hazrat Talha (ra) and Hazrat Saeed (ra) did not participate in the Battle of Badr. However, as mentioned previously, the Holy Prophet (sa) gave them a share of the spoils of this battle. Thus, the two of them are counted amongst those who participated in the Battle of Badr.
(al-Tabaqaat-ul-Kubra li ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, p. 162, Dar-ul-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 1990) (al-Sirat al-Nabawiyyah, Fi Daw al-Quran Vol. 2, p. 123, Dar-ul-Qalam, Damascus) (Farhang Sirat, p. 75, Zawwar Academy Publications, Karachi, 2003)