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How do we respond to the doubt regarding the small number of polytheist casualties at Badr (70 killed) compared to the angelic reinforcement (a thousand angels), and Allah's command to strike the polytheists above the necks and at every fingertip, while the number of those who fled was 860, along with specifying the number of Sahaba martyrs, asking: How many polytheists did the angels kill?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is established that Allah aided the Muslims with angels in the Battle of Badr, as mentioned in Surah Al Imran. The objection to the angels' participation due to the small number of polytheist casualties is refuted from three angles: Firstly, Allah’s command for jihad is a test for Muslims, and the principle is that enemies should be killed by the hands of the believers, while the angels were reinforcements to strengthen the believers. Secondly, the angels' participation in killing and taking captives has been confirmed, as evidenced by the narration of Al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) with the Ansari man, and the narration of Umar ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) about the reinforcement from the third heaven. What historians mentioned regarding the names of the slain was not an exhaustive list of all casualties. Thirdly, the small number of casualties proves that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was sent as a mercy to the worlds, as victory was achieved with the fewest losses, and the remaining ones embraced Islam.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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