A Mercy Withheld After Badr, A Mercy Given After Uḥud

A further matter: how did Allah deal with the mistakes of the Companions? First, it should be said that Allah has never, ever praised the Muslims for their victories. Never. So after the Battle of Badr, no ayah came down thanking the Muslims and praising their effort at Badr. No — on the contrary, Allah (swt) said that He made it only as good news, so that hearts might be at rest by it, for victory comes from none but Allah (8:10): no credit was given for that victory at Badr. And at the Battle of Badr, there was, as already described, a dispute over the booty of war — or, more precisely, it was about the prisoners of war. Allah (swt) revealed:

Had there not been a decree from Allah that preceded, the believers would have been punished for what they took by a great punishment. So after the Battle of Badr, Allah told them that He was going to punish them. Contrary to the assumption that, since they had won, an ayah would come praising them, Allah was instead threatening them with punishment because of what had been done with the prisoners of war. Because they were interested in this world, because they wanted the ransom, the prisoners were not executed, when that was the course of action that could have been taken; so it was because of a love of this world that the ransoming of the prisoners of war was chosen, and Allah told them He was going to punish them for it. Had it not been decreed that ransom is lawful, they would have been punished.

While in the Battle of Uḥud — let us compare the āyāt of Badr with the āyāt of Uḥud. Here, in Badr: He was going to punish them. What of Uḥud? Allah (swt) says, wa laqad ʿafā ʿankum wa Allāhu dhū faḍlin ʿalā al-muʾminīn: He has already forgiven the believers, and that Allah is the possessor of bounty for them. So after the Battle of Uḥud, when the believers were at fault and had lost, Allah told them He had forgiven them; while after the Battle of Badr, when they had won, Allah told them He was going to punish them. This is instructive: Allah was curing hearts of any disease that might have lingered in them after the Battle of Badr — to save the believers from feelings of pride or arrogance, Allah told them He was going to punish them for what they had done, and that the victory they had achieved was in fact from Him. While after the Battle of Uḥud, because the believers had already suffered in this world, Allah was instead raising their spirits again and comforting them, telling them that He had forgiven them: a mistake had been made on that hill by coming down from position, a sin committed by disobeying the Prophet, a sin committed by being thirsty and hungry for this world — but in the end, they were forgiven.