Badr al-Hammami Badr al-Hammami Badr ibn ʿAbdallāh al-Ḥammāmī, also known as Badr al-Kabīr ("Badr the Elder"), was a general who served the Tulunids and later the Abbasids. Of Greek origin, Badr was originally a slave of the founder of the Tulunid regime, Ahmad ibn Tulun, who later set him free. In September 893, along with Muhammad ibn Abba, and the governor of Tarsus, Ahmad ibn Tughan al-Ujayfi, Badr led an expedition against the Byzantine Empire, reaching as far as al-Balaqsun (unidentified, possibly Carian or Lycian Telmessos). Following the death of Ibn Tulun's son Khumarawayh in 896, many Tulunid officers left Egypt and
Military career of Muhammad in their favour. Afterwards the two armies exchanged arrow fire, before finally clashing. According to the Quran, thousands of angels descended from heaven and participated in the battle, being instructed by Allah to "smite the [Meccan warrior's] necks and smite of them each finger." According to another Quranic verse, Allah fought and killed the Meccans representatively for the Muslim warriors. The Meccan army eventually collapsed soon after the horse of Abu Jahl was brought down, resulting in the first major Muslim victory. This victory must not so much be ascribed to divine intervention as is done in the Islamic sources,