When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ received news of Abu Sufyan's approach, he consulted his companions.Abu Bakr spoke, but the Prophet turned away from him.Then Umar spoke, and he turned away from him as well.Then Saad bin Ubada stood up and said, "Is it us you mean, Messenger of Allah? By the One in whose hand is my soul, if you ordered us to plunge our horses into the sea, we would plunge them in. And if you ordered us to drive them to Bark al-Ghimad, we would do it."So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ called the people to march, and they set out until they camped at Badr. The water-carriers of Quraysh came to them, and among them was a black slave belonging to the tribe of Hajjaj. They seized him.The companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ began questioning him about Abu Sufyan and his men.He said, "I have no knowledge of Abu Sufyan, but Abu Jahl, Utba, Shayba, and Umaya bin Khalaf are here."When he said this, they beat him.So he said, "Yes, yes, I will tell you. This is Abu Sufyan."But when they left him alone and questioned him again, he said, "I have no knowledge of Abu Sufyan, but Abu Jahl, Utba, Shayba, and Umaya bin Khalaf are with the army."When he said this, they beat him again.The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was standing in prayer. When he saw what was happening, he finished his prayer and said, "By the One in whose hand is my soul, you beat him when he tells you the truth and leave him alone when he lies to you!"Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "This is the place where so-and-so will fall," placing his hand on the ground here and there. Not one of them fell anywhere other than the spot where the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had placed his hand.
أن رسول الله ﷺ شاور حين بلغه إقبال أبي سفيان. قال: فتكلم أبو بكر فأعرض عنه. ثم تكلم عمر فأعرض عنه. فقام سعد بن عبادة فقال: إيانا تريد؟ يا رسول الله! والذي نفسي بيده! لو أمرتنا أن نخيضها البحر لأخضناها ولو أمرتنا أن نضرب أكبادها إلى برك الغماد لفعلنا. قال: فندب رسول الله ﷺ الناس. فانطلقوا حتى نزلوا بدرا. ووردت عليهم روايا قريش وفيهم غلام أسود لبني الحجاج. فأخذوه. فكان أصحاب رسول الله ﷺ يسألونه عن أبي سفيان وأصحابه؟ فيقول: ما لي علم بأبي سفيان. ولكن هذا أبو جهل وعتبة وشيبة وأمية بن خلف. فإذا قال ذلك، ضربوه فقال: نعم. أنا أخبركم. هذا أبو سفيان. فإذا تركوه فسألوه فقال: ما لي بأبي سفيان علم. ولكن هذا أبو جهل وعتبة وشيبة وأمية بن خلف في الناس. فإذا قال هذا أيضا ضربوه ورسول الله ﷺ قائم يصلي. فلما رأى ذلك انصرف وقال: والذي نفسي بيده! لتضربوه إذا صدقكم. وتتركوه إذا كذبكم. قال: فقال رسول الله ﷺ: هذا مصرع فلان قال: ويضع يده على الأرض، هاهنا وها هنا. قال: فما ماط أحدهم عن موضع يد رسول الله ﷺ.
Muslim narrated it in the Book of Jihad and Expeditions (1779:83) from Abu Bakr bin Abu Shayba, who said, Affan narrated to us, who said, Hammad bin Salama narrated to us, from Thabit, from Anas bin Malik, who said, then he related it.His words, "None of them moved away," mean he kept his distance.