Tafsir of Al Imran 3:124

The Support of the Angels Allah says,

إذ تقول للمومنين ألن يكفيكم أن يمدكم ربكم بثﻼثة آﻻف من المﻼيكة منزلين

(Remember) when you said to the believers, "Is it not enough for you that your Lord should help you with three thousand angels sent down!'' The scholars of Tafsir differ over whether the promise contained in these Ayat referred to the battle of Badr or Uhud. The First View; There are two opinions about this, one of them saying that Allah's statement,

إذ تقول للمومنين

((Remember) when you said to the believers) is related to His statement,

ولقد نصركم الله ببدر

(And Allah has already made you victorious at Badr), (3:123). This was reported from Al-Hasan Al-Basri, Amr Ash-Sha`bi, Ar-Rabi bin Anas and several others, Ibn Jarir also agreed with this opinion. Abbad bin Mansur said that Al-Hasan said that; Allah's statement,

إذ تقول للمومنين ألن يكفيكم أن يمدكم ربكم بثﻼثة آﻻف من المﻼيكة

((Remember) when you said to the believers, "Is it not enough for you that your Lord should help you with three thousand angels''), is about the battle of Badr; Ibn Abi Hatim also recorded this statement. Ibn Abi Hatim then reported that Amr Ash-Sha`bi said, "On the day of Badr, the Muslims received information that Kurz bin Jabir (a prominent tribe chief) was aiding the idolators, and this news was hard on them, so Allah revealed;

ألن يكفيكم أن يمدكم ربكم بثﻼثة آﻻف من المﻼيكة منزلين

("Is it not enough for you that your Lord (Allah) should help you with three thousand angels sent down''), until,

مسومين

(having marks (of distinction)), (3:124,125). The news of the defeat of the idolators (at Badr) reached Kurz and he did not reinforce them, and thus, Allah did not reinforce the Muslims with the five (thousands of angels).'' As for Ar-Rabi bin Anas, he said, "Allah supported the Muslims with one thousand (angels), then the number reached three thousand, then five thousand.'' If one asks, according to this opinion, how can we combine between this Ayah and Allah's statement about Badr,

إذ تستغيثون ربكم فاستجاب لكم أني ممدكم بٲلف من المﻼيكة مردفين

((Remember) when you sought help of your Lord and He answered you (saying): "I will help you with a thousand angels, each behind the other (following one another) in succession.'') until,

إن الله عزيز حكيم

(Verily! Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise) (8:9-10), we say that the one thousand mentioned here does not contradict the three thousand mentioned in the above Ayah (3:124). The word "in succession'' means they follow each other and thus indicates that thousands more will follow them. The two Ayat above (8:9 and 3:124) are similar in meaning and it appears that they both were about the battle of Badr, because the angels did fight in the battle of Badr, as the evidence indicates. Allah knows best. Allah's statement,