The prophet ordered the dead bodies of the enemy to be thrown into a
pit, and remained three days upon the field of battle dividing the
spoil; on occasion of which a quarrel arose between the helpers and the
refugees, and to quiet them the eighth chapter of the _Koran_ was
brought from heaven. It begins thus, "They will ask thee concerning the
spoils: say, The spoils belong to God and his apostle": and again in the
same chapter, "And know that whenever ye gain any, a fifth part
belongeth to God, and to the apostle, and his kindred, and the orphans,
and the poor." The other four-fifths are to be divided among those who
are present at the action. The apostle, when he returned to Safra in his
way to Medina, ordered Ali to behead two of his prisoners.
The victory at Beder was of great importance to Mahomet; to encourage
his men, and to increase the number of his followers, he pretended that
two miracles were wrought in his favor, in this, as also in several
subsequent battles: first, that God sent his angels to fight on his
side; and second, made his army appear to the enemy much greater than it
really was.
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