Surah Al-Anfâl 8:9

إِذْ تَسْتَغِيثُونَ رَبَّكُمْ فَاسْتَجَابَ لَكُمْ أَنِّي مُمِدُّكُم بِأَلْفٍ مِّنَ الْمَلَائِكَةِ مُرْدِفِينَ

8:9 It is said that on the day of the Battle of Badr, the Holy Prophet (pbuh) implored Allâh in the following words: “O Lord! Fulfil what you have promised. O Allâh! If this little band of your servants is destroyed you will not be worshipped on earth.” (Bukhârî, Abû Muslim). The verse above was revealed in response to this prayer. The “help with a thousand angels” should be understood in a metaphorical sense. There is no statement in the Holy Qur’ân that angels actually fought. Here and in 3:125 it is to be meant that the help from angels was in the form of strengthening the hearts of the Muslims against the three times bigger and much more well-equipped Makkan forces, and at the same time filling the hearts of their enemies with fear:وَمَا جَعَلَهُ اللَّهُ إِلَّا بُشْرَىٰ وَلِتَطْمَئِنَّ بِهِ قُلُوبُكُمْ. It is said that during the fight calm and tranquillity fell upon the Companions who were fighting (8:10), and their hearts felt strengthened and their footsteps steadied (8:11).

The number one thousand angels is significant. In the battle of Badr the number of enemies fighting against the Muslims was 1,000 and the number of angels who came to aid the Muslims was 1,000. In the battle of Uhad the enemy attacked the Muslim with 3,000 men, and the angels who came to aid the Muslims were also 3,000 (3:124). Finally, in the Battle of the Confederates, the enemy came with 5,000 soldiers and correspondingly the number of angels on the Muslim side was 5,000 (3:125). These varying numbers also tell the number of the enemy forces fighting against the Muslims on each of these three occasions.