The Battle of Uhud

The Battle of Uhud

It might be said:

The Battle of Uhud

The Muslims had won a great victory over the blasphemers in the Battle of Badr, killing many of them. The blasphemers returned to Makkah, which was still under their control, defeated and dejected.

They found that the caravan of Abu Sufyan had returned safely, and they agreed to sell the items brought back in the caravan and use the profit to prepare an army to fight Prophet Muhammad, may peace be upon him. By waging another war they would avenge the killing of their fathers, brothers, and sons who had fought the Prophet and his companions and had wanted to destroy Islam in the Battle of Badr.

The tribe of Qurayish gathered to fight the Prophet and they sent delegates to some of their allied tribes calling on them to fight with them. 3,000 blasphemers in total gathered with their armors and swords prepared to fight.

They also had with them 100 horses and 15 female camels. On these camels they built al-hawdaj which is a small room built on the back of a camel. The blasphemer women would sit in these rooms during the battle, urging the men to fight and reminding them of their defeat in Badr.

While they were preparing Abu Sufyan asked Al-^Abas the son of Abdul-Mutalib, the uncle of the Prophet, to fight with them against the Muslims but he refused. Al-^Abas secretly sent a message to the Prophet forewarning him about the impending danger.

The news reached the Prophet and he said what means: “I saw in my dream cows being slaughtered. I also saw that the blade of my sword was cracked, and finally I saw that I put my hand into a well secured armor and I interpreted it to be al-Madinah.” The cows that the Prophet saw in the dream were people who would be killed in the battle, and the crack in the sword was a man from the family of the Prophet who would also be killed.

The blasphemer army of Qurayish left Makkah and reached close to al-Madinah near Mount. Uhud, where the honorable Prophet had prayed the prayer of Jumu^ah and encouraged the people to fight and to take a firm stand against the blasphemers. He then went out to battle followed by 700 brave fighters among the companions after some of the hypocrites who only showed Islam outwardly while in reality they were blasphemers, had left too afraid to fight.

The Prophet’s battle plan was to face al-Madinah and put Mount Uhud behind him. He protected his back with 50 archers who climbed to a high place that overlooked the battlefield. The Prophet appointed one of the great companions Abdullah the son of Jubayr as the leader of the archers. The Prophet ordered them to stay in their position on the hill until he indicated that they could come down and he said what means: ”Protect us from the horses by shooting the arrows at them.”

Our beloved Prophet divided his Muslim army into many divisions and placed a leader for each one. The battle started and the blasphemers started advancing but were met with powerful blows from the Muslim swords.

The Prophet gave Abu Dujanah, a brave companion and a proven warrior, a sword. He took it and tied a red piece of cloth on his head as a sign of fighting.

Then he drew his sword, and anything that stood in his way would be destroyed. One of the blasphemers was targeting the wounded Muslims and killing them. Abu Dujanah followed him to rid the Muslims of his evil. When they met the blasphemer hit Abu Dujanah who received the blow with unshakable determination and firmness then he struck the blasphemer with a powerful blow that killed him.

They fighting was intense. The archers did their job and they were among the reasons that made the blasphemers retreat and withdraw; defeat was upon the blasphemers. But a painful incident happened that changed the outcome of the battle.

Many of the archers whom the Prophet had ordered to protect the Muslims and not move from their station until he gave them permission, left thinking that the battle was over and that there was no trace left of the blasphemers. They came down from the hill to take from the spoils of the battle.

Less than 15 archers were left and they were the ones who refused to leave their post saying: “We will obey the Prophet of Allah and stay in our position.” Khalid the son of al-Walid, still a blasphemer at the time, saw that only few of the archers were left.

He took a group of blasphemers and they snuck up and surprised the few archers left killing them, including the leader of the archers Abdullah the son of Jubayr. When this happened the yells of the blasphemers became loud and the Muslims were surprised to find that were now surrounded. Many were killed and the situation became difficult for the Muslims. Then whoever had left from the blasphemers came back and viciously attacked the Muslims and raised their dirty banner off from the ground.

A number of blasphemers had agreed between themselves to attack the Prophet all at once, and they took advantage of the separation of the Prophet from the companions to attack him. Some of them hit him with their swords on his honorable forehead, while others threw rocks at him and broke his front tooth. His honorable lip was wounded and one blasphemer attacked and wounded the upper part of the Prophet’s check.

Then he lifted his sword to hit the Prophet but the Prophet held him back the Prophet however, may peace be upon him fell and injured his honorable knee, which began to bleed. A blasphemer called Ubay’ the son of Khalaf came carrying his spear, aiming it towards the Prophet, but the Prophet took it from him and killed him with it.

When the Prophet was injured and bleeding from his face five of the Ansar, the original inhabitants of al-Madinah, came to protect him and all of them were killed. Abu Dujanah ran over to the Prophet and used his back as a shield to protect the Prophet. The arrows would come flying at him while he was bent down protecting the best/most honored of Allah’s creations with his body and soul.

The calamities continued to befall the Muslims. One of the blasphemer slaves who was a very good archer called Wahshi, which means monster, had targeted our Master Hamzah and intended to kill him. His master had told him before the battle that if he managed to kill Hamzah he would set him free.

Wahshi spent the battle seeking the opportune moment that would enable him to kill our Master Hamzah. Finally he found himself face to face with our Master Hamzah, he raised his spear and threw it at our Master Hamzah, it hit his body and he fell, dying as a martyr for the sake of Allah.

The battle ended when the blasphemers pulled out thinking that they had won. We do not say the Prophet of Allah was defeated, rather we say that those who did not obey his orders failed and caused themselves to lose the battle.

The Muslims buried their martyrs in Uhud, where they had died. The Prophet returned to al-Madinah amid a sad atmosphere. When one of the Ansar women was told that both her father and brother were killed in the battle she asked: “What happened to the Prophet, may peace be upon him?” They told her that he was in a good condition.

She said “Let me see him”, and when she saw him her eyes watered out of happiness and she said: “Every calamity other than the calamity of your death is tolerable, O Prophet of Allah. No affliction has as hard of an impact as the tragedy of losing you.”

This was the way the battle of Uhud ended, and it was a lesson in which the Muslims learned the importance of following the orders of the Prophet and his honorable teachings and that all his orders hold happiness and well being.