The battle of Uhud
- Updated On Sunday, 27 July 2014
- Written by Allamah Qurashi
- Editor Faisal Shaheen
- Supervisor Sayyed Roohullah Musavi
- Published on Wednesday, 07 May 2014
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- Hits: Please explain about happenings of the battle of Uhud! Why did the Muslims defeate in this Battle?
The battle of Uhud took place after the battle of Badr. The battle of Badr brought a great victory to the Muslims and a humiliating loose to the infidels of Quraysh. When the rest of the tribe learned of their defeat at Badr, The people of Quraysh became focused on taking revenge on the Muslims. In the battle of Uhud,1 Abu Sufyan led the Quraysh. He succeeded in convincing a large number of his people to fight against the messenger of Allah (a.s.). He asked the merchants and the wealthy among the Quraysh to assist him with their monies in the war against the Prophet (a.s.), and they willingly responded. They gave him more than enough funds to buy ample weapons and equipment. All of the men of Quraysh went out to fight the Prophet (a.s.). They Were accompanied by their women, who would encourage them to fight defiantly. The Prophet consults with his companions As usual, the Prophet (a.s.) consulted with his companions. He suggested to That their options were either to go out of Medina to repel the army of Quraysh, or remain in Medina waiting for the enemy to bring the to fight to them in the town. After much discussion, they chose the first option. The prophet made preparations and set out for battle, followed by about one thousand warriors. Along the way, Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salool, one of the heads of the hypocrites, slipped away with one third of the army. The Prophet (a.s.) continued with seven hundred warriors until they stopped at the slope of the valley, leaving the mountain of Uhud behind them. He ordered fifty archers, led by Abdullah bin Jubayr to remain at the top of the mountain. He ordered them not to leave this post, in order to guard the backs of Muslims. The Prophet (a.s.) said to Abdullah: "Shoot the horsemen with arrows and do not let them attack us from behind us. If we win or not, let you not leave your place." The rout of the polytheists The battle erupted and from the first skirmishes, the signs of victory were obviously to the benefit of the Muslims. Among the most notable of efforts were those of Imam Ali (a.s.), who single handedly killed the bearers of the Polytheists' banners and most of their leaders. Their army fled the battlefield, followed by their women, who were crying and wailing and uncovering their legs in utmost meanness and disgrace, towards the mountain. However, it was not long before a series of events would turn everything was upside-down. The defeat of Muslims The eventual defeat of the Muslims was due largely to the disobedience of the archers, , whom the Prophet (a.s.) had ordered to remain on the mountain to back the army lest the enemy might attack from behind. When the archers saw that the polytheists were defeated and saw them fleeing the battlefield, leaving behind them their arms and equipment, they abandoned their places on the mountain. Heedlessly dismissing the warnings of their commander "Jubair", they hurried to the battlefield to plunder the arms and baggage of the enemy. All except for Jubair, who remained behind in obedience of the Prophets (a.s.) orders. l. When Khalid bin al-Waleed, who was at that time from the leaders of Quraysh saw the high ground of the mountain now abandoned, he approached the Prophet's companions from behind as they rushed to claim the spoils of the fleeing Quraysh. He killed many Muslims, most of whom were prominent leaders in the army of the Prophet (a.s.). This disaster was the result of the archers' disobedience to the Prophet's order. If this section of the army had followed the order of the Prophet (a.s.), the Muslims would not have met that defeat and suffered the Tragic losses of men. Martyrdom of Hamza In the battle of Uhud, the most noble of the Holy Prophet's supporters, Hazrat Hamza was assassinated by Wahshi, a vile and sinful slave. He was incited by Hind, Abu Sufyan's wife, who lost several men from her family in the battle of Badr. She promised Wahshi many things if he would kill Hamza. Wahshi also was incited by his master Jubayr bin Mut'im who promised to set him free (from slavery) if he succeeded in killing Hamza. When Hamza was martyred, Hind became intoxicated with joyfand delighted. She hurried to the battlefield in search of Hamza's body to satisfy her grudge against him. When she found him, she cut open his abdomen, took out his liverand chewed it. As she could not swallow it, she threw it away and cut off his nose, ears, and limbs, taking them as a necklace. The women with her did the same thing to the bodies of the other martyrs.2 By doing this, Hind sought to satisfy her soul , filled with spite and grudge against Hamza. Danger surrounds the ProphetUpon seeing the Quraysh regroup and the tide of the battle turn against them, most of the Muslims ran away from the battlefield. As a result, danger Engulfed the Prophet (a.s.) and he was wounded by the enemies. His front teeth were broken and his upper lip was cut so that it bled on his holy face. He wiped the blood while saying: "How would a people, who stained (with blood) the face of their prophet while inviting them to Allah, be successful?"3 Abu Sufyan commanded one of his warriors to call out in chaos of the battlefield that Muhammad had been killed. When the Muslims heard that, they scattered here and there. However, Imam Ali (a.s.) was defending the Prophet (a.s.) against the polytheists so courageously, maintaing his holy presence in the midst of battle. The Prophet (a.s.) asked him: "O Ali, what did people (Muslims) do?" Imam Ali (a.s.) said: "They broke the covenant and ran away." In this ordeal, Imam Ali (a.s.) was beside the Prophet (a.s.) as a sacrifice to him. He met sixteen strikes that sent him down to the ground but Gabriel lifted him up.4 Then, a group of truthful Muslims hurried to defend the Prophet (a.s.) from among whom there were: 1. Anas bin an-Nadhr 2. Thabit bin ad-Dahdaha 3. Abu Dujanah 4. Ziyad bin Imarah 5. Abu Talha 6. Amr bin al-Jamuh 7. Sa.d bin ar-Rabee' 8. Aasim bin Umar bin Qatadah 9. Al-Usayrim 10. Mukhayreeq The end of the war The war ended with the victory of the Quraysh and the defeat of Muslims. Many Muslim leaders and famous companions were martyred in this battle. The Prophet (a.s.) declared that this was the last battle where the Muslims were to be defeated. He said to Imam Ali (a.s.): "The polytheists shall not defeat us like it (this battle) at all until Allah will grant to us victory."5 Abu Sufyan left the battlefield with his army while filled with joy and delight. The Prophet (a.s.) ordered his companions,those who were still on the battlefield and especially those who had fought with him, to press on and fight. They responded and set out. The Muslim army marched on until it arrived in Hamra' al-Asad, eight miles from Medina. The Prophet (a.s.) and his army remained there three days before returning to Medina. This was a stroke of military genius on the part of the Prophet (a.s.), who planned to make Abu Sufyanregret returning to Mecca without continuing tofight and doing away with the rest of the Muslims. Despite obtaining victory over the Muslims Abu Sufyan was made to think that the Prophet (a.s.) had prepared an army stronger than his and that the army was on the way to chase him and his army.
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References: 1. Uhud is a famous mountain in Medina where this battle took place on Saturday, 11th of Shawwal in the third year of Hijra and took the name of this mountain. Refer to as-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by Zayni Dahlan, printed in the margins of as-Seera al-Halabiyyah, vol. 2 p. 19. 2. As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Katheer, vol. 3 p. 74 3. Encyclopedia of Imam Ameerul Mo.minin Ali bin Abi Talib, vol. 2 p. 18. 4. Encyclopedia of Imam Ameerul Mo'minin Ali bin Abi Talib, vol. 2 p. 18. 5. As-Seera an-Nabawiyyah by ibn Katheer, vol. 3 p. 72.