Stability
of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم):
During the moments when the fighting
was going strong, some wretched and callous person hurled a piece of stone at
the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
from a distance which injured his lip and smashed his lower tooth and he fell
on his side into a ditch. Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
bin Abu Tâlib (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
caught hold of his hand and Abu Bakr and Talhah (صلى
الله عليه وآله وسلم) lent their support in helping him out of
the pit. When a small band of the Companions assembled near the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) the enemy attack
slowed down. The Companions, emboldened by the presence of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم), smashed their ranks
and pushed them back. Now, he went on the nearby mountain along with a party of
his Companions to give a fresh call to battle from a raised point. Abu Sufyân
also tried to climb the mountain but his efforts were fruitless. When he made
an attempt to get on a place higher than that of the Muslims, Umar bin Khattâb (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) was ordered to fight
Abu Sufyân and his band to push them back and he did it well with the support
of his fellows.
Now the Muslim troops began to
gather. The scattered Muslims got on the higher ground to be at the service of
the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم),
and the disbelievers could not gather the courage to launch a fresh attack.
However, a hard-core enemy, Ubai bin Khalaf who had planned from before to
assassinate the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم),
made a bold charge at him. When the latter noticed him moving towards him on
horseback, he said, "Let him come." He was about to make an attack
when the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
took a lance from his Companion, Hârith bin Samma (صلى
الله عليه وآله وسلم) and thrust it in the neck of Ubai bin
Khalaf, he scuttled off bewildered and embarrassed. He succumbed to his injury
on his way back to Makkah.
Abu Sufyân said in a loud voice:
"Is Muhammad among you?" "Don't make any reply," the
Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) said to his
Companions. "Is Abu Bakr among you?" he said again and got no reply.
"Is Umar bin Khattâb among you?" he said and the reply was only
silence. Then he said "It seems all of them have been killed." Now
Umar bin Khattâb (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
broke his silence in exasperation and answered back: "O enemy of Allâh!
All are alive and you will meet your doom." Amazed to hear this he uttered
with an air of vanity: "Glory be to Hubal!" The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) asked Umar bin
Khattâb (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) to say in reply:
"Allâh is the Highest and Most Great!" Having heard from Umar bin
Khattâb (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم), Abu Sufyân said:
"We have the idol Uzza, while you have none." The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) again directed Umar (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) to say in reply:
"Allâh is our Lord but yours is none." Thereafter Abu Sufyân said:
"This battle equalized the score of Badr." Umar (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) replied on the instruction of the Prophet
(صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم): "No, there is
no equality at all, for those killed on our side have gone to Paradise and
those on your side are lying in Hell." He then called out, "We shall
meet again at Badr next year." The Prophet (صلى
الله عليه وآله وسلم) asked Umar (صلى
الله عليه وآله وسلم) to reply: "Yes, it is an appointment
between us."
Abu Sufyân then departed. The
Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) sent Ali (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) bin Abu Tâlib (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) after him to witness
the manner they adopted in making their departure. If they put saddles on their
camels and left their horses free they meant to depart to Makkah; if they got
on their horses and did not saddle their camels they had a plan to attack
Al-Madinah once again. And in view of their imminent attack, the Muslims should
take the initiative in launching an attack. Ali (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
went behind but returned in a short while with the news that the Makkans had
left their horses free.
A
View of the Battleground:
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) then descended from the mountain
peacefully and the task of burying the martyrs started. Sixty-five Ansâr and
four Muhâjirin in all were honored with martyrdom. The dead bodies of several
martyrs were torn to pieces. Hindah bint Utbah, the wife of Abu Sufyân
mutilated the body of Hamzah (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم).
She cut off his nose and ears and made a slit in his chest, took out the liver
and chewed it but could not swallow it. Safiyyah (صلى
الله عليه وآله وسلم), the mother of Zubair bin Al-Awwâm (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) was the full sister
of Hamzah (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم).
When she came forward to see her brother, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) asked her son to send her back so that
she might not see her brother's dead body which had been mutilated. On being
forbidden, she replied, "Why? I know that my brother has been mutilated. I
have not come here for lamentation. I shall rather keep patience and seek
forgiveness for him." Having heard this, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) gave her permission. She witnessed the
body and pieces of liver of her brother lying on the ground. She exercised
full-restraint and recited:
"We
belong to Allâh and truly we shall return to Him." (2:156)
And sought for him forgiveness of
Allâh and came back silently. For Mus'ab bin Umair (صلى
الله عليه وآله وسلم), the standard-bearer of Islam, only a
piece of coarse cloth could be found as a shroud for his burial. The cloth was
so small that when his head was covered, his feet appeared and when his feet
were covered, his head was exposed. At last, his head was covered and some
reeds were put over his feet.
All other martyrs were buried in
pairs in one grave without being given a bath. On the return from the
battlefield to Al-Madinah, they came across Hamnah bint Jahsh (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم), the wife of Mus'ab
bin Umair (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم).
She was told about the martyrdom of her maternal uncle, Hamzah (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) and she recited,
"Inna lillâhi was inna ilaihi râji'un." (2:156) She was then informed
of the martyrdom of her brother, Abdullah bin Jahsh, she recited, "Inna
lillâhi..." and at last, she was given the news of the martyrdom of her
husband, Mus'ab bin Umair (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
and she burst into tears. Hearing this the Prophet (صلى
الله عليه وآله وسلم) remarked: "A woman loves her husband
most of all."
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