I. The Jewish Tribes

Three Jewish tribes lived near Al-Madinah: Banu Qaynuqa', Banu Nadir, and Banu Qur'aythah. The nearest of these three tribes to Al-Madinah was the tribe of Qaynuqa', who lived in their fortresses ¹ to the south of Al-Madinah. Each of these three tribes were forced to exile ² from the vicinity ³ of Al-Madinah through their wilful ⁴ treachery ⁵ Qaynuqa' after the Battle of Badr, Nadir after the Battle of Uhud, and Qur'aythah during the Battle of the Trench.

1. Banu Qaynuqa:

When news of the victory of Badr came to Al-Madinah, even before the Prophet's return from Badr, the Jews showed their hatred and disappointment. One of their leaders said when he was told of the victory, "If Muhammad has killed these men (the chiefs of Quraysh), then is the inside of the earth better than its outside." This was a clear indication of the hostile attitude of the Jews as a whole.

But Banu Qaynuqa', who were the nearest Jewish tribe to Al-Madinah, were more openly hostile. When the Prophet went to them in their market-place, he had hopes that their hearts would soften to Islam, and would embrace it, as they knew from their Scriptures ⁶ that he was the Messenger of Allah. He also warned them of the fate of the chiefs of Quraysh, and advised them not to incur the anger of Allah by rejecting ⁷ his Prophethood. But their answer was manifestly ⁸ hostile.

"O Muhammad, you seem to think that we are your people. Do not deceive yourself because you encountered a people with no knowledge of war and got the better of them; for by Allah if we make war with you, you shall find that we are the men to be feared".

This Jewish tribe began to provoke ⁹ Muslim residents in their eighborhood, and actually prepared for battle, depending on the help of the hypocrites in Al Madinah. But the Prophet was quick to forestall their attack, and the Prophet and the Muslim army
encircled their fortresses on all sides, and the Muslims demanded the tribe's unconditional surrender. ¹⁰ finally, after the insolent ¹¹`pleading <sup>12</sup> of Ibn `Ubayy, a leading hypocrite, the Prophet agreed to allow them to leave the city unharmed, but to surrender all their property.

II.The Battle of Uhud

The battle of Uhud represents to a Muslim the incessant ¹³ need for an impeachable ¹⁴ transcendence ¹⁵ above worldly gains; it also serves as a perennial ¹⁶ warning of the dangerous consequences of disobedience, in the absence of which there is inevitable defeat.

1. Al 'Abbas's letter:

A year after the anniversary of Badr, a letter came to the Prophet in Al-Madinah from his uncle Al `Abbas in Makkah, telling the Prophet that Quraysh was preparing for an attack on Al-Madinah with an army of three thousand. At the head of the army was Abu Sufyan, who took with him his wife Hind. Wahshiyy, a slave of one of the chiefs of Makkah was in the army of Quraysh, because he was promised by his master to be a free man, if he killed Hamzah, the Prophet's uncle. Hind also wanted Wahshiyy to kill Hamzah, who had killed her father, and whenever she saw Wahshiyy in the army on the way to Al Madinah, she used to say, "Come on, your father of blackness, satisfy your vengeance and ¹⁷ ours.'

Before going to meet the enemy, the Prophet had seen in a dream that he was wearing a strong coat of ¹⁸ mail. His sword was in his hand and he noticed a dent ¹⁹ in it; and he saw some cows of his, and they were sacrificed before his own eyes. The Prophet interpreted this dream to his Companions, saying, "The dent in my sword is a blow that will be struck against myself, and the sacrificed cows are some of my Companions who will be killed, and the strong coat of mail is Al -Madinah. If you think it well it would be better to stay in Al-Madinah and leave them where they have encamped; ²⁰ for if they halt they will have halted in a bad position and if they try to enter the city, we can fight them therein.

2. Consultation:

(Abdullah Ibn Ubayy was the first to speak) Ibn Ubayy: "O Messenger of Allah, this is the right opinion."

Some younger Companions: "O Messenger of Allah, it would be better for us to go out of the city, and fight the enemy. Let them not think that we fear them or that we are too weak for them."

Ibn Ubayy: "O Messenger of Allah, stay in Al-Madinah, do not go out to them. We have never gone out to fight an enemy but we have met disaster, ²¹ and none has come in against us without being defeated, so leave them where they are. If they stay, they stay in evil predicament, and if they come in, the men will fight them and the women and children will throw stones on them from the wall, and if they retreat they will retreat dejected ²² and frustrated ²³ in purpose."

The Prophet: (to the Companions): "Stay in Al-Madinah, and let the women and offspring stay in the fortresses".

One of the younger Companions: "O Messenger of Allah, at Badr you had only three hundred men, and Allah gave us the day. And now we are many and have been hoping for this occasion and praying Allah for it, and He has sent it to our very door."

Ibn Ubbay: "Those young boys were not at Badr. They want to do as the others have done."

Another younger Companion: Allah gave His messenger victory at Badr, and if He will, He will grant him victory today. Let us go out with you, O, Messenger of Allah, as you did go out with the Companions for Badr. Let us go out to meet our enemy." The Prophet: "Then prepare yourselves to go out to meet your enemy."

The younger Companions: Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar (Allah is Greater, Allah is Greater)."

Ibn Ubayy: He (The Prophet) has disobeyed me, and obeyed the young ones.

Sa'd Ibn Mu'ath: You spoke too much to the Prophet about going out; and the Command usually comes down to him from Heaven. [The Prophet goes into his house]. Usayd Ibn Hudayr: Leave the matter to the Prophet.

The younger Companions: (feeling repentant). That's true. We did speak too much of going out. We should not have done that.

Sa'd: (to Usayd) Line up the men for the Prophet when he comes out. (Usayd asks the men to line up).

[The Prophet now comes out of his house, dressed for battle].

Sa'd: (to the Prophet). "We have spoken too much to you about going out
Al-Madinah; but now we feel sorry for that. The decision is now back to you.

The Prophet: "It is not for a Prophet, when he has put on his armor, to take if off until Allah has judged between him and his enemy. So look to what I commanded you, and do it, and go forward in the name of Allah. The victory is yours if you are steadfast." ²⁴ (Half way between Al-Madinah and the mountain of Uhud. Ibn Ubbay had secretly conferred with his 300 followers about their withdrawing from the battle).

Ibn Ubayy: (to his followers) "He (the Prophet) has obeyed them and disobeyed me. We do not know why we should lose our lives here. O, men, let us return to Al-Madinah."

(They begin to withdraw).

`Abdullah `Ibn Haram: (calling at them). "I adjure ²⁵ you by Allah not to abandon ²⁶ your people and your Prophet when the enemy is at hand."Some of the hypocrites: "If we knew that you would fight, we would not abandon you; but we do not think that there will be a battle.

Ibn Haram: "Enemies of Allah! Allah will avail His Prophet beyond any need of you".

(The Prophet and the Muslim army pass by a battalion ²⁷ several hundred in number).

The Prophet: (to his Companions). "Who are those?" A Companion: "They are Jews, allies of Ibn Ubayy, the hypocrite.

The Prophet: "Have they embraced Islam?"

The Companion: "No, they have not.

The Prophet: "We are not in need of them."

3. The Battle Rages:

The instructions of the Prophet before the battle began were very clear. To the army of 700 he said:"Let none of you fight until we give the word."

To the 50 archers, ²⁸ this was his order: "Keep the (enemy) cavarly ²⁹ away from us with your arrows and let them not come on us from the rear whether the battle goes on in our favor or against us, and keep your place so that we cannot be got at from your direction."

The battle went on with the Muslims having their weapons as bows, arrows and swords, and their battle cry "amit! amit!" - "Slay! Slay!"

The Prophet's sword was given to Abu Dujanah, who fought fiercely ³⁰ with it.

Two other brave fighters were Hamzah, the Prophet's uncle, and Ali, his cousin.

Wahshi was a slave who had been promised by his master to be set free, if he killed Hamzah. So Wahshi waited for the right moment, at which he launched ³¹ a' javelin ³² at Hamzah, who soon collapsed and fell. When Hamzah was dead Wahshi came and recovered his javelin. Then he went off to camp, for he had no business with anyone but him.

In spite of Hamzah's death, the Muslims went on attacking the disbelievers, until Quraysh began to run away defeated, after its standard bearer ³³ was killed.

Now the Muslim archers saw the enemy being defeated, and forty of the archers ran in the direction of the enemy camp for the spoils. Khalid at the head of the enemy cavalry found out that the rear of the Muslim army was open and began a counter-attack. The remaining ten archers who obeyed the order of the Prophet were all killed; and the enemy got so near the Prophet that more than five of the Companions around him were killed while defending him. Then a sharp stone from the enemy struck him in the mouth, gashing ³⁴ his lower lip and breaking one of his teeth. Later on, an enemy horseman came at the Prophet and struck at him with the sword. The blade of the sword narrowly missed the crown of the Prophet's helmet, but it drove two of the helmet rings into his cheek, and the Prophet fell to the ground.

Then a voice was heard - probably that of the enemy horseman - that the Prophet was slain. When the word spread about the death of the Prophet, many Muslims lost heart, although some went on fighting. One of those valiant ³⁵ fighters was killed, but when they came to look for his body, they found it with more than eighty wounds, and it was so disfigured that his sister recognized him by his fingers.

The Prophet was hurt, but soon he got up and led the Companions around him to a more defensible place to watch over the movement of the enemy. The wounds of the Prophet were still bleeding, as well as those of his close Companions, including Abu `Ubaydah, who had pulled out two of his own teeth when he drew out the two rings of the Prophet's helmet from his cheek.

The enemy had found that they had taken their revenge ³⁶ for those killed at Badr, and believed that the Prophet was killed. So they began to withdraw; ³⁷ and would soon be on their way back to Makkah.

The Companions had come to know that the Prophet was safe, and they went back and assembled ³⁸ around him. Then came the time for noon prayer, and the Prophet led the prayer seated throughout, and everyone followed his example. Then they lay down to rest, and many of them slept.

"Then He sent down upon you after anguish secure slumber enveloping a group from among you". (Al-'Imran- 154).

4. The Martyrs:

Among the seventy-two martyrs of Uhud was Hamzah, the Prophet's uncle. He had been slain ³⁹ by Wahshi, the Abyssinian. By killing him he gained his freedom from his Makkan master, as well as all the spoils that Hind got after the battle. She even gave him her necklaces, pendants and anklets; and in her thirst for revenge she had mutilated ⁴⁰ Hamza's body, and even chewed a piece of his liver.

When the Prophet saw the mutilated body of Hamzah, he felt grieved ⁴¹ and angry at the outraging sight, and said, `When next Allah grant me victory over Quraysh, I will mutilate seventy of their dead."

The Companions were also furious, ⁴² and some of them said, "By Allah, if Allah grants us victory over them in the future we will mutilate them as no `Arab has ever mutilated anyone. But soon after this, Allah sent down His revelation;

'And if you punish, then punish as you have been punished; but if you endure patiently that is better for the patient. Endure you pantiently, and your endurance is only from Allah; and grieve not for them, and be not straitened at what they plot. Surely Allah is with those who are pious and those who do fair deeds. (An- Nahl; 126-128)

Of course the Prophet did not fulfil his threat but he expressly forbade mutilation at every battle.

Among the women who came to see the martyrs were Safiyyah, Hamzah's sister, and her sister Umaymah, who lost her son. Their cousin Hamnah came to see her dead: her husband, her brother and her uncle. `A'ishah was also there, and Fatimah, the Prophet's daughter was present; and in their sadness, they all wept over their dead, and it was a relief to the Prophet to weep with them.

Among the martyrs was a Jewish rabbi. ⁴³ When the Prophet asked about how this rabbi came to battle, he was informed that he had joined the battle early to fight the idolaters, ⁴⁴ and asked his people that the Prophet should be the only heir to his property. Then he went to battle and was killed. Later on, it is reported that a large portion of the alms ⁴⁵ that were distributed in Al-Madinah came from the rich palm groves that the Prophet inherited from this Jewish martyr. The Prophet used to call this martyr "the best of the Jews".

The Prophet then ordered that all the dead be buried together, and he prayed the funeral ⁴⁶ prayer over each one of them, seventy-two prayers in all.

5. Quraysh Pursued:

The Prophet and the Companions reached Al-Madinah late afternoon; but early next morning the Prophet called on the army of believers to be ready for setting out in pursuit ⁴⁷ of Quraysh, who had not given up the idea of attacking Al-Madinah again. Although many Muslims were wounded, all of them answered the call of Bilal to go with the Prophet to Badr, to show the enemy that the battle of Uhud did not make the Muslims lose courage. The Muslim army spent a few days encamped not very far away from Al-Madinah, and then returned when they were sure that the Makkans had deserted any plan of coming back.

6. Revelations about Uhud:

About 60 verses were revealed to the Prophet concerning Uhud. The verses remind the believers of the causes of defeat, as the majority ⁴⁸ of the archers left their places to take the spoils of the enemy. They were also reminded that at the battle of Badr there was no such disobedience and they were given victory from Allah, although their army was much smaller than at Uhud. Again the idea that victory is from Allah is stressed.

"And victory is only from Allah, the Mighty, the Wise" (Al-Imran 126).

Verses of relief and consolation follow, indicating to the believers that they should not feel grieved for their losses in Uhud, for similar losses had been inflicted on the disbelievers at Badr. Then follows the eternal law of victory and defeat.

"And these days (of victory) we alternate between mankind." (Al-'Imran-140).

Then the fighters for the cause of Islam are told that the price of Paradise is not a trifle:

"Or did you reckon that you would enter Paradise before Allah knows those of you who strive truly and before He knows those who endure patiently?" (Al-'Imran- 142).

Finally there is affirmation ⁴⁹ of the role of the Prophet and Messenger. The death or killing of a Prophet or Messenger does not mean the end of the Divine message or the cessation ⁵⁰ of jihad for Islam.

"And Muhammad is only a messenger, and messengers have already passed away before him. If he dies or is killed, will you then turn upon your heels? Whoever turns upon his heels will thereby do no harm to Allah; and Allah will reward the thankful." (Al-'Imran-144).

7. Khubayb:

In the peaceful months after Uhud, the Prophet told six learned Muslims to go and teach some new converts, ⁵¹ in a tribe near Makkah. An enemy band of disbelievers attacked the six Muslims, killed four of them, and the remaining two were sold to Quraysh. When one of the two was about to die, he asked time to pray two rak'at "bowings". He was told by the enemy that his life could be spared if he reverted from Islam. The answer was, "I would not revert from Islam, if by so doing I could have all that is on earth." "Do you not wish that Muhammad were in your place", the disbelievers said, "and you were sitting in your home?" "I would not that Muhammad should be pricked ⁵² by a single thorn ⁵³ that I might thereby be sitting in my home", answered Khubayb.

The devotion of the man to Islam and the Prophet made his persecutor exclaim in amazement; "I have never seen anybody love anybody or anything as the Companions of Muhammad love Muhammad!"