16. THE BATTLE OF UH.UD (1)

One of the famous battles in Islamic history is the battle of Uh.ud. Uh.ud is a hill north of Madinah where the battle took place between the Muslims, led by Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) and the infidel Quraysh tribe of Mecca. (Makkah). led by Abū Sufyān. The Meccans wanted to take revenge for their defeat and the loss of face at the battle of Badr the year before. In this battle they were one thousand in number but were defeated by three hundred Muslims.
After a journey of about ten days from Mecca, the Meccan army consisted of three thousand men, each with a camel for the journey, and two hundred horses. They reached the oasis of Madinah on Thursday in the month of Shawal 3/21 March, 625. Two days later, on Saturday 23 March, 625 C.E. the battle took place. The victory was almost within the Muslims’ hand, but soon turned to be a defeat. Khālid b. al-Walīd, who led the Meccan calvary observed some disorder in the Muslim advance. He overran the archers and attacked the Muslim flank and rear. The Prophet received two or three wounds on his face and leg. He himself wounded one Meccan who died from it.
The Muslim army retreated to the slopes of the hill. The casualties: 27 of the Meccan and 75 of the Muslims, 70 of them were the ans.ār, whereas among the muhājirīn was the Prophet’s uncle H...amzah.
Why the defeat? Because the archers, who had been told by the Prophet not to leave their posts to protect the Muslim infantry against the attack from the rear, left their posts. Why did they leave their posts? Because they saw the infantry was advancing and thought that the battle was over. On the other hand, the Muslim casualties were mostly due to the Quraysh calvary. The Muslims themselves were too poor and could not afford to have a calvary of their own.
Was the defeat of the Muslims in this battle a serious defeat? No, from the military standpoint. The Meccan victory was not great. Although the Meccans had successfully avenged their defeat and bloodshed of the battle of Badr, they failed in many of their objectives. They failed to destroy the Muslim community in Madinah and remove the Prophet from his position and influence. They also failed to get northern Arabia under their control. They could not destroy completely the Muslim army, because they had a number of wounded and most of their horses had received arrow wounds. We see how important it was to obey the commander
Why did Allah let the Muslims be defeated? Because Allah wanted to give us Muslims a lesson. After the battle of Uh.ud Allah revealed to the Prophet the following verse:
وَلَا تَهِنُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا وَأَنْتُمُ الْأَعْلَوْنَ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ.
إِنْ يَمْسَسْكُمْ قَرْحٌ فَقَدْ مَسَّ الْقَوْمَ قَرْحٌ مِثْلُهُ وَتِلْكَ الْأَيَّامُ نُدَاوِلُهَا
بَيْنَ النَّاسِ وَلِيَعْلَمَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا وَيَتَّخِذَ مِنْكُمْ شُهَدَاءَ وَاللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الظَّالِمِينَ.
وَلِيُمَحِّصَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا وَيَمْحَقَ الْكَافِرِينَ. أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَنْ تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ
وَلَمَّا يَعْلَمِ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا مِنْكُمْ وَيَعْلَمَ الصَّابِرِينَ. وَلَقَدْ كُنْتُمْ
تَمَنَّوْنَ الْمَوْتَ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ تَلْقَوْهُ فَقَدْ رَأَيْتُمُوهُ وَأَنْتُمْ تَنْظُرُونَ.
(آل عمران:۱٣٩-‍۱٤٣).
“So lose not heart. Nor fall into despair: for ye must
gain mastery if ye are true in faith. If a wound hath touched you,
be sure a similar wound hath touched the others. Such days (of varying
fortunes) We give to men and men by turns: that Allah may know those
that believe, and that He may take to Himself from your ranks martyr-
witness [shuhada’, i.e., martyrs] to truth. And Allah loveth not those that
do wrong. Allah‘s object also is to purge those that are truth in faith and
to deprive of blessing those that resist faith [‘The purge or purification was
in two senses, (1) It cleared out the Hypocrites from the ranks of the Muslim
warriors, (2) The testing-time strengthened the faith of the weak and wavering:
for suffering has its own mission in life. The Prophet’s example—wounded
but staunch, and firmer than ever—put new life into the Community.’ A.Y.
Ali’s commentary]. Did ye think that ye would enter Heaven without Allah
testing those of you whofought hard (in His cause) and remained steadfast?
Ye did indeed wish for death before ye encountered it [i.e., at the battle
of Badr]: now ye have seen it with your own eyes [i.e., in
the battle of Uhud], (and ye flinch!).”76
What about the Muslims now? We are humiliated everywhere. Why? Because we do not stick to our faith. We do not have strong faith. Allah says, “Ye must gain mastery if ye are true in faith” as mentioned above. He also says:
قَالَتِ الْأَعْرَابُ آَمَنَّا قُلْ لَمْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَلَكِنْ قُولُوا أَسْلَمْنَا وَلَمَّا يَدْخُلِ الْإِيمَانُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ
(الحجرات:۱٤).
“The desert Arabs [i.e., Bedouins] say ‘We believe’. Say: ‘Ye have no
faith; but ye (only) say ’We submitted our wills to Allah [aslamna, we
become Muslims]’; for not yet has faith entered your hearts.”77
In another verse He says:
الْأَعْرَابُ أَشَدُّ كُفْرًا وَنِفَاقًا وَأَجْدَرُ أَلَّا يَعْلَمُوا
حُدُودَ مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ
(التوبة: ٩٧).
“The Bedouins are worst in unbelief and hypocrisy, and most fitted
to be in ignorance of the command which Allah hath sent down
to His Messenger: but Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise”78
Al-A‘rāb means “the Bedouins”. people living in the desert under their tents and under the burning sun. They were blamed for their infidelity, hypocrisy and lack of faith. But now, are we Muslims better than they were? The whole world knows how weak we are. We are still Bedouins in mentality and faith although we live in cities and palaces—as comfortable a life technology can give.

Footnotes:
76. Qur’ān, Āl ‘Imrān[3]:139-143
77. Qur’ān, al-H...ujurāt [49]:14
78. Qur’ān, al-Tawbah [9]:97