The Battle of Uhud

The battle of Uhud, the second great battle between the Muslims of Medina and Quraysh, was fought on Saturday 7 Shawwal 3 AH at the foot of Mount Uhud north of Medina ¹. It began as a complete Muslim victory and ended in heavy losses after most of the archer detachment left their post. Seventy Companions were martyred, foremost among them Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib; the Prophet was wounded in the face; and Quraysh withdrew without occupying the Muslim camp or entering Medina ².

Quraysh was burning with rage over the defeat at Badr: it forbade mourning its dead, delayed ransoming captives, and held back the profits of the caravan that had escaped with Abu Sufyan to finance revenge ³. It gathered three thousand fighters, two hundred of them cavalry and seven hundred mailed; overall command went to Abu Sufyan and command of the cavalry to Khalid ibn al-Walid, then still a polytheist ⁴. In Medina the Prophet held a consultative council in which the majority of the Companions chose to march out to meet them, despite his preference for staying.

The Prophet halted with seven hundred fighters in the gorge of Uhud, facing Medina with his back to the mountain — the best position on the field. He selected fifty skilled archers under Abdullah ibn Jubayr ibn al-Nu'man al-Ansari and posted them on a small hill southeast of the camp — known as Jabal al-Rummat, the Archers' Hill — to protect the left flank from the polytheist cavalry, charging them: "guard our backs; if you see us being killed, do not come to our aid, and if you see us taking spoils, do not join us" ⁵. He placed al-Mundhir ibn Amr over the right wing and al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam over the left.

On the way to Uhud, close to the enemy, Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul mutinied and withdrew with about three hundred fighters, exposing a hypocrisy that had been hidden ⁶. Banu Haritha of the Aws and Banu Salama of the Khazraj nearly followed, then held firm; Abdullah ibn Haram, Jabir's father, tried to turn the hypocrites back but they refused. Seven hundred Companions remained with the Prophet.

The weight of the early battle turned on the polytheists' standard, held by Banu Abd al-Dar. Al-Zubayr leapt on its first bearer, Talha ibn Abi Talha, threw him from his camel and slew him. The sons of Abd al-Dar took up the standard in turn and were wiped out to the last — ten men — until an Abyssinian slave named Sawab carried it, kneeling on it with chest and neck until he was killed ⁷. Abu Dujana went forth in his red turban carrying the Prophet's sword, hewing through the polytheist ranks ¹. The polytheists fled — al-Zubayr saw the women fleeing up the mountain with their skirts raised ⁸.

Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib fought in the open like a great camel, cutting through the ranks. Wahshi ibn Harb, an Abyssinian slave of Jubayr ibn Mut'im, lay in wait for him — Jubayr had promised him freedom if he killed Hamza in revenge for his uncle Tu'ayma, slain at Badr. Wahshi said: "I poised my javelin until I was satisfied with it, then drove it into him; it struck below his navel and came out between his legs" ⁹. Afterwards Hind bint Utba came and cut open Hamza's liver ¹⁰.

When most of the archer detachment saw the Muslims gathering spoils, they left their post — all but Ibn Jubayr and nine with him. Khalid ibn al-Walid seized the opening, swept his cavalry around behind the Muslim army, destroyed Ibn Jubayr and his men, and the routed polytheists turned back on the Muslims ¹¹. The Muslims were caught as between the stones of a mill. In the confusion a rumour spread that the Prophet had been killed and some collapsed, until Anas ibn al-Nadr reminded them: "what will you do with life after him? Rise and die upon what he died upon" ¹².

In the hardest hour only Talha ibn Ubaydullah and Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas remained at the Prophet's rear. Utba ibn Abi Waqqas pelted him with stones — his front tooth was broken and his lip cut — and Abdullah ibn Qami'a struck his cheek so that two rings of his helmet sank into it ¹³. Talha fought the fight of eleven men until his fingers were severed and he bore thirty-nine wounds ¹⁴. Abu Dujana shielded the Prophet with his back as the arrows fell on him, unmoving ¹⁵. Nusayba bint Ka'b fought until she took twelve wounds ¹⁶. Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah pulled the helmet rings from the Prophet's cheek with his front teeth ¹⁷.

About thirty Companions gathered around the Prophet and cut a path to the mountain gorge. During the withdrawal the Prophet himself speared Ubayy ibn Khalaf in the collarbone, and he died of it at Sarif ¹⁸. Once settled in the gorge, Fatima washed his wound and stanched the blood with a piece of burned mat ¹⁹. Abu Sufyan then called out to the Muslims; Umar answered him and made clear that the Prophet was alive ¹⁹.

Seventy were martyred: sixty-five Ansar, four Muhajirun and one Jew. The Prophet ordered them buried where they lay, unwashed, placing first in each grave whoever knew most Qur'an ²⁰. Sa'd ibn al-Rabi' was found at his last breath bearing seventy blows, and he sent his greeting to the Prophet ²¹. They went looking for Hanzala and found him dripping water; the Prophet told them the angels were washing him, and he was called "the one washed by the angels" ²⁰.

The next day the Prophet called the people to pursue Quraysh; the Muslims marched on their wounds until they reached Hamra' al-Asad, eight miles from Medina ²². He sent Ma'bad al-Khuza'i to Abu Sufyan, who waged a war of nerves on him until the Meccan army's resolve collapsed and they kept on withdrawing to Mecca. The Prophet executed Abu Azza al-Jumahi, who had broken his pledge ²³.

Some sixty verses of Sura Al Imran came down on the subject of Uhud, beginning at the verse Al Imran 121 ²⁴. The verses address the stand of the hypocrites, the cause of the reversal in disobeying the order, and the wisdom of the trial in distinguishing the truthful from the false.