The Consultative Council for the Battle of Uhud

After precise reports arrived about the camp of the Meccan army, the Prophet held a supreme military consultative council to exchange views and choose the best posture for defending Medina ¹.

The Prophet opened the council by telling the Companions of a dream he had seen: in it cattle were slaughtered, there was a notch in his sword, and he entered a strong coat of mail. He interpreted it as meaning that a number of his Companions would be killed, a man of his household would be stricken, and that Medina was the strong coat of mail ¹.

On that basis the Prophet proposed that the Muslims not leave Medina but fortify themselves within it: if the polytheists kept their camp outside, it would gain them nothing, and if they tried to enter the city the Muslims would fight them in the alleys with the women's help from the rooftops ¹. Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul agreed with this view; the book's author remarks that Ibn Salul meant by it to keep distance from the fighting without arousing suspicion about himself ¹.

But a group of the Companions — especially those who had missed marching out at Badr — pressed the Prophet to march out and meet the enemy outside Medina, lest it be said the Muslims had shrunk from facing them ¹. Foremost among them was Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib, who swore not to eat food until he had fought the polytheists with his sword outside Medina ¹.