We have discussed the preparations for war, the fact that the Quraysh were camping nearby, the shura that the Prophet PBUH did, etc.
Problem With Trying to Sort the Events in Chronological Order
Now, as was the case with Badr, we don't have the entire incident of the Battle of Uhud narrated in chronological order. Instead, we have small pieces of the puzzle, each narrated by different sahaba. And this creates a challenge in filling the gaps and determining the sequence of events. Imagine you were involved in a very difficult activity that lasted the entire day — you wouldn't recount every single detail to your descendants or children; you would tell them what sticks in your mind — the one or two significant events. Similarly, each sahabi shared one or two incidents with their progeny or the next generation. Thus, reconstructing the events of the battle becomes problematic. This is especially true for the Battle of Uhud, which was chaotic and, in some respects, a loss. If you read five different seerah books, you will encounter five different chronological accounts of the battle. In today's and the following 2-3 lectures, we will present one reconstruction of these events. Note that this interpretation is original in its own way, and if you read other books, you might find slight variations. The incidents are the same; it's a matter of connecting the dots and inferring what happened in between. There will always be theories about these events, and what will be presented today and in the next 2-3 lessons will essentially be one such theory.
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Setting Up the Camp
Allah knows best, but what appears to be the case is that around the 13th of Shawwal, the Quraysh were approaching the city of Madinah. The 13th is a Thursday, the 14th is a Friday, and according to Ibn Ishaq and others, the actual battle took place on the morning of Saturday. So now, we try to reconstruct the previous 3 days; the following are all theories, nothing explicit. The theory is that by the 13th, the Quraysh and the Muslims were within scouting distance. By the 14th, the Prophet PBUH decided the Muslims needed to go to Uhud before the Quraysh army settled down/attacked Madinah. And that's why as soon as he prayed Jumu'ah and did shura, he made his way to Uhud. And according to a number of reports, the Prophet PBUH made his way to Uhud very secretly. He asked for a guide to take him through the date palm groves. Not the main road. Why? Because that would give their location away to the enemy too early. The Muslims wanted to get to Uhud before the Quraysh so that they could choose where they wanted to camp.
It's narrated that as they were walking through the date palms, one of the hypocrites who was a blind old man heard the commotion and said, "Who is this? Is this Muhammad and his Companions? Verily, I don't allow you to step foot in my land!" and he began throwing pebbles and rocks to try to stop the sahaba from coming. One of the sahaba wanted to raise his sword to basically get rid of him, but the Prophet PBUH said, "Leave him alone. He is a blind man of the eyes, and a blind man of the heart." So they let him be.
The Prophet PBUH arrives on Uhud in the early afternoon of the 14th. (By the way, according to one report, they would pray Jumu'ah early in the afternoon, even before the time of Zuhr. And the issue of 'Is Jumu'ah a different salah than Zuhr?' is a classical controversy. And the Hanbali position, which frankly is the position many mosques in America follow because it makes life a lot easier, is that Jumu'ah is a separate salah not related to Zuhr. So it has a separate time frame. So it can be prayed before the time of Salat al-Zuhr.) So we can assume the Prophet PBUH prayed Jumu'ah at around 11ish (in our time), and so he could have arrived at Uhud easily by 2 o'clock. It's literally a half an hour's walk (or by car just 3 minutes). So the Prophet PBUH arrives at Uhud on the 14th, and the Quraysh by their scouts now know the Muslims are at Uhud, so they make their way also to Uhud after the Prophet PBUH. As night fell, both armies were positioned at Uhud, aware that a battle was imminent at sunrise. This sunrise, marking the beginning of the battle, occurred on the 15th of Shawwal, which was a Saturday morning.
The Prophet PBUH arrives on Uhud in the early afternoon of the 14th. (By the way, according to one report, they would pray Jumu'ah early in the afternoon, even before the time of Zuhr. And the issue of 'Is Jumu'ah a different salah than Zuhr?' is a classical controversy. And the Hanbali position, which frankly is the position many mosques in America follow because it makes life a lot easier, is that Jumu'ah is a separate salah not related to Zuhr. So it has a separate time frame. So it can be prayed before the time of Salat al-Zuhr.) So we can assume the Prophet PBUH prayed Jumu'ah at around 11ish (in our time), and so he could have arrived at Uhud easily by 2 o'clock. It's literally a half an hour's walk (or by car just 3 minutes). So the Prophet PBUH arrives at Uhud on the 14th, and the Quraysh by their scouts now know the Muslims are at Uhud, so they make their way also to Uhud after the Prophet PBUH. As night fell, both armies were positioned at Uhud, aware that a battle was imminent at sunrise. This sunrise, marking the beginning of the battle, occurred on the 15th of Shawwal, which was a Saturday morning.
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Young Sahaba
The Prophet PBUH began organizing the army and looking over each and every fighter, putting them in an appropriate position. It is narrated that he rejected around a dozen or so of the sahaba because they were too young: anyone under the age of 15 was sent back. Of those who were sent back were Abdullah ibn Umar (عبد الله بن عمر), Zayd ibn Thabit (زيد بن ثابت [the famous compiler of the Quran]), Usama ibn Zayd ibn Harithah (أسامة بن زيد بن حارثة), Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (أبو سعيد الخدري), and Zayd ibn Arqam (زيد بن أرقم). (Subhan'Allah, Usama ibn Zayd was around 11-12 at this time and he was trying to sneak into the army; where are our 11-year-olds and what are they doing?)
A number of these young men argued their way to remain, and two succeeded. Rafi ibn Khadij (رافع بن خديج) was 14, so the Prophet PBUH told him to go back; but some of his relatives petitioned and begged, "Ya Rasulullah, he is an expert archer," and so the Prophet PBUH let him remain. When he was allowed to remain, Samura ibn Jundub (سمرة بن جندب), who was also 14, stood up and said, "Ya Rasulullah, if you're going to allow Rafi, I am stronger than Rafi and I've beaten him in wrestling a number of times! It's not fair!" According to one book, he even jumped on Rafi to show his strength. And so the Prophet PBUH allowed Samura and Rafi to stay. (Subhan'Allah, compare these young lads who are full of Iman, to Abdullah ibn Ubayy and the gray-haired hypocrites.)
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Vitality of the Archers
(Modified from Dr. Zubair Rashid's detailing)
Ibn Ishaq says the Prophet PBUH placed the army such that the army was facing Madinah, and their backs were to Uhud. On their left was a small mountain that at the time was called Jabal Aynayn (جبل عينين), and the Prophet PBUH put 50 archers on it — the mountain is now called Jabal al-Ruma (جبل الرماة - Mountain of the Archers) in our times.
Out of all of the incidents narrated about the Battle of Uhud, the most authentic reports are about the advice that the Prophet PBUH gave to the archers. This shows us the Prophet PBUH knew that there was only one strategic weakness in the entire link, and that was that stretch of land protected by the archers. He told the archers:
"Protect us with your arrows, for their (the Quraysh's) horses will never come forth in response to arrows" — horses, when they see the arrows coming, will never be able to charge; they are terrified of arrows.
"Even if you see the birds eating our bodies, do not leave your places until I send for you."
"Make sure the enemy does not surprise us from behind regardless of whether we are the victors or the losers. Stay there until I tell you."
These narrations are reported in Bukhari and Muslim with the most authentic chains. The Prophet PBUH knew how vital the archers were.
"Protect us with your arrows, for their (the Quraysh's) horses will never come forth in response to arrows" — horses, when they see the arrows coming, will never be able to charge; they are terrified of arrows.
"Even if you see the birds eating our bodies, do not leave your places until I send for you."
"Make sure the enemy does not surprise us from behind regardless of whether we are the victors or the losers. Stay there until I tell you."
These narrations are reported in Bukhari and Muslim with the most authentic chains. The Prophet PBUH knew how vital the archers were.
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Abu Dujana RA
On the morning of the 15th, the Prophet PBUH wanted to encourage the sahaba for battle. And what better motivation could there be than Allah and His Messenger? So he took out his own sword and said, "Who will take this sword from me and fight?" (So this is going to be a blessed sword now — the sword of the Prophet PBUH.) Immediately, everybody is saying, "I will take it, ya Rasulullah!" Of those, one of the first to say it was Zubayr ibn al-Awwam. The Prophet PBUH then asked, "Who will take it from me with its haq (حق - right)?" Everyone paused. Abu Dujana (أبو دجانة) asked, "And what is its haq, ya Rasulullah?" What is the right of the sword? The Prophet PBUH said, "You fight the enemy with it until it breaks or it's not serviceable anymore." And so Abu Dujana said, "I will take it with that haq, ya Rasulullah!" And indeed, Abu Dujana was a fearsome warrior. And in the days of Jahiliyyah, he had established a reputation of being a "fighting machine," and he had a special turban called "the turban of death," and it was red in color, and he would only wear it at extreme times of battle. So he put on the turban, and he started walking around in somewhat of a swaggering gait (walking in a very proud manner) with the sword unsheathed up and down so the Quraysh could see him. And the Prophet PBUH said, "This type of walking, Allah SWT despises it, except at such a time and such a place." Such a time and such a place = to scare those people on the other side during jihad — to show them what you are made of; and to instill the right spirit into the sahaba.
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Abu Amir the Fasiq
Of the first things the Quraysh tried to do was to separate the Ansar from the Muhajirun. First, Abu Sufyan sent a messenger to the Ansar, and he came within shouting distance and said, "I have been sent by Abu Sufyan, and he is saying, 'O people of Madinah! Leave us to our cousins, for we have nothing against you! And we have no desire to fight you!'" (Now the Ansar are of course the bulk of the army, so if the Ansar leave, the 700 will go down to nothing.) But at this, the Ansar became furious, and they responded back with insults that showed their anger, that, "How dare you accuse us of wanting to leave the Prophet PBUH!" (Note: On the battlefield, it is permitted to use language that is otherwise not befitting of a Muslim, to show harshness and roughness meant for fighting.) So the messenger comes back humiliated.
Then another man says, "Leave this to me; I know what to do." This man is Abd Amr ibn Sayfi (عبد عمرو بن صيفي), a.k.a., Abu Amir al-Rahib (أبو عامر الراهب) (Note: 'Al-Rahib' means 'the Monk'). He was one of the leaders of the Aws before the Hijrah of Prophet PBUH — one of the few seniors who remained alive after the Battle of Bu'ath. In the days of Jahiliyyah, he was of the level of Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul, greatly beloved and respected by the people. However, he didn't want to accept Islam, so before the Battle of Badr, he took a group of his fellow Aws tribesmen and simply abandoned Madinah for Makkah to wait for an opportunity such as this one to regain his chieftainhood.
So he says to Abu Sufyan, "Leave this to me, for my people have always respected and honored me. You will see the power I have over them." So he went out directly in front of the Ansar and said, "O my people of the Aws! This is me, Abu Amir!" But before he could continue, whatever offer he had, immediately, the Ansar said, "May Allah SWT curse you and give you no pleasure! You are not Abu Amir al-Rahib! You are Abu Amir al-Fasiq!" They swapped his name around from rahib (monk) to fasiq (فاسق - evil person) because he fled his own people out of hatred for the Prophet PBUH.
Abu Amir was so shocked he couldn't even open his mouth to continue. He returned dazed to Abu Sufyan and said, "My people have been afflicted with some disease — I don't know what's happened to them." He could not recognize his own people anymore — because, again, this is what Iman does; this is the reality of Iman — its allegiance is to Allah and the Prophet PBUH. (Side note: Abu Amir's son was Hanzala [حنظلة] RA, the one who will be washed by the angels.)
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The Mubaraza
The Quraysh began their preparations. The women were there as well, and they were enticing the men with bed and promises, "If you lose and come back, you won't get anything from us!" And they had their series of songs.
As with all battles, the first issue was always the mubaraza. In the Battle of Uhud, the mubaraza took place between Talha ibn Abi Talha (طلحة بن أبي طلحة) and Ali ibn Abi Talib RA. Talha came out and said, "Who will fight me?!" Ali ibn Abi Talib stood up and said, "I will!" Talha was wearing full body armor — even the hands and the limbs were covered; and Ali RA had nothing. Talha swung as soon as they were within fighting distance, but Ali was faster than him — he immediately took the full blow of the sword on the shield and before Talha could take it off of the shield, immediately at lightning speed he hit back. And since Talha's whole body was covered with armor all the way down to his thighs, Ali attacked below the thigh. And with such force, the leg was chopped off, so Talha collapsed, fell back, and his awrah was showing. Ali RA came to strike a final blow, but Talha begged, "I beg you by the rights of kinship! Don't kill me!" Indeed, they were third cousins. Nobody was hearing this conversation, but Ali RA got embarrassed, he lowered his sword and walked back. The sahaba said, "O Ali! Why didn't you kill him?" Ali RA said, "I felt embarrassed, and he begged me by the ties of kinship not to kill him." So Ali spared him out of dignity and chivalry. But of course, in that state, Talha couldn't fight properly, so he eventually died in the battle.
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Muslims Having the Upper Hand
Here we have a big gap. We have hardly any details of the initial assault. We just have a few tidbits. All that we know is that the Muslims charged after Ali's victory. And the mushrikun could not sustain this assault. Despite their powerful, well-armed army, they could not take control. And the women of the Quraysh were forced to flee, which shows the initial attack had been devastating. How? Because the women were stationed at the very end of the encampment — so it shows the Muslims had the upper hand, having penetrated deep into enemy lines to the point where even those at the farthest end were forced to flee. The small area of land was being used by the Muslims very effectively. They charged and charged forward like a bullet going through weak layers of the Quraysh.
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The Flag Bearers of the Quraysh
The flag of the Quraysh was given to their subtribe called the Banu Abd al-Dar (بنو عبد الدار) which Talha was from — it was the custom of the Quraysh that the Banu Abd al-Dar always held the flag. In the Battle of Badr, they also had it — but when the army fled, the flag bearer was one of the first to run away; so Abu Sufyan before the Battle of Uhud reminded them of this, "O Banu Abd al-Dar! We gave you the flag at Badr, but you turned your backs and fled, and you saw what happened as a result. The flag is the symbol of the army: If it stands, the army stands; if it falls, the army falls! So now either take the flag with the right that it deserves, or give it back to us!" This is reverse psychology. And obviously, they were extremely insulted, so they challenged Abu Sufyan, "You will see what we will do with this flag! As long as one of us remains, this flag will forever be high up!" And that is exactly what happened: As long as one of them remained, the flag was up. But one by one, all 10 of the Banu Abd al-Dar were killed.
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The Lions of the Muslim
The Quraysh's flag was always up as long as the flag bearer from Banu Abd al-Dar remained — but one by one, all 10 of them were killed. The first of them being Talha, who fought Ali RA. And the others as well were killed, most of them by Hamzah ibn Abdul Muttalib RA — he was targeting the flag bearers. Indeed, the flag bearers have a great honor, but they also have some great weaknesses: (i) they always become the target, and (ii) they are forced to fight with only one hand. So one by one, all of them are killed, and eventually, the flag falls. This truly shows how effective the initial assault was. Most of them were killed at the hands of Hamzah RA, some of them at the hands of Ali RA, and some at the hands of Abu Dujana RA. With the flag on the ground, this is the symbolic end of the army. Once the flag is not picked up, khalas, the army is *deemed* to have lost.
Abu Dujana fought a fierce battle: Zubayr ibn al-Awwam (the son of Safiyyah bint Abdul Muttalib) narrates this hadith many years later: "When the Prophet PBUH offered his sword and I said I want it but he gave it to Abu Dujana, I felt something in my heart; so I decided to follow Abu Dujana. And I saw that Abu Dujana did not meet a single enemy except that he managed to get rid of him with the sword by the haq. And there was one person of the Quraysh who was causing much havoc among the Muslims, so I made a du'a to Allah, 'O Allah! Let Abu Dujana meet him!' And Abu Dujana indeed got rid of him."
Ibn Ishaq also mentions another story about Abu Dujana, in which Abu Dujana himself narrates: "I saw someone encouraging the Quraysh with all of the encouragements imaginable — so I said to myself, 'I'm going to get rid of this person.' So I walked up and raised my sword to strike, but all of a sudden, she turned around and screamed like an Arab lady would scream (i.e., the walwalat/ولولة), and I felt embarrassed to use the sword of the Prophet PBUH upon a woman, so I withdrew and I let her be." (Note: That woman was Hind, the wife of Abu Sufyan.)
And we know that of those who participated with great valor was Hamzah ibn Abdul Muttalib RA, the uncle of the Prophet PBUH. And Ibn Ishaq has a list of who killed whom; and in that list, Hamzah RA is one of the warriors who had killed the most number of the Quraysh, along with Ali RA and Abu Dujana RA.
We conclude with a narration of Bukhari: Al-Bara' ibn Azib RA (البراء بن عازب) says, "When we fought them at Uhud, they turned and fled, until I saw with my own eyes the legs of the women as they lifted their skirts, running up the mountains, and I could see their ankle bracelets." — The women were so defenseless they were running helter-skelter; they didn't even have their men to protect them. And in Ibn Hisham, he adds, "I remember clearly seeing Hind and her female companions all running away up the mountain." From this, we can see how devastating the initial assault of the Muslim army was. The Muslims broke through the ranks of the Quraysh, made their way all to the very end, until the women were forced to flee helter-skelter. And this clearly shows the Muslims had the upper hand.
We conclude with a narration of Bukhari: Al-Bara' ibn Azib RA (البراء بن عازب) says, "When we fought them at Uhud, they turned and fled, until I saw with my own eyes the legs of the women as they lifted their skirts, running up the mountains, and I could see their ankle bracelets." — The women were so defenseless they were running helter-skelter; they didn't even have their men to protect them. And in Ibn Hisham, he adds, "I remember clearly seeing Hind and her female companions all running away up the mountain." From this, we can see how devastating the initial assault of the Muslim army was. The Muslims broke through the ranks of the Quraysh, made their way all to the very end, until the women were forced to flee helter-skelter. And this clearly shows the Muslims had the upper hand.
But of course, as we know, what is to follow is a different story and a change of tide.
[Transcribed by Br. Safwan Khan & Faizan]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Re-revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, May 2024]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Re-revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, May 2024]
