Safiyyah Finds Out About the Death of Her Brother Hamzah
It's reported that when the Prophet PBUH saw Safiyyah on the battlefield, he didn't recognize her from afar, so he said to the sahaba, "The lady! The lady!" meaning whoever she is, she should not be here, because she would be traumatized. The one who recognized her was her son, Zubayr ibn al-Awwam. And so Zubayr ran up to her and said, "O mother," but Safiyyah knew what he was going to say, so before he could speak, she pushed him on the chest and said, "I have no need of you now!" Zubayr responded, "But the Prophet PBUH said you should not go." As soon as she heard this, she instantly stopped. She then handed two clothes she was carrying to Zubayr, and said, "I bought this for my brother Hamzah, so use this to shroud and bury him." (Notice how obedient she is to the Prophet PBUH. Safiyyah and Hamzah RA were full brothers, thus they had a very close bond; she's heard he has been killed and mutilated, so she is very emotional — yet still, she obeyed the Prophet PBUH.) Zubayr finds Hamzah to wrap him in the garments. Then Zubayr said right next to Hamzah was an Ansari who did not have a kafan (كفن - shroud). So he said, "I am embarrassed Hamzah should get two and this Ansari get none; so we drew lots to decide which person gets which, and we gave them as allocated."
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Public Welfare vs. Personal Welfare
This incident also shows us that when the maslaha ammah (مصلحة عامة - public interest) trumps the maslaha khassah (مصلحة خاصة - private/personal interest), we are allowed to take the public interest over the personal interest.
Explanation: Here we have specific property intended for Hamzah, but the situation dictates this personal gift be used other than what the donor initially intended; it is wajib to ensure everyone gets at least one shroud to cover the body — thus maslaha ammah (public welfare) trumps maslaha khassah (personal welfare), i.e., the needs of the ummah overcomes the intents of the donor.
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Prohibition of Mutilation
As we said, the Prophet PBUH surveyed all of the dead and this is when he saw Hamzah RA and cried. Some reports say even the privates were cut off, so you can imagine how disgusting this was to see. The stomach was opened up, and the nose, fingers, etc., all mutilated as a personal vengeance. And at this, the Prophet PBUH said what we mentioned before, "If Allah ever gives me victory over the Quraysh, I shall mutilate 30 of their bodies because of this one." And at this, Allah revealed, "And if you punish [an enemy, O believers], punish with an equivalent of that with which you were harmed. But if you are patient — it is better for those who are patient" [Quran, 16:126]. Thus after this, the Prophet PBUH forbade mutilation. Mutilation therefore is haram in our shariah.
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Honoring Martyrs Who Memorized the Quran
The sahaba were commanded to dig graves, and often two, three, or four had to be buried in one grave (since they couldn't afford to dig one grave for each).
And the Prophet PBUH said, "Let those who know the most Quran be buried first." This is the honor of learning the Quran. Look at the blessings of memorizing the Quran: Living and dead, the one who knows more Quran will be honored. As the Prophet PBUH said, "Verily, this Book, Allah will raise people through it, and Allah will debase others through it." And it's a part of our shariah that we show glory to Allah by showing honor to the elderly and the sahib al-Quran (the one who memorized the Quran). Indeed, what a traumatic time; people are dead with mutilated bodies, but still there is a special honor given to the sahaba who have memorized the Quran.
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Honoring the Martyrs of Uhud
The Prophet PBUH then gathered all the sahaba together and gave them a speech. Of the things he said: "I guarantee I will testify for every one of them (the martyrs of Uhud) on the Day of Judgment." And in Musnad Imam Ahmad, we learn he actually made a du'a. And there is a big misunderstanding amongst medieval scholars of Islam — some of them said the Prophet PBUH prayed janazah over the martyrs of Uhud, but this is not true. We know you don't pray janazah for the shaheed. The Prophet PBUH only made du'a for them. There is a difference between the two. The summary of the du'a: He praised Allah no matter what happens, "Whatever happens happens by the Will of Allah"; he made du'a for the blessings of this world and the security on Yawm al-Qiyamah (يوم القيامة - the Day of Judgment); he asked Allah that whoever dies amongst them should die in the state of Iman; and then he asked Allah to exact vengeance on those who had done what they had done. He also said many ahadith about martyrdom which are well-known to all of us, e.g., "The shaheed will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment and his wounds will still be as fresh as the day he was killed, and the sight will be the sight of blood but the smell will be the smell of musk." All of this is to raise the morale and spirit of the sahaba, as it is a very traumatic time.
How many Muslims died? We don't have an exact number. Ibn Ishaq says 65 people died; Ibn Hisham adds 5 more to make 70. There is a Quranic evidence to show 70 died. Allah said:
أَوَلَمَّا أَصَابَتْكُم مُّصِيبَةٌ قَدْ أَصَبْتُم مِّثْلَيْهَا قُلْتُمْ أَنَّىٰ هَٰذَا ۖ قُلْ هُوَ مِنْ عِندِ أَنفُسِكُمْ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
"Why [is it that] when a [single] disaster struck you [on the Day of Uhud], although you had struck [the enemy in the Battle of Badr] with one twice as great, you said, 'From where is this?' Say, 'It is from yourselves.' Indeed, Allah is over all things competent" [Quran, 3:165].— The reference here is Uhud and Badr. And at Badr, there were 140 mushriks killed, so we deduce from this that around 70 Muslims were killed at Uhud.
Most of them were the Ansar. And it is said that in no battle did the Ansar die as much as they did in the Battle of Uhud.
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The Only Prisoner of War of Uhud:
Abu Azzah al-Jumahi
Out of 3,000 mushriks, the Muslims caught only one prisoner of war. His name is Abu Azzah al-Jumahi (أبو عزة الجمحي), and he was executed on the battlefield because of what he had done. He participated in the Battle of Badr and was captured as a POW; his ransom was 4,000 dirhams and he begged the Prophet PBUH to let him go and said, "O Muhammad, I have no sons, only daughters (i.e., if I die nobody is going to take care of my daughters), so I beg you be generous and let me go," so our Prophet PBUH, being a soft-hearted person, he said, "I will let you go, but let me never see you fighting us [again]," and he sends him back for free; when the Battle of Uhud was going to take place, Abu Sufyan came to Abu Azzah and told him to write a war poetry as he was an influential poet; Abu Azzah said, "I cannot, because I made a promise to Muhammad I won't help you," Abu Sufyan said, "Come on, we are 3,000 strong. We won't lose! If we win, you will join in the spoils, and even if you happen to die, I promise I will take care of your daughters like my own," so Abu Azzah was tempted by the money of the booty if he wins or the money for his daughters, he reneged on his promise, wrote the poetry, and physically fought against the Muslims in the Battle of Uhud. So he was treacherous to his promise, and Allah punished him for it. "Verily, Allah does not like those who break their promises" [see Quran, 8:58].
Khiyana (خيانة - breaking a promise) is never ever allowed in our religion. We cannot ever do it. You cannot respond —even to treachery— with treachery. You can get vengeance like for like for other things, but not this. This is why Abu Azzah, when he did treachery, Allah made it so that out of the 3,000 people, he was found by the Muslims.
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Prohibition of Wailing
The Prophet PBUH returned to Madinah, and the women and children lined up waiting to see who was coming back and who was not. And then, the wailing began — and wailing had not yet been forbidden in the shariah. What is wailing? Ladies cry out at the top of their lungs, say particular phrases and walwalat. They say things such as, "How are we going to live?!" "Who is going to take care of us?!" "I cannot live without him!" and sometimes they will beat themselves, tear their clothes, etc. It's an extreme form of crying. The reports say wailing began all over Madinah — and the Prophet PBUH, when he got home said, "Where are the women of Hamzah to wail for him?" When this spread, the women of the Ansar gathered together, came outside the house of the Prophet PBUH, and they began wailing for Hamzah. Subhan'Allah, all he had to do was utter a word and the sahaba complied instantly. The Prophet PBUH came outside his house and praised them, but then he made a general decree that from now on wailing is haram — and therefore, wailing became haram in the aftermath of the Battle of Uhud.
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Naming Your Children
It's also reported in the Mustadrak of al-Hakim that shortly after, an Ansari lady gave birth. And the husband came to the Prophet PBUH and asked, "What should I name this child?" The Prophet PBUH said, "Name him the most beloved name to me that is Hamzah." From this, we can see the pain he was in.
Later on, the Prophet PBUH said the most beloved names to Allah are:
1. Abdullah (عبد الله); and
2. Abd al-Rahman (عبد الرحمن) [also commonly transliterated as Abdul Rahman, Abdur Rahman, or Abdurrahman].
But note there is nothing wrong, in fact, it is good, to name your children after pious people.
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Families of the Shuhada (Martyrs)
It's also narrated that the Prophet PBUH personally visited many families to break the news of the dead to them. We can assume he chose those who probably didn't have extended families, those who needed the most consolation. Of those is Hammanah bint Jahsh (حمنة بنت جحش) who married Mus'ab ibn Umayr RA (the first one to make Hijrah). The Prophet PBUH visited Hammanah, and this shows the status of Mus'ab. (Note the two main Muhajirs that died in Uhud were Mus'ab and Hamzah; most were Ansar.) The Prophet PBUH said, "Ihtasibi (احتسبي)," which means, "Expect your reward from Allah," but it's also a phrase that hints, "I have bad news," "This won't be easy," and "Be patient." So she said, "What? Who?" The Prophet PBUH said, "Your brother," (since her brother also died). She said, "Inna liLlahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un. May Allah accept his shahada, may Allah forgive him," etc., and she grieved for him. Then the Prophet PBUH said again, "Ihtasibi." She said, "Who?!" He said, "Mus'ab ibn Umayr." At this, she let out a loud shriek and began wailing much more (this was before wailing was made haram). Later on, the Prophet PBUH commented, "Verily, the husband has a maqam (special status) in the eyes of the wife" [Ibn Majah]. Subhan'Allah, it's very true that no doubt a woman grows up in her family's household and has a very special attachment to her parents and siblings, but the love that Allah places for the husband is something even more special.
We also have the famous story of the anonymous lady who has lost her father, husband, and brother. She is first told of the death of her father, but she asks, "How is the Prophet PBUH?" i.e., "Is the Prophet PBUH alive?" They say, "He is fine." Then she was told of the death of her husband, but she still asked, "How is the Prophet PBUH?" and same with the news of the death of her brother, she said, "Until I see the Prophet PBUH!" And she was amongst the crowd waiting for the Prophet PBUH to return, and finally when she saw with her own eyes that he is indeed safe and sound, she uttered that famous phrase, "Every musibah (مصيبة - calamity) after you is trivial," i.e., "As long as the Prophet PBUH is alive, other calamities, I can bear."
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The Expedition of Hamra al-Asad:
Making Sure the Quraysh Don't Launch Another Attack
We learn that the Quraysh, even though at the end they knew the Prophet PBUH was alive, still decided to regroup and return to Makkah. However, on the way back, they began debating: "What should be done?" "Shall we go back to Madinah and finish them off?" "Or should we just go back to Makkah?" etc. During this time the Prophet PBUH is worried this is exactly what they are going to be doing, so as soon as he got back to Madinah, he organized a contingent, "We need another contingent to ensure they will not return. Who will volunteer?" And he said, "Only those who participated are allowed to volunteer [i.e., I don't want the 300 munafiqun]," and therefore 70 of the sahaba volunteered, at the head of them was Ali ibn Abi Talib. This was on the Sunday, the 16th of Shawwal, one day after Uhud. And he told Ali to camp at Hamra al-Asad (حمراء الأسد), and therefore, this expedition is called the Expedition of Hamra al-Asad (غزوة حمراء الأسد - Ghazwa Hamra al-Asad). And he said to Ali RA, "See in the distance what they are riding. If they are riding horses, they will come back to Madinah; but if they are riding their camels, they will go back to Makkah." And the sahaba found that the Quraysh were riding their camels back to Makkah.
The next day, the Prophet PBUH joined the 70 sahaba. And Allah praises these 70 in the Quran in Surah Ali-Imran, "Those who responded to Allah and His Messenger after they were wounded, those of them who did good and were mindful [of Allah] will have a great reward" [Quran, 3:172]. (Remember most of Surah Ali-Imran came down for Uhud.) Aisha RA recited this verse to her nephew Urwah ibn al-Zubayr (عروة بن الزبير) and said, "O my nephew, both of your fathers responded." Aisha RA is referring to Zubayr ibn al-Awwam (Urwah's father) and Abu Bakr (Urwah's grandfather). (Tangent: Who is Urwah's mother? Asma bint Abu Bakr. The number one rawi (راوي - hadith narrator) from the chain of Aisha is Urwah. Why? Because he is her blood nephew. He is the only man who could talk to Aisha directly without the extra hijab. Also, note that Urwah is not a sahabi — he was born way after Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr.)
The Prophet PBUH camped at Hamra al-Asad for three days to make sure the Quraysh did not come back. And we learn from a number of reports —most of them from the Maghazi (المغازي) of al-Waqidi— that actually, the Quraysh were one hair's breadth away from returning. They were just about to come back. But from al-Waqidi, we learn why they didn't:
Many of the Quraysh began lamenting the fact that they didn't do what they hoped to do, i.e., to kill the Prophet PBUH. The main person was Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahal; he said, "We need to go back and get rid of this menace forever!" But Safwan ibn Umayyah, one of the noblemen, was against the idea. He said, "O my people, do not do this! For verily, they will be fuming in anger and you don't know maybe their groups of the Khazraj and Aws who didn't participate will now participate!" (The Quraysh didn't know about the munafiqs, nor the political situation in Madinah.) Ikrimah continued to persist, "Neither have we killed Muhammad nor have we earned the admiration of our young ladies (i.e., we haven't done something worthy of genuine honor)!" They were all about to be convinced until Allah sent a tactic against them in the form of a person by the name of Ma'bad al-Khuza'i (معبد الخزاعي). (Note: Ma'bad was not yet a Muslim [most likely he did convert later], but even though he wasn't upon Islam, his heart was sympathetic to the plight of the Muslims — especially given the treachery and the vulgarity that was shown by the Quraysh that goes against even jahili Arab values.)
Ma'bad happened to be in the area, so he visited the Prophet PBUH in Madinah (before the Prophet PBUH left for Hamra al-Asad) to give special condolences to him. Ma'bad said, "We have heard what happened to you and your Companions. Know that I am not pleased by this. I would rather the other group was inflicted with the loss and defeat." And he (Ma'bad) leaves Madinah. And on his way back home, he meets Abu Sufyan who recognizes him as being one of the noblemen of Khuza'a. And Abu Sufyan is happy because now they will find out about the state of Madinah. He asked, "O Ma'bad, tell me. How did you leave Muhammad and his Companions?" Ma'bad is sympathetic to the Muslims, so he said, "Oh! You don't want to see them now! They are fuming with anger! And all those who didn't fight are going to fight now!"—Allah made him repeat exactly what Safwan had said without him even knowing he was repeating him. It's amazing. Exactly what Safwan made them scared about, Ma'bad pictured it as described, that, "They are lighting the fire of war, beating the drums of vengeance; and they have promised themselves they will not enjoy peace until they exact vengeance at what you have done to them." And so Abu Sufyan asked, "What do you advise?" Ma'bad said, "I advise you to flee as fast as your horses will take you." When they saw someone as noble as Ma'bad looked so terrified, this sealed the decision of the Quraysh. The Prophet PBUH had no idea this happened of course. Ma'bad did this on his own accord.
And so that was the last of that. After three days, the Muslims returned back to Madinah.
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Was the Battle of Uhud a Win or a Loss for the Muslims?
Is Uhud a genuine loss or not? It's common to say it was a loss —indeed in terms of how many people died, the Muslims certainly lost; the Quraysh lost around 22 whereas the Muslims at least 70— however, there are many other ways to look at victory and loss:
1. The goal of the Muslims was to defend Madinah. Were they victorious in this? Yes. The goal of the Quraysh was to obliterate the Muslims, but they failed in all departments. They thought they would surprise the Muslims, but they failed. (Side note: It is narrated that Abu Sufyan began suspecting there might be a spy. And indeed there was: al-Abbas.) So in terms of goals, the Muslims were victorious.
2. Who remained on the battlefield and who left? In fact, it was the Muslims who remained on the battlefield and it was the Quraysh who had to go back.
3. The prisoners of war: The Muslims had one but the Quraysh had zero.
4. The mushrikun did not pursue the Muslims, rather the Muslims pursued them the next day. This shows us the Muslims had the upper hand post-battle.
5. The Muslims remained for three days at Hamra al-Asad whereas the Quraysh traveled back.
6. The issue of the trade route was still the same for the Quraysh. The whole point of trying to go to Syria had still not been resolved.
7. Ibn al-Qayyim mentions in Zad al-Ma'ad: From the very testimony of the Quraysh which Ikrimah said, "We haven't done anything worthy of honor yet," we can see that the Quraysh themselves don't consider the Battle of Uhud a victory.
This clearly demonstrates therefore that the Battle of Uhud for the Muslims no doubt was not a pure victory, but it was not a loss either. The Muslims did not achieve the kind of victory they were expecting, but the Quraysh most certainly did not even gain a fraction of what they wanted.
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Lessons From the Battle of Uhud
Lessons and wisdoms we can derive:
1. The first wisdom is tamyiz (تمييز - separation) — Allah SWT wanted to separate the filthy from the pure. Let us compare the Battle of Uhud with the Battle of Badr. Allah says in the Quran regarding Badr in Surah al-Anfal, "So Allah can separate the filthy from the pure" [Quran, 8:37]. Who is the filthy? The mushriks. And who is the pure? The Muslims. In Surah Ali-Imran, Allah mentions something very similar regarding Uhud: "Allah will not allow the believers to remain as they are until He separates for them the khabith (filthy) from the tayyib (pure)" [Quran, 3:179]. So Uhud has the same wisdom as Badr, but the people that are khabith are different. The khabith in Badr are the mushrikin and the khabith in Uhud are the munafiqin. Thus we learn immediately from the Quran that one of the biggest benefits of Uhud is so that Muslims truly understand the real nature of nifaq (نفاق - hypocrisy). Before this, there was always a notion that, "They can't be that bad." So the Muslims needed to see the true colors of the hypocrites and how evil they are. Indeed when push came to shove, they turned their backs and went back home. Allah says in al-Anfal with regards to Badr, "It was Allah’s Will to establish the Truth by His Words and uproot the disbelievers" [Quran, 8:7]. In contrast, with regards to Uhud, Allah says in Ali-Imran, "When it was said to them, 'Come fight in the cause of Allah or [at least] defend yourselves,' they replied, 'If we had known there was fighting, we would have definitely gone with you'" [Quran, 3:167]. This is what Abdullah ibn Ubayy said.
1. The first wisdom is tamyiz (تمييز - separation) — Allah SWT wanted to separate the filthy from the pure. Let us compare the Battle of Uhud with the Battle of Badr. Allah says in the Quran regarding Badr in Surah al-Anfal, "So Allah can separate the filthy from the pure" [Quran, 8:37]. Who is the filthy? The mushriks. And who is the pure? The Muslims. In Surah Ali-Imran, Allah mentions something very similar regarding Uhud: "Allah will not allow the believers to remain as they are until He separates for them the khabith (filthy) from the tayyib (pure)" [Quran, 3:179]. So Uhud has the same wisdom as Badr, but the people that are khabith are different. The khabith in Badr are the mushrikin and the khabith in Uhud are the munafiqin. Thus we learn immediately from the Quran that one of the biggest benefits of Uhud is so that Muslims truly understand the real nature of nifaq (نفاق - hypocrisy). Before this, there was always a notion that, "They can't be that bad." So the Muslims needed to see the true colors of the hypocrites and how evil they are. Indeed when push came to shove, they turned their backs and went back home. Allah says in al-Anfal with regards to Badr, "It was Allah’s Will to establish the Truth by His Words and uproot the disbelievers" [Quran, 8:7]. In contrast, with regards to Uhud, Allah says in Ali-Imran, "When it was said to them, 'Come fight in the cause of Allah or [at least] defend yourselves,' they replied, 'If we had known there was fighting, we would have definitely gone with you'" [Quran, 3:167]. This is what Abdullah ibn Ubayy said.
2. We learn that through unity and sincerity, Allah will help you; through disunity and disobeying Allah and His Messenger, Allah SWT will take that help away. In regards to Badr, Allah says in al-Anfal, "Allah showed them in your dream as few in number. Had He shown them to you as many, you [believers] would have certainly faltered and disputed in the matter. But Allah spared you [from that]" [Quran, 8:43]. How about Uhud? The exact opposite: "You faltered and you disputed about the command and disobeyed after Allah had brought victory within your reach. Some of you were after worldly gain while others desired a heavenly reward. He denied you victory over them as a test, yet He has pardoned you. And Allah is Gracious to the believers." [Quran, 3:152]. (Tangent: It's narrated that the rebels who challenged Uthman ibn Affan as a khalifa [30+ AH], they said to him, "Weren't you among those who fled at Uhud?" Uthman said, "Yes; but did you not read the Quran?" — and then he recited this verse [3:152], and said, "Allah has pardoned us.") In Surah Muhammad, Allah SWT said, "If you stand up for Allah, He will help you and make your steps firm" [Quran, 47:7]. Also, contrast what the sahaba said at Badr versus what the munafiqun did at Uhud. What did Sa'd ibn Mu'adh RA say at Badr? "By Allah, O Messenger of Allah! Even if you charge into the ocean, we are going to go right behind you!" Contrast to Uhud when Abdullah ibn Ubayy said, "Why should we listen to him when he didn't listen to us?" and 300 broke away. Additionally, even though at Badr the sahaba were unarmed and defenseless, they were willing to fight; but at Uhud even though they were fully armed, they were swayed by the booty that they saw. Therefore we clearly see what happens when one is sincere to Allah and obeys Allah, versus when one disobeys Allah and His Messenger and is not sincere to Allah and His Messenger.
3. We learn that Allah SWT chooses/knows who He will guide and who He will not. He SWT said, "You [O Prophet] have no say in the matter. It is up to Allah to turn to them in mercy or punish them" [Quran, 3:128]. And amazingly, pretty much every senior leader of the Quraysh in the Battle of Uhud is eventually guided to Islam: Abu Sufyan, Ikrimah, Khalid ibn al-Walid, Safwan ibn Umayyah, et al. The very person who launched the counter-offensive (Khalid ibn al-Walid) will become the Sword of Allah. Compare this to Badr: All the filthy leaders not worthy of Iman died.
4. We learn that victory is not granted nor is it guaranteed just because you are a good Muslim. Victory has to be struggled for. No exception. No one's rank is raised in this world or the Next, except through testing, patience, pain, and suffering. Even the Prophet PBUH had to be wounded to demonstrate to us that every single human, no matter how perfect they might be, still has to go through trials and tribulations.
5. We learn that our Prophet PBUH was a normal human being — he bleeds like we bleed. (To this day, there are some groups of Muslims who think the Prophet PBUH was a superhuman. They say he PBUH didn't cast a shadow, etc.)
6. The primary benefit we learn from the Incident of Uhud is that: The two causes of humiliation and defeat were (i) isyan (عصيان - "disobedience" i.e., to disobey Allah and His Messenger), and (ii) hubb al-dunya (حب الدنيا - "love of dunya" i.e., to turn to this world above the akhira). Sincerity to Allah and unity were displayed at Badr, thus Allah gave the Muslims honor. Whereas in Uhud, they disobeyed Allah and His Messenger, and they preferred this dunya over the Next, and this was the cause of their defeat: Allah says very clearly, "You faltered and you disputed about the command and disobeyed after Allah had brought victory within your reach. Some of you were after worldly gain while others desired a heavenly reward. He denied you victory over them as a test" [Quran, 3:152]. In Sahih Bukhari, Uqba ibn Amir (عقبة بن عامر) RA says that 8 years after the Battle of Uhud (the year the Prophet PBUH was going to pass away), the Prophet PBUH made a special du'a for the dead of Uhud as if he was bidding them farewell (i.e., it was a very emotional du'a), and then he stood on the minbar (note: this was when the Prophet PBUH was sick — the last week of his life), and he said, "I will be the one who will be waiting for you at the Fountain. I will testify in front of Allah SWT regarding you. Meet me at the Fountain" — and then he said, "I am not worried that you will fall into shirk; I am worried that after I die, this dunya will open up for you, and you will compete with one another to try to get the most out of it." Subhan'Allah. Uhud. Dunya. Competition. In the very last sermon that he gave, he was still thinking about the shuhada of Uhud and the lesson of Uhud, which is "loving the dunya too much." And this is exactly what is happening in our time as well: Hubb al-dunya. People love the dunya too much.
6. The primary benefit we learn from the Incident of Uhud is that: The two causes of humiliation and defeat were (i) isyan (عصيان - "disobedience" i.e., to disobey Allah and His Messenger), and (ii) hubb al-dunya (حب الدنيا - "love of dunya" i.e., to turn to this world above the akhira). Sincerity to Allah and unity were displayed at Badr, thus Allah gave the Muslims honor. Whereas in Uhud, they disobeyed Allah and His Messenger, and they preferred this dunya over the Next, and this was the cause of their defeat: Allah says very clearly, "You faltered and you disputed about the command and disobeyed after Allah had brought victory within your reach. Some of you were after worldly gain while others desired a heavenly reward. He denied you victory over them as a test" [Quran, 3:152]. In Sahih Bukhari, Uqba ibn Amir (عقبة بن عامر) RA says that 8 years after the Battle of Uhud (the year the Prophet PBUH was going to pass away), the Prophet PBUH made a special du'a for the dead of Uhud as if he was bidding them farewell (i.e., it was a very emotional du'a), and then he stood on the minbar (note: this was when the Prophet PBUH was sick — the last week of his life), and he said, "I will be the one who will be waiting for you at the Fountain. I will testify in front of Allah SWT regarding you. Meet me at the Fountain" — and then he said, "I am not worried that you will fall into shirk; I am worried that after I die, this dunya will open up for you, and you will compete with one another to try to get the most out of it." Subhan'Allah. Uhud. Dunya. Competition. In the very last sermon that he gave, he was still thinking about the shuhada of Uhud and the lesson of Uhud, which is "loving the dunya too much." And this is exactly what is happening in our time as well: Hubb al-dunya. People love the dunya too much.
[Transcribed by Br. Safwan Khan & Faizan]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, February 2021]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, February 2021]
