The Battle of Uhud

The Battle of Uhud was no surprise. It was the inevitable consequence of what had happened at Badr. The Quraysh had lost their best men: their leaders, their poets, their warriors. The shame burned. And shame, in the Arab culture of the time, could only be wiped away by blood.

The Cause

The immediate cause of Uhud was the caravan that had escaped the Muslims a year earlier. Before Badr, Abu Sufyan had guided his caravan of great value from Syria to Makkah, just as the Prophet ﷺ and his men had set out to intercept it. The profit from that caravan, estimated at fifty thousand dinars, was deliberately not distributed by the leaders of the Quraysh. Abu Sufyan insisted that this money be reserved for the preparation of a military campaign against Madinah.

The Quraysh were unanimous on this point. Even those who were normally restrained in matters of war agreed. The losses at Badr had silenced all internal opposition. Anyone who hesitated was accused of cowardice or a lack of tribal pride. The mood in Makkah was one of collective resolve.

At the same time they worked on the diplomatic front. Messengers were sent to the tribes that had ties with the Quraysh: the Banu Kinanah, the Ahabish and other allies. They were called upon to march along. Many heeded the call, whether out of loyalty or calculation. A great army began to take shape.

The Preparation of the Quraysh

Abu Sufyan ibn Harb assumed supreme command. After the death of Abu Jahl he had become the most powerful man in Makkah, and he understood that his authority depended on what he would now deliver. A second defeat would damage his position beyond repair.

The army he assembled was of a scale Arabia had rarely seen: three thousand men in total, of whom seven hundred were clad in chainmail. Two hundred horsemen accompanied the army. There were three thousand camels for supply and transport. But what set this army apart from the army at Badr was not only its size, it was its preparation.

Abu Sufyan had studied the mistakes of Badr. At Badr the Quraysh had underestimated their men and overestimated the Muslims. Now they took no chances. The wives of the leaders who had fallen at Badr were brought along to spur the men on and to prevent flight. Hind bint Utbah, the wife of Abu Sufyan and daughter of Utbah ibn Rabi’a who had fallen at Badr, was one of them. Her presence was no coincidence. She was a living reminder of the vengeance that had to be taken.

Wahshi ibn Harb, an Abyssinian slave known for his deadly accuracy with the throwing spear, was specifically hired by Jubayr ibn Mut’im for one task: to kill the uncle of the Prophet ﷺ, Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib ﵁. Hamza ﵁ had killed Jubayr’s father at Badr. The killing of Hamza ﵁ was the price of Wahshi’s freedom.

The Muslims Receive the News

The Prophet ﷺ was informed in good time of the approaching expedition. His uncle Al-Abbas ﵁, who still resided in Makkah, sent a messenger with a letter to Madinah. The messenger travelled so quickly that he covered in three days the distance that normally took a week.

The Prophet ﷺ called his Companions ﵃ together for consultation. This was his habit: he ﷺ loved to consult his community, even when he had already formed an opinion himself. The question was simple but weighty: should they remain in Madinah and defend the city from its buildings and streets, or should they march out to meet the enemy beyond the city?

The Prophet ﷺ himself was inclined to defend from within Madinah. Abdullah ibn Ubayy, the leader of the hypocrites, agreed with him on this occasion, though for his own reasons. Defending Madinah meant that his men would face less risk and that he would have more control over the situation.

But the younger Companions ﵃, among whom many had missed Badr and longed for the honour of the battlefield, urged that they march out.

The Prophet ﷺ ultimately yielded to their wish. But the wise men among the Companions ﵃, including a number of older Badr veterans, understood that this was a decision that would shape the course of the battle.

The Prophet ﷺ Dons His Armour

The Prophet ﷺ performed the Friday prayer and addressed the community. After the prayer he withdrew and returned wearing his armour. Some Companions ﵃ who had earlier urged him to march out began to hesitate when they saw the Prophet ﷺ return fully armed.

The decision was made. There was no turning back.

The Mobilisation

The army of the Prophet ﷺ consisted of one thousand men when they left Madinah. Of these one thousand, Abdullah ibn Ubayy had three hundred under his command. While they were on the way to Uhud, Abdullah ibn Ubayy suddenly turned back with his three hundred men.

With his withdrawal he left the Prophet ﷺ with only seven hundred men, against an army of three thousand. It was no spontaneous decision. It was treachery, calculated and carried out at the most vulnerable moment. Two clans of the Ansar, the Banu Salamah and the Banu Harithah, briefly considered following him, but Allah ﷻ kept them firm.

Allah ﷻ says of that moment:

إِذۡ هَمَّت طَّآئِفَتَانِ مِنكُمۡ أَن تَفۡشَلَا وَٱللَّهُ وَلِيُّهُمَاۗ وَعَلَى ٱللَّهِ فَلۡيَتَوَكَّلِ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنُونَ

When two groups among you considered faltering, while Allah was their Protector. And upon Allah let the believers rely.

Surah Aal-Imran: 122

The Positioning

To understand what happened at Uhud, one must understand the terrain. Mount Uhud is a long, massive rock formation to the north of Madinah, about five kilometres from the city. At the foot of the mountain, on its southern side, stretches a plain that runs out into Wadi Qanat, a dry riverbed. It was on this plain that the battle was to be fought.

The Prophet ﷺ positioned his army with the mountain at its back. This was a deliberate choice: the mountain protected them from the rear and ensured that the Quraysh could not encircle them. On the left flank of the Muslim army, where the mountain gradually gave way to lower ground, lay a small raised ridge that would later become known as Jabal al-Rumat, the Hill of the Archers. From this position one could oversee the full flanks of the army and intercept in time any cavalry that tried to wheel around.

The Prophet ﷺ appointed Abdullah ibn Jubayr ibn al-Nu’man al-Ansari ﵁ as commander of the archers. He was a respected man of the Aws and a veteran of Badr. Fifty archers were entrusted to his command.

It was an order that left no room for interpretation. The fifty archers on the ridge were the key to everything.

The Prophet ﷺ arranged the rest of his army as follows. His own position was in the centre, where he could oversee the whole and give direct commands. Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib ﵁ commanded the vanguard. Mus’ab ibn Umayr ﵁, the first ambassador of Islam who years earlier had been sent to Madinah to teach the Ansar, carried the Prophet’s ﷺ banner. Ali ibn Abi Talib ﵁ was close to the Prophet ﷺ as his personal guard.

On the side of the Quraysh the chain of command was likewise carefully arranged. Abu Sufyan ibn Harb held overall command. The banner of the Quraysh was carried by Talha ibn Abi Talha of the Banu Abd al-Dar, a clan to whom the office of standard-bearing among the Quraysh had traditionally belonged. Khalid ibn al-Walid, who at Badr had not yet held a command but whose military talent was now widely recognised, commanded the right wing of the Quraysh. Ikrima ibn Abi Jahl, the son of the leader who had fallen at Badr, commanded the left wing. Safwan ibn Umayyah supported the cavalry. Abu Sufyan himself oversaw matters from the centre.

Khalid ibn al-Walid, on seeing the Muslim formation, immediately understood where its weakness lay. The ridge on the left was held by archers, but if they were to leave their position the entire left flank would lie open to a cavalry charge. He bided his time.

The Battle

The battle began as was customary in the Arab tradition, with a series of single combats to set the morale. The bearer of the Quraysh banner, Talha ibn Abi Talha, stepped forward first. He was one of the most dangerous warriors of the Quraysh.

The banner fell to the ground. A brother of Talha, Uthman ibn Abi Talha, picked it up. Hamza ﵁ stepped forward and killed him too. The banner was again taken up by another man of the Banu Abd al-Dar. He too fell. This was repeated nine times. Nine men picked up the banner and nine men were killed. The tenth was a slave woman of the family, who picked up the banner and lost her arm but kept her ground. In the end the banner remained on the ground and no one dared raise it again. It was a psychologically devastating opening for the Quraysh.

After that the battle proper broke out. The Muslims fought with a fury that took the Quraysh by surprise. Hamza ﵁ was like a force of nature, his sword scything through the enemy ranks. Abu Dujana al-Ansari ﵁ had asked, just before the battle, for the sword of the Prophet ﷺ.

He bound his red headband around his head, his sign that he was prepared to die, and walked with elegant, proud strides toward the enemy ranks. The Prophet ﷺ saw him going.

Abu Dujana ﵁ cut his way through the ranks of the Quraysh. At one point he came upon Hind bint Utbah, who was leading the women in spurring the warriors on. His sword was already raised above her head, but he held back.

The Quraysh were pushed back. Their lines broke. Men fled the battlefield. The women who had come along to spur the warriors on now fled themselves. The Muslims gave chase and gathered spoils. The victory seemed total and unmistakable.

The Reversal

On the ridge, the archers saw the Quraysh army falling apart. They saw their comrades gathering the spoils. Some began to come down.

Most of them did not listen. Only a handful remained with Abdullah ibn Jubayr ﵁ on the ridge. Khalid ibn al-Walid had been waiting for precisely this moment. He led his cavalry in a wide arc around the lower flank of the mountain, scattered the remaining archers, and killed Abdullah ibn Jubayr ﵁ and his men after a short but bitter fight.

Ikrima ibn Abi Jahl attacked from the other side. The Muslims were now caught in a pincer. The Quraysh who had fled turned around when they saw what was happening. The panic that had earlier reigned in their ranks now spread through the ranks of the Muslims.

In the chaos the Muslim banner lost its bearer. Mus’ab ibn Umayr ﵁ was killed. A man of the Quraysh, Ibn Qami’a, proclaimed loudly that he had killed Muhammad, for Mus’ab resembled the Prophet ﷺ from a distance. The rumour spread like fire through dry straw.

Some Muslims broke off the fight. A few lost heart entirely. Anas ibn al-Nadr ﵁ walked through the ranks and came upon a group of Muslims who had ceased fighting.

Anas ibn al-Nadr ﵁ was found with more than eighty wounds from sword, spear and arrow. His sister recognised him only by his fingertips.

Ka’b ibn Malik ﵁ was the first to see the Prophet ﷺ alive and recognised him by his eyes shining behind his helmet.

The Prophet ﷺ did not want to give away his position to the enemy. But the Companions ﵃ who heard him recovered themselves and regrouped around him.

Allah ﷻ revealed regarding this moment:

وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ إِلَّا رَسُولٞ قَدۡ خَلَتۡ مِن قَبۡلِهِ ٱلرُّسُلُۚ أَفَإِيْن مَّاتَ أَوۡ قُتِلَ ٱنقَلَبۡتُمۡ عَلَىٰٓ أَعۡقَٰبِكُمۡۚ وَمَن يَنقَلِبۡ عَلَىٰ عَقِبَيۡهِ فَلَن يَضُرَّ ٱللَّهَ شَيۡـًٔاۗ وَسَيَجۡزِي ٱللَّهُ ٱلشَّٰكِرِينَ

And Muhammad is no more than a Messenger; messengers have already passed away before him. If then he dies or is killed, will you turn back on your heels? And whoever turns back on his heels will not harm Allah in the least. And Allah will reward the grateful.

Surah Aal-Imran: 144

Hamza ﵁ Falls

In the midst of the chaos Wahshi had found his moment. He himself described it later, after he had embraced Islam:

Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib ﵁, the uncle of the Prophet ﷺ, the Lion of Allah and of His Messenger, the Master of the Martyrs, had fallen.

Hind bint Utbah sought out his body on the battlefield. She had lost her father Utbah at Badr, her brother Shaybah and her uncle. She had his belly slit open, took out his liver and bit into it. She cut off his nose and ears and made a necklace of them. The Prophet ﷺ, when he learned of this later, was silent for a long time.

The Prophet ﷺ Is Wounded

While the chaos spread, the Prophet ﷺ found himself in the midst of the fighting, surrounded by a handful of Companions ﵃ who refused to leave him. They were men who counted their lives as nothing compared with his protection.

Talha ibn Ubaydillah ﵁ caught arrows with his bare hand until his fingers were paralysed. Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas ﵁ shot arrow after arrow to keep the area around the Prophet ﷺ clear. Abu Talha al-Ansari ﵁ bent his body as a shield before the Prophet ﷺ.

The Prophet ﷺ was nevertheless struck. A stone broke his front tooth. His lower lip was torn open. An iron ring of his helmet was driven by a blow into his cheek. His face bled. He fell to his knee in a pit that the Quraysh had dug.

Fatimah ﵂, the daughter of the Prophet ﷺ, later washed his wounds. But the blood would not stop flowing.

The Prophet ﷺ was led up by a side path to a safe position in the mountain pass of Uhud. A group of Ansar formed a ring around him. From this position Abu Sufyan called out from below:

The Aftermath

Seventy Muslims had fallen on the day of Uhud. Seventy martyrs, most of whom belonged to the elite of the Ansar. The Prophet ﷺ walked across the battlefield and prayed over the fallen. When he came to the body of his uncle Hamza ﵁ and saw what had been done to him, his grief was so great that he said:

The Prophet ﷺ ordered that the martyrs be buried on the battlefield, not brought back to Madinah. They were buried in their own blood, without the funeral prayer being performed over them, as is the tradition for martyrs. The Prophet ﷺ, however, prayed personally over Hamza ﵁.

Allah ﷻ revealed concerning the martyrs of Uhud:

وَلَا تَحۡسَبَنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ قُتِلُواْ فِي سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ أَمۡوَٰتَۢاۚ بَلۡ أَحۡيَآءٌ عِندَ رَبِّهِمۡ يُرۡزَقُونَ

And do not think of those who have been killed in the way of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, being provided for.

Surah Aal-Imran: 169

The Lesson of Uhud

Uhud was not a defeat in the full sense of the word. The Quraysh left the battlefield without having attacked Madinah or destroyed the Muslims. But it was not a victory either. It was a trial, and Allah ﷻ made that explicit.

The lesson of Uhud was not military, it was spiritual. The archers had not failed for lack of courage but because of a moment of yearning for the world. A single moment of disobedience to the command of the Prophet ﷺ had turned everything around. It was a lesson that the Companions ﵃ carried with them for the rest of their lives: obedience to the Prophet ﷺ is not negotiable, not even when victory already seems certain.

Allah ﷻ says:

وَلَقَدۡ صَدَقَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ وَعۡدَهُۥٓ إِذۡ تَحُسُّونَهُم بِإِذۡنِهِۦۖ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا فَشِلۡتُمۡ وَتَنَٰزَعۡتُمۡ فِي ٱلۡأَمۡرِ وَعَصَيۡتُم مِّنۢ بَعۡدِ مَآ أَرَىٰكُم مَّا تُحِبُّونَۚ مِنكُم مَّن يُرِيدُ ٱلدُّنۡيَا وَمِنكُم مَّن يُرِيدُ ٱلۡأٓخِرَةَ

And Allah fulfilled His promise to you when you were defeating them by His permission, until you faltered and disputed about the matter and disobeyed after He had shown you what you love. Among you are those who desire this world, and among you are those who desire the Hereafter.

Surah Aal-Imran: 152

Uhud taught the Muslims that victory does not depend on courage or numbers alone, but on the degree to which they remain faithful to the command of Allah ﷻ and His Messenger ﷺ. Badr had taught them what is possible when they surrender themselves completely. Uhud taught them what is lost when they fail to do so, even for a single moment.