Fath al-Rabbani

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Bara’ bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) that on the day of the Battle of Uhud, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) appointed Abdullah bin Jubair (may Allah be pleased with him) as the commander over fifty archers and stationed them at a certain place. He said: “If you see that birds are coming to eat our corpses, even then do not leave this place until I myself send you a message. And if you see that we have overcome the enemy and trampled them, even then do not go here or there from this place until I myself send you a message.” Sayyiduna Bara’ (may Allah be pleased with him) says: The Muslims defeated the disbelievers. By Allah! I saw women running up the mountain, that is, walking quickly in panic, and their shins and anklets were visible, and they had lifted their clothes. Seeing this situation, the fellow archers of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Jubair (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “People! Let us go and collect the spoils of war. The Muslims have achieved victory, what are you waiting for now?” Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Jubair (may Allah be pleased with him) told them repeatedly, “Have you forgotten what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded you?” When these people reached the battlefield, the situation changed, and they returned defeated. It was at this time that the Messenger was calling them from behind, and only twelve men remained with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and the disbelievers had killed seventy of our men, whereas on the day of Badr, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and the noble Companions had killed seventy disbelievers and taken seventy disbelievers captive. After the battle, Abu Sufyan called out and asked: “Is Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) among you? Is Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) among you? Is Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) among you?” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade the Muslims from answering him. After that, he called out and asked, “Is the son of Abu Quhafah, that is, Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), among you? Is the son of Abu Quhafah among you? Is the son of Khattab among you? Is the son of Khattab among you?” Then he looked towards his companions with joy and said, “All these people have been killed, and your work regarding them is complete.” Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), upon hearing these words, could not control himself and said, “O enemy of Allah! You are lying. All those whom you have named are alive, and bad news remains for you.” Abu Sufyan said, “Today is in exchange for Badr, and such is the way of battle—sometimes one prevails, sometimes another. You will see that your slain Muslims have been mutilated, but I did not order anyone to do so. However, I do not dislike this act either.” Then, in joy, he began to recite such verses: “O Hubal! Be exalted, O Hubal! Be exalted.” At that, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Will you not answer him?” The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) asked, “O Messenger of Allah! What should we say in reply?” He (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Say: Allah is Most High and Most Majestic (اللّٰہُ أَعْلٰی وَأَجَلُّ).” Abu Sufyan said, “We have ‘Uzza, but you have no ‘Uzza.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Why do you not answer him?” The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) said, “O Messenger of Allah! What should we say?” He (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Say: Allah is our Protector and you have no protector (اللّٰہُ مَوْلَانَا وَلَا مَوْلٰی لَکُمْ).”

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: Allah Almighty never helped the Muslims at any occasion as He did at Uhud. Ubaydullah says: Hearing this from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), we were all astonished. He said: The Book of Allah will decide between those who deny this and me. Allah Almighty has said about the day of Uhud: {وَلَقَدْ صَدَقَکُمْ اللّٰہُ وَعْدَہُ إِذْ تَحُسُّونَہُمْ بِإِذْنِہِ} … Allah fulfilled His promise to you when you were killing them (the disbelievers). Here, "al-hass" means killing. Further, He said: {حَتّٰی اِذَا فَشِلْتُمْ وَ تَنَازَعْتُمْ فِی الْاَمْرِ وَعَصَیْتُمْ مِّنْ بَعْدِ مَآ اَرٰیکُمْ مَّا تُحِبُّوْنَ مِنْکُمْ مَّنْ یُّرِیْدُ الدُّنْیَا وَمِنْکُمْ مَّنْ یُّرِیْدُ الْاٰخِرَۃَ ثُمَّ صَرَفَکُمْ عَنْھُمْ لِیَبْتَلِیَکُمْ وَلَقَدْ عَفَا عَنْکُمْ وَاللّٰہُ ذُوْ فَضْلٍ عَلَی الْمُؤْمِنِیْنَ۔} … But when you lost courage and fell to disputing about the order and disobeyed after He had shown you that which you love (i.e., the spoils of war and the defeat of the enemy), among you are some who desire this world and some who desire the Hereafter. Then He turned you away from them so that He might test you. And indeed, He has forgiven you, and Allah is Gracious to the believers.

By this are meant those archers whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had stationed at a certain place and said: Guard us from this side, i.e., from our rear. If you see us being killed, do not come to our aid, and if you see us collecting spoils, do not join us. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) began collecting the spoils and had defeated the army of the polytheists, all the archers rushed there and joined the army in looting. The ranks of the Companions became so mixed up that Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) interlocked the fingers of one hand into the fingers of the other to demonstrate. When those archers left the appointed place unguarded, from where they had been stationed, the enemy army attacked the Companions of the Prophet from that very side. They fought and became entangled with each other, and many Muslims were martyred.

In the early part of the day, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the Companions had the upper hand, until seven or nine standard-bearers of the polytheists were killed, and the Muslims advanced towards the mountain. They had not reached the cave about which people say the Muslims reached, but they had reached the spring called Mahras, near which Sayyiduna Hamza (may Allah be pleased with him) was buried. And Satan cried out in a loud voice: Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) has been killed. No one doubted the truth of this statement; we too were fully convinced of it, until the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) appeared between the two Sa‘ds. We recognized you by your manner of walking, as you (peace and blessings be upon him) would walk slightly bent forward. The Companions say: Seeing you (peace and blessings be upon him) made us so happy as if we had never suffered any grief. You (peace and blessings be upon him) climbed up the mountain towards us and at that time were saying: Allah’s severe wrath be upon those who have bloodied the face of His Messenger. And sometimes you (peace and blessings be upon him) said: These people can never prevail over us. You kept saying such words until you reached us.

A little while later, from below the mountain, Abu Sufyan cried out loudly twice: O Hubal, be exalted! Where is Ibn Abi Kabsha? (By this he meant the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.) Where is Abu Bakr, son of Abu Quhafah? Where is Umar, son of Khattab? Hearing his words, Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Messenger of Allah! Should I not answer him? You (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Certainly, answer him. When Abu Sufyan said: O Hubal, be exalted! In response, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Allah is Most High and Most Majestic. Abu Sufyan said: O son of Khattab! Hubal’s word has been fulfilled. Now leave his mention. Abu Sufyan had said: Where is Muhammad, son of Abu Kabsha (peace and blessings be upon him)? Where is the son of Abu Quhafah? Where is the son of Khattab? Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Here is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), here is Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), and here I am, Umar. Abu Sufyan said: Today is in exchange for the day of Badr. These days are like buckets of water, sometimes one prevails and sometimes another, and in battle there are turns; the victorious may become vanquished and the vanquished may become victorious. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: No, it is not equal. Our slain will go to Paradise and your slain to Hell. Abu Sufyan said: That is your opinion. If it is so, then we are utterly ruined and lost. Then Abu Sufyan said: O Umar! You will see that your slain have been mutilated. But this was certainly not the decision of our leaders. Saying this, he was overtaken by the zeal of ignorance and said: Even if it is so that it was not the decision of our leaders, still we are pleased with it and do not dislike it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that on the day of Uhud, the women were behind the Muslims and were tending to and serving the wounded among the polytheists. On that day, I could swear that not a single one of us desired or sought the world. Until Allah the Exalted revealed this verse: {مِنْکُمْ مَنْ یُرِیدُ الدُّنْیَا وَمِنْکُمْ مَنْ یُرِیدُ الْآخِرَۃَ ثُمَّ صَرَفَکُمْ عَنْہُمْ لِیَبْتَلِیَکُمْ} … because some among you desired the world and some desired the Hereafter, so Allah turned you back from them (the disbelievers) to test you. When some of the Companions disobeyed the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and went against his order, and the situation changed, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) separated himself with a group of seven Ansar and two Qurayshis; he (peace and blessings be upon him) was the tenth among them. When the disbelievers advanced upon him (peace and blessings be upon him), he said: “May Allah’s mercy be upon the one who repels these attackers from us.” He (peace and blessings be upon him) kept saying this until seven of them were martyred and only two remained. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said to these two companions: “We have not done justice to our seven companions” (meaning the Qurayshis did not do justice to the Ansar, as the Ansar went out one after another and were martyred, or those of our people who fled the battlefield did not do justice to us). Abu Sufyan came and said: “O Hubal! Be exalted!” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “In response, say: ALLAHU A’LA WA AJALL (Allah is Most High and Most Majestic).” The Companions loudly said: ALLAHU A’LA WA AJALL. Then Abu Sufyan said: “We have ‘Uzza and you have no ‘Uzza.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Say: Allah is our Helper and you have no helper.” Then Abu Sufyan said: “Today is in retaliation for the day of Badr; today we have victory, on that day we were defeated; one day is for us and one day is against us; Hanzalah for Hanzalah, so-and-so for so-and-so, and so-and-so for so-and-so.” Upon hearing this, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “There is no comparison between us and you; our slain are alive, being provided for by Allah, and your slain are in Hell, being punished.” Abu Sufyan said: “The mutilation of your slain, that is, the Muslims, was done without our opinion or consultation; I neither ordered it nor forbade it, nor did I like or dislike it; I neither grieved nor rejoiced over it.” When the noble Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) saw the martyrs, they saw that Sayyiduna Hamza’s (may Allah be pleased with him) stomach had been ripped open; Abu Sufyan’s wife Hind had taken out his liver and chewed it, but she could not eat it. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: “Did she eat any of it?” The Companions replied: “No.” He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Allah will never allow any part or portion of Hamza’s body to enter Hell.” Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) placed the body of Sayyiduna Hamza (may Allah be pleased with him) in front and performed his funeral prayer. Afterwards, the body of an Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) was brought, placed beside Sayyiduna Hamza (may Allah be pleased with him), and his funeral prayer was performed. The body of the Ansari was taken away, and Sayyiduna Hamza (may Allah be pleased with him) was left there. Then another martyr was brought, placed beside Sayyiduna Hamza (may Allah be pleased with him), and his funeral prayer was performed. Then he was taken away, and Sayyiduna Hamza (may Allah be pleased with him) was left there. This continued until, on that day, the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed his funeral prayer seventy times.