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already done. When the Prophet (Peace be upon him) came out, they said: “O Messenger of Allâh,
we should have not disagreed with you. So, you are free to do what you desire. If you prefer to stay
inside Madinah we will stay with you. Upon this the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him)
remarked: “It does not become a Prophet that once he had put on armour, he should take it off,
until Allâh has decided between him and the enemy.”
THE PROPHET (Peace be upon him) DIVIDED HIS ARMY INTO THREE BATTALIONS:
1. Al-Muhajireen battalion, under the command of Mus‘ab bin ‘Umair Al-‘Abdari.
2. Al-Ansari-Aws battalion was commanded by Usaid bin Hudair.
3. Al-Ansari-Khazraj battalion with Al-Hubab bin Al-Mundhir to lead it.
The army consisted of a thousand fighters; a hundred of them armoured; another fifty horsemen.
He appointed Ibn Umm Maktum to lead the people in prayer in Madinah. Departure was announced
and the army moved northwards with the two Sa‘ds, who were armoured, running in front of the
army.
Upon passing along Al-Wada‘ mountain trail he saw a well-armed battalion, which were detached
from the main body of the army. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) inquired who they were and he
was told that they were Jews and were allies of Al-Khazraj. They told him that they wanted to
contribute to the fight against the idolaters. “Have they embraced Islam?” The Prophet (Peace be
upon him) asked. “No,” they said. So he refused admitting them and said that he would not seek
the assistance of disbelievers against the idolaters.
PARADING THE ARMY:
As soon as he reached a location called Ash-Shaikhan, he paraded his army. He dismissed those
whom he considered to be disabled or too young to stand the fight. Among them were ‘Abdullah bin
‘Umar bin Al-Khattab. Usama bin Zaid; Usaid bin Zaheer, Zaid bin Thabit, Zaid bin Arqam. ‘Araba
bin Aws, ‘Amr bin Hazm, Abu Sa‘eed Al-Khudri, Zaid bin Haritha Al-Ansari, Sa‘d bin Habba and Al-
Barâ’ bin ‘Azib, Sahih Al-Bukhari pointed out that he had shared in the fight that day.
The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) allowed both Rafi‘ bin Khadaij and Samura bin Jundub
to join the army — though they were too young. The former proved to be skillful at shooting arrows;
the latter wrestled the former and beat him. The admission of Rafi‘ made Samura say: “I am
stronger than him, I can overcome him.” When the Prophet (Peace be upon him) heard this saying
he ordered them to wrestle. They did. Samura won so he was also admitted.
PASSING THE NIGHT BETWEEN UHUD AND MADINAH:
As night fell upon them there, they performed both the sunset and the evening prayers and spent
the night there as well. Fifty people were chosen to guard the camp and go round it. Muhammad bin
Maslama Al-Ansari, the hero of the brigade of Ka‘b bin Al-Ashraf, was in charge of the guards.
Whereas Dhakwan bin ‘Abd Qais undertook the responsibility of guarding the Prophet (Peace be
upon him), in particular.
THE REBELLION OF 'ABDALLAH BIN UBAI AND HIS FOLLOWERS:
At the end of the night and just before it was daybreak, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) moved
and when he got to Ash-Shawt he observed the dawn prayer. There he was close enough to the
enemy that they could see one another. It was there that ‘Abdullah bin Ubai — the hypocrite —
rebelled against the Muslims. One-third of the army withdrew with him — that is to say three
hundred fighters. He said, “We do not know why we shall kill ourselves.” He claime d that his
withdrawal was no more than showing protest against the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him)
who had already refused his opinion and accepted that of the others.
Undoubtedly that was not the real cause of his detachment. If it had been the refusal of his opinion
— as the hypocrite claimed — there would have no sense whatsoever for his joining the Prophetic
army. If it had been so, he would have refused to go out with the army from the very beginning of
the march. As a matter of fact the real purpose of this rebellion, withdrawal and detachment — at
this delicate and awkward position and time— was to produce bewilderment, confusion of mind, and
disorder in the Muslims army who were within the sight and hear range of the enemy who were also
looking forward to seeing more and more dissension on the side of the Muslims, like themselves.
They also aimed at breaking the high morale of the believers. That would accelerate — in their
opinion — the breakdown and consequently the death of Muhammad, his faithful Companions and
Islam as a whole. The way would then be clear for the reclaim of presidency, which that hypocrite
had lost on the advent of Islam into Madinah.
Short of Allâh’s Care, the hypocrite’s plot would have been successful. Banu Haritha of Al-Aws and
Banu Salama of Al-Khazraj were partially impressed by the hypocrite’s behaviour. Both of them
were overwhelmed by confusion and they had almost started to withdraw, but Allâh’s Care saved
them from that disgrace. About their incident Allâh says:
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