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Wahshi said: “Then I balanced my spear and shook it till I was content with it, then I speared him
and it went down into his stomach and issued out between his legs. He attempted moving towards
me but he was overcome by his wound. I left him there with the spear in his entrails till he died.
Then I came to him, pulled out my spear and returned to the encampment place. I stayed there and
did not go out, for he was the only one I sought. I only killed him to free myself. So as soon as I got
back to Makkah, I became a free man.”
BRINGING THE SITUATION UNDER CONTROL:
Although the death of Asad (Lion) of Allâh and His Messenger — Hamzah bin ‘Abdul Muttalib— was
a great loss, the Muslims maintained full control over the whole situation on the battlefield. On that
day, Abu Bakr, ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab, ‘Ali bin Abi Talib, Az-Zubair bin Al-‘Awwam, Mus‘ab bin ‘Umair,
Talha bin ‘Ubaidullâh, ‘Abdullah bin Jahsh, Sa‘d bin Ar-Rabî‘ and Anas bin An-Nadr and others— all
of them fought so fiercely, effectively and efficiently that they broke the strong will of the idolaters
and scattered them.
FROM HIS WIFE'S LAP TO SWORD-FIGHTS AND SORROWS:
One of the brave adventurers of that day was Hanzala Al-Ghaseel — He was Hanzala bin Abu ‘Amir.
Abu ‘Amir was the very monk that was nicknamed ‘
Al-Fâsiq
’ (i.e. the dissolute, evildoer). He is the
very one that we have recently mentioned. Hanzala, who was newly married, left his wife’s bed for
Al-Jihâd
(Fight in the cause of Allâh). He set out the moment he heard of the call to
Al-Jihâd
. When
he faced the idolaters on the battlefield, he made his way through their ranks till he reached their
leader Abu Sufyan Sakhr bin Harb and had almost killed him, if he had not been ordained to be a
martyr. For at that moment he was seen by Shaddad bin Al-Aswad who struck him to death.
THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE ARCHERS SQUAD TO THE BATTLE:
The archers squad whom the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) located on the Archers
Mountain, had the upper hand in administering the war activities to go in favour of the Muslim army.
The Makkan horsemen — commanded by Khalid bin Al-Waleed, supported by Abu ‘Amir Al-Fâsiq —
had for three times attacked the left wing of the Muslim army with the aim of crushing it and then
infiltrating into the rear to create a sort of confusion and disorder in the ranks of the Muslims and
subsequently inflict heavy defeat on them. But thanks to the dexterity and great efforts of the
archers, the three assaults were thwarted.
War activities went on and on fierecly with the Muslims in full command of the whole military
developments until the idolaters finally staggered and retreated, leaving all motives of alleged pride,
and affected dignity in oblivion, and their standard trodden by the feet of the fighters with none ever
courageous enough to approach it. It seemed as if the three thousand idolaters had been fighting
thirty thousand Muslims and not merely several hundreds.
Ibn Ishaq said: “Then Allâh sent down His Help unto the Muslims and verified His Promise to them.
They chased the idolaters and evacuated them from their camp. No doubt it was a certain defeat.”
In a version by ‘Abdullah bin Az-Zubair that his father had said: “By Allâh, I was watching the
servants of Hind bint ‘Utbah and her women friends fleeing with their garments gathered up. No one
was there to prevent us from capturing them.”
In another version by Al-Barâ’ bin ‘Azib — mentioned in
Sahih Al-Bukhâri
— he said: “When we
fought them, they fled, and their women could be seen fleeing in the mountains with their anklets
and legs revealed.” The Muslims pursued the enemies putting them to sword and collecting the
spoils.
THE ARCHERS' FATAL MISTAKE:
While the small army of Islam were recording the second absolute and clear victory over the
Makkans — which was no less in splendour and glory than the first one at Badr — the majority of
the archers on the mountainside committed a fatal mistake that turned the whole situation upside
down, and constituted a source of heavy losses amongst the Muslims. It has almost brought about
the murder of the Prophet (Peace be upon him), and left a very bad impression on the fame and
dignity they deservedly earned at Badr Battle.
We have already spoken about the positive orders given to the archers to hold on to their position
whatever the course of the main engagement. In spite of those strict orders, a nd their leader’s—
‘Abdullah bin Jubair — warning, forty archers deserted their posts, enticed by the too soon roar of
victory as well as worldly avarice for the spoils of war. The others, however, nine in number and
‘Abdullah, their leader, decided to abide by the Prophet ’s order and stay where they were until they
were given leave or killed to the last. Consequently the cleft was left inadequately defended .
The shrewd Khalid bin Al-Waleed seized this golden opportunity to turn swiftly round to the rear of
the Muslim army and encompass them. Exterminating Ibn Jubair and his group, they fell promptly
upon the rear of the Muslims and his horsemen uttered a shout that signalled the new military
developments. The polytheists returned once again to counterattack the Muslims. An idolist woman
— called ‘Umra bint ‘Alqama Al-Harithiyah — rushed to the lying-on-earth standard, picked it up and
hoisted it. The idolaters gathered together around the standard and called out unto one another till
they encircled the Muslims and stoodfast to fight again.
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