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be upon him). With this assembled number of his Companions, the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be
upon him) started drawing a planned withdrawal to the hillocks nearby.
Hostilities of the enemy grew fiercer than ever with the aim of foiling the plan of withdrawal of the
Muslims. Their attempts however proved to be fruitlessdue to the heroic steadfastness of the lions
of Islam.
‘Uthman bin ‘Abdullah bin Al-Mugheerah — one of the enemy horsemen— progressed towards the
Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) while saying: “Either I kill him [i.e. Muhammad (Peace be
upon him)] or I will be killed.” The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) moved to encounter him
but his mare tripped into some holes. So Al-Harith bin As-Simma combated with the enemy, and
struck him on his leg so he went lame, then he finished him off, took his arm and overtook the
Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him).
But later on another Makkan horseman, called ‘Abdullah bin Jabir, attacked Al-Harith bin As-Simma,
and struck him on the shoulder with his sword and he was carried to the camp of the Muslims
suffering from serious wounds. Anyway that very idolater did not escape death, for Abu Dujana—
the red head-banded hero and adventurer — struck him heavily and cut his head off.
During this bitter fight, a desire to sleep overwhelmed the Muslims — that was a security and
tranquillity to help His slave Muslims as the Qur’ân spoke in this context. Abu Talhah said: “I was
one of those who were possessed by a desire to sleep on Uhud Day. On that day my sword fell off
my hand several times. Again and again it fell down and again and again I picked it up.”
In a regular withdrawal and with great bravery and boldness, the Muslims finally retreated to the
cover of Mountain Uhud. Then, the rest of the army followed them to that safe position. In this
manner, the genius of Muhammad (Peace be upon him) foiled that of Khalid bin Al-Waleed.
Ibn Ishaq related that: “When the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) was going up the hillock,
he was followed by Ubai bin Khalaf who was saying: ‘Where is Muhammad (Peace be upon h im)?
Either I kill him or I will be killed.’ The Companions of Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said: ‘O
Messenger of Allâh, do you mind if one of us combats with him?’ But the Messenger of Allâh (Peace
be upon him) said: ‘Leave him!’ So when he drew nearer, the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon
him) took the spear from Al-Harith bin As-Simma. He shivered violently in such a way that made all
of them scatter in all directions violently and impulsively. Then he faced him, observed his clavicle
through a gap between the wide opening of the armour and the part of his neck enclosed by. He
speared him in that spot. The effect of the stroke was so strong that it made him roll off his horse
over and over. When he returned to Quraish, they found that he had only had a s mall scratch in his
neck. So when blood became congested he said: ‘By Allâh, Muhammad has killed me.’ Hearing him
say so, they said: ‘By Allâh you are afraid to death. By Allâh, you are possessed by a devil.’ He
replied: ‘He had already told me when we were in Makkah: ‘I will kill you.’ By Allâh, had he spate on
me, he would have killed me.’ Eventually, the enemy of Allâh breathed his last at a place called
Sarif, while they were taking him back to Makkah.” In a version by Abul-Aswad, on the authority of
‘Urwa: He was lowinglike a bull and saying: “By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, if (the pain) I
am suffering from now were distributed among the people of Al-Majaz, it would cause them to die.”
During the withdrawal of the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) up to the cover of the
mountain, a big rock blocked his way. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) tried to mount it, but
having worn a short heavy armour, and being seriously wounded— he could not ascend it. Readily
enough Talha sat in a position that e nabled the Prophet (Peace be upon him) to stand on his back.
Then he lifted him up till he stood on it. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) then said: “Talha, after
this job, is eligible for the Garden (Paradise).”
When the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon h im) settled down in his head quarters in the hillock,
the idolaters started their last attack upon the Muslims. Ibn Ishaq related that: “While the Prophet
(Peace be upon him) was on the way to the hillock, a group of Quraishite elite ascended the
mountain. They were led by Khalid bin Al-Waleed and Abu Sufyan. So the Messenger of Allâh (Peace
be upon him) implored his Lord saying: ‘O Allâh, they (i.e. the idolaters) should not be higher (i.e. in
position or in power) than us (i.e. the Muslims). Therefore ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab and some of the
Emigrants fought the idolaters till they drove them down the mountain.
In
Al-Maghazi
— a book by Al-Umawi — it is stated that the idolaters went up the mountain. So the
Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) said to Sa‘d: “Drive them off.” “How can I drive them off by
myself (i.e. without anyone to assist).” But the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) repeated
the phrase three times. Sa‘d then took an arrow out of his quiver, shot it at one of them and killed
him. He said: “Then I took another one I know (to be good) and I shot with it another man. Then I
took a third I know and killed a third one. Consequently they climbed down the mountain. I said to
myself, ‘this must be a blessed arrow.’ I put it in my quiver.” He kept it with him till he died. His
children kept it with them ever after.
MUTILATION OF THE MARTYRS:
That was the last attack made by the idolaters against the Prophet (Peace be upon him). Being
almost certain of his death, the idolaters returned to their camp and started preparations to go back
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