Battle of Uhud

-The Battle of Uhud was the 2nd battle of Islam that was fought in the month of Shawwal 3AH.

-It took place at the foot of Mount Uhud, just 3 miles outside Medina.

-When the Quraysh lost the Battle of Badr and some of their prominent leaders were killed, they were furious and wanted to take revenge.

-Abu Sufyaan was aware of the bravery of the Muslims, and he knew that he would have to outnumber them if he wanted to win. He, therefore, enlisted men from different tribes, promising them weapons and full supplies for the journey, and hence under his command, he had a well-equipped army of 700 armor-clad men, 3000 camel soldiers, a cavalry of 200 men, and a group of foot soldiers.

-There were also a number of slaves who joined the Quraysh army as they were promised freedom. Amongst them was a man named Wahshi. He was an Ethiopian slave. He possessed great skill in throwing spears. He had been promised his freedom if he killed Holy Prophet, Imam Ali, or Hadrat Hamza who was the Prophet's uncle.-Rasulullah had left Medina with 1000 men but Abdullah bin Ubay, the leader of the hypocrites in Medina deserted the Muslims with 300 other hypocrites, and halfway through the march, turned around and went back to Medina. The Muslims now numbered only 700 whom only 100 had armor and there were only 2 horses.

-Rasulullah strictly told them not to leave their post whether they were winning or losing.

-Rasulullah took his position below the mountain.

-Abu Sufyan divided his army into 3 parts. The armored men were placed in the middle. Preparations were now complete and a small band of Muslims stood against the large army of disbelievers.

-Talha bin Abi Talha, a great warrior from the army of Abu Sufyaan stepped forward and challenged the Muslims to Individual combat. Imam Ali (A.S) accepted the challenge and soon Talha's body lay on the ground. After him nine others took the standard and Imam Ali (A.S) killed them all. Watching his men being so easily killed, Abu Sufyaan ordered a general attack.

-The two armies met and the air was filled with the sound of weapons.

-At first, the Muslims were winning the war.

-Imam Ali (A.S) and Hadrat Hamza, the uncle of Rasulullah created havoc among the enemy.

-At this time, the Ethiopian slave Wahshi crept up behind Hadrat Hamza unnoticed. With a swift and accurate throw, the accursed man managed to pierce the abdomen of Hadrat Hamza and killed him.

-Hind, the wife of Abu Sufyan had also come to this battle to avenge her father and brother who were killed by Imam Ali (A.S) in Badr.

-When Hadrat Hamza was killed, Hind came up to his body and cut out his liver and tried to chew in in revenge but she was unable to do so. From then on, she was known as "the liver-chewer" and her son Mu'awiya was known as the son of the liver-chewer.

-Despite the great loss of Hadrat Hamza, the Muslims still charged at their enemies and created disorder amongst them. The Makkans began turning and running away.

-It was at this point that the Muslim archers made a terrible mistake as they thought the war was over. Instead of following the Prophet's orders and staying at their posts, they began running down to collect weapons left behind by their enemies.

-Their commander Abdullah bin Jubayr kept reminding them of what Rasulullah had ordered but they didn't listen.

-As the Muslims ran down, a group of the Makkan army was hiding behind the mountain pass under the commander of Khalid bin Walid.

-They saw the mountain was now unguarded and they came charging through the mountain pass and attacked the Muslims from behind.

-The Muslim commander Abdullah bin Jubayr was killed on the mountains and the Muslims now had to turn to fight behind them

-In the meantime, those Makkans who were running away turned to fight again and so the Muslims were sandwiched between the two groups.

-Someone threw a rock at Rasulullah and two of his teeth broke and began bleeding. He was also hurt on his forehead and face and he was bleeding.

-Then someone shouted. "Muhammad is dead!" and most of the Muslims began running away on the hills and mountains to save their lives.

-Rasulullah began calling them to come back but most were running up the hills without looking back.

-Only a handful of Muslims like Imam Ali stood in front of Rasulullah and continued defending him.

-At one point, Imam Ali (A.S)'s sword broke and the angel Jibrael brought a sword to Rasulullah who gave it to Imam Ali. This sword was called Dhul Fiqar and remained with Imam Ali (A.S) until the end. As he fought bravely, Jibrael was heard shouting in the heavens " La fata illa Ali, la sayf illa Dhul Fiqar' ( There is no hero like Ali and no sword like Dhul Fiqar)

-Later, some Muslims regained courage and returned to help. They took Rasulullah to higher grounds and the Makkan polytheists were too exhausted to follow them or attack Medina.

-Instead, they mutilated the bodies of the Muslim martyrs by chopping off their noses and ears. Hadrat Hamza was severely mutilated and Rasulullah wept for him bitterly.

-Hadrat Hamza was called Sayyid ash Shuhada (The Master of all the Martyrs) and he was known by this title until much later after the Battle of Karbala when this title was passed on to Imam Hussein (A.S)

-Abu Sufyan shouted to the Muslims and said, "this is in revenge for Badr! and then they retreated and went back to Mecca.

-Rasulullah collected all the Muslim martys and prayed over the body of each one and buried them at Uhud.

-In the Battle of Uhud, 70 Muslims were martyred and 70 wounded.

-Imam Ali was also heavily wounded

-The Makkans lost 22 men, 12 of them at the hands of Imam Ali (A.S)

Draw what you think the battlefield of Uhud may have looked like and include statistics and facts about the battle.