The Excellent Exemplar - Muhammad — Page 47
THE EXCELLENT EXEMPLAR — MUHAMMAD 47 had fallen, and finding him still alive though unconscious, raised him up. One of them pulled out with his teeth the rings of the Prophet’s helmet which were embedded in his cheek, losing two of his teeth in the effort. The Muslims were heartened. Despite the losses and the reverse they had suffered, they were happy that the enemy had retired without having achieved his main purpose. Various incidents during the battle of Uhud, named from one of the hills at the foot of which it was waged, confirmed the interpretation which the Prophet had put on his dream. It was realized by all that the Prophet’s judgment had been correct, and that t he complete victory which the Muslims had achieved in the early part of the day had almost been converted into defeat by disregard of the Prophet’s instructions to the fifty men who had been assigned to guard the pass at the rear (3: 153 - 155). The women and children remaining in Medina during the battle were sorely grieved by reports that the Muslims had been defeated and the Prophet killed. Many of them streamed out of the town in the direction of Uhud, but when they were reassured that the Prophet was alive, all other considerations gave way to joy and relief. If the Prophet was safe, all had been gained and nothing lost. However, to the disaffected among both the Jews and the weaker Muslims in Medina, the course of the battle gave great encouragement. The Meccans, on their side, who had begun to suspect before retiring from t he field of battle that the Prophet was alive, renewed their efforts at inciting the tribes in the central and southern parts of the peninsula against the Muslims. In Medina the behavior of two of the Jewish tribes became increasingly arrogant and mischievous. As they had become a serious menace to the security of the town, they had to be expelled