The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 335
VIII - Blow of a Misfortune, Law of Inheritance, Prohibition of Alcohol, Treachery of the Disbelievers and Two Tragic Incidents 335 wounds, and were offering other services of this nature. Among these ladies, the names of Ḥaḍrat ‘Ā’ishah ra , Ummi Sulaim ra , and Ummi Ṣalīṭ ra are especially recorded in the context of their service of bringing drinking water to the Companions. 1 As mentioned above, this was an hour of great distress for the Muslims. The army of the Quraish had pretty much surrounded them from all four fronts and continued to crush the Muslims moment by moment through repeated attacks. Yet, even after all this, the Muslims probably would have may well regained themselves shortly thereafter, but the outrage was that a bold warrior from among the Quraish named ‘Abdullāh bin Qum’ah attacked Muṣ‘ab bin ‘Umair ra , the flag-bearer of the Muslims and severed his right hand with the blow of his sword. Muṣ‘ab ra immediately clutched the flag with his other hand and advanced to confront Ibni Qum’ah, but in his second blow, the other hand was severed as well. Upon this, Muṣ‘ab ra joined both of his severed hands together in an endeavour to keep the Islāmic flag from falling, and held it to his chest, upon which Ibni Qum’ah struck him a third time, and this time Muṣ‘ab was martyred and fell to the ground. 2 As far as the flag was concerned, another Muslim immediately advanced and took hold of it, but since the size and figure of Muṣ‘ab resembled the Holy Prophet sa , Ibni Qum’ah thought that he had slain the Holy Prophet sa. It is also probable that this scheme of his was merely guided by motives of mischief and deceit. In any case, when Muṣ‘ab ra was martyred and fell, Ibni Qum’ah exclaimed that he had slain Muḥammad [sa]. 3 At this news, the Muslims lost whatever composure was left in them and their force was scattered completely. Many Companions fled from the field of battle in a state of dismay. At the time, the Muslims were divided into three groups. 4 One group was of those who had fled from the field of battle upon hearing news that the Holy Prophet sa had been martyred, but this group was the smallest of all, 5 and 1 * Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābul-Maghāzī, Bābu Idh Hammat Ṭā’ifatāni Minkum. . . . . , Ḥadīth No. 4065 * Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābul-Maghāzī, Bābu Idh Hammat Ṭā’ifatāni Minkum. . . . . , Ḥadīth No. 4071 2 Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By Allāmah Shihābuddīn Al-Qusṭalānī, Volume 2, p. 414, Ghazwatu Uḥud, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996) 3 As-Sīratun-Nabawiyyah, By Abū Muḥammad ‘Abdul-Mālik bin Hishām, p. 529, Maqtalu Muṣ‘abubnu ‘Umair, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2001) 4 Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By Allāmah Shihābuddīn Al-Qusṭalānī, Volume 2, p. 415, Ghazwatu Uḥud, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996) 5 Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By Allāmah Shihābuddīn Al-Qusṭalānī, Volume 2, p. 415, Ghazwatu Uḥud, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996)