The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 336
Seal of the Prophets - Volume II 336 included Ḥaḍrat ‘Uthmān bin ‘Affān ra as well. 1 However, as mentioned in the Holy Qur’ān, taking into consideration the special circumstances of that time, and the heartfelt faith and sincerity of these people, Allāh the Exalted forgave them. 2 From among these people, some had even reached Madīnah, and in this manner, news of the so-called martyrdom of the Holy Prophet sa and defeat of the Muslim army managed to reach Madīnah as well. A state of lamentation broke out in Madīnah, and the Muslim men and women, both young and old, all came out of the city in a state of immense dismay, and set out towards Uḥud. Some made haste to the field of battle and plunged into the enemy ranks in the name of Allāh. The second group consisted of such people who had not fled, but upon hearing news of the martyrdom of the Holy Prophet sa , had either lost determination or felt that now it was useless to fight. Hence, they had moved to one side of the battlefield, and sat down with their heads hanging low. The third group was of those who continued to fight on without fail. Among them, some consisted of those people who were gathered around the Holy Prophet sa and were exhibiting unprecedented feats of valour, and most of them were fighting in the field of battle scattered apart from one another. As these people, and those from the second group continued to discover that the Holy Prophet sa was alive, these people would continue to fight and close in around the Holy Prophet sa in the likeness of those possessed by madness. 3 The state of war at the time was such that the army of the Quraish would push forward from all four fronts in the likeness of ferocious ocean waves. A rain of arrows and stones was falling upon them in the battlefield from all directions. Upon witnessing this state of danger, these devotees surrounded the perimeter of the Holy Prophet sa and shielded his blessed body with their own. However, despite this, whenever the force of the attack would surge forward, this handful of men would be jostled here and there, and in this state, at times, the Holy Prophet sa would almost be left standing alone. Upon one such instance, a stone thrown by ‘Utbah bin Abī Waqqāṣ, the idolatrous brother of Sa‘d bin Abī Waqqāṣ ra , struck the blessed countenance of the Holy Prophet sa , which broke his tooth and also wounded his lip. 4 Shortly after, another stone thrown by 1 Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābul-Maghāzī, Bābu Qaulillāhi Ta‘ālā Innalladhīna Tawallau Minkum. . . . . Ḥadīth No. 4066 2 Āl-e-‘Imrān (3:156) 3 Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By Allāmah Shihābuddīn Al-Qusṭalānī, Volume 2, p. 416, Ghazwatu Uḥud, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996) 4 As-Sīratun-Nabawiyyah, By Abū Muḥammad ‘Abdul-Mālik bin Hishām, p. 533, Sha’nu ‘Āṣimibni Thābit, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2001)