Life of Muhammad — Page 64
sa 64 mistake in sending off his own allies. The result of this eleventh-hour desertion was that only seven hundred Muslims were left under the Prophet's sa command. The seven hundred stood against an army more than four times their number, and many more times better in equipment. In the Meccan army were seven hundred fighters in armour; in the Muslim army only one hundred. The Meccans had a mounted force of two hundred horses, Muslims had only two horses. The Prophet sa reached U h ud. Over a narrow hilly pass there, he posted a guard of fifty, charged with the duty of repelling any attack on it by the enemy or any attempt to possess it. The Prophet sa told them clearly their duty. It was to stand where they had been posted, and not to move from the spot until they were commanded to do so, no matter what happened to the Muslims. With the remaining six hundred and fifty men, the Prophet sa went to do battle with an army about five times as large. But, with the help of God, in a short time the six hundred and fifty Muslims drove away three thousand skilled Meccan soldiers. The Muslims ran in pursuit. The hilly pass on which fifty Muslims had been posted was in the rear. The guard said to the commander, "The enemy is beaten. It is time we took some part in the battle and won our laurels in the next world. " The commander stopped them, reminding them of the clear orders of the Prophet sa. But the men explained that the Prophet's sa order was to be taken in the spirit and not in the letter. There was no meaning in continuing to guard the pass while the enemy was running for life. VICTORY CONVERTED INTO DEFEAT Arguing thus they left the pass and plunged into the battle. The fleeing Meccan army included Kh a lid bin Wal i d ra , who later became a great Muslim general. His keen eye fell on the unguarded pass. There were only a few men guarding it now. Kh a lid ra shouted for another