The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 344
Seal of the Prophets - Volume II 344 Uḥud as being lucky enough, they thought it wise to make haste to Makkah. Nevertheless, despite all this, as an act of further precaution, the Holy Prophet sa immediately dispatched a party of seventy Companions, which also included Ḥaḍrat Abū Bakr ra and Ḥaḍrat Zubair ra , in pursuit of the army of the Quraish. 1 This is the narration, as it is related in Bukhārī. The manner in which most historians describe the account is that the Holy Prophet sa sent Ḥaḍrat ‘Alī ra , or in light of various narrations, Sa‘d bin Abī Waqqāṣ ra in the footsteps of the Quraish and instructed him to bring news as to whether the army of the Quraish intended to attack Madīnah. The Holy Prophet sa went on to tell him that if the Quraish were mounted on their camels and were taking their horses along unmounted, then they should rest assured that they were returning to Makkah, and did not intend to attack Madīnah. However, if they were mounted on horses then they would know that their intention was not good. The Holy Prophet sa strictly instructed him that if the army of the Quraish was heading towards Madīnah, he should be informed at once and in a state of great passion, he said, “At this time, if the Quraish attack Madīnah, by God, we shall fight them and give them a taste of their own. ” Thus, the men dispatched by the Holy Prophet sa went and quickly returned with the good news that the army of the Quraish was proceeding towards Makkah. 2 Now the Holy Prophet sa had also descended into the battlefield and the work of tending to the bodies of the martyrs was underway. At the time, the sight that was before the Muslims was one to bring forth tears of blood. Seventy Muslims were laying in the field of battle smothered in dust and blood, 3 and they displayed a horrific scene of the barbaric Arab tradition known as Muthlah. Among the casualties, there were only six Muhājirīn and the rest were all from the Ansar. 4 The number of men slain from among the Quraish was twenty-three. 5 When the Holy Prophet sa came to the body of 1 Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābul-Maghāzī, Bābu Alladhīnastajābū Lillāhi Warrasūli, Ḥadīth No. 4077 2 * Tārīkhur-Rusuli Wal-Mulūk (Tārīkhuṭ-Ṭabarī), By Abū Ja‘far Muḥammad bin Jarīr Aṭ-Ṭabarī, Volume 3, p. 76, Thumma Dakhalatis-Sanatuth-Thālithatu Minal-Hijrah / Ghazwatu Uḥud, Dārul- Fikr, Beirut, Lebanon, Second Edition (2002) * As-Sīratun-Nabawiyyah, By Abū Muḥammad ‘Abdul-Mālik bin Hishām, p. 542, Sha’nu ‘Āṣimibni Thābit, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (2001) 3 Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābul-Maghāzī, Bābu Man Qutila Minal-Muslimīna Yauma Uḥud, Ḥadīth No. 4078 4 Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By Allāmah Shihābuddīn Al-Qusṭalānī, Volume 2, pp. 457-458, Ghazwatu Uḥud, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996) 5 Aṭ-Ṭabaqātul-Kubrā, By Muḥammad bin Sa‘d, Volume 2, p. 271, Man Qutila Minal-Muslimīna Yauma Uḥud, Dāru Iḥyā’it-Turāthil-‘Arabī, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996)