Chief of the Prophets — Page 104
Chapter Six 104 But Abū Jahl, who could be truly regarded as the Pharaoh of the nation, was determined not to give up. He, sensing the nature of the situation, called ‘Āmir bin Ḥaramī, the brother of ‘Amr bin Ḥaramī and said, “‘Āmir, it appears that your brother will not be avenged. ” ‘Āmir was enraged upon hearing this; he tore off his clothes according to the traditions of Arabia, and started wailing, “Woe to ‘Amr! Woe to ‘Amr! My brother is not being avenged!” His painful yelling and screaming enraged a fire of hostility and revenge, and the Quraish became prepared to fight. So according to the ancient tradition of war, ‘Utbah, Shaibah, and Walīd stepped forward and asked for individual combat. On the other side, a few youth of the Anṣār wanted to go forward for the fight, but Muḥammad sa stopped them and asked Ḥamzah ra , ‘Alī ra , and ‘Ubaidah ra to step forward for the fight. Though the men of both sides knew each other well, according to the traditions of Arabia, introductions were conducted. ‘Ubaidah ra went to confront Walīd, Ḥamzah ra to ‘Utbah, and ‘Alī ra to Shaibah. Ḥamzah ra and ‘Alī ra killed their opponents in a few strokes, but ‘Ubaidah and Walīd, both fell down severely wounded by each other’s strokes. Seeing the condition of ‘Ubaidah ra , Ḥamzah ra and ‘Alī ra stepped forward and killed Walīd, and carried ‘Ubaidah ra back to the camp, but ‘Ubaidah ra did not survive the wounds. After the individual combat, Muḥammad sa gave some advice to the Muslims and went to his tent. Abū Bakr ra also accompanied him. A little while later, the army of the disbelievers started general combat. At this time, Muḥammad sa raised his hands and prayed to Allah the Exalted in the following words: O My God! Fulfill Your promises. O My Master! If today, this party of Muslims is destroyed in the field of battle, there