An alliance for revenge

What provoked the expedition to Uhud by the polytheists of Quraysh against Muhammad was the Battle of Badr and the killing of those nobles and chiefs killed there. That's pretty clear. The Quraysh were upset about the disaster of Badr, and intended to stop the activites of Muhammad and the Muslims. When the Quraysh were overtaken by disaster, and their defeated remnants reached Mecca, and when Abu Sufyan b. Harb returned with his caravan, Abd Allah b. Abi Rabiah, Ikrimah b. Abi Jahl, and Safwan b. Umayyah went at the head of a number of men of Quraysh whose fathers, sons, and brothers had been killed at Badr and adressed Abu Sufyan and those members of the Quraysh who had goods in the caravan, saying: "Men of Quraysh, Muhammad has bereaved you and killed the best of you; aid us with this wealth to wage war against him and perhaps we will obtain vengeance upon him for those of us who have been killed." It is hardly suprising that the victims of Muhammad and the Muslims turn back for revenge, and certainly standard Arab practice. Note that one of the (polytheist) leaders is named Abd Allah, 'Slave to Allah'. They agreed to do so. When Abu Sufyan and the owners of the caravan agreed to this, Quraysh assembled to wage war against Muhammad, together with the Ahabish and those of the tribes of Kinanah and the people of Tihamah who obeyed them. All of these people raised a clamour to wage war against Muhammad. After what these tribes had suffered, the alliance forms easily. Quraysh set out armed and determined on battle, with their Ahabish and those of the Banu Kinanah and the people of Tihamah who were with them. They had taken their womenfolk with them in hope that they would be spurred on by zeal to defend these and would not run away. A strange way to use civilians in battle. At least the intention is not to use them as human shields... The Meccan force went forward, and halted at Aynayn on a hill in the valley of al-Sabkhah of Qanat on the edge of the wadi nearest to Medina. When Muhammad and the Muslims heard that they were camped there, Muhammad said to the Muslims: "I saw in a dream some cattle, and interpreted them as a good omen; and I saw that the blade of my sword was notched, and I saw that I had put on an invulnerable coat of mail, and I interpreted that as Medina. If you see fit to remain in Medina and to leave them encamped where they are, well and good; for, if they remain there, they will be in the worst possible place, and if they enter Medina to fight us, we will fight them here." Dreams and their interpretation are quoted more or less extensively by Muhammad several times. This is one of the complete rendentions. Muhammad is in a defensive mood and does not rush to initiate battle. Some men of the Muslims whom Allah ennobled with martyrdom on the day of Uhud, and others who had missed Badr and the chance to be there, said: "Oh Messenger of Allah, lead us out to our enemies so that they may not think that we are too cowardly and weak to face them. The notion of martyrdom (death in battle for Allah) being noble seems to have become firmly established after Badr. The deliberation of staying put or seeking out battle continues for days. At this time, the issue can be debated openly with Muhammad.

The decision

Those who were eager to meet the enemy, however, continued to press Muhammad until he went into his house and put on his coat of mail. This was on Friday, after he had finished prayer. Remarkable that the decision for battle happens on a Friday. Possibly the prayer made up the mind of Muhammad, or Allah had a word on the issue. When the people saw him armed, the people repented and said: "What an evil deed we have done, giving the Messenger of Allah advice when inspiration comes to him!" They rose up and apologised to him, saying: "Do what you see fit!" Muhammad said: "It is not fitting for a prophet to put on his coat of mail and take it off again before fighting." Funny passage. Muhammad himself had solicitated advice, and recieved it. Yet, the Muslims are worried that their requested assessment of the situation has influenced Muhammad. In any case, the decision is firm. Muhammad and the Muslims will move out to attack instead of awaiting the enemy inside the town. So Muhammad went out to Uhud at the head of a thousand men of his companions until, when they were at al-Shawt, between Uhud and Medina, Abd Allah b. Ubayy split off from him with a third of the army, saying: "He obeyed them by setting out and disobeyed me. By Allah, we do not know why we should get ourselves killed here, men." Apparently, some Muslims were not quite convinced of the glory of martyrship and the lure of Paradise. So he went back to Medina with those of this people of the Hypocrites and doubters who followed him. This event would haunt Muhammad to his death. We notice that the 'hypocrite' Muslim is one who pretends to be one, yet refuses to join battle in the cause of Allah. Muhammad remained with seven hundred men. The polytheists numbered three thousand, and their cavalry numbered two hundred horse. Their womenfolk numbered fifteen. While the Muslims may have been more seasoned warriors than the Quraysh, this is a serious outnumbering. Muhammad had reviewed his troops at al-Shaykhayn after sunset, allowing some to go on and sending some back. Some of the Muslims are dismissed for being too young for battle. Muhammad put Abd Allah b. Jubayr in command of the archers. He was distinguished on that day by white clothes, and the archers numbered fifty men. "Defend us against the cavalry with your arrows," he said, "and do not come up behind us, whether the battle goes for us or against us. Hold firm to your position, so that we will not be attacked from your direction." Then Muhammad put on two coats of mail. Muhammad knows that the greatest danger he's facing is the cavalry, which he can't match. The two coats of mail seems to correspond with the dream he had.

The fighting beings

Abu Sufyan advanced, raising a cry of "Al-Lat! Al-Uzza!" [Meccan deities] Muhammad sent al-zubayr against the enemy, and when he attacked Kahlid b. al-Walid, Allah put Khalid and his companions to flight. With reference to this, Allah said: Quran 3:152: And Allâh did indeed fulfil His Promise to you when you were killing them with His Permission; until you lost your courage and fell to disputing about the order, and disobeyed after He showed you (of the booty) which you love. Allah certainly keeps close watch of events. It is even Allah who showed the booty to the Muslims and thus made them break ranks. Not the smartest of moves. Another account reads: Al-Zubayr and al-Miqdad attacked the polytheists and put them to flight, while Muhammad and his companions charged and put Abu Sufyan to flight. When Kahlid b. al-Walid, who was in charge of the polytheists' cavalry, saw this, he made a countercharge, but the archers rained arrows upon him, and his advance was checked. Muhammad, in almost Napoleonic genius, had seen that the archers would be able to keep the cavalry at bay. Unfortunately for the Muslims, the lure of booty gets the better of them, and they break ranks. However, when the archers saw Muhammad and his companions in the heart of the polytheists' camp and plundering them, they hurried down to the booty. Some of them said: "Do not go against the command of the Messenger of Allah," but most of them went to the camp. When Khalid saw how few archers there were left, he shouted to his cavalry, charged, and killed the archers, and then charged Muhammads' companions. When the polytheists on foot saw that their cavalry was in action, they called to one another and renewed their attack on the Muslims, defeating them and killing some. The extensive description of the battle gets, well, quite graphic, but the net result is that the Muslims give in to the pressure and in particular the cavalry.

The Muslims retreat

When the Muslims were attacked from behind and put to flight, the polytheists killed many of them. When this catastrophe befell the Muslims, they were afflicted in three ways: some where killed, some wounded, and some put to flight. These are the usual options when losing a battle. Even Muhammad gets to feel the heat: Muhammad's lower lateral incisor was broken, his lip was split, and he was wounded on the cheeks and on the forehead at the roots of his hair. Ibn Qamiah stood over him to his left with his sword. Blood began to pour down his face, and he kept wiping it away, saying: "How can a people prosper who stain the face of their Prophet with blood while he is calling them to Allah?" Allah revealed concerning this: Quran 3:128: Not for you is the decision; whether He turns in mercy to them or punishes them; verily, they are the Zâlimûn (polytheists, wrong doers and the disobedient). Actually, the 'calling to Allah' part seems out of place. Muhammad and the Muslims had attacked the Meccans at Badr, and now they were coming back with a vengeance. Not much calling to any god has taken place. Allah, as usual, has an appropriate comment. It is good to be reminded who is the wrongdoer and who is in the right. When the enemy overwhelmed him, Muhammad said: "Who will sell his life for us?" Ziyad b. al-Sakan rose up with five of the Ansar, and they fought to protect Muhammad. Man after man was killed in front of him until only Ziyad - or Umarah b. Ziyad - was left; and he fought until his wounds made him incapable of further fighting. By this time a group of Muslims had come back and driven the enemy away from Ziyad. Abu Dujanah shielded Muhammad with his body, bending over him while arrows struck his back until it was full of them. Looks like the use of two coats of mail was a wise investment on the side of Muhammad. Many are ready to sacrifice their lives for his. The situation certainly is grave.

Hamzah

Siba b. Abd al-Uzza bassed by, and Hamzah b. Abd al-Muttalib said to him: "Come over here, you son of a cutter-off of clitorises." His mother was Umm Anmar, who was a female circumciser in Mecca. When they met, Hamzah struck him and killed him. Insulting language certainly has its place in battle. But here's something interesting. The mother of Siba is a female circumciser. That shows that the custom of female circumcision, also known as Female Genital Mutilation, is a pre-Islamic custom, or the insult would make no sense. His father had a typical Meccan name, 'Slave to al-Uzza', one of the secondary idols of the Ka'aba. The Muslim insulter fights valiantly. But then, referring to the killing of Siba, the non-Muslim Wahshi reports: He then struck him so swiftly that the could not be seen striking his head. I balanced my javelin until I was satisfied with it, and then I hurled it at Hamzah. It struck him in the lower part of the belly with such force that it came out between his legs. He came towards me, but was overcome and fell. I waited until he was dead, and then went and recovered my javelin; after that I returned to the camp, since there was nothing else I wanted to do there." This insight into the polytheist motivation shows them to be more civil than the Muslims. Even in victory, with spoils of weapons and armor readily available, the Meccan doesn't touch it. He is, in contrast with the Muslims, not out to capture booty. Things continue downhill for the Muslim side:

Muhammad escapes

"Why have you stopped fighting," Anas b. al-Nadr asked a group of Muslims who had given up the fight. "Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, has been killed," they replied. "What will you do with life after him?" he said. "Rise up and die as the Messenger of Allah has died!" Then he went towards the enemy and fought until he was killed. From a modern perspective, this would look like a lose-lose situation. Muhammad, who was urging the Muslims into battle and praising the virtues of martyrdom, is rumoured to be dead. That renders life meaningless to Anas, who then sacrifice himself into battle. Death is everywhere. But the rumour of Muhammad's death is somewhat exaggerated: The first man to recognize Muhammad after the defeat and the rumour that Muhammad had been killed was Kab b. Malik. He said: "I recognised his eyes shining beneath his helmet and I called out at the top of my voice: "Muslims, rejoice! This is the Messenger of Allah!"" This is a narrow escape. The prophetic office of Muhammad was almost terminated on a stony mountainside outside Medina. Skipping some details, Muhammad makes away from the battlefield, trying to summon people to him: Muhammad set off uphill, calling upon his men to follow, and soon reaching the people on the rock. When they saw him, one man put an arrow in his bow and would have shot him, but he said: "I am the messenger of Allah." They rejoiced when they realized that Muhammad was alive, and Muhammad rejoiced when he saw companions among whom he could hold out. Another narrow escape later, Muhammad is now reasonably safe again. When they regrouped with Muhammad among them, their sorrow vanished, and, as they climbed up, they spoke of how the victory had eluded them and of their companions who had been killed. To those who said: "Muhammad has been killed, so go back to your people," Allah said: Quran 3:144: And Muhammad is no more than a Messenger, and indeed Messengers have passed away before him. If he dies or is killed, will you then turn back on your heels? And he who turns back on his heels, not the least harm will he do to Allâh; and Allâh will give reward to those who are grateful. The promise of rewards stand firm, even if Muhammad would die. In the barren deserts of Arabia, there is little doubt that this prospect is tempting. Funny how Allah urges the Muslims to believe, yet states that disbelief will not harm him the least. Then Abu Sufyan advanced until he was nearly upon them. When they saw him, they forgot what they had been about and directed their attention to Abu Sufyan. Muhammad said: "These men must not get to a higher position than ours! Oh God, if this band of people is killed, you will have no worshippers!" Then his companions bestirred themselves and threw stones at the enemy which forced them to retreat downhill. Here gravity helps out, and stones. There's something strange about the idea that if they are killed, God (whichever god is meant) will have no worshippers. Allah was the top deity of the Ka'aba in Mecca, and had been for generations. Allah spoke of Abu Sufyan's approaching them and said: Quran 3:153: (And remember) when you ran away without even casting a side glance at anyone, and the Messenger was in the rear calling you back. There did Allâh give you one distress after another by way of requital to teach you not to grieve for that which had escaped you, nor for that which had befallen you. And Allâh is Well-Aware of all that you do. The first grief is the victory and booty which eluded them, and the second grief is the enemy approaching them; they were not to grieve for the booty which eluded them, nor the memory of the killing which was inflicted upon them. Abu Sufyan distracted them from this. Looks like quite an unchecked retreat, with Muhammad calling out to get some protection. The loss of victory, booty and many good men are all gifts from Allah and should not cause grief. While it is quite natural to not grieve over failing to steal what was not theirs, asking to not grieve over the dead is less so. The army had fled and abandoned Muhammad, some of them getting as far as al-Munaqqa. Uthman b. Affan and others fled as far as al-Jalab, a mountain in the neighbourhood of Medina. They stayed there for three days, and then came back to Muhammad. They claimed that he said to them: "On that day you were scattered far and wide." There are divergent views on how complete the Quraysh victory was. If it was as complete as described here, and had the Quraysh been more intend on pursuing and killing their enemy, this could have been the end of Islam.

Mutilation of the Muslim dead

Sirat p. 385, Tabari VII p. 129

Hint bt. Utbah and the women who were with her stopped to mutilated Muhammad's dead companions, cutting off their ears and noses until Hind was able to make anklets and necklaces of them. She gave her own anklets, necklaces, and earrings to Wahshi, the slave of Jubayr b. Mutim. Then she ripped open Hamzah's body for his liver and chewed it, but she was not able to swallow it and spat it out. No matter how you look at this, even considering that the Muslims had killed her father, brother, uncle and son at Badr, this is despicable. The Muslims had committed much plunder, rape and killing, but never in recorded history resorted to cannibalism. Abu Sufyan said: "A day for the day of Badr. War has its ups and downs. You will find that some of your dead have been mutilated. I did not command it, nor did it displease me." At least the Quraysh leader has the civility to admit what the women have done. Umar is less restrained: The vile woman was insolent, and she was habitually base with disbelief. May Allah curse Hind, distinguished among Hinds, she with the large clitoris. And may he curse her husband with her. Did she set out for Uhud on a saddled camel-colt? A slow-paced camel which would not move, whether scolded or rebuked. Spur on your mount with your backside, Hind, and soften sinews, punding with a stone. Her backside and her genitals are covered with ulcers as a result of prolonged swift travel in the saddle. Did you set out hastily in search of vengeance for your father and your son on the day of Badr? And for your uncle, who was wounded in the backside, lying in his blood, and your brother, all of them coated in dust in the well? And did you forget a foul deed which you committed? Hind, woe to you, the shame of the age. The future caliph is a master insulter. The reference to the gloating over the dead in the pit of Badr is quite revolting, too. He is perfectly aware what he and the Muslims have done, without a hint of remorse. Muhammad went out in search of Hamzah b. Abd al-Muttalib, and found him at the bottom of the wadi; his belly had been ripped open and his liver removed, and he was mutilated by cutting off his nose and ears. One notices that the Muslims were able to survey the battlefield immediately after the battle. While the Quraysh were out to settle the score of Badr, they retreated when they thought their mission sufficently fulfilled. Their intention was not to plunder, capture prisoners for ransom, killing as such, nor to conquer land or property.