As Ramadan passes, the month of Shawwal with its great excellencies and important stories comes. One of the various excellencies about Shawwal is the virtue of fasting the sunnah six days of Shawwal which is equivalent to fasting one year. And among the stories in it are five battles that took place in the month of Shawwal, namely the Battle of Uhud, the Battle of Hamra’ul Asad, the Battle of Khandaq, the Battle of Hunain, and the Battle of Taif.

As we know, the Muslims have won the battle of Badr with Allah’s SWT permission. But the Quraysh disbelievers did not accept their defeat so they wanted to take revenge.

The tafsir book of Al-Qur’an by Ibnu Katsir mentioned that the battle of Uhud occured a Saturday in the month of Shawwal in the 3 Hijri. There are various opinions regarding the date.

 

The book Sirah Ar-Rasul by Mahmud Al-Mishri also mentioned that in the Battle of Uhud, the Quraysh disbelievers led by Abi Sufyan consisted of 3.000 troops, 3.000 camels, and 200 horses. The right wing is held by Khalid bin Walid, the left wing is held by Ikrimah bin Abi Jahal, and the flag bearer is from Bani Abdi Ad-Dar (Thalhah).

The Muslims initially did not know that the Quraysh would take revenge. Rasulullah SAW’s uncle Abbas bin Abdul Muttalib was the one who provided the information. When the enemy troops were approaching Medina, he informed Rasulullah SAW by sending him a letter, then Rasulullah SAW asked Ubay bin Ka’ab to read it. Rasulullah sent several people to check the truth of the news which turned out to be true.

The Deliberations with The Companions

The book Hayatu Muhammad by Muhammad Husain Haekal explained that Rasulullah SAW gathered his friends and discussed what Muslims should do to face the enemies. They had a long discussion over it.

Some of them thought the Muslims should not attack until the enemy troops arrived at Medina, so they would be better prepared to fight and defeat them. The women and children could also help throwing stones from the top of the house. Some of them also thought that the Muslim troops should leave the city of Medina.

After a long discussion, it was finally decided that the Muslim troops would leave the city of Medina and face the enemies at the Uhud mountains. Rasulullah SAW respected and agreed to the results of the deliberations even though he was actually more inclined to choose the Muslim troops to remain in Medina.

We can find the preparation process of The Battle of Uhud in Surah Ali Imran verses 121-128 and verses 139-171.

Though the number of Muslim soldiers was smaller than the enemy, the Prophet succeeded in inflaming spirits for the Muslims and managing a well war strategy. Fifty archers were placed on the hill under the leadership of Abdullah bin Zubair. In this way, the Muslims succeeded in controlling the arena of the Battle of Uhud.

 

Unfortunately, when they almost won the battle, the archers came down from the hill because they were tempted to get the spoils of war. Previously, Rasulullah SAW had warned them to stay in position, whatever happened with the battle. As a result, conditions reversed, the Quraysh managed to control the situation until they finally won while the Muslims had to accept defeat.

The Touching Stories Behind the Battle of Uhud

The defeat of the Muslims in the Battle of Uhud made Rasulullah SAW mourn. Especially the incident that happened to the uncle of Rasulullah SAW, Sayyidina Hamzah, who was killed by Wahsyi, a slave ordered by Hindun. He was killed as an act of revenge because his father was killed by Sayyidina Hamzah during the Battle of Badr.

There is also the story of a female warrior named Nusaibah bint Ka’ab who was extraordinary. Initially, she participated in defending Islam along with other female companions by supplying logistics and caring for injured Muslim troops. But when she saw the Prophet Muhammad SAW and the Muslim army starting to be cornered, Nusaibah took up arms.

Nusaibah managed to injure 12 enemies with her sword and spear. At the same time, she protected the Prophet Muhammad SAW from enemy attacks until she was injured. Her action made Nusaibah suffer injuries all over her body.

Nusaibah’s role in the Battle of Uhud was recognized by Rasulullah SAW and his companions, even Rasulullah SAW considered Nusaibah to be superior to his male companion in the Battle of Uhud.

Lessons to be Learned

 

We can take lessons from the story of The Battle of Uhud, such as:

• Respect the decisions of the deliberations and do not act arbitrarily because you feel that you have the highest position. This is what Rasulullah SAW did when agreeing with the opinion that suggested Muslim troops to confront the Quraysh troops outside the city of Medina (Mount Uhud). Because in fact, Rasulullah SAW was even more inclined if this ambush was carried out in Medina.
• Always consistent in obeying orders and committed to the task entrusted, even though lured by worldly pleasures. Thus, there were no mistakes like what was done by the Muslim archers on the hill that had been assigned by Rasulullah SAW.
• Winning and losing in a battle is sunnatullah, something that is sure to happen. The defeat of the Muslims does not mean that Allah does not love them, because Allah SWT has a plan behind it all. Winning and losing is not the main goal, but what is more important is the intention and fighting spirit in defending Islam.

Eka Budhi Setiani

Ustadzah Eka Budhi Setiani, Lc is one of the sharia advisors at Muslim Pro. A servant of Allah who studied the science of Usuluddin at Al-Azhar University – Cairo, Egypt. Currently she is devoting her knowledge by teaching at an Islamic school managed by the Education Department in a province. In addition, together with her husband, she also manages her own Islamic boarding school in a small town in Banten Province called Ponpes Balonk Faidhul Barokaat.