Islamic History

Battle of Uhud or Ghazwa e Uhud is great Islamic battle. This early Islamic battle is of great Significance. The defeat at Badar was a blot on the honor of the Meccans of which they were greatly ashamed. So the next year they attacked Medina with a large force which is many times bigger from Muslims . The Muslims could only muster 700 armed men. The Prophet PBUH, realizing the seriousness of the occasion, gave strict instructions to his followers. He laid plan of attack and defense, ordering archers to keep to their positions unless told to move; but the inexperienced Muslims forgot all these instructions in the excitement of the battle. They began to fight without plan, and after beating back a flank of the Meccans army, fell on the Meccans camp without making sure that the enemy had been really defeated.

The result was that the Meccans reserves, led by a brilliant commander, Khalid bin Walid, came upon them suddenly and scattered them. The Prophet PBUH himself was wounded and he fell. A cry rose; ‘The Prophet is slain’. This demoralized the Muslims further and many fled. The battle of Uhad ended in the temporary defeat, and the Muslims of Medina were shamed before their prophet. But the Prophet PBUH was no ordinary man; he gathered his men together, read them a lecture, rebuked them for their folly, exhorted them to obey orders in future, and led the chastened Medinites out to face the victorious Meccans once more. He came up with them in the early hours of the next morning. When the day dawned, the Meccans were running from battle field and Prophet PBUH had turned the defeat into victory.

Battle of Uhad is important in many ways. First of all it shows the real face of the Jews of Medina who betrayed the Muslims and left them alone in battle field. Meccans/Quraish lost their 12 leaders in this war and Hazrat Ali killed 8 of them. Total 69 companions of Muhammad PBUH martyred in Ghazwa e Uhad. Although Muslims almost lost the war due to negligence of archers but at the end they were considered as victorious because invaders fail to capture Medina.

The most important and first battle of Islam was the Battle of Badar or Ghazwa e Badar. The Meccans were strong, and pound of their wealth and their position. To fight them, strategy was required. The Prophet PBUH decided to strike at the root of these two things. Their wealth depended on their trade with the land of Syria, that is, the Mediterranean littoral, so the trade route to Syria must be cut. The Meccans considered themselves the best of the Arabs in everything, evening valour, so they must be proved wrong. The Prophet send a small patrol of Muslims with the order that the next caravan to Mecca which was, of course, escorted by fighters, be attacked. As it happened, the caravan was led by the chief man of Mecca, the arch-enemy of Islam, Abu Sufyan himself. Abu Sufyan was clever man. He had a strong guard with him, but realizing the danger, he sent a swift messenger to Mecca for aid. Meanwhile the Muslims came up under the leadership of the Great Prophet Muhammad PBUH. They were only about 300 strong, and the Meccans numbered 1000.

These are small numbers, but with these forces one of the decisive battles of the world was fought at Badr in A.D.623, the second year of the Hijrah, the Muslims were inspired by faith, they never doubted for an instant that they would win. They swept the Meccans off the field. It was a great victory. Many prisoners were taken and much booty, but he prophet PBUH showed great diplomacy and foresight; rejecting vengeful advice, he held the Meccans to ransom and treated them well. Battle of Badar or Ghazwa e Badar is Great Islamic Battle established the Muslim rule in Medina and also considered as foundation of Great Muslim Empire.