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 The archers squad whom the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) located on the Archers Mountain, had the upper hand in administering the war activities to go in favour of the Muslim army. The Makkan horsemen — commanded by Khalid bin Al-Waleed, supported by Abu ‘Amir Al-Fâsiq — had for three times attacked the left wing of the Muslim army with the aim of crushing it and then infiltrating into the rear to create a sort of confusion and disorder in the ranks of the Muslims and subsequently inflict heavy defeat on them.

While the small army of Islam were recording the second absolute and clear victory over the Makkans — which was no less in splendour and glory than the first one at Badr — the majority of the archers on the mountainside committed a fatal mistake that turned the whole situation upside down, and constituted a source of heavy losses amongst the Muslims. It has almost brought about the murder of the Prophet (Peace be upon him), and left a very bad impression on the fame and dignity they deservedly earned at Badr Battle.

The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) was then among a small group of fighters — nine in number at the rear of the army, watching the engagement and braving the Muslim fighters. Khalid and his men took him by utter surprise, and obliged him to follow either of two options:

To flee for his life and abandon his army to its doomed end, or
To take action at the risk of his life, rally the ranks of the Muslims again and work their way through the hills of Uhud towards the encompassed army.

After the fall of Ibn Sakan, the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) remained alone with only those two Quraishites. In a version by Abu ‘Uthman — authorized in As-Sahihain— he said: “At that time, there were none with the Prophet (Peace be upon him) except Talha bin ‘Ubaidullâh and Sa‘d bin Abi Waqqas. That was the most awkward and dangerous hour for the Prophet (Peace be upon him), but it was a golden opportunity for the idolaters who promptly took advantage of it. They concentrated their attack on the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and looked forward to killing him.

That was the last attack made by the idolaters against the Prophet (Peace be upon him). Being almost certain of his death, the idolaters returned to their camp and started preparations to go back to Makkah. Some of them involved themselves in mutilating the killed Muslims, and so did their women. Women and men cut off the ears, the noses, the genitals of the martyrs. They even cut open their bellies. Hind bin ‘Utbah — for instance — ripped open the liver of Hamzah and chewed it; but finding it unpleasant, she spat it out.

The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) supervised the martyrs’ burial and said: “I bear witness that anyone who is wounded in the way of Allâh, Allâh will resurrect him with his wound bleeding a liquid which is blood-like in colour but musk-like in scent.”

The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) on his part, spent the night pondering over the situation. He feared that the idolaters might think — while they were still on their way to Makkah — of reversing their way and diverting to Madinah after they had realized that they had availed nothing of that victory. They might regret and decide to invade Madinah as a compensation. Therefore the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) was determined to go out in pursuit of the Makkan army.

Some Qur’ânic verses were revealed to shed light on the most decisive phases of the battle successively, adduce quite clearly the cause that led to that heavy loss, and illustrate the vulnerable areas that were still persisting in the souls of some believers as regards their duties in forging a decisive attitude with respect to the noble objectives for which the Muslim Community, was created and was supposed to accomplish.

Ibn Al-Qaiyim has made a pointed reference to the battle of Uhud and given full elucidation of the Divine benefits and moralities that resulted from it. Some Muslim scholars, on the authority of Ibn Hajar, said: The reverse in Uhud resulted from the neglect on the part of the archers of the explicit command of the Prophet (Peace be upon him), and leaving the spot which they were ordered to safeguard to the end. In other words, the success of the Muslims depends upon their obedience to the Prophet (Peace be upon him).

The first people to take up arms against the Muslims in the aftermath of Uhud reverse were Banu Asad bin Khuzaimah. “The Intelligence Corps” of Madinah reported that Talhah and Salamah, sons of Khuwailid have mustered some volunteers to fight the Messenger of Allâh (Peace b upon him). The Prophet (Peace be upon him) immediately despatched a 150-man-platoon of Helpers and Emigrants headed by Abu Salamah.