The Battle of Uhud (7)

In the ravine

When the Muslims came out of the siege and holed themselves up in the ravine, some individual skirmishes continued between the Muslims and pagan soldiers. The pagans chose to engage in small strikes rather than start another large-scale battle.

They would remain in the battlefield for short periods, men and women alike hunting for their fallen Muslim enemies and mutilating them, Abu Sufyan’s wife, Hind bint Utbah, had thirsted for Hamzah’s blood since she had lost her kinsmen to Hamzah’s sword. When she saw Hamzah’s body, in a gruesome act of vendetta she cut out his belly, extracted his liver, and chewed it, but as she could not swallow it, she spat it out.

Ubayy bin Khalaf made another effort to kill the Prophet , but was himself struck down. The Prophet used his lance to unhorse Ubayy, who bellowed like a wounded ox as he rolled down from his mount. He died at Sarf near Makkah trying to go back to his lines.

A few more men of the Quraysh came headed by Abu Sufyan and Khalid bin Waleed. They scaled the mountain at different points to overtake the Muslims at several places. Umar, along with a band of Muhajireen, fought them back and forced them to descend. According to some sources, Sa’d bin Abi Waqqas shot three of their men dead with his arrows.

Abu Sufyan and Khalid bin Waleed decided after the last abortive attempt to defeat the Muslims that it was time to return to Makkah. They were satisfied at the damage they had wrought. Even though they had lost twenty-two of their own, they had killed a great number of Muslims. The Muslim body count stood at seventy. Forty-one of the martyrs were from the Khazraj tribe, twenty-four from the Aus, and four from the Muhajireen. A Jew was also killed.

At the Muslim camp, it was time to rest and take stock. When the Prophet finally sat down to rest, Ali fetched water for him to drink from Mehra, a stream in Uhud. The water smelled so unpleasant, the Prophet couldn’t drink it. However, he washed his face with it and the rest he poured over his head. His wound started bleeding again, and Fatimah burnt a piece of matting and dressed her father’s wounds with the ashes to stop the bleeding.

Muhammad bin Muslimah fetched fresh water that the Prophet drank gratefully. Because of his wounds, he prayed Zuhr sitting, and his Companions adopted the same posture.

The Muslim men were joined by their women who tended to the injured. Among them were Aishah, Umm Ayman, Umm Sulaym and Umm Sulayt who fetched drinking water in leather flasks, and served it to the wounded.