Thursday, 19 April 2012

The Face of the Battle (MOP)


      Message of Peace - Justice P K Shamsuddin     

        The Meccans advanced to the Muslim ranks under the leadership of the Medinan exile Abu Amir. They Muslims threw stones at them and they had to retire.  Hamsa, the uncle of Mohammed was the most courageous of fighters and he killed a number of people in the enemy lines. He distinguished himself in the battle field. The Meccan banner bearer Talhah ibn Abi Talhah al-‘Abdari challenged the Muslims for a duel. Ali, the cousin of Mohammed rushed forward and killed him a single blow. Then came in Uthman and he was killed by Hamza ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib. Other family members of Talhah ibn Abi Talhah al-‘Abdari rushed forward to retrieve the Meccan banner and all of them were killed. The whole family perished. The death of the banner bearers heightened the morale of the Muslims and shook the hearts of the pagans. Following the death of the banner bearers, the Muslims undertook a general offensive led by Ali, Al-Hamzah, Abu Dujanh, and others. Following the duels, the Meccan confidence quickly began to dissolve as the Muslims swept through their ranks. Though the Meccan women were encouraging the Meccan army was pushed back, and repeated attempts by its cavalry to overrun the left Muslim flank were negated by the Muslim archers.
        It is learnt from the verses, which Hind and other women were reciting with tambourines to instigate the warriors of Quraysh and to incite them to blood-shed and revenge, that these people were not fighting for the sake of spirituality, purity, freedom and moral virtues. On the contrary they were prompted by sexual and material consideration. The song which the women sang with tambourine and a particular tune amongst the rows of the army was: "We are the daughters of Tariq. We walk on costly carpets. If you face the enemy we shall sleep with you, but if you show your back to the enemy and flee, we shall disengage ourselves from you".            Muhammad ordered the Muslim archers to never under any circumstances leave their positions on the hill unless ordered to do so by him only. He said, "If you saw us prevail and start to take spoils, do not come to assist us. And if you saw us get vanquished and birds eat from our heads, do not come to assist us." There were two types of people in the Muslim ranks – the Muslims and the Hypocrites.



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