The Tide Turned

When he was asked about this, he replied:

«“I did not consider it appropriate to kill a woman with the sword of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, so I left her and moved away.”»

Hazrat Hamzah رضي الله عنه was also fighting with extreme courage and self-sacrifice. On that day, Hazrat Hamzah رضي الله عنه was fighting with two swords at the same time, meaning that he had a sword in each hand. While fighting, he was saying:

«“I am the Lion of Allah.”»

At that moment, Siba‘ ibn ‘Abd al-‘Uzza came before him. Hamzah رضي الله عنه challenged him, then quickly advanced toward him and, reaching him, struck him on the head with his sword. Siba‘ immediately fell to the ground.

Hazrat Hamzah رضي الله عنه fought so bravely that day that 31 polytheists were killed by his hand.

After killing Siba‘, he bent down to remove his armor. At that moment, Hazrat Wahshi saw him. Wahshi was then among the army of the polytheists.

Because Hamzah رضي الله عنه had bent down, his armor had shifted away from his abdomen.

Wahshi used to describe the incident as follows:

«“I immediately aimed my spear and threw it. It struck him in the abdomen. I moved toward him. He saw me, and despite being severely wounded, he tried to get up and attack me. But then, because of his weakness, he fell.»

«“For some time, I remained hidden to one side. When I became certain that his soul had departed, I went near him. He had indeed been martyred.»

«“I moved away from there and returned to my place and sat down, because I was only interested in killing him. I had no desire to kill anyone else in that battle….»

«“The reason was that I had been promised that if I killed Hazrat Hamzah رضي الله عنه, I would be set free.”»

Hazrat Wahshi رضي الله عنه was the slave of Hazrat Jubayr ibn Mut‘im رضي الله عنه, and at that time he had not yet accepted Islam.

Meanwhile, when the standard-bearers of the polytheists were killed one after another and no one remained to carry their standards, discouragement spread among them. They began retreating and turned their backs and fled.

They were screaming and shouting. The women who, only a short while earlier, had been reciting verses to encourage the fighters threw away their duffs and ran toward the mountain.

They became so overwhelmed with panic that they began tearing at their clothes.

When the Muslims saw the enemy fleeing, they began pursuing them and started taking possession of their weapons and spoils.

Now, at this point, a strange incident occurred.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ had stationed fifty archers at the mountain pass and had clearly instructed them not to leave their position.

Their commander was Hazrat ‘Abdullah ibn Jubayr رضي الله عنه.

When this detachment saw the disbelievers fleeing and the Muslims collecting the spoils, they too began preparing to leave their position.

Seeing this, Hazrat ‘Abdullah ibn Jubayr رضي الله عنه said:

«“Where are you going? We must not leave this place. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ instructed us to remain firmly at our position and not move away from here.”»

His companions replied:

«“The polytheists have been defeated now. What are we going to do by staying here?”»

Hazrat ‘Abdullah ibn Jubayr رضي الله عنه continued trying to stop them, but they did not listen and went down to the battlefield.

However, Hazrat ‘Abdullah ibn Jubayr رضي الله عنه and a few companions remained there. Their number was fewer than ten.

They said to those who were going down:

«“We will never disobey the command of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.”»

Thus, fewer than ten fighters remained there.

At that moment, Hazrat Khalid ibn al-Walid noticed the mountain pass. He was the commander of one of the cavalry detachments of the disbelievers and had been positioned on the right wing of their army.

After the defeat, he was retreating from that side when he noticed the pass.

Even during the battle, he had repeatedly attempted to attack from that direction, but the shower of arrows from the fifty archers had prevented his advance.

Now he saw that instead of fifty archers, only a few Muslims remained there. He therefore attacked them with his detachment.

At the same time, ‘Ikrimah ibn Abu Jahl also turned back in that direction with his detachment.

Thus, two complete detachments attacked those few Muslims.

Their attack was so powerful that in the very first assault, Hazrat ‘Abdullah ibn Jubayr رضي الله عنه and his companions were martyred.

The polytheists mutilated the body of Hazrat ‘Abdullah ibn Jubayr رضي الله عنه. They cut off his nose, ears, hands, and feet, and his body was left covered with many spear wounds.

But honor and praise belong to this brave warrior, who did not leave his position despite the command of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

The two detachments then suddenly launched a powerful attack upon the Muslims from the rear through this mountain pass.

At that time, the Muslims were busy collecting the spoils of war. Most of them had already put their swords back into their sheaths.

This sudden and continuous attack threw them into confusion.

The disbelievers were now filled with enthusiasm and were shouting:

«“O Hubal! O ‘Uzza!”»

That is, they were calling out the names of their idols.

The Muslims became so confused by this attack that they began running in different directions.

Whatever disbelievers they had captured and whatever spoils they had already taken, they abandoned everything and fled.

At that time, the standard of the polytheists was lying on the ground.

A polytheist woman named Bint ‘Alqamah saw it. She quickly rushed forward, picked it up, and raised it high.

Until then, the polytheists who had been fleeing saw their standard raised again and turned back.

They realized that the tide of the battle had turned.

They all began running toward their standard and gathering around it, and then they attacked the Muslims, who were already in a state of confusion.

At that moment, a polytheist named Ibn Qami’ah called out:

«“Muhammad has been killed!” (God forbid.)»

This news threw the Muslims into even greater confusion.