Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum (The Sealed Nectar).* Excellent Biography of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ Episode 106

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*Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum (The Sealed Nectar).*

Excellent Biography of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

Episode 106

*THE MOST AWKWARD HOUR IN THE MESSENGER'S LIFE*

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. 

‘Utbah bin Abi Waqqas pelted him with stones. One of the stones fell on his face. His lower right 

incisor Ruba‘iya (i.e. the tooth that is between a canine and a front tooth) was injured. His lower lip 

was wounded. He was also attacked by ‘Abdullah bin Shihab Az-Zuhri who cleaved his forehead. 

‘Abdullah bin Qami’a (Qami’a means ‘a humiliated woman’), who was an obstinate strong horseman, 

struck him violently on his shoulder with his sword; and that stroke hurt the Messenger of Allâh 

(Peace be upon him) for over a month — though it was not strong enough to break his two armours. 

He dealt a heavy blow on his cheek. It was so strong that two rings of his iron-ringed helmet 

penetrated into his holy cheek. “Take this stroke from me, I am Ibn Qami’a.” He said w hile striking 

the Messenger with his sword. The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) replied — while he was 

wiping the blood flowing on his face: “I implore Allâh to humiliate you.” (i.e. Aqma’aka Allâh). In Al-

Bukhâri it is stated his incisor broke, his head was cleaved, and that he started wiping the blood off 

it and saying: “(I wonder) how can peopwho cut the face of their Prophet (Peace be upon him) and 

break the incisor of his — he who calls them to worship Allâh. How can such people thrive or be 

successful?” About that incident, Allâh, Glory is to Him, sent down a Qur’ânic verse saying: 

• “Not for you [O Muhammad (Peace be upon him) but for Allâh] is the decision; whether 

He turns in mercy to (pardons) them or punishes them; verily, they are the Zâlimûn

(polytheists, disobedients, and wrong-doers).” [3:128] 

At-Tabarani states that the P rophet (Peace be upon him) said: “Allâh’s Wrath is great on those who 

besmear the face of His Messenger,” observed silence for a short while and then resumed saying: 

• “O Allâh, forgive my people for they have no knowledge.” 

In Sahih Muslim it is stated that the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) said: 

• “My Lord, forgive my people for they have no knowledge.” 

In Ash-Shifa — a book by ‘Ayad Al-Qadi — it is related that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: 

• “O Allâh, guide my people for they have no knowledge.” 

It is quite certain that killing the Prophet (Peace be upon him) was their primary aim, but the two 

Quraishites — Sa‘d bin Abi Waqqas and Talha bin ‘Ubaidullâh, who showed great and rare courage and fought so fiercely and boldly that — though they were only two — were able to stop the idolaters short of realizing their aim. They were of the best skillful Arab archers and kept on militating in defence of the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) till the whole squad of idolaters was driven off him (Peace be upon him). 

The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) emptied his quiver of arrows and said to Sa‘d bin Abi Waqqas: “Shoot, an arrow Sa‘d. May my father and mother be sacrified for you.” The Prophet (Peace be upon him) had never gathered his parents except in the case of Sa‘d — a privilege 

granted to him for his efficiency. 

In a version by Jabir — authorized by An-Nasa’i — concerning the attitude of Talha bin ‘Ubaidullâh 

towards the gathering of idolaters around the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) — when 

there were only some Helpers with him — Jabir said: “When the idolaters reached him, the 

Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) said: ‘Who will suffice us their evils (i.e. fight them back)?’ 

Talha said: ‘I will.’” Then Jabir mentioned the advance of the Helpers to fight and how they were 

killed one after the other in a similar way to Muslim’s narration — “When all the Helpers were killed, 

Talha proceeded forward to fight as much as the other eleven ones did till his hand was hurt and his 

fingers were cut off. So he said: ‘Be they cut off!’ The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: ‘If you had 

said: In the Name of Allâh, the angels would have raised you up before the people’s very eyes.’” 

Then he said: “Allâh drove the idolaters off them.” In Al-Ikleel — a book by Hakim — it is stated that 

Talha had sustained thirty-nine or thirty-five wounds, and his fingers (i.e. the forefinger and the one 

next to it — got paralyzed. 

In a version by Qais bin Abi Hâzim — authorized by Al-Bukhari, he said: “I saw the hand of Talha 

paralyzed. That was because he protected the Prophet (Peace be upon him) with it in Uhud Battle.” 

At-Tirmidhi stated that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) then said about Talha: “He who desires to 

see a martyr walking on the ground, let him look at Talha bin ‘Ubaidullâh.” 

Abu Da’ûd At-Tayalisi on the authority of ‘Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her), said: “Whenever 

Uhud Day (i.e. battle) was mentioned, Abu Bakr used to say: ‘That was Talha’s day (i.e. battle)’. 

Abu Bakr recited a verse of poetry about him: ‘O Talha bin ‘Ubaidullâh! Paradise is due to you as 

water-springs are due to deer to drink out of.’ At the awkward and most delicate circumstances, 

Allâh, Glory is to Him, sent down His invisible Help. In a version by Sa‘d — cleared and authorized in 

Sahih Al-Bukhari and Muslim — he said: “I saw the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) on 

Uhud Day with two men — dressed in white defending him fiercely — I have never seen similar to 

them neither before Uhud nor after it.” In another version: “He means to say that they were Gabriel 

and Michael”. 

All those events happened in no time. If the Prophet ’s elite Companions had realized the grave 

situation immediately, they would have rushed on the spot and would not have left him sustain 

these wounds. Unfortunately, they got there after the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) had 

been wounded and six of the Helpers killed, the seventh was staggering under the brunt of wounds 

and desperately militating in defence of the Prophet (Peace be upon him). However as soon as they 

arrived they encircled the Messenger with their bodies and weapons and were alert enough to 

prevent the enemies from reaching him. The first one who returned to give help, was his cavemate 

Abu Bakr As-Siddiq (May Allah be pleased with him).

In a version by ‘Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) recorded in Ibn Hibban’s Sahih, she narrated 

that Abu Bakr had said: 

“When it was Uhud Day and at the time that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) was left behind, I was

the first to go back and see him. Before him I saw a man fighting to shield him from the enemies. I 

said to myself: ‘I wish he were Talha. Let my father and mother be sacrificed for you. (O Allâh) Let 

him be Talha! Let my parents be sacrificed for you!’ On the way, I was overtaken by Abu ‘Ubaidah 

bin Al-Jarrah, who was then moving as swiftly as a bird. We both rushed to dress the Prophet ’s 

wounds. There we found Talha suffering from serious wounds before the Messenger of Allâh (Peace 

be upon him). The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: ‘See to your brother. His deed entitled him for 

an abode in Paradise.’ I noticed that two rings of the iron-ringed helmet had penetrated his cheek. 

So I set out to take them out; but Abu ‘Ubaidah demanded: ‘By Allâh, O Abu Bakr — I beseech you, 

let me do it myself.’ Fearing to hurt the Prophet (Peace be upon him) he started pulling one of the 

two rings out very slowly and carefully with his mouth. Then he pulled the arrow out by his mouth, 

too. Consequently, his front tooth fell. Then I proceeded to pull the second out; but Abu ‘Ubaidah 

besought me to leave it: ‘O, Abu Bakr, I adjure you by Allâh to let me do it.’ He pulled the second 

ring very slowly and carefully with his mouth — till it came out. The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be 

upon him) said: ‘See to your brother. He has proved to be worthy of being housed in Paradise.’ We 

approached Talha to cure him but found out that he had had some ten sword-strokes in his body. 

(This showed how efficiently Talha had fought and struggled on that day).” 

At those awkward moments of that day, a group of Muslim heroes gathered around the Prophet 

(Peace be upon him) forming a shield to protect him from the idolaters. Some of them were Abu 

Dujana, Mus‘ab bin ‘Umair, ‘Ali bin Abi Talib, Sahl bin Haneef, Malik bin — Sinan the father of Abu 

Sa‘îd Al-Khudri, Umm‘Amara, Nusaiba bint Ka‘b Al-Mâziniya, Qatada bin An-Nu‘man, ‘Umar bin Al-

Khattab, Hatib bin Abi Balta‘a and Abu Talha. 

The number of idolaters was steadily increasing; and their attacks, naturally, got severer. Their 

press had increased to an extent that the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) fell into one of 

the holes dug and designed by Abu ‘Amir Al-Fasiq to be used as traps. His knee scratched and ‘Ali 

helped him by grasping his hand up. Talha bin ‘Ubaidullâh took him in his lap till he could stand

upright. Nafi‘ bin Jubair said: I heard an Emigrant say: “I have witnessed Uhud Battle and watched 

how arrows had been hurled from all directions at the Prophet (Peace be upon him). None o f them 

however hit him. ‘Abdullah, bin Shihab Az-Zuhri said: ‘Guide me to Muhammad (Peace be upon 

him)! By Allâh, If I didn’t kill him, I would not hope to live.’ Although the Messenger of Allâh (Peace 

be upon him) was next to him, alone — but he did not o bserve him. Safwan, a co-polytheist of his, 

blamed him (for not translating his words into deeds), but ‘Abdullah swore that he did not see him 

[the Prophet (Peace be upon him)] and added that he might be immune to our attempts on his life. 

He also said that four of them pledged to maa fresh attempt and kill him, but also to no avail. 

The Muslims showed unprecedented rare heroism and marvellous sacrifices. Abu Talha — for 

instance — shielded the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) by his body and used his chest to 

protect him against the enemy arrows. Anas related that on Uhud Day when people dispersed off 

the Prophet (Peace be upon him), Abu Talhah was a skillful sort of archer who would pull arrows so 

much that he broke two or three bows that day. When a man passed along with a quiver full of 

arrows, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) would say: “Spread the arrows to Abu Talhah!” Then when 

the Prophet (Peace be upon him) watched people shooting, Abu Talhah would say: “I sacrifice my 

father and mother for your safety. Do not go too close lest an arrow of theirs should hit you. I would 

rather die than see you hurt.” 

Abu Dujana stood before the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) and used to protect him from 

the arrows by his back. Hatib bin Balta‘a followed ‘Utbah bin Abi Waqqas — who broke the 

honourable incisor [of the Prophet (Peace be upon him)] — struck him with the sword, cracked his 

head and took his mare and sword. Sa‘d bin Abi Waqqas was so keen to kill his brother ‘Utbah, but 

he could not; however, Hatib could. 

Sahl bin Haneef — a hero archer — who had pledged to die in the cause of Allâh, also played a 

prominent part in Uhud hostilities. 

The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) himself was involved in shooting arrows. In a version 

by Qatadah bin An-Nu‘man that the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) shot so many arrows 

that the two ends of his bow were flattened. So Qatadah bin An-Nu‘man took it to remain with him 

for good. On that day his eye was so hurt that it fell down onto his cheek; but the Messenger of 

Allâh (Peace be upon him) reput it in its socket with his hand and it became the better and the more 

sharp-sighted of the two. 

On that day ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Awf kept on fighting till his mouth was hurt and got broken. He 

sustained over twenty wounds, some in his leg, and that lamed him. 

Malik bin Sinan, the father of Abi Sa‘eed Al-Khudri sucked the blood out of the Prophet ’s cheek till 

he cleaned it. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: “Spit it!”. But Malik said: “By Allâh, I will 

never spit it”. Then he set out to fight. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) then said: “He who wants 

to see a man of the people of Paradise, let him look at this one.” No sooner had he resumed fighting 

than he was martyred in the thick of the battle. 

Umm ‘Amarah participated in the fight too. She encountered Ibn Qami’a in combat, and sustained a 

slight wound on her shoulder, but she herself also struck him with her sword several times but he 

survived because he was wearing two armours. She, however, went on striking until her wounds 

counted twelve. 

Mus‘ab bin ‘Umair, in his turn, fought fiercely and violently defending the Prophet (Peace be upon 

him) against the attacks of Ibn Qami’a and his fellows. He was carrying the standard with his right 

hand. In the process of fighting, it was cut off, so he grabbed the standard in his left hand till this 

was also amputated so he knelt down and shielded it with his chest and neck. Ibn Qami’a then killed 

him, mistaking him for the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) on account of resemblance in 

appearance. Only then did Ibn Qami’a shout ‘Muhammad (Peace be upon him) has been killed.’ 

No sooner had Ibn Qami’a uttered that ominous sentence than consternation spread among 

Muhammad’s followers, and their morale was drastically reduced. Consequently, confusion and a 

miserable state of disorder prevailed amongst them. Whilst the rumours managed to adversely act 

amongst the Muslims, it alleviated the sharp impact of the assaults of the polytheists who came to 

believe that they did really achieve their final objective and so they turned towards mutilating the 

dead bodies. 

When Mus‘ab was killed, the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) delivered the standard to ‘Ali 

bin Abi Talib. ‘Ali, in conjunction with the other Companions, went on fighting bravely and set 

marvellous examples of heroism, courage and endurance in both defence and attack. 

Then the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) made his way to his encircled army. Ka‘b bin 

Malik, who was the first one to recognize the approaching Prophet (Peace be upon him), shouted as 

loudly as he could: “O folks of Muslims, be cherished! The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) 

is here.” But the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) signed to him to stop lest his position 

should be located by the idolaters. Upon hearing the shout, the Muslims immediately raced towards 

the source of the shout which brought about thirty Companions to gather around the Prophet (Peace be upon him). With this assembled number of his Companions, the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be 

upon him) started drawing a planned withdrawal to the hillocks nearby. 

Hostilities of the enemy grew fiercer than ever with the aim of foiling the plan of withdrawal of the 

Muslims. Their attempts however proved to be fruitless due to the heroic steadfastness of the lions 

of Islam. 

‘Uthman bin ‘Abdullah bin Al-Mugheerah — one of the enemy horsemen — progressed towards the 

Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) while saying: “Either I kill him [i.e. Muhammad (Peace be 

upon him)] or I will be killed.” The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) moved to encounter him 

but his mare tripped into some holes. So Al-Harith bin As-Simma combated with the enemy, and 

struck him on his leg so he went lame, then he finished him off, took his arm and overtook the 

Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him). 

But later on another Makkan horseman, called ‘Abdullah bin Jabir, attacked Al-Harith bin As-Simma, 

and struck him on the shoulder with his sword and he was carried to the camp of the Muslims 

suffering from serious wounds. Anyway that very idolater did not escape death, for Abu Dujana —

the red head-banded hero and adventurer — struck him heavily and cut his head off. 

During this bitter fight, a desire to sleep overwhelmed the Muslims — that was a security and 

tranquillity to help His slave Muslims as the Qur’ân spoke in this context. Abu Talhah said: “I was 

one of those who were possessed by a desire to sleep on Uhud Day. On that day my sword fell off 

my hand several times. Again and again it fell down and again and again I picked it up.” 

In a regular withdrawal and with great bravery and boldness, the Muslims finally retreated to the 

cover of Mountain Uhud. Then, the rest of the army followed them to that safe position. In this 

manner, the genius of Muhammad (Peace be upon him) foiled that of Khalid bin Al-Waleed. 

Ibn Ishaq related that: “When the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) was going up the hillock, 

he was followed by Ubai bin Khalaf who was saying: ‘Where is Muhammad (Peace be upon him)? 

Either I kill him or I will be killed.’ The Companions of Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said: ‘O 

Messenger of Allâh, do you mind if one of us combats with him?’ But the Messenger of Allâh (Peace 

be upon him) said: ‘Leave him!’ So when he drew nearer, the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon 

him) took the spear from Al-Harith bin As-Simma. He shivered violently in such a way that made all 

of them scatter in all directions violently and impulsively. Then he faced him, observed his clavicle 

through a gap between the wide opening of the armour and the part of his neck enclosed by. He 

speared him in that spot. The effect of the stroke was so strong that it made him roll off his horse 

over and over. When he returned to Quraish, they found that he had only had a s mall scratch in his 

neck. So when blood became congested he said: ‘By Allâh, Muhammad has killed me.’ Hearing him 

say so, they said: ‘By Allâh you are afraid to death. By Allâh, you are possessed by a devil.’ He 

replied: ‘He had already told me when we were in Makkah: ‘I will kill you.’ By Allâh, had he spate on 

me, he would have killed me.’ Eventually, the enemy of Allâh breathed his last at a place called 

Sarif, while they were taking him back to Makkah.” In a version by Abul-Aswad, on the authority of 

‘Urwa: He was lowinglike a bull and saying: “By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, if (the pain) I 

am suffering from now were distributed among the people of Al-Majaz, it would cause them to die.” 

During the withdrawal of the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) up to the cover of the 

mountain, a big rock blocked his way. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) tried to mount it, but 

having worn a short heavy armour, and being seriously wounded — he could not ascend it. Readily 

enough Talha sat in a position that e nabled the Prophet (Peace be upon him) to stand on his back. 

Then he lifted him up till he stood on it. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) then said: “Talha, after 

this job, is eligible for the Garden (Paradise).” 

When the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon h im) settled down in his head quarters in the hillock, 

the idolaters started their last attack upon the Muslims. Ibn Ishaq related that: “While the Prophet 

(Peace be upon him) was on the way to the hillock, a group of Quraishite elite ascended the 

mountain. They were led by Khalid bin Al-Waleed and Abu Sufyan. So the Messenger of Allâh (Peace 

be upon him) implored his Lord saying: ‘O Allâh, they (i.e. the idolaters) should not be higher (i.e. in 

position or in power) than us (i.e. the Muslims). Therefore ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab and some of the 

Emigrants fought the idolaters till they drove them down the mountain. 

In Al-Maghazi — a book by Al-Umawi — it is stated that the idolaters went up the mountain. So the 

Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) said to Sa‘d: “Drive them off.” “How can I drive them off by 

myself (i.e. without anyone to assist).” But the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) repeated 

the phrase three times. Sa‘d then took an arrow out of his quiver, shot it at one of them and killed 

him. He said: “Then I took another one I know (to be good) and I shot with it another man. Then I 

took a third I know and killed a third one. Consequently they climbed down the mountain. I said to 

myself, ‘this must be a blessed arrow.’ I put it in my quiver.” He kept it with him till he died. His 

children kept it with them ever after.