After the Battle of Badr the Meccans wanted revenge.
They raised an army and marched to Medina. There they camped outside of the
town waiting for the Muslims. Mohammed wanted to wait until the Meccans
attacked the town.
He figured he could use it for a defence. Many of his
hot-headed warriors now felt invincible however. They wanted to march out to meet
them. Mohammed finally agreed and marched out with his men to meet the Meccans
at a place called Uhud.
The battle began well for the Muslims, who now fought
with suicidal bravery. They believed that death would lead them to Paradise. In
the heat of the battle, the Meccans were cut off from their camp which held
their supplies and valuables.
Mohammed had set a group of archers to protect his
rear. Seeing that the Meccans were cut off from their camp, these archers ran
forward. They wanted to be first to grab the booty. This left Mohammed's army
exposed and the Meccan cavalry charged smashing apart the Muslim’s defences.
Mohammed had to run for his life and his army was
soundly defeated. Fortunately for him, the Meccans did not press their
advantage. They had come for tribal justice and this had been extracted. Like
most human societies which resort to violence, the Meccans had an objective.
Once
this objective had been achieved, they put down their weapons and went back to
their lives.
For many Muslims, the defeat at Uhud was a stark
reality check. They had believed that Allah was behind them and they were
therefore invincible. Mohammed, cunning as ever, used the setback to his
advantage.
He explained to the Muslims that Allah was testing
them. If he gave them nothing but easy victories, Allah would never see who his
true followers were. It was also important for the Muslims to learn that they
were fighting primarily for the glory of Allah and the advancement of Islam.
The spoils of war were really just fringe benefits. Concentrating on the
pleasures of this life had caused them to be defeated. Allah was displeased
with them.
From the Koran:
3:140 If you have
been wounded, be certain that the same has already befallen your enemies. We
bring misfortune to mankind in turns so that Allah can discern who are the true
believers and so that we may select Martyrs from among you. Allah does not love
those who do evil.
3:142 Did you think
that you would be permitted into Paradise before Allah tested you to see who would
fight for his cause [Jihad] and endure until the end?
Author’s Comments:
In war, one of the most important factors for victory
is to maintain good morale amongst your troops. When you are having constant successes
this is easy, but a string of defeats can cause soldiers to give up hope and
lose the will to fight.
Mohammed, with his usual brilliance, gave his fighters
divine inspiration to fight through victory or defeat. Don’t fight just for
victory he told them, Allah has assured us of that; fight so that Allah can
judge your devotion to him and he will reward you with Paradise. This is the
next rule of Jihad, which ensures that Muslim fighters always have high morale,
even when they are in a hopeless situation.
Rules of Jihad:
7) Never ever give up, even when you are being beaten.
After the battle of Uhud, Mohammed once again sent out
assassins to kill the leader of a group who opposed him. With Mohammed's
blessing they deceived the man into believing that they were friends, using his
trust to get close enough to kill him. Mohammed used this type of deceitful
operation many times to kill political opponents.
From The Sira:
I681 One of the Ghatafans
approached Mohammed saying he was a Muslim but no one else knew it. Mohammed
told him, “Go and sow distrust among our enemies. War is deceit.”
And from Bukhari’s Hadith:
B4,52,268 Mohammed said,
“War is deceit.”
Mohammed was a master of psychology and regularly used
deceit to gain advantage over his enemies. He also encouraged his followers to
do the same.
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