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The Battle of Uhud – A Turning Point in Early Islamic History

The Battle of Uhud — Simple English

After the heavy defeat at Badr, the people of Makkah gathered an army of about 3,000 men and set out to attack the Muslims. The Muslims prepared about 1,000 men to defend Medina. Again the numbers were similar to Badr: the enemy had three times as many soldiers. Among the Makkans was a young and talented man named Khalid ibn al-Walid.


The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) advised staying inside Medina and defending from the town, but most of the companions wanted to go out and fight in the open desert. The Prophet accepted the majority’s view and the Muslim army left Medina. The 1,000 Companions were divided into groups — Muhajirun and Ansar. Only about 100 of them had body armor and shields, and there were only around 50 horses.


The Quraysh army stopped at the place of Uhud and waited. Abu Sufyan was now the leader of the Quraysh force. On his left was Ikrimah (son of Abu Jahl) and on the right Khalid ibn al-Walid led the horsemen.

Before the battle began, a large group of hypocrites led by Abdullah ibn Ubayy left the Muslim army. About 300 of them went away, so only around 700 Muslims remained to fight. This was a planned betrayal by those hypocrites.


The Prophet ﷺ placed 50 archers on a small hill to protect the Muslim rear. He gave them a clear order: under no circumstances should they leave their post. He told them, if you see Muslims winning, do not come down; and if you see defeat even then do not move — hold your position.

At first the battle went well for the Muslims. They pushed the enemy back and many Makkans began to run. It seemed the Muslims had won. But in excitement, 41 of the archers left their posts to collect the spoils of war, leaving only 9 archers on the hill.

Exactly at that moment Khalid ibn al-Walid and his cavalry used the open path behind the hill and attacked swiftly. Because the archers had abandoned the post, the enemy was able to attack from the rear. The situation changed suddenly. The Muslims, who had been winning, were now caught between two forces.


Many Muslims were martyred. The great warrior Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib was killed by an Abyssinian slave named Wahshi. During the fighting a rumor spread that the Prophet ﷺ had been killed. This happened because someone—Mus‘ab ibn Umair—who resembled the Prophet had been killed, and the enemy believed they had slain the Prophet.


The Prophet ﷺ himself was injured; one of his teeth was broken. The remaining Companions rescued him and moved him to the mountain for protection. From the high ground they reformed their ranks and held their position. The enemy’s horses could not climb the mountain easily, and without their cavalry speed, the Quraysh could not fully take advantage.

After some time, Abu Sufyan decided the main goals of the attack were not achieved and ordered his army to return to Makkah. He had wanted to kill the Prophet and capture Medina, but neither objective was fulfilled.

Many historians call Uhud an important lesson for the Muslims: although they suffered heavy losses, the enemy did not achieve their main aims. The Muslims learned a bitter but vital lesson — never to disobey clear orders from their leader during battle. In the following years, when the Muslims fought larger powers, they kept this lesson in mind and did not break their commanders’ orders.

After Uhud, Abu Sufyan began preparing another large army from across Arabia to seek revenge. The Muslims mourned their martyrs but continued to learn and grow stronger.

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