Nasiba _ The heroine of Uhud Battle

[Jani Abro]

The deep scar on the shoulder of Nasiba, daughter of Kaab, spoke of a major wound in the past. Whenever the women, especially of the younger generation who had not seen the time of the Prophet or were too small at that time, noticed the cavity in her shoulder, they enquired with extreme curiosity about the frightening incident, which had resulted in the injury to her shoulder. They loved to hear her adventures in the battle of Uhud from her own mouth.

She had never imagined that she would fight shoulder to shoulder with her husband and two sons defending the Prophet in the battle of Uhud. She had only taken the water-skin on her back so that she could provide water to the injured and also had taken some home-made bandages to dress their wounds. She had not thought of herself as worthy of any other work on that day.

Although the Muslims were small in number and had only a limited supply of equipment's, they gave a grand defeat to the enemy who took to their heels vacating the battlefield. But soon after, due to the negligence of some men guarding the "Ainain Hills", the enemy made a surprise attack from the rear, turning the victory of the Muslims into defeat. The Muslims surrounding the Prophet fled away, leaving him almost alone in the battlefield.

When Nasiba saw this precarious situation, she put the water-skin on the ground, and took a sword in her hand. She fought with the sword and also made good use of bows and arrows; and took a shield left over by a fleeing soldier. Once she noticed a man shouting: "Where is Mohammed himself?" She approached him immediately and inflicted a few blows on him; but he was double-armored and her attacks had not much effect on him. He then inflicted such a heavy blow on the shoulder of the armor less woman that it required treatment for one year. Noticing a stream of blood gushing from her shoulder, the Prophet called to one of her sons to immediately dress her wound. He put a bandage over her shoulder and she again got busy in the battle.

Meanwhile one of her sons got injured. She took out a bandage and dressed his wound. The Prophet watching the scene smiled at the heroism of this woman. After dressing her son's wound she instructed him to get going for the battle. These words were still in her mouth when the Prophet pointed out a man to her and told her that he was the same man who had injured your son. She attacked the man like a lioness and inflicted her sword on his leg. He fell on the ground. The Prophet said, "Well, thou hast taken thy revenge. Thanks for God who gave the victory on him and made thy eyes cool."

Many Muslims were martyred and wounded. She herself was severely wounded and there was no hope of her life. After the battle of Uhud, the Prophet ordered the wounded Muslims to persue the enemy unto Hamra-ul-Asad, to be sure of their intention and condition. Nasiba also wanted to accompany them but the deep injuries did not allow her to do so. On returning from Hamra-ul-Asad, the Prophet before reaching his house sent someone to enquire about her health and was pleased to learn that she was alive.

[Shumail Aijaz]

@Jani Abro..

Dear bro what i think that the battle of Uhud was not a defeat nor victory of muslims.

What do u say?

[Hurriah]

After the battle the disbelievers also went back to their mounts with their injured and dying victims. Thus was the Battle of Uhud brought to an end, leaving behind seventy martyrs among the Muslims and twenty two perished among the unbelievers; with our victims going to paradise and theirs going to Hell.

The Battle of Uhud was a victory for us, not a defeat. The battle is full of lessons and admonitions. Its events are a bright legacy that Muslims inherit generation after generation. Sixty verses were revealed concerning the events of this great battle and they had a great impact on the mind of the Prophet (saaw) and he continued to refer to them even upon his deathbed.

[Jani Abro]

@ Shumail Aijaz

Hurriah has given a beautiful comment on the outcome of battle Uhud. To elaborate it further, i m giving an excerpt from an article written by Za'd Al-Ma'ad:

"Ibn Al-Qaiyim has made a pointed reference to the battle of Uhud and given full elucidation of the Divine benefits and moralities that resulted from it. Some Muslim scholars, on the authority of Ibn Hajar, said:The reverse in Uhud resulted from the neglect on the part of the archers of the explicit command of the Prophet [pbuh], and leaving the spot which they were ordered to safeguard to the end.In other words, the success of the Muslims depends upon their obedience to the Prophet [pbuh]. As long as they carry out his behests, Allâh will help them in facing all kinds of odds. But when they will set aside his commands in their pursuit of worldly riches, they are bound to come to grief. Another relevant issue of great significance says that it is customary for Prophets to be tried with different adversities; nevertheless, the final outcome is positively in their favour. Should the Muslims be victorious all the time, great many pretenders to Faith will enter the fold of Islam, and consequently the clear line of demarcation between true believers and hypocrites will become blurred. Contrarily, if the Muslims were to be defeated all the time, the final objective of the ministry of Prophets will not be effected. It is wise then to combine both success and failure so that sifting between true Muslims and hypocrites could be realized.

In the aftermath of the battle of Uhud, the hypocrites disclosed their real intentions in words and in deeds, consequently, the Muslims got to realize the existence of those wicked elements working secretly in their own homeland; and of course there would be appropriate measures to be taken in due course of time.

A third point in this context refers to purposeful deferment of victory in some areas in order to check the pride of the soul and teach the believers how to observe full patience in times of adversity. Trials and tests are provided by Allâh in order that the true believers could deservedly occupy their abode in the blessed Hereafter. Martyrdom, the highest ranks that the true friends of Allâh could occupy, is provided by Allâh to function as a passport, granted by the Lord, leading to Paradise. In brief, fight in the cause of Allâh is a golden opportunity for the true believers to have their sins effaced, and a Divinely-devised event for the disbelievers and enemies of Allâh to face destruction and annihilation in recompense for their disbelief, tyranny and transgression."