The 7th of Shawwal marks the day of the Battle of Uhud. 

The Battle of Uhud took place a year after the Battle of Badr. The Makkans, who wanted revenge from the previous defeat, gathered a huge army of 700 goats, 200 horses, 300 camels and 3000 soldiers, under the command of Abu Sufyan.  On the other side, the Muslim army consisted of only 700 troops, including 4 horsemen and 50 archers.

The Prophet Muhammad (saw) stationed his 50 archers and ordered them to stay there at all costs.

He (saw) said:

“Stick to your place, and don’t leave it even if you see birds snatching us, till I send for you, and if you see that we have defeated the infidels and made them flee, even then you should not leave your place till I send for you.” 

Bukhari

The Muslims managed to overpower the Quraysh army, causing the disbelievers to flee. On seeing this the archers thought the battle was over and that the Muslims had won. They disobeyed the Prophet’s orders and left their station in greed, to search for the war spoils.

The Muslim army strategically concentrated their attack on eleven of the influential Makkan leaders and managed to defeat them.  However, tragically, The Prophet’s uncle Hamzah (ra) was martyred by the spear of Wahshi bin Harb, an Abysinnian slave. 

Khalid Bin Waleed, who was the Quraysh army commander at the time, saw the archers leaving and ordered his men to attack the Muslims from behind.

This lead to the defeat of the Muslim army.

The battle ended with almost 70 Muslims martyred, including Musab bin Umayr and Hazrat Hamza bin Abdul Muttalib. 

Indeed the Battle of Uhud was a lesson for the Muslims then and now.  We must remember to be obedient to Allah and His Messenger and then surely we will be granted with success.

Allah says in the Quran,

‘And Allah did indeed fulfil His Promise to you when you were killing them (your enemy) with His Permission; until (the moment) you lost your courage and fell to disputing about the order, and disobeyed after He showed you (of the booty) which you love. Among you are some that desire this world and some that desire the Hereafter. Then He made you flee from them (your enemy), that He might test you. But surely He forgave you, and Allah is Most Gracious to the believers.’

Surah Ali Imran