Muhammad: The Ideal Character
MUHAMMAD The Ideal Character
~ 24 ~
and managed to turn the tables. It was a desperate
situation. Many of his followers started to flee from
the field and he found himself surrounded by the
enemy’s ranks. He called upon his followers to rally
around him to show their mettle and to fight for the
glories of Paradise. He called upon them to remain
his companions in the Afterlife. Some of his Muslim
soldiers did then turn back to protect him, but, try
as they might, they could not make an impenetrable
ring around him with the result that he was badly
wounded. Utba ibn Abi Waqqas hurled a stone at
his face, knocking out some of his lower teeth and
Abdullah ibn Qumayya, a famous Qurayshi
wrestler, struck him so savagely with his battle-axe
that two links of his helmet pierced his face.
Another of the enemy soldiers, Abdullah ibn
Shahab Zuhri struck his forehead with a stone and
the Prophet fell into a pit, bleeding profusely.
The enemy raised a triumphant cry that the Prophet
had been killed, and this extinguished whatever
little morale was left in the Muslim forces. A
companion however, came upon the Prophet lying
in the pit, and shouted that he was alive. The
situation was so horrifying that he wondered aloud
