Test of Faith in the Heat of Battle

Today is the anniversary of one of the crucial events in the history of Islam and humanity. It is the15th of Shawwal which reminds us of an armed encounter that was imposed by pagan Arabs on Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).

This encounter in which the Muslims suffered a setback and barely avoided defeat because of their heedlessness to listen to the Prophet, serves as an immortal lesson for believers in all eras and all places. Before going into details, we recite to you ayahs 166 and 167 of Surah Aal-e Imran regarding the Battle of Ohad that drew a line between the faithful and the hypocrites, those who defended the Prophet and those who fled the battlefields.

“What befell you on the day when the two hosts met, was by Allah’s permission, so that He may ascertain the faithful; And ascertain the hypocrites. [When] they were told: ‘Come, fight in the way of Allah, or defend [yourselves], they said, ‘If we knew any fighting, surely we would have followed you.’ That day they were nearer to unfaith than to faith. They say with their mouths what is not in their hearts, and Allah knows best whatever they conceal.” (Holy Qur’an 3:166-167)

When the infidel Arabs, with the connivance of the Jews and the hypocrites amongst the Muslims, assembled a strong force and marched upon Medina in the hope of obliterating Islam, the Messenger of Mercy, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny), had no other choice but to defend Islam, and the honour and dignity of Muslims, by mobilizing those who claimed to be his followers, in order to thwart a well-equipped 3,000-strong invading force of Arabs led by Abu Sufyan who had concluded a pact with the ever-rebellious Israelites to wipe out the call of monotheism.

The wordings of the ayahs that we recited to you indicate that the result was a setback for the neo Muslims, in whose ranks were many of weak faith and of course, hypocrites (munifaqeen), who failed the test as defenders of faith at the battlefield of Ohad, outside Medina in 3 AH – a year after the Prophet, with unseen assistance from the One and Only Creator, had won a decisive victory in the first ever armed encounter imposed upon him by the pagan Arabs of Mecca at Badr.         

It was obvious that the success of the Prophet of Peace had increased the enmity of the Arabs towards him, and towards his ward and dearest cousin, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), whose flashing blade had dispatched to the bowels of hell some of the prominent Meccan warriors – the very same Ali who on the Night of Hijrah had made the pagan plot of murdering the Prophet go awry by sleeping on his cousin’s bed so as to allow the latter to migrate to Medina undetected.

If vain pride against mingling with the supposedly lower classes had prevented the idolatrous Arab aristocrats of Mecca from accepting the Prophet’s call of universal brotherhood, it was racism on the part of the Israelites of Hijaz (whose forefathers had migrated from Syria to await the Last and Greatest Messenger mentioned in the Torah), that made them spurn the heavenly message of the Peerless Scion of Abraham’s firstborn son Ishmael.

On the eve of the Battle of Ohad, Abu Sufyan and the Banu Nadheer Jew, Ka’b al-Ashraf wasted no time in forging the unholy Arab-Israelite alliance against Islam – which continues to persist today under supervision of the US in the form of the Zionist-Wahhabi alliance.

Thus, on the Day of Ohad, prior to the start of the battle, Abdullah ibn Obayy and his three hundred followers broke ranks with the Prophet and returned to Medina, leaving only 700 neo Muslims to face the Israelite-inspired Arab force.

Nevertheless, the Prophet, as commanded by God, resolved to hold his ground so that the heat of the battle against overwhelming odds, will be a further test of faith for those remaining with him, in order to determine who really are the true believers and who really are the weak of faith – if not outright hypocrites.

It would be repetitive to refer to the valour of Imam Ali (AS) in disposing off several Arab warlords, along with his equally brave uncle Hamza (AS), and how after the Meccans had been scattered, the guards posted at the mountain pass by the Prophet, left their positions to join in the loot of the enemy’s baggage, thereby allowing the infidel commander Khaled bin Waleed to attack the Muslims from behind and turn a virtual victory into a near defeat. The result was the fleeing of almost all the neo Muslims from the battlefield on the assumption that the Prophet had been killed (refer to Holy Qur’an 144 & 153 of Surah Aal-e Imran), while 70 steadfast believers attained martyrdom, including Hamza (AS), whose liver was ripped from his body by the Abyssinian Wahshi to be chewed by his mistress Hind bint Utbah (wife of Abu Sufyan, mother of Mu’awiyya and grandmother of Yazid), who was dancing and singing in lewd tones to inspire the pagans (future Muslims and unfortunately ‘Salaf’ for today’s deceived Muslims):   

We are the Daughters of the Night Star (Tareq);

We walk on soft carpets;

Our prance does admiration tell;

Our hands are perfumed musk smell;

Pearls are strung around these necks of us;

So come and embrace us;

Whoever refuses will be separated forever;

To defend his women is there no worthy lover;

All books of hadith and history state that the lone person standing beside Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) and warding off the repeated assaults of the Arabs was Imam Ali (AS). Later some 13 other Muslims returned to the battlefield after being assured the Prophet was alive.

As could be gleaned from the book “al-Mustadrak as-Sahihayn” by the famous Sunni Muslim scholar Hakem an-Nisabouri, the only one defending Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) was his cousin and son-in-law Imam Ali (AS). He has recorded a hadith that reads: 

“Ali has four distinctions which no one share with him: He was the first male who prayed with the Messenger of God. He was the bearer of his banner in every battle and he was the one who stayed with him at the Battle on the day of al-Mihras (the Battle of Ohad), and he is the one who washed his blessed body and laid him in his grave.”

Later, the Prophet while praising the faith and swordsmanship of his dear cousin, said that on the Day of Ohad Archangel Gabriel could be heard chanting:

“La Fata illa Ali, la Saif illa Dhu’l-Feqar (there is no braver youth than Ali and no sharper sword than Dhu’l-Feqar).

No wonder, the enmity towards Imam Ali (AS) increased in the hearts of the hypocrites, whose ranks would greatly increase in the next few years as Islam spread through Arabia, and the pagan Arabs, including those that had fought Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), felt no other choice but to pay lip service to Islam, while their breasts brimmed with hatred, in order to conspire with the Israelites against the Blessed Ahl al-Bayt after the passing away of the Seal of Messengers.

These are the immortal lessons of the Battle of Ohad for today’s Muslims, whose ranks are unfortunately split, while their archenemies the US and the illegal Zionist entity, along with the hypocrites amongst the Arab regimes, are preparing for the kill.

In such a situation, only firm adherence to the path of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) and treading the footsteps of Imam Ali (AS) in discerning divine leadership will help them defeat the despicable enemies.

AS/MG