The Effect of the Battle of Uhud The battle of Uhud had a number of effects on the enemies of Islam. They were, on the one hand, very much perturbed by the growing strength of the Muslims but the happening in Uhud had, on the other hand, supplied fresh vigour to thrir drooping spirits and they had begun to think of the extermination of the Divine Faith. Although the Quraysh did not get a clear victory, they were satisfied with the result and that they had killed a number of eminent Muslims like Hamzah. The Jews and othei non-believers were also happy with the defeat of Muslims as they were seeing their misfortune in the progress of Islam.
W. Montgomery Watt writes, ”For Muhammad (PBUH), on the other hand the purely military result of the battle was not wholly unsatisfactory. The Muslims had shown themselves almost equal to the Makkhans. Their infantry was more than a match for their opponents. The Muslim casualties were mostly due to the enemy cavalry, and Muslims were too poor to have a cavalry squadron of their own. Despite this...., however, Muhammad (PBUH) had
managed to hold his own against the Makkhans, and that was all he
needed to do at the moment.”8
S. Athar Husain comments on the result of the battle in the following words: ”The Makkhans had realised that they could not alone crush the Islamic movement They now started instigating other tribes to make common cause with them. Most of the tribes were already inimical to Islam They practised idolatry while Islam brbade it and enjoined worship of one God Raiding and plunder was the general means of their livelihood while Islam dictated an orderly society forbidding oppression, exploitation and foul play and enjoined honest living upon its followers. The influence of the Quraysh extended far and wide, and all the tribes came into contact with them at the time of the annual pilgrimage. The Jews were also constantly insti’ ting the tribes against Islam. The victory of the Muslims over tne Quraysh at Badr had overawed the nomadic tribes but their defeat at Uhud emboldened them to show their hands and a number of skirmishes followed.”9
Ameer Ali writes on the effect of the battle of Uhud: ”The moral effect of this disastrous battle was at once visible in the forays which the neighbouring nomads prepared to make on the Medinite territories. Most of them, however, were repressed by the energetic action of Muhammad (PBUH), though some of the hostile tribes succeeded in enticing Muslim missionaries into their midst, under the pretence of embracing Islam, and then massacred them.”10
’Dr Niajid Ah Khan, P 190. ’l)r Majid Ah Khan, P 190. ° Ibid.
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