In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Allah Almighty says in the Qur'an,
وَإِذْ غَدَوْتَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ تُبَوِّئُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ مَقَـٰعِدَ لِلْقِتَالِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ ﴿١٢١[Qur'an, AleImran 3:121-123]
إِذْ هَمَّت طَّآئِفَتَانِ مِنكُمْ أَن تَفْشَلَا وَٱللَّهُ وَلِيُّهُمَا ۗ وَعَلَى ٱللَّهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ ﴿١٢٢﴾ وَلَقَدْ نَصَرَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ بِبَدْرٍ وَأَنتُمْ أَذِلَّةٌ ۖ فَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ ﴿١٢٣
And [remember] when you, [O Muhammad], left your family in the morning to post the believers at their stations for the battle [of Uhud] - and Allah is Hearing and Knowing - (121) When two parties among you were about to lose courage, but Allah was their ally; and upon Allah the believers should rely. (122) And already had Allah given you victory at [the battle of] Badr while you were few in number. Then fear Allah; perhaps you will be grateful. (123)
When the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) mobilized his army for the Battle of Uhud against the disbelievers (kuffar of Quraysh), he selected fifty skillful archers that formed a squad and placed them under the command of Abdullah ibn Jubair.
He ordered them to stay where they were, in a location on Mount Uhud, where they could see the army of the disbelievers when they approached.
He clarified the mission of this squad. He said to Abdullah ibn Jubair:
1. Drive the horses away from us with arrows.
2. Do not let them attack us from behind. (This command is another way of saying the first)
3. Whether we win or lose, stand steadily in your position. (This command is another way of saying the first and the second)
4. Watch that we are not attacked from your side. (This command is another way of saying the first, second and third)
Then he told the fifty archers.
5. If you see us snatched in pieces by birds (a sign that the Muslims were killed), do not leave your position until I send for you.
6. If you see that we have defeated the enemy and trodden on them, do not leave your position until I send for you. (There is a wisdom to hold the posts.)
But what did the archers do? When they saw the Muslims had defeated the kuffar badly, and the kuffar were running away from the battlefield, they left their positions to get the booty, i.e. the dunya.
Abdullah ibn Jubair reminded them and said "Have you forgotten what the Messenger told you?" But they did not hear him. Ten people including Abdullah stayed behind trying to protect the position. The rest went after the booty. Even with clear instructions from the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace), they left.
Actually, they had ten reminders not to leave their positions under any circumstances--six from the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) himself, one from their leader, Abdullah bin Jubair and three from the kuffar. Khalid bin Walid, who was at that time a non-believer and who commanded the Quraysh cavalry, had attempted three times to penetrate the Muslims from the rear but unsuccessful because the archers were shooting arrows at them. The archers should have seen this but they suddenly became deaf and blind.
Khalid ibn Walid seized this opportunity. He rode with his men around Mount Uhud and attacked the flank of the Muslim army through the pass. Abdullah ibn Jubair’s depleted forces tried unsuccessfully to resist the attack.
The fleeing soldiers of the enemy also returned and joined the attack from the front and the scales of the battle turned against the Muslims. The suddenness of these attacks by outnumbering forces, from both the rear and the front, caused great confusion among the Muslim ranks. The enemy's forces wanted to either seize Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace), alive or killed. They attacked him from all sides, striking with swords, thrusting with spears, shooting arrows and hurling stones.
There was a rumor that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) was martyred in the battle, which led many Companions losing courage. Those who defended him fought heroically. Despite the indescribable resistance of the Muslim warriors around the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) defeat seemed inevitable until Ka’b ibn Malik, seeing the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) shouted: ‘O Muslims! Good tidings for you! This is Allah’s Messenger, here!’ The scattered Companions advanced toward him from all sides, rallied around him, and led him to the safety of the mountain.
If you imagine yourself in Uhud, you might say, "If I am with the fifty archers, I would follow the command of the Prophet." But you might not. These archers forgot the clear instructions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) because Allah wanted them to forget. But this is not the reason that you should disobey Allah. We have to obey the commands of Allah and His Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace). We have to plan and take the means to accomplish the plan but we have to know that if you don't achieve the result or if you achieve the result, it is within Allah's plan. Whatever goals we have, it has to be for Allah and through Allah.
The Battle of Uhud is a victory to the Muslims despite seventy companions were killed and many wounded. We have seventy martyrs, that means they are in Paradise with Allah. The kuffar (including many powerful leaders) who Allah knows they were not going to change, were killed in the battle. Muslims who survived, learned a huge lesson, that if you want to do something, you have follow the instructions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace). The kuffar who survived, including Hind (who hired Wahshi to kill Hamzah, the beloved uncle of the Prophet and ordered his stomach to split open, mutilated his body and chewed his liver), Abu Sufyan (the leader of the kuffar) and Khalid bin Walid embraced Islam later in the da'wah and became great Companions and instrumental in defending and spreading Islam.
Khalid bin Walid learned a very important lesson from Uhud and it became his attitude which saved the Muslims. When there is a battle, inevitably there is a point when there is disturbance, whether the army is defeated or had victory. Khalid would look for this moment and ceased the opportunity to attack the enemy. In many battles in which Khalid led the Muslim army, he used the lesson of Uhud and thus saved the Muslims. He used this in the Battle of Mu'tah, fighting the apostate and Musaylamah al Kadhab, and in the Battle of Yarmuk of 36,000 Muslims against 200,000 Romans. Hind and Abu Sufyan helped a great deal in Battle of Yarmuk in which the Roman army was defeated and marked the collapse of the Roman empire, the oldest empire in history.
With all that had happened at Uhud-- seventy Muslims killed, many wounded, the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) raised his hands and thanked Allah. Why? Because he believed in the Divine plan. Ten years from that date, the Roman empire was defeated by the Muslims under the leadership of Khalid bin Walid.
So when we asked, why bad things happen to the Muslims? Remember what happened to the Muslims in Battle of Uhud, what Hind did to Hamzah and what Khalid did to the Muslims, and what the Muslims achieved as a result of what happened to the Muslims in this battle. These were but a few of the wisdom of Uhud that we know after the fact.
We might not be able to see the wisdom of what is happening to the Muslims now but if we live long enough we might be able to see it. But this is not important. What is important is that we obey Allah and His Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace). We cannot be deaf and blind to the commands of Allah and His Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace). They have been repeated to us in many different ways. Don't be heedless lest we will perish. And if we want to achieve something we have to look to Allah, not the dunya. If we don't, even if we succeed, it is not a true success.
رَبَّنَا ٱغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَإِسْرَافَنَا فِىٓ أَمْرِنَا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا وَٱنصُرْنَا عَلَى ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ
Our Lord, forgive us our sins and the excess [committed] in our affairs and plant firmly our feet and give us victory over the disbelieving people.
May Allah make us His obedient slaves and a joy to His beloved Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace). May Allah shower us with His mercy and guide the Ummah.
Ameen.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam.
And Allah knows best and He alone grants success.
Wassalaam
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