Battle of Uhud

The Battle of Uhud was a major engagement between early Muslims and the Quraysh during the Muslim-Quraysh War. The battle was fought in a valley north of Mount Uhud near Medina on Saturday, 23 March 625 AD (7 Shawwal, 3 AH), After suffering defeat at the Battle of Badr and having their caravans endlessly attacked and plundered by Muhammad's side, the Quraysh finally saw the necessity to take strong measures. Their chief, Abu Sufyan, then set out for Medina with 3,000 troops to confront Muhammad. The early phase of the fighting saw the Muslims gaining the initiative. The Quraysh vanguard began faltering and retreated, leaving their camps vulnerable. However when Muslim victory seemed near, the Muslim rear guard who were tasked to defend a hill to protect against a possible encirclement, abandoned their positions to collect spoils of war left by the fleeing enemy. This turn of events was exploited by the Quraysh general Khalid ibn al-Walid who launched a daring cavalry strike in the undefended rear and encircled the Muslims, thus turning the tide of battle. The battle was seen as a significant setback for the Muslims and a minor victory for the Quraysh as they would return with an even larger force in the Battle of the Trench. Muhammad initially spread his new religion in Mecca, where he found no opposition from the local people until he attacked their beliefs. As tensions with the Meccans increased, Muhammad brought his followers to migrate to Medina after his successful negotiations with Banu Aws and Khazraj to mediate their tribal conflicts. In Medina, Muhammad received divine revelation to fight the polytheists without being fought first, and he targeted the Meccan trade caravans for plunder. Muslim historians give no specific motive for these attacks. Peters, F. E., proposes that these raids were probably a quick remedy by Muhammad for the poverty of his people in the new land, who lacked agricultural skills and capital for trade.

About this result

This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.

Related concepts (16)

Islam

Islam (ˈɪslɑːm; ۘالِإسْلَام, al-ʾIslām ʔɪsˈlæːm, ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centered on the Quran and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam, called Muslims, number approximately 2 billion globally and are the world's second-largest religious population after Christians. Muslims believe that Islam is the complete and universal version of a primordial faith that was revealed many times through earlier prophets such as Adam (believed to be the first man), Ibrahim, Moses, and Isa (Jesus), among others.

Banu Qurayza

The Banu Qurayza (بنو قريظة; alternate spellings include Quraiza, Qurayzah, Quraytha, and the archaic Koreiza) were a Jewish tribe which lived in northern Arabia, at the oasis of Medina (previously known as Yathrib). They were one of the three major Jewish tribes of the city, along with the Banu Qaynuqa and Banu Nadir, before their elimination by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Jewish tribes reportedly arrived in Hijaz in the wake of the Jewish-Roman wars and introduced agriculture, putting them in a culturally, economically and politically dominant position.

Battle of the Trench

The Battle of the Trench (Ghazwat al-Khandaq), also known as the Battle of Khandaq (Ma’rakah al-Khandaq) and the Battle of the Confederates (Ghazwat al-Ahzab), was part of the conflict between the Muslims and the Quraysh, where this time the Quraysh took the offensive and advanced on the Muslims, who defended themselves in Medina by digging a trench around their settlement at the suggestion of Salman the Persian. The battle, which took place in 627 and lasted around two weeks, was lightly fought, with the Muslims reported to have suffered five to six casualties and the Quraysh three.