Patience: A lesson taken from the Battle of Uhud

Situations that indicate patience in this battle are more than to be limited, for they are many and consecutive from the beginning of the battle to the end; let us take some examples:

• After the battle, Safiyyah bint `Abdul-Mattalib came to the battlefield and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) asked Az-Zubayr to stop her out of pity so as not to see the body of her brother Hamzah, the lion of Allah and the lion of his Messenger (peace be upon him) after it had been mutilated.

Then her son, the brave knight, Az-Zubayr ibn Al `Awwam said to her: O mother, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) command you to go back. She said: Why is that? I have listened that my brother was mutilated for the sake of Allah; so we are satisfied with what had happened. I shall observe patience and seek the reward from Allah. When Az-Zubayr came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and informed him of that, He said: leave her. She came to him, looked at him, offered Salah at him, said "Inna Lillah wa Inna Ilayhi Raji`un [We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return]," and sought forgiveness for him."[1]

This situation shows us the patience emerging from belief in Allah and satisfaction with His Judgment as it shows the Prophet's pity when he wanted to prevent his paternal aunt from seeing the Body of her brother after it had been mutilated out of his pity not to hurt her feelings by seeing this terrible scene. When he was sure of her firm faith, patience, and she will not do anything bad, he allowed her to see him.

• The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) passed by a woman from Banu Dinar after her husband, brother, and father were injured while fighting with Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in the battle of Uhud.

When people came to inform her of the matter, she said: What happened to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)? They said: Nothing happened, O so and so. Thanks to Allah, he is fine as you wish. She said: Let me see him! People pointed at him until she saw him. When she saw him, she said: Evey ordeal that will happen the safety of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is trivial.[2]

This situation indicates her strong patience in a critical situation like that, in addition to the Prophet's care for the hearts and feelings of his Companions.

• Prohibition of killing oneself, suicide, and rushing death: Of the Shari`ah-based ordinances is to glorify patience in the hearts of people. One of the wonderful stories is the story of Qazman which is found in Sahih Al Bukhari and Sahih Muslim: Sahl ibn Sa`d As-Sa`idy (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and the idolators met in battle and fought. When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) went back to his camp and the others went back to their camp, there was among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) a man who killed anyone (of the enemy) who got in his way. They said: "No one has done better today than so-and-so." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Rather he is one of the people of Hell." A man said: 'I am going to follow him.' So he went out with him; every time that man stopped, he stopped with him, and when he hastened, he hastened with him." He said: "The man was badly wounded, so he sought to hasten his death. He put [the handle of] his sword on the ground and its tip in the middle of his chest, then he leaned [on his sword] and killed himself.  The man went to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said: I bear witness that you are the Messenger of Allah (S). He said: "Why is that?" He said: The man who you said was one of the people of Hell and the people were astounded by that. I said, I will find out about him for you. So I followed him until he was badly wounded, then he sought to hasten his death.  He put the handle of his sword on the ground and its tip in the middle of his chest, then he leaned on it and killed himself. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "A man may do the deeds of (the people of) Paradise, or so it seems to the people, although he is one of the people of Hell, and a man may do the deeds of (the people of) Hell, or so it seems to the people, although he is one of the people of Paradise."[3]

It was reported in some narrations that he was injured and was carried to the house of Banu Zhufr. Some Muslims said: By Allah, you were inflicted badly today, O Qazman, have glad tiding. He said: What glad tiding you are speaking about? By Allah, I have not fought except for the sake of my lineage and my honor, and had it been for that, I would not have fought. When his injury hurt badly, he picked up an arrow from his quiver and cut therewith his arm veins and bled until he died.[4]

It had been confirmed that Qazman left the true religion and deserved Hell-Fire from two points:

1- He fought for the sake of his lineage and honor which is the opposite of sincerity; this is a refutation to the claims of nationalism and patriotism, and those who claim that a martyr is the one who dies for the sake of his country.

2- Suicide, rushing death, and his impatience.