Life-of-Muhammad

Life of Muhammad sa 171"THE PROPHET sa OF GOD CALLS YOU"The Prophet sa urged Muslims to always rememberthat Allah was Great and to pray to Him to save themfrom the superstitions of earlier peoples. Before theMuslim army reached Hunain, the Hawazin and theirallies had already prepared a number of ambuscadesfrom which to attack the Muslims, like the fox-holes andcamouflaged artillery positions of modern warfare. Theyhad built walls around them. Behind the walls weresoldiers lying in wait for the Muslims. A narrow gorgewas left for Muslims to pass through. Much the largerpart of the army was posted to these ambuscades, whilea small number was made to line up in front of theircamels. Muslims thought enemy numbers to be no morethan they could see. So they went forward and attacked.When they had advanced far and the hiding enemy wassatisfied that they could be attacked very easily, thesoldiers lined up in front of the camels and attacked thecentre of the Muslim army while the hiding archersrained their arrows on the flanks. The Meccans, whohad joined for a chance to display their valour, could notstand this double attack by the enemy. They ran back toMecca. Muslims were accustomed to difficult situations,but when two thousand soldiers mounted on horses andcamels pierced their way through the Muslim army, theanimals of the Muslims also took fright. There was panicin the army. Pressure came from three sides, resultingin a general rout. In this, only the Prophet sa , with twelveCompanions, stood unmoved. Not that all theCompanions had fled from the field. About a hundred ofthem still remained, but they were at some distancefrom the Prophet sa . Only twelve remained to surroundthe Prophet sa . One Companion reports that he and hisfriends did all they could to steer their animals towardsthe battlefield. But the animals had been put to fright bythe stampede of the Meccan animals. No effort seemedto avail. They pulled at the reins but the animals refusedto turn. Sometimes they would pull the heads of the