Life-of-Muhammad

72
Life of Muhammad sa
to Medina, he saw women and children who had come
out of Medina to receive him. The cord of his dromedary
was held by Sa‘d bin Mu‘adh ra , a chief of Medina. Sa‘d ra
was leading the dromedary pompously. He seemed to
proclaim to the world that Muslims had after all
succeeded in leading the Prophet sa back to Medina hale
and hearty. As he was advancing he saw his own aged
mother advancing to meet the returning party of
Muslims. This aged woman was very weak-sighted.
Sa‘d ra recognized her and, turning to the Prophet sa , said,
"Here, O Prophet sa , is my mother."
"Let her come forward," replied the Prophet sa .
The woman came forward and with a vacant look
tried to spot the Prophet's sa face. At last she was able to
spot it and was glad. The Prophet sa seeing her said,
"Woman, I grieve over the loss of thy son."
"But," replied the devoted woman, "after I have seen
you alive, I have swallowed all my misfortunes." The
Arabic expression she used was "I have roasted my
misfortune and swallowed it" (Halbiyya, Vol. 2, p. 210).
What depth of emotion does this expression indicate.
Normally, grief eats up a human being, and here was an
aged woman who had lost her son, a staff for her old
age. But she said that, instead of letting her grief eat her
up, she had eaten up her grief. The fact that her son
had died for the Prophet sa would sustain her during the
rest of her days.
The Prophet sa reached Medina. In this battle, many
Muslims were killed and many wounded. Still the battle
cannot be said to have ended in defeat for Muslims. The
incidents which we have related above prove the reverse.
They prove that Uhud was as great a victory for Muslims
as any other. Muslims who turn to the pages of their
early history can derive sustenance and inspiration from
Uhud.
Back in Medina, the Prophet sa returned to his
mission. He engaged himself again in training and
teaching his followers. But as before, his work did not go
on uninterruptedly. After Uhud, the Jews became more