Quran Garden

Session 473

Chapter 3

Verse 144

a continuation

Muhammad is only a messenger before whom many messengers have come and gone.  If he died or was killed, would you revert to your old ways?  If anyone did so, he would not harm God in the least.  God will reward the grateful.  (Chapter 3: Verse 144)

Let's study the phrase, "If he died or was killed, would you revert to your old ways?" Take note that God mentioned death and killing as separate events.  Killing necessitates the harm and destruction of the physical body, while death does not.  This is because the soul is subject to specific laws; it can only reside within a matter of particular characteristics.  If the physical characteristics are violated, the soul departs.  Let me give you an example to clarify the interaction between the soul and the body:  suppose you have a lit light bulb.  What is causing the light bulb to emit light?  It is the electricity flowing through it.  If you break the glass, the bulb goes dark, but is the electricity gone?  No, the electricity is still there, but it only shines as light under certain physical conditions –such as the vacuum inside a bulb-.  Likewise, the soul manifests as life only in a structure that has unique characteristics.  Hence, the killer does not take the soul away; instead, he or she only destroys the physical structure making it inhospitable to the soul.  No one can declare, "I want so and so to die," and they drop dead.

On the other hand, God, the grantor of life, can cause death without changing the physical body.  Many of us have seen footage of a young, perfectly healthy athlete suddenly dropping dead for no reason at all.  This is death. 

This brings us back to the verse.  God says, "If he died or was killed, would you revert to your old ways?" A rumor that Muhammad was killed spread like wildfire on the battlefield of Uhud.  Some people wonder how the companions could have believed such a thing, while God says in verse 67 of chapter 5 addressing Prophet Muhammad,

And God will certainly protect you from the people.

We answer: do you know whether this verse was revealed before or after the battle of Uhud?  More importantly, are you sure that each companion had every verse of the Quran present in mind in the heat of battle?  It is also possible that some of the companions understood the statement "God will certainly protect you from the people" to mean that the Prophet was protected from people's insults and scheming. 

The battle of Uhud gave us a picture of the broad spectrum of people attributed to faith.  We saw the worst example in Ibn Ubey, the hypocrite who deserted the army, returned to Medina, and managed to derail one-third of the force with him.  To a much lesser degree, we recall the example of the two factions who entertained the idea of deserting the army; then, God bonded their hearts with the Messenger, and they were among the best fighters of Uhud.  There was also a rift among the archers:  Some held firm until they saw the spoils of war, feared missing out, and abandoned their positions.  In contrast, Abdullah ibn Jubair and a few other archers obeyed the command of God's Messenger and fought until they were martyred.  This was the group that longed for the Hereafter.  

Likewise, when a rumor spread that the Messenger of Allah was killed, some companions fled, while others continued fighting and answered the Messenger's call, "Come to me, servants of Allah!  Come to me, servants of Allah." The battle of Uhud was the perfect event to distill and cleanse all who claimed to belong to Islam down to the best and purists.  It displayed the actions of each person for all to see.   

Meanwhile, our beloved Muhammad had reached the limits of physical exhaustion and needed the help of Talha to climb a rock.  At this challenging time, when all the physical means available to Muhammad were exhausted, Allah showed us how He stands by His servant and gave him the strength to overcome one of Quraysh's prized fighters. 

Ubay ibn Khalaf al-Jamhi had a mighty horse, and when the Prophet was in Mecca, Ubay used to say to him, "See this horse, Muhammad.  I feed it loads of corn every day to keep it strong because I want to kill you while riding it."  The Prophet, peace be upon him, would calmly and confidently reply, "No, I will be the one killing you, God willing."

They finally faced off in Uhud.  The Prophet was at the limits of physical exhaustion.  He, peace be upon him, could barely stand, two of his teeth were knocked out, and blood was dripping down his face.  Abu Jahl al-Jamhi came riding his horse and shouted, "Where is Muhammad?  There is no escape for him today." The companions said, "O Messenger of Allah, should one of us fight him off?"  The Prophet motioned for them to stay put.  Then he, peace be upon him, took a spear and struck Ibn Khalaf, knocking him off his horse.  Ubay staggered, sounding like a bellowing bull, and his friends rushed to help him.  One of them was heard saying, "Don't worry, Ubay, it is only a surface wound." Ubay replied, "By the one who has my soul in His hands, if this spear struck the entire people of Hijaz, all of them would have died." His friend repeated, "Don't worry, it's just a flesh wound."

This teaches us a critical lesson: Those who opposed Islam did so not out of conviction, but out of arrogance and stubbornness.  In other words, they knew that Muhammad brought the truth from the heavens, but their pride and worldly status were more important.  God says,

But when Our enlightening signs came to them, they said, "This is clearly just sorcery!"  They denied them, in their wickedness and their pride, even though their souls acknowledged them as true.  See how those who spread corruption met their end!  (27:13-14)

Let's go back to the words of Ubay ibn Khalaf: "By the one who has my soul in His hands, if this spear struck the entire people of Hijaz, all of them would have died."  He continued, "I knew he would kill me because he said so in Mecca.  By God, if he had spit on me, it would have been enough to kill me." Ubay died while he was carried back to Mecca.  This is the meaning behind God's words, "They denied them, in their wickedness and their pride, even though their souls acknowledged them as true."

Allah granted Muhammad victory over one of Quraysh's tyrants while he, peace be upon him, was weak and wounded.   It demonstrates that material power has no connection to Divine support; Allah can grant you victory even in times of absolute weakness.  Had the Prophet been strong at that moment, people might have said that he won out of skill.  But Allah shows us that He is ever present with His servants regardless of their condition and circumstance.