Ali 'Imran 122: Then, two groups began to retreat, yet, Allah was their helper. Mu’min (the righteous) shall only trust in Allah.

Surah Al Imran, verse 122. A historical verse. In the verse: at that time two groups among you were close to faltering. Yet Allah was their helper; let the believers rely on Allah alone and trust in Him, says Allah Almighty in the verse. The Prophet (peace be upon him), for the Battle of Uhud, in Medina (?) they say; he consulted his companions; a group of his companions, those who had missed the Battle of Badr: "Outside Medina we have not fought. Let's go out of Medina," they said. I'll explain it to you here in more detail. Well, after the Prophet put on his armor, "O Messenger of Allah, what we said we regret. Do as you see fit," they said, but once a prophet has put on armor, he never takes it off.

Yes. And he tells them the dream he saw. "In my dream I saw cattle being slaughtered," he says. "I interpreted this as good," he says. "I saw a notch open in my sword," he says. "This I interpreted as defeat," he says. Well, well.

Here things are getting mixed up, all the mice. "And on my back," he says, "I wore strong armor," he says, "on my back. This," he says, "I interpreted as Medina the Radiant being with me," he says. Well, indeed, obedience to orders is very important, obedience to orders. If orders are not obeyed, even if that war is won, they taste the pain of defeat. The Prophet places his units on Mount Uhud. On Mount Uhud.

A detachment. "Do you see those horses?" he says. "As long as these horsemen don't move from their place, you will not stir from yours," he says. (?) is being won. But when the detachment there also chased the fleeing enemy, the horsemen surround them. There (?). And a rumor arises: that the Prophet (peace be upon him) has been killed. Upon this, one of the companions — we will say his name, we will mention it. That noble companion, upon seeing the Prophet (peace be upon him), rejoicing and shouting to the people, the companions there, "the Messenger of Allah is alive" — saying that, and the people on Mount Uhud gathering around the Messenger of Allah.

And why do they give the news that he died? One of the enemy throws a stone. The tooth of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is broken. His tooth. "I've killed him," he shouts. Upon this, that rumor arises.

Yes. We wanted our children to (?) a bit more so they listen to this too. This is history.

Ahmet Efendi is very (?) of this. Yes, he loves history very much. In the Battle of Uhud, the Prophet placed on the right and left flanks the Banu Salama of the Khazraj tribe and the Banu Haritha of the Banu Aws tribe; by the plan the hypocrites had made, deceived by their words, they showed weakness against the enemy and were close to breaking apart, it says.

The leader of the hypocrites, well, Ubayy —

he prepares a plan like this.

At a moment when the battle heats up, he himself will pull back. Back. He'll pull back as if defeated. The Muslim units, seeing this, will also, along with him, pull back, and he will throw the Muslim units into ruin. That's the plan he makes. Right where the battle was joined and at its height, his army of 300 men, that is, his own unit, he pulls back. At that moment these two tribes, seeing this, that is, the Banu Salama and the Banu Haritha of the Banu Aws tribe, by the plan the hypocrites had made, deceived by their words, showed weakness against the enemy and were close to breaking apart. Allah Almighty says in His verse: against your enemy, plant your feet firmly on the ground. That is, never turn your backs to them and don't flee.

Don't flee. Only when you are surrounded on all sides, when there is now an inevitable defeat, pull back, it says. Pull back in order to regroup. Otherwise don't flee from them, don't turn your backs, it says. Will you say: but even if we pull back, what if they kill us all? Such a question comes to our mind. We'll pull back, but the enemy units are very many too. What if they kill us, right? What is called victory? Victory is won by a state's or a unit's superiority over another unit.

This is called victory. These are temporary. Today this unit wins, tomorrow that unit is defeated, another unit wins a victory over it. But true victory is that of the martyrs who attain Allah's mercy — their victory. That is victory. The victory of winning the Hereafter. From those units, from among the Muslims, Allah Almighty wants to take martyrs. Martyrs. First He takes these martyrs from among them. Because He loves them so much, He takes them, them, from among them. And people think the Muslim unit is being defeated. No. Allah is with them. They are not being defeated. First He takes the martyrs from among them, and those martyrs call out like this: What are you waiting for? Look how beautifully our Lord has received us.

What a beautiful (?) He received us with. What He promises us. Don't wait, they say. Come — to those who are yet to come. To those who will be martyred after them. They call out. Those, it says, are provided for from where you do not know. Allah Almighty says this about the martyrs. In this case, victory is the victory these win. Even if it will destroy you, you will fight until your last moment. For example, Çanakkale.

our soldiers, our martyrs, our grandfathers, until just one man was left, fought on. Just one man. They fought thinking a new unit would come from behind. And indeed, they wrote an epic.

Yes.

In this verse Allah Almighty gives us very beautiful examples. What are we saying? By the plan the hypocrites made, deceived by their words, toward the enemy they showed weakness and were close to breaking apart. Yet Allah Almighty was their helper. What does it say in the verse? Look, what does it say? Yet Allah was their helper. Because Allah Almighty took the Torah, the Psalms and the Gospel, and in the Holy Quran gathered them. He sent the Prophet Muhammad as a mercy to the worlds. All religions within the religion of Islam — with the verse inne'd-dîne inda'llâhi'l-İslâm — He gathered in the Quran.

And so that His religion's rule would continue until the Last Day, (?) a new — so that they might make known to people Allah's book, which will spread until the Last Day — Allah would be their helper. Yes.

Yet Allah Almighty was their helper. The battlefield demands steadfastness and patience. Even if you lose your life. Let's say you pulled back, you fled. Did you save your life? You fled — did you save your life? Let's say you saved your life — you saved your life too. You have no honor left, no dignity, no self-respect, no (?). This disgrace is enough for you. This shame is enough for you. This baseness is enough for you. That's why you will dig your feet in. For your homeland, for your nation, for your honor and dignity, for the children and grandchildren to come after — not only your own children and grandchildren, but other people's children and grandchildren. Look, our grandfathers passed away, died, were martyred.

It fell to ten million, but they left us a homeland. Yes.

The battlefield, it says, demands steadfastness and patience. Allah is with those who are patient. In a verse our Lord says, Allah wants to take martyrs from among you. As I explained earlier, who fights for Allah on the battlefield and would not want to be martyred? In the old days, our mothers and grandfathers, when they sent their sons to the army, when they sent them to war: "My son, don't you dare bring shame on us. Don't you dare turn your back on the enemy and flee," they would say, they would advise. Yes, so Allah grants victory to those among them who stand firm and who reach the rank of martyrdom.

This victory is the victory of winning Allah's mercy.

The martyrs' victory is that, winning Allah Almighty's good pleasure, they attain Allah's mercy. Is there a greater victory than this? This is the greatest victory. Why did we come into the world? Why did we come? For a test. What test is this? Did you think you would die without proving what kind of person you are? According to the verse. According to the covenant we gave. According to the covenant we gave our Lord. The script of this covenant of ours was written there. And we came into the world as actors to play. We will prove what kind of person we are. So why did our Lord, though He knows what we are like, send us into the world?

Now this part is a rather subtle subject, one that people don't really understand in depth, but if they listen patiently they will learn everything in the best way. Allah Almighty gave the human being from His spirit. As a particle He gave from His own spirit, it resembles His Being. That's why the human being is a particle from his Lord. In this case our Lord, in a human form, exactly in a human form — that is, the form which that particle resembles, that is, which our spirit, in relation to that whole, resembles — in a form; those particles, by their own reasoning, did not recognize Allah Almighty as Lord.

They waited for the Lord of their imagination. Out of pride and arrogance they turned their backs on Allah. So because Allah Almighty is free of deficient attributes, He sends mankind into the world, into an unseen realm. So that person cannot say: "Had You sent me to an unseen realm, had You made Your Being known to me, I would have recognized You as Lord." So He sent them into an unseen realm. Although it points to the One who created the worlds, besides whom there is no god, in that (?) ve Rabbike (?), whatever covenant they (?) to Allah Almighty, according to its script people who had characters written for themselves play the same game here too.

Yes. That's why we came into the world. Those places were closed, locked from our memory. According to our own wishes and desires, according to our characters, we form wishes and desires. And Allah Almighty creates causes. Within those causes, through the deeds we perform, we want ourselves witnessed by Allah Almighty, by those around us and by ourselves. Yes.

The polytheists of Mecca, to avenge the defeat at Badr, taking some tribes along with them, with a force of three thousand men, a force, set out toward Medina the Radiant. Allah Almighty makes this known to the Prophet. Our Lord is aware of everything. He makes it known. Yes.

The Prophet (peace be upon him), receiving this news, gathers the noble companions and consults with them. The Prophet (peace be upon him) always gave us examples, well, illustrations. In this case — that is, don't decide on your own as a dictator. Gather those around you too, take their opinions too, and according to that you choose a course. Yes, you're the commander or you're the prophet, you'll make a decision. You've already made the decision, you made it. But if, taking the opinions of your companions too, of them too, in that decision you stand firm, your surroundings obeying a decision you made alone is one thing. Obeying a decision made all together is quite another.

Yes.

The Prophet (peace be upon him), receiving this news, gathers the noble companions and consults with them. Some want them to stay in Medina and defend it. Others say they should go out of Medina and fight there.

The Prophet tells his companions a dream he saw that night. The dream. What does he say? O my companions, tonight in my dream I saw some cattle being slaughtered. I interpreted it as good. I saw a notch open in my sword. That I interpreted as defeat. I saw that I wore strong armor on my back.

Armor. This he interprets as Medina the Radiant's (?) not abandoning him. What does he say? Well, I saw that I wore strong armor on my back. This I interpreted as Medina the Radiant being with me.

So if you agree, let's stay in Medina — he told his companions his thoughts. Upon this, some companions who had not been in the Battle of Badr: "O Messenger of Allah, we have not gone out of Medina and done jihad outside Medina. We want to go out of Medina the Radiant and do jihad there." That is, so that they too would have gone on a jihad outside Medina. That's what they desire.

Yes, upon this the Prophet leaves his companions, puts on his armor and comes to his companions. The companions who had said "let's go out of Medina the Radiant" regret what they said. "O Messenger of Allah, we regret what we said; however you see fit, do it," they say. The Prophet replies: once a prophet has put on armor, taking it off again is not befitting his dignity, he says. They pray the Friday prayer, and all together take position at Mount Uhud. Have you read this part, Ahmet? You've read it, right? A nice passage. Let's look again from time to time; let's look here, will our question board open? Yes, it isn't opening.

The question board isn't opening.

The enemy armies arrive. Among them, a group of horsemen on the slope of the mountain take position. A group of horsemen. At their head, Khalid ibn al-Walid. Not yet a Muslim. Their commander. Khalid ibn al-Walid, that blessed man, this man, even in his days as a polytheist, was an undefeated commander.

With three thousand men he broke through the Byzantine army of forty-eight thousand and crossed to the other side — such a commander. Forty-eight thousand men surrounded a unit of three thousand. Khalid ibn al-Walid's unit. Well, a commander who with those 3,000 men broke through the army of 48,000 and crossed over — a commander. He is called Seyfullah.

He is called the Sword of Allah. Such a commander. In the end he accepts Islam. And the Prophet takes his hand. (?) Amr ibn al-As, he too comes together with Khalid ibn al-Walid and becomes Muslim. These were polytheist commanders.

Yes.

The enemy armies arrive. Among them a group of horsemen on the mountain's slope take position. The Prophet places a unit against them.

As long as the horsemen don't move, they will not leave their places — this unit.

Even if victory is won, as long as these mounted units do not scatter and go, the enemy is not to be pursued. The Prophet gives them this order.

The reason is so that, should this Muslim unit move from its place, the enemy cavalry would not surround them from behind; that is, so that they would not surround the Muslim unit from behind, against those horsemen the detachment was posted by the Prophet. But in the intoxication of victory being won, they — let's put it charitably — forgot the order given by the Prophet (peace be upon him). Let's put it charitably. (?). Yes. And in the intoxication of that victory they too left their places and went after the fleeing enemy.

The battle begins. As they had prepared beforehand, the head of the hypocrites, Ubayy ibn Ka'b, orders his 300-man unit to pull back. Yes.

Anyway, this leader of the hypocrites, Ubayy, with his army, that is, that 300- man army — All together, on the Prophet's side, a thousand men. The army, a thousand men. When three hundred pull back, seven hundred remain. Of those seven hundred, two tribes waver. But still they don't move from their places. In that wavering.

Their aim was that the Muslims seeing this would lose heart and scatter, and Islam would be defeated. But with the remaining 700 resisting the enemy, a bloody struggle begins.

Hamza too falls as a martyr at Mount Uhud. Wahshi martyrs Hamza with the spear in his hand.

Abu Sufyan's wife hires Wahshi; Wahshi was a very (?), (?) person, very skillfully he used the spear. To avenge their fathers and grandfathers defeated at Badr, she directs Wahshi to kill Hamza. She would free him from slavery, give him camels, grant him plenty of money. So Wahshi doesn't fight; he only watches for Hamza's unguarded side. And finally he martyrs Hamza at Uhud. But later Wahshi too becomes Muslim; they say that from his weeping, the tears flowing from his eyes made wounds on both sides of his nose, they say. Yes, the Prophet, about Wahshi, used to say: "O Wahshi, yes, you are a Muslim, but don't appear before my eyes, stay away."

Champions and warriors like Hamza fall as martyrs. In the end the Muslim units rout the enemy. That is, those 700 men rout the 3,000-man army. The enemy units scatter and begin to flee. The Muslim units pursue them. Those who were fighting, of course. The detachment the Prophet had left fixed in place against the horsemen too

leaves its place and begins chasing after the enemy units. Remember, we said, let's say charitably, charitably, the Prophet's order they forgot. In the intoxication of that victory. Seizing the opportunity, the enemy cavalry units surround the Muslims who were chasing the enemy. Here too bloody struggles take place. Many Muslim units leave the field and scatter. The Prophet's blessed tooth is broken, and beside the Prophet are some men such as Abu Bakr, Ali, Talha and Sa'd — beside the Prophet.

Meanwhile the rumor is spread that the Prophet has been martyred. But a man from the Ansar saw the Prophet and rejoiced, and with that joy, to the scattered Muslim units, he announced the good news that the Prophet was alive, and the Ansar and the Muhajirun regroup and form a front around the Prophet. Seeing this, the enemy units grow afraid and scatter, and go back to Mecca. Meanwhile, let us tell you one more narration: it is narrated that when the Prophet's tooth was broken, Allah Almighty says to Gabriel (peace be upon him): "Quick, hurry, My Beloved's —" He says, "the blood flowing from his broken tooth — if it touches," He says, "if it touches the ground, if it drips on the ground, I," He says, "will destroy that land, that world," He says.

Upon that, Gabriel (peace be upon him) says: "I was in the seventh heaven; from the seventh heaven how I reached you I cannot tell," he says, "I immediately covered his mouth with my hand," he says. In this situation, Allah Almighty — with a fear He gave to those enemy units too, they turn back and go away. So with this verse Allah Almighty, by showing this event as an example to the Muslims, has shown, besides the strength of unity and togetherness, how important obeying orders is. Of obeying orders — and a fine lesson He has given.

Let the believers rely on and trust in Allah alone. Because there is no great power besides Allah that will help man. If all reliance and submission is to Allah, that person will surely reach victory. Yes.