M(fJina, ufo, and War 105
The batue began with three duels involving Hamzah, Ali, and Ubaydah
ibn al-Harith: Hamzah and Ali overcame their opponents, but Ubaydah
\--as fataUy wounded. Then hostilities began, and the Muslims showed
such determination that the Quraysh were fairly rapidly defeated. Although
the), were three times as numerOU5, they could not hold back the I{uslims'
onslaught. Revelation was later to mention God's constant protection at
the heart of the fighting, I-lis angels, and the fulfillment of His promise:
"God helped you at Badr, when you were helpless. Then fear God tbe
intimately conscious of His presenceJ: thus may you show your grati-
tude."17 This victory was a nuning point: the Quraysh's status and su-
premacy had been seriously affected and tile news of their defeat spread
li:Ce \vildfire throughout the Peninsula.
T he J{uslims had lost fourteen of their men, while the i\1eccans had
lost more than seventy, including Abu JaW, \'\Iho had been one of Islam's
fiercest opponents and who had been most eager for that batrle to take
place. Abbas, the Prophet'S uncle (in whom the latter had confided in
:Mecca, and who had wimessed all the prep2rations preceding the emigra-
tion), was among the seventy Quraysh prisoners.
In Mecca , in Medina
The Quraysh's return to Mecca was painful, as most of the clans had suf-
fered the death of a member. Some were already calling for revenge, such
as H ind, who had lost her father, brother, and uncle in the battle. She
Swore she would drink the blood of Hamzah, who had killed her father
and her uncle. The Quraysh leaders wasted no time in reacting, striving to
set up alliances with neighboring cities and tribes in order to fight the
Muslims, avenge their humiliation, and put an end to the Muslims' pres-
ence in the Peninsula.
Abu Lahab, whose ill health had prevented him from taking part in tile
fighting, had remained in Mecca. He asked Abu Sufyan to tell him what
had happened and the circumstances of the defeat. 18 \V'hile the latter was
gIving his account, a slave who was sitting nearby, and who had so far kept
his conversion to Islam secret, could not control his joy and was thus dis-
covered. Abu Lahab sprang to him and beat him savagely while holding
him down. Urn al-Fadl, Abu Lahab's sister-in -law and Abbas's wife, who