125managed to pull out of the battlefield, where it was getting increasingly
difficult to see what was going on, and gathered to face the enem}, again
if needed. When the fighting ended, there were only twenty-two dead
among the Quraysh, while there were seventy dead among the :Muslims,
who had clearly been beaten, both on th e battlefield ar,d symbolically.
The archers' disobedience had had dramatic consequences. Attracted
by wealth and profit, the archers had succumbed to old practices from
their pagan pase D espite being nurtured wi th the message of faith in the
One, justice, and d etachment from worldly goods, they had suddenly for-
gotten everything when seeing riches within their reach. War victories
were measured, in their ancient pagan tradition, by the amount of booty
gained, and that past, that part of th emselves and of their culture, had
gotten th e better of their spiritual education. Consequently, the Muslims
had been trapped by the strategy of a fo rmidable man, Khalid ibn al-
\'Valid, who a few yean; later was to co nvert to Islam and become the
Muslim community's warrior hero. T hat patticular moment o f the Uhud
encounter is rich with a pro fo u nd teaching: human beings can never com-
pletely overcome the culture and experiences that have fashioned their
past, and no final judgment can ever be expressed as to th e future of their
choices and orientations. T he i!lmlims were caugh t up by an unfortunate
fearnre of their past customs; Khalid ibn aI-\,\lalid was to und ergo a future
conversion that would wipe out whatever judgments had been pro-
nounced abom his past. "Nothing is ever final" is a l esson in humility; "no
final judgm ent should be passed" is a promise of hope.
The Qura)"sh carried away their dead and all their bdongings. Abu
Sufyan asked Urnar about the Prophet'S fate and received confirmation
that he was still alive. When the I\"luslims, in their turn, went back to the
battlefield, they saw that the corpses had been mutilated; the Prophet was
mOSt affected at the sight of his uncle H arnzah. In his anger, he c. ... pressed
the wish to take revenge and mutilate thirty enemy corpses in the next
confrontatio n, but Revelation reminded him o f orde r, measure, and pa-
tience: ''But if you show patience, that is in deed the best [course ] for
those who arc patiem."38 The Prophet was [Q require that the bodies of
the living as well as the dead be respected. that no torture or mutilation
be ever accepted or promoted, in the name of respect fo r creation and for
human beings' dignity and integrity. 39