The Condition of the Muslims in the Battle of Uhud
Mentioning the condition of the Muslims during this battle, Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad Sahib (ra) says in Sirat Khatamun-Nabiyyin:
“The army of the Quraish had pretty much surrounded them from all four fronts and continued to crush the Muslims moment by moment through repeated attacks. Yet, even after all this, the Muslims would may well have regained themselves shortly thereafter, but the outrage was that a bold warrior from among the Quraish named Abdullah bin Qamiah attacked Mus‘ab (ra) bin Umair, the flag-bearer of the Muslims and severed his right hand with the blow of his sword. Mus‘ab (ra) immediately clutched the flag with his other hand and advanced to confront Ibn Qamiah, but in his second blow, the other hand was severed as well.
“Upon this, Mus‘ab (ra) joined both of his severed hands together in an endeavour to keep the Islamic flag from falling, and held it to his chest, upon which Ibn Qamiah struck him a third time and this time, Mus‘ab was martyred and fell to the ground. As far as the flag was concerned, another Muslim immediately advanced and took hold of it, but since the size and figure of Mus‘ab resembled the Holy Prophet (sa), Ibn Qamiah thought that he had slain the Holy Prophet (sa). It is also probable that this scheme of his was merely guided by motives of mischief and deceit. In any case, when Mus‘ab (ra) was martyred and fell, Ibn Qamiah exclaimed that he had slain Muhammad (sa).
“At this news, the Muslims lost whatever composure was left in them and their force was scattered completely. Many Companions fled from the battlefield in a state of dismay. At the time, the Muslims were divided into three groups. One group was of those who had fled from the field of battle upon hearing the news that the Holy Prophet (sa) had been martyred, but this group was the smallest of all”, or rather it is said that they dispersed out of dismay, “and this included Hazrat Uthman (ra) bin Affan as well. However, as mentioned in the Holy Quran, taking into consideration the special circumstances of that time and the heartfelt faith and sincerity of these people, Allah the Exalted forgave them. From among these people, some had even reached Medina and in this manner, news of the so-called martyrdom of the Holy Prophet (sa) and defeat of the Muslim army managed to reach Medina as well.
“A state of lamentation broke out in Medina, and the Muslim men and women, both young and old, all came out of the city in a state of immense dismay, and set out towards Uhud. Some made haste to the field of battle and plunged into the enemy ranks in the name of Allah.
“The second group consisted of such people who had not fled, but upon hearing news of the martyrdom of the Holy Prophet (sa), had either lost determination or felt that now it was useless to fight. Hence, they had moved to one side of the battlefield, and sat down with their heads hanging low.
“The third group was of those who continued to fight on without fail. Among them, some consisted of those people who were gathered around the Holy Prophet (sa) and were exhibiting unprecedented feats of valour, and most of them were fighting in the field of battle scattered apart from one another.
“As these people, and those from the second group, continued to discover that the Holy Prophet (sa) was alive, these people would continue to fight and close in around the Holy Prophet (sa) in the likeness of those possessed by madness. The state of war at the time was such that the army of the Quraish would push forward from all four fronts in the likeness of ferocious ocean waves. A rain of arrows and stones was falling upon them in the battlefield from all directions. Upon witnessing this state of danger, these devotees surrounded the perimeter of the Holy Prophet (sa) and shielded his blessed body with their own. However, despite this, whenever the force of the attack would surge forward, this handful of men would be jostled here and there, and in this state, at times, the Holy Prophet (sa) would almost be left standing alone.”
(Sirat Khatamun-Nabiyyin, Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad (ra), pp. 493-494)
In any case it states that upon hearing the news of the Holy Prophet’s (sa) martyrdom, Hazrat Uthman (ra) left the battlefield, perhaps out of dismay and sorrow or for some other reason. And although he did not leave [the battlefield], Hazrat Umar’s (ra) name is also mentioned amongst those who stopped fighting out of their dismay and sorrow. However, the details of that will be mentioned later [during the mention of his accounts].