MUHAMMAD THE IDEAL CHARACTER

~ 24 ~ and managed to turn the tables. It was a desperate situation. Many of his followers started to flee from the field and he found himself surrounded by the enemy’s ranks. He called upon his followers to rally around him to show their mettle and to fight for the glories of Paradise. He called upon them to remain his companions in the Afterlife. Some of his Muslim soldiers did then turn back to protect him, but, try as they might, they could not make an impenetrable ring around him with the result that he was badly wounded. Utba ibn Abi Waqqas hurled a stone at his face, knocking out some of his lower teeth and Abdullah ibn Qumayya, a famous Qurayshi wrestler, struck him so savagely with his battle-axe that two links of his helmet pierced his face. Another of the enemy soldiers, Abdullah ibn Shahab Zuhri struck his forehead with a stone and the Prophet fell into a pit, bleeding profusely. The enemy raised a triumphant cry that the Prophet had been killed, and this extinguished whatever little morale was left in the Muslim forces. A companion however, came upon the Prophet lying in the pit, and shouted that he was alive. The situation was so horrifying that he wondered aloud