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NASIBA
THE HERO OF UHUD BATTLE
The
deep scar on the shoulder of Nasiba, daughter of Kaab, spoke of a
major wound in the past. Whenever the women, especially of the
younger generation who had not seen the time of the Prophet or
were too small at that time, noticed the cavity in her shoulder,
they enquired with extreme curiosity about the frightening
incident, which had resulted in the injury to her shoulder. They
loved to hear her adventures in the battle of Uhud from her own
mouth.
She had never imagined that she would fight shoulder to shoulder
with her husband and two sons defending the Prophet in the battle
of Uhud. She had only taken the water-skin on her back so that she
could provide water to the injured and also had taken some
home-made bandages to dress their wounds. She had not thought of
herself as worthy of any other work on that day.
Although the Muslims were small in number and had only a limited
supply of equipment's, they gave a grand defeat to the enemy who
took to their heels vacating the battlefield. But soon after, due
to the negligence of some men guarding the "Ainain
Hills", the enemy made a surprise attack from the rear,
turning the victory of the Muslims into defeat. The Muslims
surrounding the Prophet fled away, leaving him almost alone in the
battlefield.
When Nasiba saw this precarious situation, she put the water-skin
on the ground, and took a sword in her hand. She fought with the
sword and also made good use of bows and arrows; and took a shield
left over by a fleeing soldier. Once she noticed a man shouting:
"Where is Mohammed himself?" She approached him
immediately and inflicted a few blows on him; but he was
double-armored and her attacks had not much effect on him. He then
inflicted such a heavy blow on the shoulder of the armor less
woman that it required treatment for one year. Noticing a stream
of blood gushing from her shoulder, the Prophet called to one of
her sons to immediately dress her wound. He put a bandage over her
shoulder and she again got busy in the battle.
Meanwhile one of her sons got injured. She took out a bandage and
dressed his wound. The Prophet watching the scene smiled at the
heroism of this woman. After dressing her son's wound she
instructed him to get going for the battle. These words were still
in her mouth when the Prophet pointed out a man to her and told
her that he was the same man who had injured your son. She
attacked the man like a lioness and inflicted her sword on his
leg. He fell on the ground. The Prophet said, "Well, thou
hast taken thy revenge. Thanks for God who gave the victory on him
and made thy eyes cool."
Many Muslims were martyred and wounded. She herself was severely
wounded and there was no hope of her life. After the battle of
Uhud, the Prophet ordered the wounded Muslims to persue the enemy
unto Hamra-ul-Asad, to be sure of their intention and condition.
Nasiba also wanted to accompany them but the deep injuries did not
allow her to do so. On returning from Hamra-ul-Asad, the Prophet
before reaching his house sent someone to enquire about her health
and was pleased to learn that she was alive.
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