Masjid Shaikhain

• After performing the Jummah (Friday) prayer, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) set off for Uhud and performed Asar, Maghrib, Isha, stayed the night and performed Fajr here.
• During this period all the Muslim inhabitants of Medina were called here including the women and elderly. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) planned the battle, inspected the troops and selected those to participate. Several tender-aged boys had come out with the army with the zeal to fight for Islam but the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) ordered them back.
• Among the boys was Rafe’ (may Allah be pleased with him). His father Khudaij (may Allah be pleased with him) said to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him), “ O Prophet of Allah! My son Rafe’ is a very good archer.” Rafe’ too, stood on his toes to show himself taller than he actually was. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) permitted him to stay on. Samrah-bin-Jundub (may Allah be pleased with him) learnt about this, he complained to his step-father Murrah-bin-Sanan (may Allah be pleased with him) saying,“ The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) has permitted Rafe’ and ejected me, while I am sure to beat him in a wrestling contest and, therefore, I was more deserving of the Prophet’ s favour.” This was reported to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him), who allowed Samrah to prove his claim by wrestling with Rafe’ . Samrah did actually beat Rafe’ in the bout and he too was permitted to stay in the army. A few more boys made similar efforts to stay on, and some of them did succeed.

• There was a great setback to the Muslims when in the morning Abdullah bin Ubai, the leader of the hypocrites, broke away with his three hundred followers pretending that since his opinion of fighting inside Medina was not accepted, he and his men would not take part in the battle. This reduced the Muslim army from around one thousand to a mere seven hundred to face a Quraysh army of three thousand. Surprised and alarmed, other tribes reacted badly to the news and also considered retreating but the counsel of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) and Allah’ s (Glorified and Exalted is He) grace renewed their resolve and shortly before dawn they made their way towards Uhud.

• Narrated Zaid bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him): When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) went out for Uhud, some of his companions (hypocrites) returned (home). A party of the believers remarked that they would kill those (hypocrites) who had returned, but another party said that they would not kill them. So, this Divine Inspiration was revealed (in the Quran): “ Then what is the matter with you that you are divided into two parties concerning the hypocrites.“ [4:88]The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) said, “ Medina expels the bad persons from it, as fire expels the impurities of iron.” [Bukhari]