Battlefield of Mount Uhud

When we were in Madinah recently, I got excited when it was decided that we would be going to “the mountain.” I had visions of a picnic, lots of tall shady trees and fresh air. Well, that’s not exactly what I got. The “mountain” would be labeled in MY book more under the “hill” category. Mount Uhud turned out to be the site of a famous Islamic battle which took place in the year 625 between a small force of Muslims from Madinah and a much larger force of non-believers from Mecca. This historic mountain is located just north of Madinah. It’s an easy walk up the hill, which was defended mightily by the smaller army of arrow shooting warriors from Madinah. The surviving Meccans retreated, and the victorious followers of Mohammed disobeyed his command to not leave their posts on top of the hill, where they could see for miles in every direction. Instead they hastily descended the hill, some say, to greedily confiscate the spoils of their short lived victory. The Meccans seized the opportunity and returned, much to the surprise of the Muslims, and managed to turn their embarrassing loss into a victory.
At the base of the mountain is the burial site of some 70 fallen Muslim fighters, including Mohammed’s uncle, Hamza. The graves are unmarked which is typical of Islamic burial sites but it has been preserved by the construction of a large fence around it. Below is a view of the burial site taken from atop Mount Uhud.