Sirah
The Fires of Hamra al-Asad
The pursuit toward Makkah the day after Uhud, 3 AH
3 AH / 625 CE
Educational historical reconstructionWhere
Hamra al-Asad, on the road south-west of Madinah toward Makkah
24.4010, 39.5450 · View on OpenStreetMap
Background
On the day after the battle of Uhud, Shawwal of the third year after the Hijrah, 625 CE, the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) called on those who had fought the previous day to march out again in pursuit of the withdrawing Quraysh, and led them to a place called Hamra al-Asad, about eight miles south-west of Madinah on the road toward Makkah. The purpose, as Ibn Ishaq's Sira and al-Waqidi's Maghazi record it, was to demonstrate that the Muslim force was undefeated and ready to fight again, and so to deter Abu Sufyan and the Quraysh from reconsidering and turning back to attack the wounded city. The most celebrated detail is that the Muslims, though many were injured from the day before, lit a very large number of fires across the encampment at night, the sources speak of some five hundred, to give the impression of a much larger army to any Quraysh scouts watching from a distance. The Quraysh, informed of the display and themselves weary, continued on toward Makkah rather than return. Few or no casualties resulted; the episode is read in the tradition as a swift recovery of morale and initiative immediately after the reverse at Uhud, and the mufassirun connect it with the praise in Al 'Imran of those who responded to the call of Allah and the Messenger after the wound they had received (Q 3:172-174). This scene depicts the night encampment at Hamra al-Asad: the wide scatter of fires across the dark plain, the halted column with its bandaged men, the watch set along the Makkah road. It depicts no combat. In keeping with the strictest visual ethics, no figure is identifiable and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is not depicted.
What you see
Across an open plain at night, a great many small cook-fires are lit in a wide scatter, far more fires than there are men, a deliberate show meant to make a modest force look like a large army to anyone watching from a distance.
A bare desert encampment some hours' march from the oasis, set astride the caravan road that runs south-west from Madinah toward Makkah, a position taken to shadow a withdrawing enemy, not to defend a town.
The camp is a marching column halted: riding-camels couched in lines, light field-gear, and among the men a number who are bandaged and moving stiffly, a force that has very recently been in hard fighting.
The road ahead runs on toward Makkah and is the focus of the watch; the encampment faces outward along it, shadowing a Quraysh army that has chosen to continue home rather than turn back on Madinah.
The subject is a bluff: a show of strength by firelight, mounted the day after a costly reverse, to deter the victors of that battle from returning to finish the work.
It is the night and following days after the battle at the hill of Uhud; the dating is Shawwal of the third year after the Hijrah, 625 CE.
The terrain is the dark volcanic-and-sand country south-west of Madinah; the place is remembered as Hamra al-Asad, about eight miles out from the city.
Primary sources
Ibn Ishaq / Ibn Hisham, Sirat Rasul Allah (compiled 8th-9th c.): The narrative of the march to Hamra al-Asad the day after Uhud and its deterrent purpose. The principal source.
Muhammad ibn 'Umar al-Waqidi, Kitab al-Maghazi (early 9th c.): The detail of the many fires lit by night to magnify the apparent size of the force, and the distance and dating. Used with the usual caution on al-Waqidi.
al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa-al-Muluk (early 10th c.): Places Hamra al-Asad in the immediate aftermath of Uhud in Shawwal 3 AH and compiles the earlier reports.
al-Tabari and Ibn Kathir, tafsir on Al 'Imran 172-174: The standard Sunni connection of the Qur'anic praise of those who answered the call after their wound with the march to Hamra al-Asad. Interpretive, not a forensic dating.
Further reading & cross-references
Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, al-Rahiq al-Makhtum (20th c.): Modern Sunni synthesis for the chronology and the framing of the pursuit as a recovery of initiative after Uhud.
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