And certainly, you had wished for death, addressed to those who did not witness Badr. They were wishing to attend a scene with the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, to attain the honor of martyrdom that the martyrs of Badr received. They were the ones who insisted on the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, to go out to the polytheists. His opinion was to remain in Medina. This means: you were wishing for death before you witnessed it and knew its severity and the difficulty of enduring it. You have indeed seen it while you were looking, meaning you saw it with your own eyes when your brothers and relatives were killed before you, and you were close to being killed. This is a reprimand for them regarding their wish for death and for what they caused by insisting on the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, to go out, then fleeing from him and their lack of steadfastness with him. If you say: how is it permissible to wish for martyrdom while wishing for it implies wishing for the defeat of the disbeliever over the Muslim? I say: the one wishing for martyrdom intends to attain the honor of the martyrs and nothing else. His thoughts do not go to that implication, just as one who drinks the medicine of a Christian doctor intends to achieve the hoped-for cure, without thinking that it involves benefiting and doing good to the enemy of Allah and supporting his craft. Abdullah ibn Rawahah, may Allah be pleased with him, said when he set out to Mu'tah and it was said to him: may Allah return you safely: 'But I ask the Most Merciful for forgiveness... and a strike that is wide and throws forth foam.' Or a thrust by the hands of Haran that is decisive... with a spear that penetrates the innards and the liver. Until they say when they pass by my grave: 'May Allah guide you from a warrior who has been guided.' When Abdullah ibn Qum'ah al-Harithy threw a stone at the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, breaking his incisor and injuring his face, he approached intending to kill him. So, Mus'ab ibn Umair defended the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, on the day of Badr and the day of Uhud, until he was killed by Ibn Qum'ah while he thought he was the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and he said: 'I have killed Muhammad.'

And a caller cried out: "Indeed, Muhammad has been killed." It was said that the caller was the devil. The news of his killing spread among the people, and they turned back. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, kept calling: "O servants of Allah!" until a group of his companions gathered around him. He reproached them for their fleeing, and they said: "O Messenger of Allah - may we be ransomed by our fathers and mothers - the news of your killing reached us, and our hearts were filled with fear, so we turned back." [I say: This is extracted from several reports regarding the Battle of Uhud. Musa ibn Uqbah said in the Maghazi, and through him al-Bayhaqi in the Dalail, from Ibn Shihab. He said: "On that day, the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was struck by a man from Banu al-Harith named Abdullah ibn Qum'ah, and it is said that he was struck by Utbah ibn Abi Waqqas." In al-Tabarani from Abu Umamah: "The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was struck by Abdullah ibn Qum'ah with a stone on the day of Uhud, which injured his face and broke his incisor. He said: 'Take this, I am Ibn Qum'ah.' The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said to him: 'May Allah make you suffer.' So Allah sent a mountain goat upon him, which kept butting him until it tore him to pieces." Al-Tabari narrated from the route of Asbat from al-Suddi, mentioning the story of Uhud. He said: Abdullah ibn Qum'ah al-Harithy came from Banu al-Harith ibn Abd Manaf ibn Kinanah. He threw a stone at the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, which broke his nose and incisor and injured his head, causing him to become heavy and his companions scattered from him. Some entered the city, while others went up the mountain, and he kept calling them: "O servants of Allah! O servants of Allah!" The news spread among the people that Muhammad had been killed." The narration continues in the Maghazi of Ibn Ishaq and through him in al-Tabari from al-Zuhri, Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Hibban, Asim ibn Umar, and others, mentioning the story of Uhud. He said: "And Mus'ab ibn Umair kept fighting in defense of him, carrying his banner until he was killed. The one who struck him was Ibn Qum'ah, thinking that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, had been killed. He returned to Quraysh and said: 'I have killed Muhammad.' And according to al-Waqidi from Ibn Abi Subrah from Khalid ibn Rabi' from al-A'raj, he said: 'When the devil cried out on the day of Uhud that Muhammad had been killed, Abu Sufyan said: 'Who killed Muhammad?' Ibn Qum'ah said: 'I did.' As for his words: 'He reproached them for their fleeing,' this was narrated [with a blank in the original]. His saying that when the caller cried out, some Muslims said: 'Would that Abdullah ibn Ubayy would take for us a pledge of safety from Abu Sufyan,' is from the narration of al-Suddi mentioned earlier, and its wording is: 'Some of the companions of the rock said: 'Would that we had a messenger to Abdullah ibn Ubayy to take for us a guarantee from Abu Sufyan.' His saying: 'And some of the hypocrites said: If he were a prophet, he would not have been killed. Return to your brothers and to your religion.' Anas ibn al-Nadr, the uncle of Anas, said: 'O people, if Muhammad has been killed, then the Lord of Muhammad is alive and does not die.' The narration is in the last part of the narration of al-Suddi mentioned. His saying: 'And about some of the emigrants that he passed by an Ansari who was bleeding in his blood, he said: 'O so-and-so, did you hear that Muhammad has been killed?' He said: 'If he has been killed, then he has fulfilled his mission. So fight for your religion.'" Al-Tabari narrated from the narration of Ibn Abi Najih from Mujahid that a man from the emigrants passed by a man from the Ansar who was bleeding, and he mentioned it in a long speech.] Then it was revealed. It was narrated that when the caller cried out, some Muslims said: 'Would that Abdullah ibn Ubayy would take for us a pledge of safety from Abu Sufyan.' And some of the hypocrites said: 'If he were a prophet, he would not have been killed. Return to your brothers and to your religion.' Anas ibn al-Nadr - the uncle of Anas ibn Malik - said: 'O people, if Muhammad has been killed, then the Lord of Muhammad is alive and does not die. What will you do with life after the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him? So fight for what he fought for, and die for what he died for.' Then he said: 'O Allah, I apologize to You for what these people say, and I disassociate myself from what these people have brought. Then he charged with his sword and fought until he was killed. And about some of the emigrants:

He passed by an Ansari who was floundering in his blood. He said, 'O so-and-so, did you hear that Muhammad has been killed?' He said, 'If he has been killed, then he has conveyed [the message]. Fight for your religion.' The meaning is: 'And Muhammad is only a Messenger; indeed, messengers have passed on before him.' So he will pass away just as they passed away. Just as their followers remained steadfast in their religion after their passing, you must remain steadfast in his religion after his passing. The purpose of sending the messengers is to convey the message and establish the proof, not for their existence among their people. 'If he dies'—the 'if' connects the conditional sentence to the previous sentence in the sense of causation, and the 'hamzah' is for denying that they should make the passing of the messengers before him a reason for turning back on their heels after his demise, whether by death or killing, while they know that the passing of the messengers before him and the remaining of their religion steadfastly should be a reason for adhering to the religion of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, not for turning away from it. If you say: Why mention killing when it is known that he will not be killed? I say: Because it was permissible in the eyes of the listeners. If you say: Did they not know from his saying: 'And Allah will protect you from the people'? I say: This is something that is specific to the scholars among them and those with insight. Do you not see that they heard the news of his killing and fled? Although it is possible to be protected from the trial of the people and not from them. Turning back on their heels means turning away from what the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was doing in terms of jihad and other matters. It is said: apostasy. No one among the Muslims turned back that day except for what was said by the hypocrites. It may be that this is in the sense of emphasizing the severity of their fleeing and abandoning the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and his Islam [meaning: his abandonment of the enemy]. Allah will not be harmed by anything; He only harms himself, because Allah, the Exalted, does not allow harm and benefit to befall Him. And Allah will reward the grateful ones, those who did not turn back, like Anas ibn al-Nadr and his likes. He called them grateful because they appreciated the blessing of Islam in what they did. The meaning is that the death of souls can only be by the will of Allah, so it is presented as an action that no one should hasten to except with Allah's permission in it, as an example. And because the Angel of Death is appointed for that, he cannot take a soul except by permission from Allah. This is in two meanings: one is to encourage them towards jihad and motivate them to meet the enemy by informing them that caution is of no benefit, and that no one dies before reaching their appointed time, even if they plunge into dangers and storm the battles. The second is to mention what Allah did with His Messenger at the time of the enemy's overwhelming and their encirclement of him and the Islam of his people to him, as a reminder for the one who is heedless of protection and care and the postponement of the appointed time.