The Messenger of Allah Is Wounded

At last the enemy broke through to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). He was hit with a rock and fell on his side, breaking his front teeth, slashing his face and splitting his lip. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) himself was injured in the Battle of Uḥud. In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī it says that Fāṭimah was the one washing him, while ʿAlī poured the water from a shield. When Fāṭimah saw that the water was only increasing the flow of blood, she took a piece of matting and set fire to it, then attached it to the wound — the ash is very dry and would absorb the moisture from the wound and dry it, and it is also hot, so it would help disinfect it. This is mentioned in al-Bukhārī: the blood ceased flowing, and his front tooth was broken that day, his face was wounded, and his helmet was crushed onto his head. It was Ibn Qamiʾah who struck the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) on the cheek, and it was ʿUtbah ibn Abī Waqqāṣ who struck his lip and lower tooth. It is reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) spoke a supplication against ʿUtbah ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, that Allah not let a year pass over him before he died as a disbeliever. Ibn Kathīr commented that no change did come over him, so that he did die as a disbeliever, bound for the Fire.

So what was the Messenger of Allah's own reaction to this defeat? As narrated by Anas ibn Mālik, while the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was wiping the blood off his face, he said, "How could any people prosper who struck their Prophet and broke his front teeth while he called them to Allah?" How could such people succeed, doing this to the Prophet who was calling them to Allah, Mighty and Majestic? Allah then revealed the āyah:

So Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is saying that the fate of these people is not for the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) to decide — it is in the hands of Allah alone, to cut them down, to forgive them, or to punish them. They deserved punishment, but if Allah wanted to forgive them, that was for Him to decide. This shows that even the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) does not control the fate of humanity — it is all in the hands of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, who alone decides who becomes a Muslim and who does not, who should be punished and who should not. If this right was not given even to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), then no one else can claim that right for himself.