Musab ibn Umayr, one of the Prophet's defenders, put himself in the way when Amr ibn Qamiah leveled a blow at the Prophet. Musab was killed and Ibn Qamiah thought he had achieved his goal of killing the Prophet. He went back to the unbelievers to tell them so. This was how the news of the Prophet being killed was spread around.
A few men from the Ansar also fought hard in defense of the Prophet until they were killed one by one. The last of the group was Zaid ibn Al-Sakan, who was fatally wounded. The Prophet laid him down and put Zaid's head on his — the Prophet's — lapuntil he died.
More Muslims came to the defense of the Prophet. Every one of them came and spoke to him: "I give my life to save you. I leave you in peace without saying farewell." Perhaps as many as 30 people were killed as they defended the Prophet.
Four men of the Quraish were more determined than ever to kill the Prophet. They pledged to one another that they would not be deterred from killing him. This was well known in Makkah, where everyone of the Quraish expected them to be true to their word.
When the assault on the Prophet was at its height, the four of them were in the thick of it. Abdullah ibn Shihab managed, indeed, to hit the Prophet, causing a cut in his forehead; his beard was red with blood.
Utbah ibn Abi Waqqas, the brother of Saad, a Companion who was defending the Prophet so bravely, managed to hit the Prophet in his lower lip and break one of his lower front teeth.
Amr ibn Qamiah succeeded in hitting the Prophet on his cheek, and two links of the Prophet's iron mask penetrated into his flesh. Amr then hit the Prophet on the shoulder with his sword and the Prophet fell in a hole in the ground, and was unable to rise again.
Ali ibn Abi Talib held the Prophet's hand while Talhah ibn Ubaid Allah lifted him. This injury to the Prophet caused him pain for a whole month.
Some Muslims began to realize that the Prophet was not dead, and they rejoined the battle. As they rallied, the first to recognize the Prophet was Kaab ibn Malik, who said: "I recognized him with his eyes beaming through his head mask. I shouted this piece of happy news to the Muslims but the Prophet motioned me to keep quiet."
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"If the prophet is alright, then any catastrophe that may befall us is a small matter."
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More support was coming to the Prophet, and a group of his Companions moved him to a well protected area at the foot of the mountain, where he was kept safe by a number of his followers.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) wanted to climb a rock in the mountain, but he was unable to do so because he had lost so much blood. Talhah ibn Ubaid Allah, however, sat underneath him and lifted him to help him climb the rock until he was over it. The Prophet was touched by Talhah's gesture and gave him the title "Talhah Al-Khayr", meaning that he was the symbol of goodness.
Thus the determined assault made by the Quraish to kill the Prophet failed in its objective.
The role of Talhah ibn Ubaid Allah as the most effective of his defenders was acknowledged even by those who remained steadfast with the Prophet. One of them, Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, said later that Talhah was the hero of the day. "He remained close to the Prophet while the rest of us made some leaps forward and came back to him."
Talhah was badly injured. He received an arrow in his hand which paralyzed the lower part of it. He was also hit with a stone on his head and lost consciousness. The Prophet asked Abu Bakr to attend to him, and Abu Bakr washed his head.
As Talhah regained consciousness, he asked Abu Bakr about the Prophet. When Abu Bakr told him that he was all right, Talhah praised God and said: "Any catastrophe that may befall us now is but a small matter."
One of the Ansar to show great courage in the battle was Anas ibn Al-Nadr, the uncle of Anas ibn Malik. He was sorry that he missed the Battle of Badr, and pledged that if he were to take part in a battle for the cause of Islam, God would see his heroism.
He was indeed true to his word. When the Muslims were in confusion, he said: "My Lord, I apologize to You for what these people (meaning his fellow Muslims) have done, and I disown what these others (the unbelievers) are after."
He then fought heroically until he was killed. No one could recognize his body until his sister recognized him by a mark on his finger. About 80 wounds were found on his body.
More and more of the Prophet's Companions were coming to their senses and joining the party which remained steadfast throughout. They were still confused. Some of them fought without knowing whom they were fighting.
In this confusion, one of the Muslims, Al-Yaman, an elderly man who was the father of a great Muslim commander named Hudhayfah, was killed by mistake at the hands of the Muslims. Hudhayfah saw his father being attacked by his Muslim brothers, and tried in vain to warn them. After the battle, he relinquished any claim against his father's killers.
