Muhammad is only a messenger, that is, he is only a mortal messenger who will pass away or be slain like other prophets before him. Thus the one who is certain in his religion and follows an insight from his Lord does not turn back [from his religion] should the Messenger die or be slain, nor does he neglect the path that he followed, because he is struggling for the sake of his Lord and not the Messenger, as was the case with the companions of former prophets. And as Anas, the uncle of Anas b. Mālik said on the day of [the battle of] Uḥud, when [false] rumours circulated that the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, had been killed and when this news spread and the Muslims were defeated, and it reached him [Anas] that some were saying, 'Would that someone secure for us a guarantee of safety from Abū Sufyān!' and that the hypocrites were saying, 'Were he a [true] prophet, he would not have been killed', he [Anas] said, 'My fellow men: if Muḥammad has indeed been slain, then [know that] Muḥammad's Lord is Living and does not die! What, in any case, do you hope to do with your lives after the Messenger of God [has gone]? So fight in the way that he fought and die upon that [religion] which he died!' He [Anas] then said, 'O Lord, I apologise to You for what they have said and absolve myself before You of their behaviour'. He then seized his sword and fought until he was slain. If any man should turn back on his heels, he will not harm God in any way, but will have harmed himself by his hypocrisy and the weakness of his certainty, and God will requite those that are thankful, for the grace of Islam, the likes of Anas b. al-Na?r and men of certainty of his mettle.