On the day of Uhud, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was left isolated with seven men from the Ansar and two men from Quraysh. When the enemy closed in upon him, he said, "Who will drive them back from us and have Paradise?" or "He will be my companion in Paradise."A man from the Ansar stepped forward and fought until he was killed. Then the enemy pressed in again, and he said, "Who will drive them back from us and have Paradise?" or "He will be my companion in Paradise."Another man from the Ansar stepped forward and fought until he was killed. This continued until all seven of them had been killed.The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then said to his two remaining companions, "We have not been fair to our companions."
أن رسول الله ﷺ أفرد يوم أحد في سبعة من الأنصار، ورجلين من قريش، فلما رهقوه قال: من يردهم عنا وله الجنة، أو هو رفيقي في الجنة فتقدم رجل من الأنصار فقاتل حتى قتل، ثم رهقوه أيضا، فقال: من يردهم عنا وله الجنة، أو هو رفيقي في الجنة فتقدم رجل من الأنصار، فقاتل حتى قتل، فلم يزل كذلك حتى ﷺ قتل السبعة، فقال رسول الله: لصاحبيه: ما أنصفنا أصحابنا.
Muslim narrated it in jihad (1789) from Haddab bin Khalid Azdi, who said, "Hammad bin Salama narrated to us, from Ali bin Zayd and Thabit Bunani, from Anas bin Malik," and he related it.His saying, "Our companions did not deal fairly with us," means that Quraysh did not deal fairly with the Ansar, since Quraysh did not go out to fight, while the Ansar went out one after another. Nawawi mentioned this.Imam Ahmad narrated something similar in meaning (4414) from Affan, who said, "Hammad narrated to us, who said, Ata bin Saaib narrated to us, from Shaybi, from Ibn Masud, that on the day of Uhud the women were behind the Muslims finishing off the wounded of the polytheists, so that if I had sworn an oath that day, I would have hoped to be truthful in it, that not one of us desired this world, until Allah revealed, "Among you were some who desired this world, and among you were some who desired the Hereafter. Then He turned you back from them, that He might test you" [Al Imran 3:152]. So when the companions of the Prophet ﷺ disobeyed and went against what they had been commanded, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was left alone with nine others, seven from the Ansar and two from Quraysh, he being the tenth of them." He then related a long hadith, except that it is disconnected, for Shaybi did not hear from Abdullah bin Masud, and this is its defect. As for Ata bin Saaib, his memory became confused later in life, except that Hammad heard from him before that confusion set in.