The
Muslim army then besieged them in their fortresses and, seeing
that neither the Makkan polytheists nor the hypocrites in Madina
stirred a finger to help them, the Banu Nadir had to leave the
city. They were dismayed but their lives were spared, and they
were given ten days in which to remove themselves, their
families, and such goods as they could carry. Most of them
joined their brethren in Syria and the others in Khaybar.
While
returning from the Battle of Uhud, Abu Sufyan had challenged the
Muslims to another encounter at Badr the following year.1
But when the appointed time arrived, Abu Sufyan’s courage
failed him to fight against God’s Messenger. As a face-saving
device he sent an agent, Nu‘aym ibn Mas‘ud, who was then an
unbeliever, to Madina who spread the rumor that the Quraysh were
making tremendous war preparations and that they were gathering
a huge army which no other power in the whole of Arabia would
resist. However, when the Prophet, upon him be peace and
blessings, reached Badr with an army of fifteen hundred
fighters, they found there no one to fight with them. They
stayed at Badr for eight days awaiting the threatened encounter,
and when no sign of the Quraysh army appeared, they returned to
Madina. This campaign was called Badr al-Sughra (Badr the
Minor).
In the
fifth year after the Hijra, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace
and blessings, was informed that the desert tribes of Anmar and
Sa’laba had decided to attack Madina. Accompanied by 400
fighters, he reached Zat al-Riqa’ and hearing that the enemy
tribes had fled, returned to Madina.2
After
this campaign, God’s Messenger marched upon Banu Mustaliq, a
pagan tribe of Arabia. Banu Mustaliq had made preparations of
war against the Muslims. With an army of 700 warriors, God’s
Messenger attacked them and defeated them.3 On the
way back to Madina, the intrigues of the hypocrites to bring
about dissension between the Emigrants and Helpers were brought
to naught. The verses sent down revealed all their secrets and
how polluted their inner world was (al-Munafiqun, 63.
1-11).
The
battle of the Trench
The
Battle of the Trench took place after the campaign against Banu
Nadir, who had been expelled from Madina for their treachery and
who had mostly joined their Jewish brethren in Khaybar.
In the
fifth year of Hijra, a group of those Jews including Sallam ibn
Abi al-Huqayq and Huyayy ibn Akhtab, together with a number of
Banu Wa’il, left for Makka. They urged the Quraysh to make war
on the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, and
promised help and support.
The
Jewish group then went to the tribes of Ghatafan and Qays Aylan
and guaranteeing them help also, encouraged them to fight
against God’s Messenger.4
These
intrigues of the Jews resulted in the formation of a great
confederacy against Islam. It consisted of the Makkan
polytheists, the desert tribes of central Arabia, the Jews
previously expelled for treacheries from Madina, the Jews (Banu
Qurayza) remaining in Madina, and the hypocrites led by ‘Abdullah
ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. The last two constituted a treacherous
network within Madina.
When God’s
Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, heard, through his
intelligence service, of the gathering of the allies or
confederates (ahzab) against him, and the strength of
their desire to fight against him, he consulted his Companions,
as he always used to do. It was their unanimous view that they
should remain in Madina and fight from there. Salman al-Farisi
suggested to God’s Messenger that they should dig a trench
around Madina.
The
trench took six days of feverish work to dig. God’s Messenger
had divided them into groups of ten people and put them to a
competition. It was a hard task and time was restricted; what
was more, hunger struck them all; yet all the Companions worked
enthusiastically. In order not to feel hunger, each fastened a
rock around his belly. While digging they recited:
We
are those people who
Took the oath of allegiance to Muhammad;
Therefore we shall fight in the way of God
As long as we live.
By God, if God had not enabled us to,
We would have neither been guided
Nor given alms, nor performed prayers.
Send down unto us calmness and tranquility
And make our feet firm if we confront the enemy!5
The
Messenger, who dug alongside them, and had fastened around his
belly two rocks, answered them with the couplet:
O
God, the real life is the life of the Hereafter
So, forgive the Helpers and the Emigrants.6
Madina
under threat
The
allies advanced against Madina in the hope of destroying the
Muslims in a battle to be fought in an open field. However, when
they faced a new strategy of God’s Messenger, they took the
first blow. Numbering around 20,000 men, they camped near the
ditch. The Madinan fighting strength was no more than 3,000, and
the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza and the Hypocrites were a
source of weakness as they were treacherously intriguing with
the enemy. As stated in the verses of the Qur’an (al-Ahzab,
33.12-20) when the Hypocrites first saw the enemy, they were
already in a defeatist mood. Not content with disloyalty
themselves, they tried to infect others, who made paltry excuses
to withdraw from the fight. If the enemy were to gain entrance,
they were ready to betray the city to the enemy.
God’s
Messenger’s sagacity and military genius showed themselves
once more during this war. He had kept them confined within the
city and stationed them in a way that they could safeguard their
homes against possible attacks from Banu Qurayza. It was the
most critical moments of the war when Banu Qurayza sent a man
into the city to spy into the conditions of the Muslim women.
However, when this man was killed by Safiyya, the Prophet’s
aunt, their hopes were frustrated.7
While the
war was continuing with exchanges of arrows and stones, God’s
Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, did not neglect to
make diplomatic attempts to disunite the Allies. He contacted
the leaders of Ghatafan and, offering them peace, urged them to
withdraw with their people from the war. Nu‘aym ibn Mas‘ud
was one of the leaders of the Allies, who before the battle, had
come to Madina to sow discord; instead, he then began to incline
towards Islam. During the battle, he secretly entered Islam and,
ordered by God’s Messenger, proceeded to stir up Banu Qurayza.
Nu‘aym set Banu Qurayza against the Quraysh by telling them
that they would be abandoned by the Makkans and should refuse to
help unless they were given hostages from the Quraysh. To the
Quraysh, on the other hand, he said that Banu Qurayza would not
fulfil their promise to help and would attempt to stall by
asking for Qurayshi hostages to share their plight in the case
of defeat. This stratagem succeeded. Dissension among the Allies
grew.8
God’s
Messenger, supported by the mountain Sal behind, had ordered a
point in the trench to be made narrower. He had expected that
leading horsemen of the Quraysh would try to cross the trench
through that narrow spot. It happened as he had expected, and
some of the most renowned warriors of the Quraysh attempted to
cross the trench and volunteered for single combat with Muslim
fighters. Among them were ‘Amr ibn ‘Abd Wudd, Ikrima ibn Abi
Jahl, Hubayra ibn Abi Wahb, Durar ibn al-Khattab and Nawfal ibn
‘Adbullah ibn al-Mughira.
Boasting
of his strength and fighting ability, ‘Amr ibn ‘Abd Wudd
dismounted from his horse in the face of ‘Ali, who was ordered
by the Messenger to fight against ‘Amr. ‘Amr advanced
towards ‘Ali with his sword drawn. He brought his sword
quickly against him but he got his sword caught in the shield of
‘Ali. ‘Ali, in return, struck a fierce blow against ‘Amr
and the dust rose up around them. Then the words, Allahu
akbar - God is the Greatest - were heard: ‘Ali had killed
his opponent.9
Dirar,
Hubayra and Nawfal were also killed by ‘Ali.10 The
attempts of other horsemen or generals of the Quraysh to cross
the trench were all brought to naught.
The siege
lasted 27 days. It caused the Muslims much suffering, from
hunger, cold, an unceasing shower of arrows and stones, and
attempts and concentrated assaults to cross the trench, and
betrayals and intrigues within the city. The Qur’an describes
this situation as follows:
When
they come against you from above you and from below you,
and when your eyes swerved and your hearts reached your
throats, while you thought thoughts about God; there it
was that the believers were tried, and shaken most
mightily. And when the hypocrites, and those in whose
hearts is sickness, said, ‘God and His Messenger
promised us only delusion.’ And when a party of them
said, ‘O people of Yathrib, there is no abiding here for
you, therefore return!’ And a party of them were asking
leave of the Prophet, saying, ‘Our houses are exposed’;
yet they were not exposed; they desired only to flee. (al-Ahzab,
33. 10-13)
After a
close investment of four weeks, during which the enemy were
disheartened by their ill success and the believers proved their
steadfastness and loyalty, there was a piercing blast of the
cold east wind. The enemy’s tents were torn up, their fires
were extinguished, the sand and rain beat in their faces, and
they were terrified by the portents against them. They had
already well nigh fallen out among themselves. Hudayfa al-Yamani,
who was sent by God’s Messenger to spy on the movements of the
enemy, heard Abu Sufyan’s shouting: ‘Come on, we are
returning!’11 The Muslims were victorious by God’s
help; there were hidden forces - the Angels - that helped them:
O
believers, remember God’s blessing upon you when hosts
came against you, and we loosed against them a wind, and
hosts you saw not; and God sees the things you do. (al-Ahzab,
33.9)
The
predictions of the Messenger
While
digging the ditch, the Companions had been unable to break a
huge rock and referred the matter to God’s Messenger, upon him
be peace and blessings. The Messenger struck the rock with the
pickaxe in his hand. In the light of the sparks caused by the
blow, he predicted: I have been given the keys to the Kingdom
of Persia; my Community will conquer it. He struck the rock
a second time and, again in the light of the sparks caused by
the blow, declared: God is the Greatest. I have been given
the keys to the Empire of Byzantium. My Community will conquer
it.12
The
Battle of the Trench was the last attempt of the Quraysh to
destroy Islam and the Muslims. Following their withdrawal in
defeat and humiliation, God’s Messenger declared: From this
moment we will march upon them; they will no longer be able to
raid us.13
Marching
upon the Banu Qurayza
When the
Allies were routed and turned their backs in flight from the
Muslims, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings,
turned his attention to Banu Qurayza. They had betrayed their
agreement with God’s Messenger and been allied with the
Quraysh against the Muslims. They had also given asylum to the
leaders of Banu Nadir, like Huyay ibn Akhtab, who had been
expelled from Madina, and never refrained from conspiracies
against the Muslims.
No
sooner had God’s Messenger arrived home from the Battle
of the Trench than Archangel Gabriel came and said to him:
‘I have not taken off my coat of mail, and I am going
upon Banu Qurayza’.14
God’s
Messenger ordered his Companions to march upon Banu Qurayza and
had his tent pitched opposite their fortresses. If Banu Qurayza
had asked the Messenger for forgiveness, he would have forgiven
them, but they preferred resistance. The Messenger remained
besieging Banu Qurayza for twenty-five days. At last they asked
the Messenger for surrender terms, agreeing that they should
submit to the judgment of Sa‘d ibn Mu’adh, who decreed the
sentence according to the Torah. This was the end of the
conspiracies of Banu Qurayza, as well as the Jewish presence in
Madina.15
Sa‘d
ibn Mu‘adh was among the leaders of the Helpers. He had been
wounded in the Battle of the Trench and prayed to God: ‘O God!
If I am able to fight once more beside God’s Messenger, make
me live. Otherwise, I am ready to die’. So, he died a martyr
shortly after the Jewish conspiracies ended.16