Al Ahzab : Battle of Trench

The Muslims sphere of influence widened and their authority increased dramatically, reaching new heights. The whole of the Arabian Peninsula became fearful of the might exercised by the Muslims. Whenever the Arabs got wind of a raid that was about to be launched against them by Allah's Messenger they would get frightened and run away, this happened in Ghatafan and Dumat al-Jandal. Quraysh were no longer a match for the Muslims and they could no longer dare to confront them on their own.

The Battle of the Trench took place after the campaign against Banu Nadir, who had been expelled from Medina 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 Wail, left for Mecca. 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 peace be upon him. These intrigues of the Jews resulted in the formation of a great confederacy against Islam. It consisted of the Meccans polytheists, the desert tribes of central Arabia, the Jews previously expelled for treacheries from Medina , the Jews (Banu Qurayza) remaining in Medina , and the hypocrites led by ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. The last two constituted a treacherous network within Medina. When God's Messenger Muhammad, 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 Medina and fight from there. Salman al-Farisi suggested to God's Messenger that they should dig a trench around Medina.

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. The Messenger Muhammad peace be upon him who dug alongside them, and had fastened around his belly two rocks.

Medina under threat

The allies advanced against Medina 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 Medina n 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 Quran (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. 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. Nuaym ibn Masud was one of the leaders of the Allies, who before the battle, had come to Medina to sow discord; instead, he then began to incline towards Islam. During the battle, he secretly entered Islam. 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. 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 Quran describes this situation as follows:

When enemy forces stormed upon you from all directions, it was such a difficult time that your eyes were stupefied with horror and your hearts thumped with fear, as if they would jump on to your throats. And those (amongst you) who were weak started developing doubts about Allah's promise. At that hour of staggering calamity, the true inner courage of the Momineen was revealed. Everyone witnessed the courage and fortitude with which they stood and fought under such adverse circumstances. On the contrary, the Munafiqeen and those who were deceptive started spreading rumors that all the promises which Allah Almighty and His Rasool had made them, were nothing but delusions. One of the groups went to the extent of saying, 'O people of Medina , as you cannot hold the ground and withstand the attack of the enemy, it would be better to go back immediately. One of the groups even asked the Nabi to excuse them, on the plea that their houses were not secure, even though they really were quite safe. Actually, using this excuse they wanted to run away from the battlefield. (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 night fallen out among themselves. The Muslims were victorious by God's help; there were hidden forces of Allah Almighty which were stood beside them: O Jamaat-ul-Momineen, to achieve this purpose you have to go to war at times. As in your case, you had to go to war several times. One such war was the battle of Ahzab, in respect of which you should keep in mind the blessings of Allah. When the enemy forces came down upon you, We let loose stormy winds against them. These winds in fact were the heavenly forces which could not be seen; and Allah Almighty was fully watchful of everything you were doing. (al-Ahzab, 33.9)