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back home in the evening until it had assumed its full dimensions militarily before the huge army of
the idolaters; which numbered, as many as ten thousand fighters, arrived and settled in the vicinity
of Madinah in places called Al-Asyal and Uhud.
·
“And when the believers saw
‘Al-Ahzab’
(the confederates), they said: ‘This is what Allâh
and His Messenger [Muhammad (Peace be upon him)] had promised us, and Allâh and His
Messenger [Muhammad (Peace be upon him)] had spoken the truth, and it only added to
their Faith and to their submissiveness (to Allâh).” [33:22]
Three thousand Muslims, with Muhammad (Peace be upon him) at their head, came out to
encounter the idolaters, with Allâh’s Promise of victory deeply established in their minds. They
entrenched themselves in Sila‘ Mountain with the trench standing as a barrier between them and the
disbelievers.
On attempting to attack the Muslims and break into Madinah, the idolaters were surprised to see a
wide trench, a new stratagem unknown in Arabia before, standing as an obstinate obstruction.
Consequently they decided to lay siege to Madinah and began to manoeuvre around the trench
trying hard to find a vulnerable spot through which they could infiltrate into Madinah. To deter their
enemies from approaching or bridging any gap in their defences, the Muslims hurled arrows, and
engaged in skirmishes with them. The veteran fighters of Quraish were averse to this situation
waiting in vain in anticipation of what the siege might reveal. Therefore they decided that a group of
fighters led by ‘Amr bin ‘Abd-e-Wudd, ‘Ikrima bin Abi Jahl and Dirar bin Al-Khattab, should work its
way through the trench. They, in fact, managed to do that and their horsemen captured a marshy
area between the trench and Sila‘ Mountain. ‘Amr challenged the Muslims to a duel, and ‘Ali bin Abi
Talib was deputed. After a short but fierce engagement, ‘Ali killed ‘Amr and obliged the others to
evacuate in a state of panic and confusion. However, some days later, the polytheists conducted
fresh desperate attempts but all of them failed due to Muslims’ steadfastness and heroic
confrontation.
In the context of the events of the Trench Battle, the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) failed
to observe some prayers in their right time. Jabir (May Allah be pleased with him) narrated: On the
Day of Trench ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab (May Allah be pleased with him) came, cursing the disbelievers
of Quraish and said: “O Allâh’s Messenger! I have not offered the afternoon prayer and the sun has
set.” The Prophet (Peace be upon him) replied: "By Allâh! I, , have not offered the prayer yet.” The
Prophet (Peace be upon him) then went to Buthan, performed ablution and observed the afternoon
prayer after the sun had set and then offered the sunset prayer after it.” He was so indignant for
this failure that he invoked Allâh’s wrath on his enemies and besought Allâh to fill their houses and
graves with fire because they distracted him from observing the afternoon prayer. It was narrated
by Ahmed and Shafa‘i that theevents of that battle detained him from the noon, afternoon, evening
and night prayers, but he observed them combined. The different narrations point to the fact that
the situation lasted for a few days.
It is clear that, and because of the trench standing between the two parties, no direct engagement
took place, but rather there were military activities confined to arrow hurling, consequently the fight
claimed the lives of a small number of fighters, six Muslims and ten polytheists, one or two killed by
sword.
During the process of fighting, Sa‘d bin Mu‘adh was shot by an arrow that pierced his artery.
Perceiving his end approaching, he invoked Allâh saying: “Oh, Allâh, you know nothing is closer to
my heart than striving in Your way against those people (disbelievers) who belied Your Messenger
and banished him from his town. Oh, Allâh, I deeply believe that You have decreed that we should
fight them, so if there is still more fighting to go with them, let me stay alive in order to strive more
against them. If it has settled down, I beseech you to ignite it again so that I breathe my last in its
context.”He concluded his supplication beseeching Allâh not to let him die until he had had full
revenge on Banu Quraiza. In the midst of these difficult circumstances, plottery and intrigues were
in fervent action against the Muslims. The chief criminal of Bani Nadir, Huyai, headed for the
habitations of Banu Quraiza to incite their chief Ka‘b bin Asad Al-Qurazi, who had drawn a pact with
the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) to run to his aid in times of war. Ka‘b, in the beginning
resisted all Huyai’s temptation, but Huyai was clever enough to manipulate him, speaking of Quraish
and their notables in Al-Asyal, as well as Ghatfan and their chieftains entrenched in Uhud, all in one
mind, determined to exterminate Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and his followers. He, moreover,
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