The Sealed Nectar (42 page)

[Al- Qur'an 33:10, 11]

Now that the Muslims were shut in within the Trench on the defensive, the hypocrites taunted them with having indulged in delusive hopes of defeating Kisra, emperor of Persia, and Caesar, emperor of the Romans. They began to sow the seeds of defeatism, and pretended to withdraw for the defence of their homes, though these were in no way exposed to danger. Here, Allâh says:

"And when the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease (of
doubts) said, ‘Allâh and His Messenger ([pbuh]) promised us nothing but
delusions!’ And when a party of them said: ‘O people of Yathrib (Al-Madinah), there is no stand (possible) for you (against the enemy attack!)
therefore go back!’ And a band of them asked for permission of the Prophet
([pbuh]) saying: ‘Truly, our homes lie open (to the enemy).’ And they lay
not open. They but wished to flee."
[Al- Qur'an 33:12, 13]

The Messenger of Allâh, [pbuh] wrapped himself in his robe and began to meditate on the perfidy of Banu Quraiza. The spirit of hopefulness prevailed over him and he rose to his feet saying:

"Allâh is Great. Hearken you Muslims, to Allâh’s good tidings of victory and
support."

He then started to lay decisive plans aiming at protecting the women and children, and sent some fighters back to Madinah to guard them against any surprise assault by the enemy. The second step was to take action that could lead to undermining the ranks of the disbelieving confederates. There, he had in mind to conclude a sort of reconciliation with the chiefs of Ghatfan on the basis of donating them a third of Madinah’s fruit crops. He sought the advice of his chief Companions, namely, Sa‘d bin Mu‘adh and Sa‘d bin ‘Ubadah, whose reply went as follows:

"O Messenger of Allâh! If it is Allâh’s injunction, then we have to obey, but if it is a new course you want to follow just to provide security for us then we don’t need it.

We experienced those people in polytheism and idolatry and we can safely say that they don’t need the fruit of our orchards, they rather need to exterminate us completely. Now that Allâh has honoured us with Islam, I believe the best recourse in this situation is to put them to the sword." Thereupon the Prophet [pbuh]

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corrected their Belief saying: "My new policy is being forged to provide your security after all the Arabs have united to annihilate you (Muslims)."

Allâh, the Glorious, the Exalted, praise is to him, created something that led to the dissension of the enemies of Islam and later on to their full defeat. A man from the tribe of Ghatfan called Na‘im bin Mas‘ud asked to be admitted in the audience of the Prophet [pbuh]. He declared that he had embraced Islam secretly and asked the Prophet [pbuh] to order him do anything that might benefit the Muslims. The Prophet

[pbuh] asked him to do anything that could help the Muslims in the present distress and use any strategem of avail. The man, in a shuttle movement, between the Jews, Quraish and Ghatfan managed to incite each party to let down the other. He went to see the chiefs of Banu Quraiza and whispered in their ears not to trust Quraish nor fight with them unless the latter pledged some hostages. He tried to lend support to his counsel by claiming that Quraish would forsake them if they perceived that victory over Muhammad [pbuh] was far fetched, and the Muslims then would have terrible revenge on them. Na‘im, then headed for the camp of Quraish and managed to practise a similar strategem in its final result but different in content. He claimed that he felt that the Jews regretted breaching their covenant with Muhammad [pbuh]

and his followers. He told them that the Jews maintained regular correspondence with the Muslims to the effect that Quraishite hostages be sent to the camp of the Muslims with full Jewish allegiance paid to them as already agreed upon. Na‘im then exhorted Quraish not to send hostages to the Jews. On a third errand, he did the same with the people of Ghatfan.

On Saturday night, Shawwal 5 A.H., both Quraish and Ghatfan despatched envoys to the Jews exhorting them to go into war against Muhammad [pbuh]. The Jews sent back messages that they would not fight on Saturday. They added that they needed hostages from them to guarantee their consistency. On receiving the replies, Quraish and Ghatfan came to believe Na‘im’s words fully. Therefore, they sent a message to the Jews again inviting them to war and asking them to preclude that condition of hostages. Na‘im’s scheme proved successful, and a state of distrust and suspicion among the disbelieving allies prevailed and reduced their morale to deplorable degree.

Meanwhile, the Muslims were preoccupied supplicating their Lord to protect their homes and provide security for their families. The Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] on his part invoked Allâh’s wrath on the Confederates supplicating:

"Oh, Allâh! You are quick in account, You are the sender of the Book, we
beseech You to defeat the confederates."
[Sahih Al- Bukhari 1/411,2/590]

Allâh the Glorious, the Exalted, responded to the call of the Muslims on the spot.

Coupled with the dissension and variance that found their way into the hearts of the disbelievers, forces of nature — wind, rain and cold wearied them, tents were blown down, cooking vessels and other equipage overthrown.

That very cold night the Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] despatched Hudhaifa bin Al-Yaman to hunt around for news about the enemy. He found out that they were preparing to leave frustrated for their inability to achieve their target. Allâh did really fulfill His Promise, spared the Muslims fighting a formidable army, supported His slave (Muhammad [pbuh]) and inflicted a heavy blow on the Confederates.

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The battle of the Trench took place in the fifth year Hijri. The siege of Madinah started in Shawwal and ended in Dhul Qa‘dah, i.e. it lasted for over a month. It was in fact a battle of nerves rather than of losses. No bitter fighting was recorded; nevertheless, it was one of the most decisive battles in the early history of Islam and proved beyond a shadow of doubt that no forces, however huge, could ever exterminate the nascent Islamic power growing steadily in Madinah. When Allâh obliged the Confederates to evacuate, His Messenger was in a position to confidently declare that thenceforth he would take the initiative in war and would not wait for the land of Islam to be invaded. [Sahih Al

-Bukhari 2/590]

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Invading Banu Quraiza

Archangel Gabriel [AWS], on the very day the Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] came back to Madinah after the previous battle, and while he was washing in Umm Salama’s house, visited him asking that he should unsheathe his sword and head for the habitation of the seditious Banu Quraiza and fight them. Gabriel noted that he with a procession of angels would go ahead to shake their forts and cast fear in their hearts.

The Messenger of Allâh [pbuh], immediately summoned the prayer caller and ordered him to announce fresh hostilities against Banu Quraiza, institued Ibn Umm Maktum as a ruler of Madinah, and entrusted the banner of war to ‘Ali bin Abi Talib who marched towards the appointed target and came close enough to hear the Jews abusing the Messenger of Allâh [pbuh], who on his part set out at the head of three thousand infantry men and thirty horsemen of
Ansar
(Helpers) and
Muhajireen
(Emigrants). On their way to encounter the enemy, the afternoon prayer was due.

Some Muslims refused to observe it until they had defeated the enemy, while others offered it in its proper time, as usual. The Prophet [pbuh] objected to neither. When they reached the habitations of Banu Quraiza, they laid tight siege to their forts.

Seeing this terrible situation they were in, the chief of the Jews Ka‘b bin Asad offered them three alternatives: to embrace Islam, and consequently their life, wealth, women and children would be in full security, and reminded them that such behaviour would not be incongruous with what they had read in their books about the veracity of Muhammad’s Prophethood; to kill their children and women and then challenge the Prophet [pbuh] and his followers to the sword to either exterminate the Muslims or be exterminated, or as a third possibility to take Muhammad [pbuh]

and his people by surprise on Saturday — a day mutually understood to witness no fighting.

None of those alternatives appealed them, so their chief, angrily and indignantly, turned to them saying: "You have never been decisive in decision- making since you were born" The gloomy future already visible, they made contacts with some Muslims, who had maintained good relation with them, in order to learn about their fate in the light of the current circumstances. They requested that Abu Lubaba be despatched to them for advice. On his arrival, the men began to implore, women and children to cry desperately. In answer to their demand for advice he pointed to his throat saying it was homicide awaiting them. He then immediately realized that he had betrayed the Prophet’s trust, so he headed directly for the mosque in Madinah and tied himself to a wooden tall pole swearing that no one would untie him save the Messenger of Allâh [pbuh], and added that he would never enter the habitation of Banu Quraiza in recompense for the deadly mistake he made. When the Messenger

[pbuh] was informed of this incident, he said, " I would have begged Allâh to forgive him if he had asked me, but since he had tied himself out of his own free will, then it was Allâh Who would turn to him in forgiveness."

The Jews of Banu Quraiza could have endured the siege much longer because food and water were plentifully available and their strongholds were greatly fortified, whereas the Muslims were in the wild bare land suffering a lot from cold and hunger, let alone too much fatigue consequent on endless warfare operations that had started even before the battle of Confederates. Nevertheless, this was a battle of nerves, for Allâh had cast fear in the the Jews’ hearts, and their morale had almost collapsed especially when two Muslim heroes, ‘Ali bin Abi Talib and Az- Zubair bin 201

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‘Awwam [R]ã proceeded with ‘Ali swearing that he would never stop until he had either stormed their garrisons or been martyred like Hamza (a former Muslim martyr).

In the light of this reluctance, they had nothing except to comply with the Messenger’s judgement. The Messenger of Allâh [pbuh] ordered that the men should handcuffed, and this was done under the supervision of Muhammad bin Salamah Al-Ansari while the women and children were isolated in confinement. Thereupon Al-Aws tribe interceded begging the Prophet [pbuh] to be lenient towards them. He suggested that Sa‘d bin Mu‘adh, a former ally, be deputed to give verdict about them, and they agreed.

Sa‘d meanwhile stayed behind in Madinah due to a serious wound he sustained in the Confederates Battle. He was summoned and brought on a donkey. On his way to t he Prophet [pbuh], the Jews used to exhort him to be lenient in his judgement on account of former friendship. Sa‘d remained silent but when they persisted he uttered: "It is time for Sa‘d not to be afraid of the blame of the blamers." On hearing this decisive attitude, some of them returned to Madinah waiting for a desperate doom.

On arrival, he alighted with the help of some men. He was informed that the Jews had agreed to accept his verdict about them. He immediately wondered if his judgement would pass on all the people present, the Prophet [pbuh] included, turning his face away in honour of him. The reply was positive.

He decided that all the able- bodied male persons belonging to the tribe should be killed, women and children taken prisoners and their wealth divided among the Muslim fighters. The Prophet [pbuh] accepted his judgement saying that Sa‘d had adjudged by the Command of Allâh. In fact, the Jews deserved that severe punitive action for the ugly treachery they had harboured against Islam, and the large arsenal they have amassed and which consisted of one thousand and five hundred swords, two thousand spears, three hundred armours and five hundred shields, all of which went into the hands of the Muslims. Trenches were dug in the bazaar of Madinah and a number of Jews between six and seven hundred were beheaded therein. Hot beds of intrigue and treachery were thus exterminated once and for all.

Huyai, a chief criminal of war, a devil of Bani Nadir and Safiyah’s father, had joined the ranks of Banu Quraiza when Quraish and Ghatfan defected, was admitted into the audience of the Prophet [pbuh] with his hands tied to his neck with a rope. In audacious defiance, he declared obstinate enmity to the Prophet [pbuh] but admitted that Allâh’s Will was to be fulfilled and added that he was resigned to his fate. He was ordered to sit down, and was beheaded on the spot.

Only one woman of the Jews was killed because she had killed a Muslim warrior by flinging a grinding stone upon him. A few elements of the enemy embraced Islam and their lives, wealth and children were spared. As for the spoils of the war, the Prophet [pbuh] divided them, after putting a fifth aside, in accordance with Allâh’s injunctions. Three shares went to the horseman and one to the infantry fighter.

Women captives were sent to Najd to be bartered with horses and weaponry. For himself, the Prophet [pbuh] selected Rehana bint ‘Amr bin Khanaqah, manumitted and married her in the year 6 Hijri. She died shortly after the farewell pilgrimage and was buried in Al- Baqi‘[Ibn Hisham 2/245; Talqeeh Fuhum Ahl Al-Athar p.12].

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After the war with Banu Quraiza had been settled and they had been defeated, Sa‘d bin Mu‘adh’s wish was gratified and he gave his last breath. In response to his supplication ‘Aishah [R] narrated, Sa‘d’s wounds began to bleed from the front part of his neck while he was in his tent which the Prophet [pbuh] had pitched for him in the mosque so that he would be in close proximity in order to inquire about and watch his well- being closely. The people were not scared except when the blood flowed towards them, and in the Mosque along with Sa‘d’s tent, there was the tent of Banu Ghifar. They said: O people of the tent, what is it that is coming to us from you? Lo! it was Sa‘d’s wound that was bleeding and he died thereon.[Sahih Al-Bukhari 2/591]