How it all begin (35)

The Battle Of The Trench

When the Prophet (Pbuh) first arrived in Medinah, the Jews who were living there had welcomed him. The Prophet (Pbuh) had returned their greeting, as he wished to be on good terms with them. An agreement was also reached between the Muslims and the Jews, which gave the Jews the freedom to practice their religion and which also set out their rights and their duties. Among these duties was that in the case of war with Quraysh, the Jews would fight on the side of the Muslims.

Despite this agreement, however, some of the Jewish tribes, who resented the Prophet's presence in Medinah, soon began to cause trouble amongst the Muslims.

They tried to set the Muslim Emigrants from Mecca and the Ansar against each other. The troublemakers were given many warnings but they continued to be a nuisance. In the end, the Muslims had no choice but to drive them from Medinah. A new agreement was offered those Jews who remained but the trouble did not end there. One of the Jewish tribes, the Bani Nadir plotted to murder the Prophet (Pbuh) but their plan was discovered and they, too, were exiled from the city.

Knowing that they could not defeat the Muslims themselves, some of the leaders of the exiled Jews secretly went to Mecca to enlist the help of Quraysh. Knowing what the Meccans would like to hear, they pretended to believe in the same things. They said that they thought that the old Arab tradition was better than the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) and that they believed that the Quraysh religion of worshipping many idols was better than the Prophet's with only one God. Then the Jews told them that if all the Arab tribes attacked Medinah,

the Jews inside the city would help to defeat the Prophet (Pbuh) and Islam once and for all. The leaders of Quraysh were pleased to hear all this and seizing on what seemed to them a very good opportunity, agreed to the plan and began to gather together a formidable army. In the meantime in Medinah, only one Jewish tribe, the Bani Quraydhah, refused to betray the Muslims. Eventually the Muslims learned of the preparations being made for war in Mecca and of the plotting of the Jews within Medinah itself. The betrayal of the Muslims by the Jews did not surprise the Prophet (Pbuh), who said of them: 'The hearts of the Jews have become closed to the truth. They have forgotten what Moses taught them long ago that there is only one God.' In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful "The likeness of those who are entrusted with the Law of Moses, yet apply it not, is as the likeness of the ass carrying books.Evil is the likeness of the people who deny the revelations of Allah. And Allah guideth not wrongdoing folk". (Koran lxii.5) The Muslims wondered how they could defend Medinah. They heard that Abu Sufyan was coming to attack them with an enormous army which included many other Arab tribes, as well as Quraysh. What were they to do with only a single week to prepare? The Prophet (Pbuh) and his men knew that it would be impossible for them to fight off all these tribes! The only thing they could do was to stay inside the city and try to defend it as best they could. Now among the people of Medinah was a Persian named Salman, who had to live in the city some time before the Prophet's arrival there. As a convert to Christianity he had traveled to Medinah after Christian sages had told him that a Prophet would be born in Arabia. On arriving at Madinah he was, however, sold into slavery by the merchants with whom he had traveled. Later he became a Muslim, gained his freedom and became a member of the Prophet's household. When the people gathered to discuss a plan of action against the approaching enemy, Salman was present and it was he who suggested that they should dig a trench around the city. The Prophet (Pbuh) thought this a good idea, so the Muslims set to work, although it was in the middle of winter. They worked day and night, digging the trench as quickly as possible. The Prophet (Pbuh) himself carried rocks and when the men were tired he gave them the will to carry on. Someone later recalled how beautiful he looked, dressed in a red cloak with dust upon his breast and his dark hair nearly reaching his shoulders. There was little food at this time and the men were often hungry as they worked. On one occasion, however, a little girl gave some dates to the Prophet (Pbuh), which he spread out on a cloth. The men were then called to eat and the dates kept increasing in number until everyone had been fed. Even after everyone had eaten their fill, the dates continued to increase so that there were more than the cloth could hold. ********