We will begin the next segment of the seerah, and that is the Battle of Khandaq, which is also called the Battle of Ahzab. "Khandaq (خندق)" means the "trench," and "ahzab (أحزاب)" means "various groups" — generally speaking, "ahzab" is translated as "the confederate armies," meaning the armies of different tribes.
When Did the Battle of Khandaq Occur?
The big question: When did it occur? As with many incidents of the seerah, there are a number of opinions, and in fact, this time the opinion is quite serious as we have people that are very famous on both sides of the equation.
One opinion is the Shawwal 4th year of the Hijrah. Recall Badr took place the 2nd year, and Uhud was 3rd. The scholars who say Khandaq took place in the 4th year bring the athar of Ibn Umar as their evidence. Ibn Umar said, "On the Day of Uhud, I was 14 years old, and I stood in the ranks wanting to be accepted, but the Prophet PBUH rejected me. And on the day of Khandaq, I was 15, so the Prophet PBUH let me go by." This hadith is in Bukhari, fully authentic. And we all agree that Uhud took place in the 3rd year — thus it makes sense to conjecture that Khandaq took place in the 4th. Imam al-Bukhari of course held this position; also Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, Imam al-Nawawi, and Ibn Hazm. Ibn Hazm said, "There can be no doubt that Khandaq took place in the 4th year."
However, common knowledge is that it took place in the 5th year. Why? Because this is the opinion of all of the scholars of seerah: Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Hisham, Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Tabari, al-Samhudi (السمهودي), i.e., all the famous specialists of seerah say it took place Shawwal 5th year. Al-Waqidi and Ibn Sa'd say Dhu al-Qa'dah 5th year. Where does their evidence come from? They say piecing together the seerah, it does not make sense to place Khandaq in the 4th year. Bukhari stuck with the hadith as closely as possible, but the others used a little bit of rationality against the explicit athar from Ibn Umar. They say the 4th year was the second promise of Uhud (the Expedition of Badr al-Akhira [بدر الآخرة]), so how then could Khandaq have taken place in the 4th? Also, it is unanimously agreed that Sa'd ibn Mu'adh died right after Khandaq, and his death is basically marked to the 5th year. So piecing together all these other evidences, they say it must have been the 5th year. But then what do we do to Ibn Umar's narration? Al-Bayhaqi posited that at Uhud, perhaps Ibn Umar just turned 14, and at Khandaq, he was right before turning 16. A plausible reconciliation. Or more simply, one can ask: Who kept track of birthdays in those days anyway? Age is not important in the hadith; the point Ibn Umar is trying to make is that it was so close apart — he did not take part in Uhud but did in Khandaq.
What Was the Reason for the Battle?
The reason was an instigation by the tribe of the Banu Nadir. Recall they had been expelled after trying to assassinate the Prophet PBUH by throwing a rock on him; and the condition of the expulsion was, "You may take what your camels can carry, but leave your weapons." And where did they go when they were expelled? To Khaybar — not too far (if you drive, in our time, it is less than 2 hours away). And they are still hoping to get their land back — acres and acres of date fields in Madinah — at the end of the day, the land is worth a lot more than the doors that they carried on their camels. So what did they do? They sent an official delegation —Sallam ibn Abi al-Huqayq (سلام بن أبي الحقيق), Huyayy ibn Akhtab, and all of the other leaders of the tribe— to the Quraysh in Makkah and told them, "Let us cooperate together, the Quraysh and the Banu Nadir, to simultaneously attack the Muslims." On top of this, they said, "We will give you all the money you need!"—the Quraysh had been severely impacted because the trade route to Syria had been almost destroyed, so this was a golden opportunity. They were looking for a way to get back to the Prophet PBUH —Uhud was not a victory; the Second Badr, they failed to go; and they have seen the bravery and fearlessness of the Muslims, now they are scared of fighting them alone again— and now out of nowhere, the Banu Nadir come on board. Not only do they give the wealth, but also food. (The Banu Nadir are at Khaybar, so they would get huge supplies of dates which was the optimal food supply in the desert.) So the Quraysh get multiple benefits.
As for the Banu Nadir, they realized they didn't have the manpower or skill in war, so they had no choice but to seek the help of others. Their main tactic in war was defense in the fortresses, and they believed their defense mechanism was impenetrable, but indeed, as we discussed during the incident of the expulsion, as Allah said in the Quran, "They thought their fortresses would put them out of Allah’s reach, but [the decree of] Allah came upon them from where they never expected" [Quran, 59:2], and Allah mentioned about them and their ilk: "They will be stricken with disgrace wherever they go, unless they are protected by a covenant with Allah or a treaty with the people" [Quran, 3:112], so the Banu Nadir couldn't stand independently — they always had to get the help of others.
What was the relationship between the Quraysh and the Banu Nadir? The Quraysh were somewhat fearful of the Jews and had a serious inferiority complex. The Jews always acted in a way that they were superior and the Quraysh felt this. All the Jews have a book from God, they all read and write, they can build fortresses, have architecture, civilization, etc., so the Quraysh secretly admired and looked up to them. And they are now astonished that the Jews are reaching out to them. Abu Sufyan said, "Tell me you are coming to us to fight against Muhammad. No doubt, anyone who fights against him is a friend of ours, but whose religion is closer to your religion? Ours or his?" Here the Quraysh are confused — from their perspective, it seems the Jews and the Muslims are very similar, yet they are fighting against each other, and the Jews are reaching out to pagans for help. (Note 1: Really the Muslims and the Jews are very similar. And frankly, no religion in the world is closer to Islam than Judaism — in theology, halakha & shariah, etc. 80% is almost the same.) (Note 2: How did this similarity take place when the Prophet PBUH had never studied the laws of the ancient Jews? Answer: Because it comes from the same source: Allah. There is no other explanation.) The Banu Nadir said, "You are the ones who are more rightly guided than Muhammad and his Companions, and you are closer to the Truth." At this, Allah exposed the Banu Nadir in the Quran, Surah al-Nisa verse 51. Allah quotes them directly:
أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا نَصِيبًا مِّنَ الْكِتَابِ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْجِبْتِ وَالطَّاغُوتِ وَيَقُولُونَ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا هَٰؤُلَاءِ أَهْدَىٰ مِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا سَبِيلًا
"Have you [O Prophet] not seen those who were given a portion of the Scriptures yet believe in idols and false gods and reassure the disbelievers that they are better guided than the believers?" [Quran, 4:51] — So Allah quoted them and exposed their plot in the Quran that there has been a collaboration between the Jews and the Quraysh.______________
Formation of the Ahzab
After the Quraysh agreed to help, the Jews then sent a delegation to the Ghatafan — the largest tribe up north. Note the Ghatafan do not have that big of a vested interest — it is not as if they are depending on the trade route. For the Quraysh, the trade route was their lifeline, but for the Ghatafan it was not, so they needed convincing, and they were offered wealth. The Jews said, "We will give you half of the produce of Khaybar for one year for this one battle!"—literally a fortune. The Ghatafan were a Bedouin tribe known to be the most wild, uncouth, and barbaric. Thus this was a win-win: The Ghatafan get the money and the Jews get an uncouth tribe — they basically hired mercenaries.
When the Ghatafan and Quraysh both agreed, the Quraysh sent out delegations to the smaller tribes that also had been affected by the trade route —the Banu Asad, the Banu Sulaym, the Banu Murrah, the Ashja' (أشجع), the Banu Kinana, etc.— to get assistance from them. And every one of these tribes helped either with arms, weapons, horses, slaves, warriors, etc. It was a win-win for all to get rid of the potential rising force of Islam once and for all. And there is no doubt one of the combining factors was hatred toward this 'new' religion.
When the Ghatafan and Quraysh both agreed, the Quraysh sent out delegations to the smaller tribes that also had been affected by the trade route —the Banu Asad, the Banu Sulaym, the Banu Murrah, the Ashja' (أشجع), the Banu Kinana, etc.— to get assistance from them. And every one of these tribes helped either with arms, weapons, horses, slaves, warriors, etc. It was a win-win for all to get rid of the potential rising force of Islam once and for all. And there is no doubt one of the combining factors was hatred toward this 'new' religion.
Abu Sufyan was put in charge as one of the leaders of the ahzab as he was one of the most senior military commanders and noblemen. Ibn Ishaq mentions they were around 10,000 men. The Muslims were at most 2,500 fighting men, thus the ahzab were at least triple or even quadruple the quantity of the Muslims.
All of these tribes —Ghatafan, Quraysh, Banu Nadir, etc.— are marching to Madinah, and Abu Sufyan told them to meet at a pre-chosen place. This is an unprecedented situation in the history of the Arabs — notice all the Arabs are now uniting under two banners: The banner of Islam, and the banner of kufr. Never before has this happened. Never have 10-15 tribes all come together. Before this time, the Arabs have been disparate, tribal people. And now we are having a showdown the likes of which Arabia has never seen — and this shows us the speed with which things are changing.
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News Reaches the Muslims
You simply cannot hide these numbers of armies gathering together, thus news reached the Prophet PBUH. As usual, he convened a gathering of all of the sahaba, told them of the situation, and asked them what should be done. As we saw at Badr and Uhud, this was his sunnah.
The books of seerah do not mention too many options given —and indeed, when 10,000 people are attacking, you simply have to figure out where to fight and then fight; they really didn't have much to say— until finally, as we all know, Salman al-Farisi spoke up and gave the idea of digging a trench. This was the first battle Salman was able to participate in.
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The Freeing of Salman al-Farisi RA
It took a few years to free Salman al-Farisi, so he did not participate in Badr or Uhud. At this time, he was around 70-100 years old. (Some books say he died at the age of 120.) Recall the story of Salman from episode 4. After a long journey, he is now living in Madinah as a slave to one of the Jews of the Banu Qurayza. Salman then agreed with his master to be freed for a preposterous sum, that is to plant 100+ seeds of date palms, and wait until they grow to the full — and this would usually take at least 15 years. So Salman came to the Prophet PBUH and told him what had happened. The Prophet PBUH said, "Call me when the season comes," and when the season came, he PBUH himself went and laid every single seedling needed. And with his barakah, the date palms all grew within a few years, and Salman was freed. Thus Khandaq was the first battle Salman was able to participate in. He could not participate physically, but he gave that famous plan, "Back in Persia, we have a tactic we used to do, and that is to dig a trench and use this as a means of protection against our enemy." Thus for the first time in Arabia, this idea was imported.
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Tangent: Islam's Openness to New and Existing Ideas
For the first time in Arabia, the idea of digging a trench as a defense mechanism during wars was imported. This shows us a crucial point: Islam is very open to new ideas. When it comes to technology, etc., innovation is positive. And this is historically always the case. (When it comes to aqidah and religious rituals, however, innovation is haram. Whereas when it comes to anything to do with this dunya, we benefit from all experiences.) The salaf used to say, "Wisdom is the lost item of the believer — he picks it up wherever he finds it." There are other examples where the Prophet PBUH took knowledge from other customs. For example, he said, "I was about to forbid you al-ghila (الغيلة - being intimate with your wife when she is in the period of breastfeeding a child, i.e., for a year or so after delivery), but then I saw the Romans and Persians doing it and it does not harm their child. Therefore go ahead and do it." This shows us that in matters of biology, sociology, anthropology, psychology, history, etc., we can take and learn from other cultures as long as they do not contradict our shariah.
Or even more, the Prophet PBUH adopted cultural icons simply because it was the norm of the known world. For example, the first time he sent a letter to Heraclius, the sahaba told the Prophet PBUH, "O Messenger of Allah, those emperors do not accept any message from another ruler unless it has a sealed wax on it." So the Prophet PBUH asked around, "How is this done?" They told him he needed a special signature that nobody could imitate. And that's when he ordered the ring to be made: Muhammad on the bottom line, Rasul in the middle, and Allah at the top to give respect to the name of Allah. And he used this ring every time he sent a letter — put it in wax and seal the letter. And this shows us a very important point. Some of us have this attitude: "This is imitating the kuffar! We shouldn't do it!"—but this mentality is wrong. Did the Prophet PBUH say, "I do not care what the kuffar do! This is the way I am going to do things!"? No. There is a system, and the world is operating by that system. Is there anything haram to have wax and seal a letter? Did Allah prohibit it? No. So if that is the way the world is working, so be it, we also work that way.
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Women and Children in al-Fari'
The Prophet PBUH agreed to the suggestion of Salman.
Then he said, "We should also gather all the women and children and send them to the fortress of the Banu Harithah (بنو حارثة)." (Note: The Banu Harithah were a tribe from the Ansar, but they had built their own fortress called al-Fari' [الفارع]. It was not to the standards of the Jews, but it was the largest and most protected fortress of the Ansar, of which not all had fortresses to begin with.) The Prophet PBUH is already thinking many steps ahead. That, all of the men will be busy manning and guarding the perimeters of Madinah; and inside Madinah, there is still the tribe of Banu Qurayza living in an area called Awali — and he does not know where their true loyalties lie; and so as soon as he gives the commandment to build the trench, he sent the women and children to al-Fari', the fortress of the Banu Harithah. (Note: As we discussed, the other two Jewish tribes have been expelled; and even though the Banu Qurayza have given three separate promises by the name of Allah that they are upon the agreement and Constitution —[i] in the very beginning right after the Immigration of the Prophet PBUH, [ii] after the expulsion of Banu Qaynuqa, and [iii] during the incident of Banu Nadir— there is still the possibility that they might falter. And if they flip and become the fifth column, it is a certain disaster for the Muslims.)
We do not have much information about the story of the women and children in al-Fari'. All we know is:
1. Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr (عبد الله بن الزبير) was around 4-5 years old at this time, and he remembers this incident. (Side note: He was the first child to be born after Hijrah, right after entry into Quba — and the Muslims took this as a positive omen. Positive omens are allowed in Islam, whereas negative omens are not.) Umar ibn Abi Salama (عمر بن أبي سلمة), the son of the Prophet's PBUH wife (the Prophet's PBUH stepson), was also with him.
2. There is also an awkward tangent regarding Hassan ibn Thabit. (Even though chronologically, this particular incident happens another week or later, but this is the only story we have of the fortress, so we will just mention it now.) The women, children, and one or two blind elderly men of 70-80 years old were sent to the fortress, and there was only one relatively young (mid-60s) man sent with them, and that is Hassan ibn Thabit RA. Why? (Caveat: Realize everything in the seerah has much wisdom and benefit for us to learn.) Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr narrates in Musnad Imam Ahmad: "The women and children were put in a fortress along with Hassan — he was jaban (جبان - not brave, i.e., he could not hold a sword; it is said he would tremble when he did)." (Note: Allah created people differently; and *generally speaking,* those involved in the arts are not known for their valor and bravery; and indeed, Hassan was known for his poetry, and he could not carry a sword. Another sahabi also said he was "jaban" — which is quite harsh.) So he was the only man in the fortress. A week later, when the Quraysh were outside the city and the Ghatafan had come, the Banu Qurayza decided to flip, and the first thing they did was figure out how to execute all the women and children of the Muslims (we need to understand this in order to understand the punishment that came upon them). They sent two scouts to al-Fari' in the middle of the night to see if it was protected. If it was not, they would attack. Now in the middle of the night, Safiyyah bint Abdul Muttalib heard a noise — one of the Jews' scouts was climbing. She woke up Hassan as he was the only man in the fortress, and said to him, "Go out and do something!" But Hassan said, "O aunt of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless and reward you, but do not humiliate me more. You know I cannot do this!" So she took a male shawl, took a dagger, put it in her mouth and climbed out the window, and in pitch darkness, she went to find the intruder, then she surprise-attacked him, jumped on him, slit his throat, then threw the head down to his companion, and the companion shrieked and ran away thinking al-Fari' was well guarded. Then she told Hassan to go get the armor and weapon from the man she had just killed, but he said, "I have no need of them."
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Lessons We Learn From the Weakness of Hassan ibn Thabit RA
What is the purpose of us narrating the story of Hassan? No doubt, it is our culture to cover up these types of stories, but this narration is fully authentic, and there are a number of lessons we can derive:
1. Recall the mistake of Hassan in the last episode. That, combined with this, demonstrates the humanity of the sahaba. We have the wrong tendency to make the sahaba superhumans. And the problem with that is then we can no longer relate to them. So it is healthy for us to know that some of the sahaba committed some sins that they then repented from and Allah forgave them. It gives us hope that Allah will forgive our sins too if we repent sincerely.
2. Despite Hassan's issues, look at his positives: He was the official poet of the Prophet PBUH. When the Quraysh wrote poetry against him PBUH, he PBUH said, "Stand up, O Hassan. And defend me. And the angel Jibril will be with you"—Jibril whispered to Hassan through ilham. And Hassan had a special minbar erected for him on which he would stand and recite his poetry — the only sahaba whom we know had his own minbar.
In Abu Dawud and others, it is narrated that Umar ibn al-Khattab, during his khilafa, once heard Hassan saying poetry in the masjid. So Umar hit Hassan with his stick. Hassan asked, "Why are you hitting me?" Umar said, "You are saying poetry in the Masjid of the Prophet PBUH?" Hassan replied, "Wallahi, I have said poetry in this masjid when there was someone in it far better than you." Hassan then turned to Abu Hurairah and asked, "O Abu Hurairah, I ask you by Allah. Didn't you hear the Prophet PBUH say that day, 'Stand up, O Hassan. And write poetry. And the angel Jibril will help you.'?" Abu Hurairah said yes he did. So subhan'Allah, isn't it comforting and heartening for us to know that someone as noble as Hassan ibn Thabit was also a human? And this leads us to the real, main point:
3. Every single one of us has a unique role to play. Our sins, shortcomings, and weaknesses, should never hold us back in stepping up for that role. Hassan ibn Thabit knows his weaknesses, and the public knows his weaknesses — that's why without anyone saying anything he is automatically put with the women and children; we can sympathize with his weaknesses as we have much more weaknesses and problems than he did; but when the Prophet PBUH told him, "Stand up and defend me," did he say, "Ya Rasulullah, I am not qualified," "Who am I," "I am a sinner," etc., or did he realize perhaps in this is his honor and forgiveness and thus he stood up and fulfilled a role that none of the other sahaba could do? His role was a role that was unique to him that not even Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Khalid ibn al-Walid, Abu Hurairah, could do. Despite his shortcomings! This is the humanity of the sahaba that makes them perfect stars that we can actually look up to. So next time you find an opportunity to do good for the ummah, do not let shaytan come to you and say, "Who are you to benefit the ummah?" "Who are you to pray?" "Who are you to give dawah?" etc. The true Muslim recognizes his sins, is always guilty of his sins, and never dismisses his sins, but he never uses those sins to stop him from doing good.
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Digging the Trench
Getting back to the issue of the trench. The Prophet PBUH agreed to build the trench, and he assigned 10 people for each portion of the trench. The exact length and location of the trench are really not known. So any estimation we have in our time is exactly that: an estimation. However, some modern authors who have analyzed this in depth (e.g., Sh. Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri [صفي الرحمن المباركفوري], et al.) calculate that the trench was around 2 km long, 10-13 ft wide, and between 7-9 cubits in depth. Why only 2 km? How about the rest of the city? It seems the only feasible response is the most obvious one: Madinah was naturally protected by volcanic rocks on the east and west side for miles —as we mentioned in episode 46, the two harra: al-Harra al-Sharqiyyah and al-Harra al-Gharbiyyah— making it almost impossible for an army to walk on them. Then the rest of Madinah to the south were dense date palm plantations. So an army of 10,000 could not have marched through them. Thus the only stretch of land that could have allowed the enemy to enter Madinah was the northern side. And 2 km of digging is a huge distance — the Muslims did not have bulldozers, machines, equipment, or even manpower; thus this was an unbelievable human effort to dig a trench so wide and deep in a matter of less than 10 days. Realize the point of the trench was simply to stall the army — you cannot prevent them forever. It was a temporary tactic.
Immediately, the sahaba got to work non-stop day and night. From the poorest to the richest participated, including the Prophet PBUH himself. The sahaba mentioned this was one of the greatest motivational factors for them when they saw the Prophet PBUH digging in the trenches with them. Anas ibn Malik narrates, "The Prophet PBUH went out to the trenches, and the Muhajirun and the Ansar were digging on a cold evening," then he explains, "[If you wonder why we dug the trench ourselves, it was because] we had no slaves to help us. And when the Prophet PBUH saw how tired and hungry the Muslims were, he made a du'a, 'O Allah, there is no good except the good of the akhira; so have mercy on the Ansar and the Muhajirun' — and the sahaba responded to him, 'We are the ones who gave you our oath upon jihad. As long as we live, we will do this.'"
Another famous sahabi, al-Bara' ibn Azib said, "I saw the Prophet PBUH on the day of Khandaq, and he was carrying the dust for so long that his entire chest hair was covered with dust (this shows he had taken off his upper clothes)." And al-Bara' said, "And he was saying poetry along with us:
اللهمَّ لولا أنت ما اهتدينا *** ولا تصدَّقنا ولا صلَّينا
فأَنْزِلَنْ سَكِيـنـةً عـلـيـنـا *** وثبِّت الأقدام إن لاقينا
إنَّ الأعداءَ قد بغوا علينا *** إذا أرادوا فتنةً أبينا أبينا
'O Allah, were it not for You, we would not be guided nor would we give charity nor pray, so send Your peace down upon us and make our feet firm when the enemies come to us. Verily, the enemies have transgressed upon us, and when they want fitna (shirk, death), we refuse, we refuse.'"
And when he got to "abayna, abayna (we refuse, we refuse)," they would all raise their voices and say it in unison.
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Q&A
1. Some books say the trench was 12 km x 5 m; but we say it is unlikely that the sahaba could dig a trench that big in less than 10 days. No doubt they were blessed, but they were not supermen. They were digging all day, but they were low on manpower (2,000-2,500 men). Also, it makes sense to assume they were taking shifts to rest accordingly.
2. Of course building a trench did isolate them from the outside, thus one of the problems was how long would the food supplies last. When the siege lasted for more than a month, it severely affected their supplies. Even when they were digging the trench it was already being affected. As we mentioned, building a trench was somewhat of an act of desperation, it was not a long-term tactic as at this point they could not afford a long-term tactic — it was only a stalling tactic. They really had to put their trust in Allah and just delay the invasion. And of course, Allah never fails His servants, and He saved them.
3. Another lesson we can derive from the story of Hassan ibn Thabit is that there is no need for us to put people in pigeonholes or use derogatory adjectives; there is a place for artistry in Islam. A lot of our younger Muslims don't understand that the ummah needs not just Khalid ibn al-Walids (military commanders), Abu Hurairahs (hadith narrators), Ibn Abbass and Ibn Umars (fuqaha), but also Hassan ibn Thabits (poets/artists) — everyone has something to contribute.
[Transcribed by Br. Safwan Khan & Faizan]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, April 2021]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, April 2021]
