(Cont.) Banu Qurayza Changes Sides
As we discussed, the Muslims learned that the Banu Qurayza had switched sides. The details of this conversation are recorded by Ibn Ishaq without any chain. He narrates that the news reached the Banu Qurayza that Huyayy was coming, so they were worried, as this smelled like treachery. So their chieftain Ka'b ibn Asad shut the door. When Huyayy came, he stood outside knocking on the door saying, "O Ka'b! Let me in!" But Ka'b said, "No. You must be bringing us evil omens. We don't want to have anything to do with you. Your presence here is bad luck. If the Muslims hear that you are here, it is going to cause problems. I have a treaty with Muhammad and I cannot break my promise, for I have only seen from him truthfulness and fulfillment." But Huyayy kept on begging and knocking until finally, he used a different tactic; he said to him "The only reason you are not opening the door is because you don't even want to feed me. You are so selfish and stingy that you don't want to share your food"—he is using emotional blackmail. This softened the heart of Ka'b, so he opened up the door. As soon as the door is opened, Huyayy starts saying, "I have brought you oceans of men: the chieftains of the Quraysh, the chieftains of the Ghatafan, et al., their armies and their servants, and they have promised me they are not going to leave until they have wiped out Muhammad and his Companions."
Ibn Ishaq says Huyayy kept on persuading Ka'b throughout the night relentlessly, "I shall be with you if they leave, and I will face your own fate"—he is so confident that there is no way this plan can possibly fail. But Ka'b was still hesitant and said, "You are not good news," and then he used a metaphorical expression in Arabic: "You are a cloud that when you look at it, it looks like it's bringing good water, but when it comes, all it gives is thunder and lightning"—deep down inside, his instinct is warning him; he knows this is not right. We don't know the details — all we know is that Huyayy kept on pressing and pressing, until finally, by the morning time, he had convinced Ka'b to flip sides. So Ka'b physically tears up the treaty. (Note: There was a physical covenant. And as we said, the Prophet PBUH confirmed this covenant with them at least three times. The latest of them was barely a few months ago. So we need to understand the context of the punishment that is coming upon the Banu Qurayza. The orientalists look at the punishment [i.e., the execution] divorced from what happened before, without looking at the context, without looking at how many times they had been given a chance. Even Ka'b knew flipping sides was going to cause him trouble.)
The Prophet PBUH had a premonition about the Banu Qurayza, so he sent al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam to go check on them. And somehow, Zubayr discovered that they had flipped. How did he discover this, we don't know. Most likely, he was spying on the outside of the fortress of the Banu Qurayza, and he saw Huyayy sneaking his way to the door — this is Sh. YQ's theory. So Zubayr goes back and gives the Prophet PBUH the first news that the Banu Qurayza have flipped. (And as we said, this was when the Prophet PBUH praised Zubayr and said, "Every prophet has a disciple, and you are my disciple.") But the news still had to be confirmed, so he PBUH sent the delegation of the seniormost Ansar who in the days of Yathrib had the best relationship with the Banu Qurayza: (i) Sa'd ibn Mu'adh RA (leader of the Aws), (ii) Sa'd ibn Ubadah RA (leader of the Khazraj), (iii) Abdullah ibn Rawahah RA, and (iv) Khawwat ibn Jubayr (خوات بن جبير) RA — these four went to confirm the news of Zubayr. (Side note: Sa'd ibn Ubadah was the one with the garden wherein the sahaba discussed who should be the khalifa [after the death of the Prophet PBUH in 11 AH].) The Prophet PBUH said to them, "Go and confirm this news that has reached us. If it is true, then indicate it to me indirectly. Don't say it explicitly. Don't spread fear amongst the people (the Muslims) to weaken them. But if they (the Banu Qurayza) are still on their treaty, then shout it out loud so that the people (the Muslims) feel at ease." So they went to the Banu Qurayza, and —Ibn Ishaq says— they found them to be the most vulgar and foul-mouthed that they had ever seen. They said, "Who is this Messenger of Allah that you say? We don't know any Muhammad and we don't have any treaty with him"—it was the pinnacle of arrogance. Sa'd ibn Mu'adh RA was known to have a temper, so he flared up and began cursing at them like they had never heard before. And they responded back in kind, i.e., they did the exact same thing back to him. Sa'd ibn Ubadah RA held on to Sa'd ibn Mu'adh RA and said, "My dear brother, the matter between us and them is more than just cursing"—i.e., "It's not going to help us to curse. The matter has reached something beyond cursing."
Ibn Ishaq says Huyayy kept on persuading Ka'b throughout the night relentlessly, "I shall be with you if they leave, and I will face your own fate"—he is so confident that there is no way this plan can possibly fail. But Ka'b was still hesitant and said, "You are not good news," and then he used a metaphorical expression in Arabic: "You are a cloud that when you look at it, it looks like it's bringing good water, but when it comes, all it gives is thunder and lightning"—deep down inside, his instinct is warning him; he knows this is not right. We don't know the details — all we know is that Huyayy kept on pressing and pressing, until finally, by the morning time, he had convinced Ka'b to flip sides. So Ka'b physically tears up the treaty. (Note: There was a physical covenant. And as we said, the Prophet PBUH confirmed this covenant with them at least three times. The latest of them was barely a few months ago. So we need to understand the context of the punishment that is coming upon the Banu Qurayza. The orientalists look at the punishment [i.e., the execution] divorced from what happened before, without looking at the context, without looking at how many times they had been given a chance. Even Ka'b knew flipping sides was going to cause him trouble.)
The Prophet PBUH had a premonition about the Banu Qurayza, so he sent al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam to go check on them. And somehow, Zubayr discovered that they had flipped. How did he discover this, we don't know. Most likely, he was spying on the outside of the fortress of the Banu Qurayza, and he saw Huyayy sneaking his way to the door — this is Sh. YQ's theory. So Zubayr goes back and gives the Prophet PBUH the first news that the Banu Qurayza have flipped. (And as we said, this was when the Prophet PBUH praised Zubayr and said, "Every prophet has a disciple, and you are my disciple.") But the news still had to be confirmed, so he PBUH sent the delegation of the seniormost Ansar who in the days of Yathrib had the best relationship with the Banu Qurayza: (i) Sa'd ibn Mu'adh RA (leader of the Aws), (ii) Sa'd ibn Ubadah RA (leader of the Khazraj), (iii) Abdullah ibn Rawahah RA, and (iv) Khawwat ibn Jubayr (خوات بن جبير) RA — these four went to confirm the news of Zubayr. (Side note: Sa'd ibn Ubadah was the one with the garden wherein the sahaba discussed who should be the khalifa [after the death of the Prophet PBUH in 11 AH].) The Prophet PBUH said to them, "Go and confirm this news that has reached us. If it is true, then indicate it to me indirectly. Don't say it explicitly. Don't spread fear amongst the people (the Muslims) to weaken them. But if they (the Banu Qurayza) are still on their treaty, then shout it out loud so that the people (the Muslims) feel at ease." So they went to the Banu Qurayza, and —Ibn Ishaq says— they found them to be the most vulgar and foul-mouthed that they had ever seen. They said, "Who is this Messenger of Allah that you say? We don't know any Muhammad and we don't have any treaty with him"—it was the pinnacle of arrogance. Sa'd ibn Mu'adh RA was known to have a temper, so he flared up and began cursing at them like they had never heard before. And they responded back in kind, i.e., they did the exact same thing back to him. Sa'd ibn Ubadah RA held on to Sa'd ibn Mu'adh RA and said, "My dear brother, the matter between us and them is more than just cursing"—i.e., "It's not going to help us to curse. The matter has reached something beyond cursing."
So they returned back to the Prophet PBUH, greeted him, and said, "Adl wa al-Qarrah (عضل والقارة)"—Adl and al-Qarrah are the names of the two tribes responsible for the Incidents of al-Raji and Bir Ma'una. So this was their indirect indication of "treachery" and "traitors." When the Prophet PBUH heard this, he said, "Allahu'akbar, good news!" He PBUH said this tawriya (تورية - a phrase that has double-meaning) so as not to cause panic among the sahaba. (And Allah knows best, but this tawriya could mean, "It is good news that the land and property of the Banu Qurayza are coming to the Muslims now!")
But of course, eventually, the news did spread that the Banu Qurayza had flipped over. And as we discussed in the last episode, the sahaba said, this night that they found out about the news was the worst night of the entire 25 days of the siege. "This was the worst night of our lives. We didn't know what to expect. There were 10,000 enemies outside, and then we got at least 2,000 more inside. And it was not just affecting us — our women and children in the al-Fari', they were completely unprotected." This is what Allah SWT references in the Quran:
إِذْ جَاءُوكُم مِّن فَوْقِكُمْ وَمِنْ أَسْفَلَ مِنكُمْ وَإِذْ زَاغَتِ الْأَبْصَارُ وَبَلَغَتِ الْقُلُوبُ الْحَنَاجِرَ وَتَظُنُّونَ بِاللَّهِ الظُّنُونَا
هُنَالِكَ ابْتُلِيَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَزُلْزِلُوا زِلْزَالًا شَدِيدًا
"[Remember] when they came at you from above you (the ahzab) and from below you (the Banu Qurayza), when your eyes grew wild [in horror] and your hearts jumped into your throats, and you entertained [conflicting] thoughts about Allah. Then and there the believers were put to the test, and were violently shaken" [Quran, 33:10-11].When this news spread, the Prophet PBUH split the already thinned-out Muslim patrol into two, and sent a small contingent (Zayd ibn Harithah, Salama ibn Aslam [سلمة بن أسلم], et al.) to protect the fortress where the women and children were — to make sure the Banu Qurayza knew they were being monitored.
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The Munafiqun
And the munafiqun made it much worse. Surah al-Ahzab tells us this, and it is explained in Ibn Hisham and others: They wanted to ask permission from the Prophet PBUH to go back home 'to protect their family,' but in reality, they were too cowardly to meet the enemies in battle. And one of them said out loud in the gathering, "Here was Muhammad promising us the treasures of Kisra (كسرى - Khosrow II) and Qaisar (قيصر - Caesar) — and now one of us is too scared to even go defecate!" So once again, the Battle of Ahzab exposed the true colors of the munafiqs. (Side note: Notice the munafiqs never called the Prophet PBUH "Rasulullah"—and this is one of the signs of hypocrisy. Allah says in the Quran in Surah al-Nur:
لَّا تَجْعَلُوا دُعَاءَ الرَّسُولِ بَيْنَكُمْ كَدُعَاءِ بَعْضِكُم بَعْضًا
"Don't call the Messenger like you call one another..." [see Quran, 24:63].
The believers always address the Prophet PBUH by his title "Rasulullah.")
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Lessons We Can Glean So Far
1. Islam does not sensationalize the news of evil even if it is true. Don't go and tell everybody about bad news even if it is true. Here the Banu Qurayza have flipped, but the Prophet PBUH told the leaders of the Ansar to keep it low — you don't have to go tell everybody. And this is in complete contrast to the hyper-inflated media we see today where every grisly and gruesome matter, every juicy and salacious rumor and scandal, is analyzed, exposed, and shown — and this is harmful to society. Constant exposure to violence and fahisha (فاحشة - indecency) desensitizes the heart of society. What happens when society gets desensitized to nudity, crime, and murder? They will continue to lower the bar. And as we all can attest, murder is not even newsworthy anymore in our time. People have become completely desensitized. But does this mean we must keep all evil news locked away in a secret vault? If the news does not serve a beneficial purpose for society, then yes, it should be kept discreet. But if the intention is to send a warning message to the public, it may be announced with the condition that the perpetrator has been captured and duly punished. For example, one might say, 'A rape occurred. This is the perpetrator. And this is the justice served upon him.' This approach ensures the ideal balance. Otherwise, continuous exposure to such negative news corrupts the fitrah of society, leading to a further lowering of moral standards. In Sahih Bukhari, we learn that when an issue happened in the time of Umar RA and he wanted to speak of it publicly, some of the senior sahaba said to him, "Don't speak here in this gathering. There is good and there is bad. Let us wait until we go back to Madinah, and when you are in safety, *then* go and spread this news." This clearly demonstrates the difference between an ideal Islamic society versus the type of society we live in.
2. We also see the amazing yaqin (يقين - certainty) of the Prophet PBUH, to read something positive into the worst possible news and say, "Allahu'akbar!" There are at least 2,000 people of the Banu Qurayza within Madinah, and they have a fortress — how can the Muslims protect against them? And yet the Prophet PBUH had so much trust in Allah that he said, "Good news. Glad tidings." Just like what happened in the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah [6 AH] (as we will see) — whatever Allah SWT decrees, put your trust in it; there must be some good in it.
3. We also continue to see the reality of the munafiqun — here this munafiq is mocking the Prophet PBUH, "He promised us the treasures of Kisra and Qaisar but now we can't even relieve ourselves!" Subhan'Allah, look at how impatient he is. Barely 6-9 years after he uttered this, the Muslims were eating from the plates of Kisra and Qaisar exactly as the Prophet PBUH promised.
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The Quraysh
When the Quraysh came, they did not know what to do when they saw the trench. They realized they could not charge en masse, so they decided to set up camp and wait. They had supplies, 10,000 men, etc., so for them, it was just a waiting game that they knew they would win.
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Minor Skirmishes & Casualties
The Battle of Khandaq is interesting in that it was the largest gathering of non-Muslims (±10,000) against the Prophet PBUH, yet it was the smallest number of casualties among the major ghazawat. At most, there were only 6 or 7 sahaba who died (most of them by bows and arrows), and this is truly a miracle. It is truly a sign from Allah SWT for us to reflect upon. "O believers! If you stand up for Allah, He will help you and make your steps firm" [see Quran, 47:7].
A number of minor skirmishes occurred:
1. A small group of five people from the ahzab led by Amr ibn Abd Wud (عمرو بن عبد ود) managed to break across the trench line when there was nobody on the other side. Amr ibn Abd Wud was of the elders of the Quraysh known for his ferocity in battle. In the Battle of Ahzab, he had put on a red turban that was meant to inflict fear on the enemy. (Note: It was known to both the Muslims and the pagans that a red turban signifies death.) When he came across, a contingent of Muslims immediately came running up to him. Amr said, "Who will fight me?" Ali RA said, "I will." But the Prophet PBUH said, "O Ali, this is Amr ibn Abd Wud. Let one of the seniors fight him." But no one stood up, so Amr said for the second time, "Who will fight me?" Again Ali said, "Let me go do it," but the Prophet PBUH stopped him and said again, "He is Amr ibn Abd Wud." For the third time, Amr said, "Who will fight me?" For the third time, Ali stood up but the Prophet PBUH said again, "It is Amr ibn Abd Wud" Then Ali said, "Even if it is Amr ibn Abd Wud." And when the Prophet PBUH saw this zeal, he allowed him to fight.
Amr asked, "Who is this?" so Ali introduced himself. But Amr was expecting one of the elders, not someone as young as Ali (mid-20s) who was a kid in his eyes, so he said, "O my little kid, go back and send a man. I don't want to fight a kid. I have no desire to kill or harm you." To which, Ali RA said, "But I have a desire to kill you." So Amr charged forward on his horse, and Ali charged forward on his own horse too — and Ibn Ishaq says the dust that the horses raised completely covered what happened. And all that was discernible amidst the dust was the echo of a takbir, signifying Ali's victory. — Or, according to another report, when the two got close, Amr ibn Abd Wud jumped off his horse as did Ali, and Amr tried his hardest to give Ali a blow to his head. Ali raised his shield and Amr's blow was so strong that the shield broke in half. But simultaneously, in a split second, with his other hand, Ali plunged his sword into the neck of Amr —and this requires a skill; and as we know, Ali was a true warrior with immense fighting skill— so with one clean blow, Amr was gone.
2. Another person who crossed over was Nawfal ibn Abdillah (نوفل بن عبد الله), and it was Zubayr ibn al-Awwam who charged up to him, and he literally split Nawfal's body in half. (Side note: Someone remarked to Zubayr later on, "What an amazing sword you have!" Zubayr said, "No, it's not the sword. It's the arm!") Nawfal's body lay there for a while in the sun, so the Quraysh cried out to the Muslims from across the trench, "Let us purchase the body so we can bury it!" The Prophet PBUH said, "This corpse is najis (نجس - impure), and the price is najis. We have no need of your money, and we do not buy the price of corpses. Come and get it and bury it." And indeed, as we saw in Badr, the Prophet PBUH gave the dignity of burial to everyone, even to those who tried to kill the Muslims on the battlefield.
3. Khalid ibn al-Walid also crossed over, and he had a sword fight, but no one died, and he basically jumped back over.
4. Similarly, Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahal also crossed over, but he too eventually had to flee back without causing any death or major damage.
The total number of pagans who were killed was around 3-4. The total number of Muslims who were killed, most of whom with arrows, was at most 6-7. And it's truly a miracle from Allah SWT how few casualties of the Muslims there were considering how outnumbered they were.
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The Death of Sa'd ibn Mu'adh RA; His Virtues and Blessings
Of course, the most tragic death was the death of Sa'd ibn Mu'adh RA. He is the chieftain of the Aws. Aisha RA narrates that when she was in the fortress, she was sitting with the mother of Sa'd, and Sa'd, dressed up in his armor, came to bid his mother farewell — meaning he is going to go to the front line now and is not going to see her until the battle ends. (Side note: And Aisha RA says the verses of hijab had not yet come down at the time. The verses came down at the end of the 5th year of the Hijrah — it was one of the last commandments revealed.) Sa'd's mother said, "O my son, hurry up! Don't waste your time with me. Go to the front!" And as he departed, Aisha RA said to her, "How sparse is his armor. I wish he had more armor," and she said he was wearing a breastplate — his arms were all open and only his chest was covered. And it turned out he was going to get injured exactly where she was worried he would be injured: An arrow struck him deep into the upper part of his right arm (clavicle) next to his neck, and he died a few weeks after because of this wound. And it was Hiban ibn al-Ariqah (حبان بن العرقة) who shot him, who when firing the arrow shouted out, "Take this from me! And I am Ibn al-Ariqah!" i.e., he is boasting. Sa'd responded —and he made a play on words with his name in the response—: "Arraq Allahu wajhaka fi al-Nar (عرق الله وجهك في النار - Allah will cause your face to be sweating in the Fire)!"
Who was Sa'd ibn Mu'adh? He was of the earliest converts at the hand of Mus'ab ibn Umayr. And it's because of Sa'd's conversion that his entire subtribe converted to Islam. He told his subtribe, "I will not speak to any one of you until you leave idolatry and accept monotheism." And they loved him so much that out of a love for him, they embraced Islam. And recall he was the one who said that famous statement before the Battle of Badr, "Ya Rasulullah! After all, we believed in you, trusted you, and testified that what you have come with is the Truth! And we have given you our promises and oath that we will listen-and-obey you! Ya Rasulullah! Go forth and do as you see fit! We are with you! I swear by the One who has sent you with the Truth, were you to charge us galloping into the ocean, we will go right behind you! We are not scared of meeting the enemy tomorrow! We will show you our patience during battle. And la'allaLlah (لعل الله, i.e., 'insha'Allah'), Allah will show you through us that which will comfort you. So go forth upon the blessings of Allah! We are right behind you!" [see episode 37]. This is one of the most eloquent speeches in the whole seerah.
Another story that really shows his Iman: He was close friends with the infamous Umayyah ibn Khalaf in the days of Jahiliyyah, and they considered themselves to be 'business brothers' and they stayed at each other's houses whenever one of them was on a business trip to one of their cities. One day —after the Hijrah— Sa'd went to Makkah for his business routine. And Umayyah was being a good friend to him, he said, "Don't go out in the daytime (because there is tension between the people of Yathrib and Makkah now), go out at night." So Sa'd followed his advice and went out at night. But lo and behold, Abu Jahal heard the noise and went out to see what was going on, and when he saw it was Sa'd, he said to him, "How dare you come to Makkah when you have helped our renegade (i.e., the Prophet PBUH)?!" And the two of them began verbally raising their voices. Umayyah sided with Abu Jahal and said to Sa'd, "Don't rebuke Abu al-Hakam (Abu Jahal), he is our leader"—it was going to get physical and Umayyah tried to calm Sa'd down and hold him back — and Sa'd said to Umayyah, "Get your hands off of me! For wallahi, I heard the Prophet PBUH say that he will kill you!" And this shocked Umayyah, "Muhammad says he will kill me?! Wallahi, he has never spoken a lie in his life (i.e., this must be true)!" And he went back shocked to his wife and said, "Muhammad has said he will kill me!" — and his wife said, "He has said this? Then it will be true." And when the Battle of Badr happened, that was why he tried to avoid the battle. But eventually, as we have discussed, Abu Jahal got the better of him and convinced him to come, and so he marched to his death.
Sa'd was the one that when he died, the Prophet PBUH said the angels prayed his janazah and took his body up, and —in Bukhari and Muslim, it's narrated that— the Throne of Allah shook at his death. Two interpretations of this: (i) It shook out of happiness to greet him, or (ii) it shook out of anger that someone killed him. Both interpretations are valid.
In any case, when Sa'd was wounded, he made a du'a to Allah that, "O Allah, if You will allow the Quraysh to come back and fight, then allow me to live and fight them, because there is no nation more despised to me than them for what they have done to Your Rasul. But if this will be the last time (i.e., if this is the last battle with them), then accept me as a shaheed. BUT allow my eyes to be sweetened and comforted by seeing what happens to the Banu Qurayza." He made this du'a on his 'deathbed' (since he died within two weeks of this), expressing his desire to see what would happen to the Banu Qurayza — because he felt such anger at what they had done.
And indeed, Allah willed Sa'd was put in charge of the punishment of the Banu Qurayza. His du'a was accepted, and as soon as the battle finished —and he could not even walk, so he had to be carried to the Banu Qurayza; and in that state— he gave "the verdict that Allah AWJ was pleased with" (as we will discuss in episode 61) and he dies shortly after. This is the reality of the du'a of someone who has given his life for the sake of Allah SWT.
Two years after Sa'd's death, an incident happened that shows how much he was on the mind of the Prophet PBUH. In the Years of Sending Letters to the Kings and Rulers (i.e., around 7-8 AH), one of the letters came back from the province of (now known as) Bahrain. And the emperor wrote back a somewhat sympathetic letter, and he gifted the Prophet PBUH one of the finest robes he had ever worn PBUH. And it is said the robe had gold decorations on it. (Side note: The Arabs were not known for producing such goods. They would import good cloth. And the finest cloth came from Persia.) And you can imagine the quality of the cloth that a ruler is giving to what he thinks is another ruler. In Tirmidhi, it's said the sahaba were so amazed they went around the Prophet PBUH to look at his garment. (Side note: This shows us many things. Of them: It's completely halal to wear fine clothes. Here the Prophet PBUH is wearing an extremely luxurious garment. But the perfection is that he PBUH never spent money on it, and his heart was not attached to it.) [Rather,] he PBUH was shocked at how shocked the sahaba were. He said, "Are you impressed with this?!"—and this shows the Prophet PBUH was not as impressed as the sahaba were; his heart was not attached to it. Then he said out of nowhere, "Wallahi, the handkerchief of Sa'd ibn Mu'adh in Jannah is better than all of this." Subhan'Allah, who is the person the Prophet PBUH is thinking about? Sa'd ibn Mu'adh RA. It shows how much love the Prophet PBUH had for Sa'd ibn Mu'adh.
Two years after Sa'd's death, an incident happened that shows how much he was on the mind of the Prophet PBUH. In the Years of Sending Letters to the Kings and Rulers (i.e., around 7-8 AH), one of the letters came back from the province of (now known as) Bahrain. And the emperor wrote back a somewhat sympathetic letter, and he gifted the Prophet PBUH one of the finest robes he had ever worn PBUH. And it is said the robe had gold decorations on it. (Side note: The Arabs were not known for producing such goods. They would import good cloth. And the finest cloth came from Persia.) And you can imagine the quality of the cloth that a ruler is giving to what he thinks is another ruler. In Tirmidhi, it's said the sahaba were so amazed they went around the Prophet PBUH to look at his garment. (Side note: This shows us many things. Of them: It's completely halal to wear fine clothes. Here the Prophet PBUH is wearing an extremely luxurious garment. But the perfection is that he PBUH never spent money on it, and his heart was not attached to it.) [Rather,] he PBUH was shocked at how shocked the sahaba were. He said, "Are you impressed with this?!"—and this shows the Prophet PBUH was not as impressed as the sahaba were; his heart was not attached to it. Then he said out of nowhere, "Wallahi, the handkerchief of Sa'd ibn Mu'adh in Jannah is better than all of this." Subhan'Allah, who is the person the Prophet PBUH is thinking about? Sa'd ibn Mu'adh RA. It shows how much love the Prophet PBUH had for Sa'd ibn Mu'adh.
And much more can be said — but this was Sa'd ibn Mu'adh. And the Muslims had to set up a special tent for him because of the severity of his wounds. And as soon as the Battle of Khandaq finished, a few days later, he died.
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Missing Salat al-Asr
We learn from Bukhari, Muslim, and others, that on one of the days during the siege, the skirmishes became so severe that the Muslims could not pause to pray Salat al-Asr. And there is a big controversy amongst the fuqaha as to whether Salat al-Khawf was revealed by this time or not. Because if Salat al-Khawf were revealed, then why didn't they pray Salat al-Khawf? And the majority opinion is that indeed it was revealed, but they were so preoccupied that it was a genuine moment where they literally forgot about Asr. And there are many ahadith that seem to suggest this. And there are so many ahadith about this incident — if you look up Bukhari and Muslim, you will find at least 10. And from them, much fiqh is derived about delaying salah and making up missed salah. The Prophet PBUH of course never intentionally missed a prayer. We have only two instances where he missed salah:
1. This incident during the Battle of Khandaq is one of them. It's narrated that Umar RA came to the Prophet PBUH and said, "Ya Rasulullah, I was not able to pray Asr before the sun had set," and the Prophet PBUH said, "And I too was not able to pray Asr," and so it's said they both did wudu and prayed Asr after the sun had set. Bukhari mentions the Prophet PBUH said, "They (the mushriks) have made us busy so much so that we have not even managed to pray Salat al-Wusta (صلاة الوسطى - the Middle Salah, i.e., Salat al-Asr). May Allah fill their houses and graves with the Fire." Look at his anger PBUH what is it for. He is angry not because they are attempting to kill him, but because they have managed to prevent Salat al-Asr. "May Allah fill their houses and graves with the Fire; they have managed to prevent us from praying Asr." (Note 1: So what will be the case of the one whose money, television, business, etc., prevents him from praying Asr? Here is the Prophet PBUH on the battlefield fuming that he has missed Asr.) (Note 2: Based on this hadith, the scholars say the term "Salat al-Wusta" in verse [2:238] of the Quran refers to Salat al-Asr.)
(Fiqhi tangent: From this incident, the fuqaha have derived the fiqh that when you need to make up salah, you make them up in the right order if it is reasonable and possible to do so. For example, even though it was Maghrib, the Prophet PBUH prayed Asr first and then Maghrib. So the general rule is you make up the missed salawat first before praying the fard [فرض - obligatory] at that particular time. But what if this is not possible for one of the following two reasons? [i] What if you haven't prayed for many years? You obviously can't pray 5, 10, 15 years of missed salawat first. So this rule doesn't apply. [ii] The scholars say if praying missed salawat first will make you miss another salah, then you pray the fard at that particular time first.)
2. The other instance is when he PBUH and the Muslims were marching the entire night non-stop (on the way back from Hudaybiyyah, later in 6 AH) and then they rested ±1 hour before Fajr: The Prophet PBUH said to the sahaba, "Who will guard us and wake us for Fajr?" Bilal RA volunteered, "I will," and so they all went to sleep, and Bilal RA stayed awake guarding, until eventually, he was so tired he also fell asleep; and so they all missed Fajr. The first to wake up was Abu Bakr or Umar with the heat of the sun, and he woke up Bilal and asked, "O Bilal, what happened?!" Bilal said, "The same one that caused you to sleep caused me to sleep!"
So these are the only two instances in the seerah that are authentically reported where the Prophet PBUH missed salah (unintentionally).
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Turn of the Tide
Around the 20th day of the siege, out of the blue someone walks into the camp of the Muslims, and his name is Nuaym ibn Mas'ud (نعيم بن مسعود) from the tribe of Ghatafan, and he says to the Prophet PBUH, "I have accepted Islam, so tell me to do whatever you want." Nuaym ibn Mas'ud was the one Allah used to shift the entire tide around. He isn't Makki or Madani, so we don't know much about him. We just know tidbits. One of the things we know is that in the Conquest of Makkah [later in 8 AH], he carried the flag of Ghatafan, and this is a big honor. And we hardly know anything else, so Sh. YQ has developed a theory. So we will narrate other few things we know about him, and then we will mention Sh. YQ's theory.
What we do know: His first mention in the seerah comes in the 4th year of the Hijrah. Note he was of the elite, but not the chief. He is one level below the chief, of the second-tier. And to do what he did (as we will see), you needed to be one rank below the chief. Nuaym was a pagan at the time, and one day, he came to Makkah for a business trip. He had a good friendship with Abu Sufyan, so Abu Sufyan came to him and said, "I need to use you for something. We had made a promise with Muhammad that we would meet at Badr (Uhud Part II). But this year, we cannot go — the crops have been bad, businesses didn't go well, etc., so you go to Muhammad and convince him not to come (to the battlefield) so that it appears to people that he didn't come instead of us." So he wants him to paint a false picture so that the people hear that the Prophet PBUH never showed up, when it was in fact Abu Sufyan and the Quraysh who didn't want to fight. Nuaym wasn't a Muslim at the time, so he agreed to do this for a big amount of fortune. Note at this stage, Ghatafan is neutral, so that's why he is being used. So he went to see the Prophet PBUH in Madinah and tried to scare him PBUH so that the Muslims don't show up to Uhud Part II; e.g., by saying he saw a massive army of Quraysh marching to Badr. But the Prophet PBUH said, "Wallahi, I will go fight them even if I am alone." This is the first and major exposure Nuaym had to the Prophet PBUH. The second minor thing we know about him is that, probably around the late 4th year or the early 5th year, the Prophet PBUH made a treaty with the subtribe of Nuaym (and Nuaym was the one he negotiated with) regarding what to do and what not to do with the caravan of the Quraysh.
Sh. YQ's theory: It appears that these interactions impressed Nuaym so much —he saw the bravery and truthfulness of the Prophet PBUH, and he interacted with the Muslims in Madinah— that Islam became very dear to him, so he converted to Islam, and the next time he was able to interact with the Prophet PBUH, he was a secret Muslim. He was the only Muslim in his entire tribe.
This shows us: "Whoever is mindful of Allah, He will make a way out for them, and provide for them from sources they could never imagine. And whoever puts their trust in Allah, then He [alone] is sufficient for them" [Quran, 65:2-3]. Subhan'Allah, how and where did this Ghatafani convert?! Allah AWJ willed it. This is the point. You cannot fight against the power of Allah SWT. If Allah is helping you, then khalas, that's it. So Nuaym walks in out of the blue, literally sneaks away from Ghatafan in the middle of the night, makes his way to the camp of the Prophet PBUH, and says, "I am at your service, O Messenger of Allah. I will do whatever you want me to do." Out of nowhere, during the Battle of Khandaq, Allah's help came through Nuaym ibn Mas'ud.
The Prophet PBUH said to him, "You are just one person. But go back and do anything you can think of to protect us." So Nuaym said, "O Messenger of Allah, do you allow me to say anything?" i.e., "Do you give me permission to use tactics that are not the most honest tactics?" The Prophet PBUH said, "الحرب خدعة - War is tricks and deceit."
And note the Arabic used is khid'a (خدعة - trick/deceit/ruse), NOT khiyana (خيانة - treachery/treason/betrayal). Islam allows khid'a during times of genuine war. And frankly, every nation does. Even the famous Sun Tzu wrote in his book The Art of War, "All warfare is based on deception"—this is how war around the world works. And khid'a is different from khiyana. Islam never allows khiyana. Khiyana means you make a promise and you know you are going to break it. Khiyana means signing a treaty and then tearing it up. Khiyana means to stab someone in the back after you swore to him you wouldn't stab him in the back. And this is haram. Whereas khid'a is simply deceit: You are not promising anything, you are just using tactics and illusions. (Side note: In our case, the same applies to holding a passport: The passport comes with implicit conditions, so to go against the conditions of these passports is khiyana and is not allowed. We cannot use this hadith to something that it does not apply to.)
And note the Arabic used is khid'a (خدعة - trick/deceit/ruse), NOT khiyana (خيانة - treachery/treason/betrayal). Islam allows khid'a during times of genuine war. And frankly, every nation does. Even the famous Sun Tzu wrote in his book The Art of War, "All warfare is based on deception"—this is how war around the world works. And khid'a is different from khiyana. Islam never allows khiyana. Khiyana means you make a promise and you know you are going to break it. Khiyana means signing a treaty and then tearing it up. Khiyana means to stab someone in the back after you swore to him you wouldn't stab him in the back. And this is haram. Whereas khid'a is simply deceit: You are not promising anything, you are just using tactics and illusions. (Side note: In our case, the same applies to holding a passport: The passport comes with implicit conditions, so to go against the conditions of these passports is khiyana and is not allowed. We cannot use this hadith to something that it does not apply to.)
In any case, Nuaym took this saying as a green light. So what did he do? 3 things:
1. Besides Abu Sufyan, Nuaym also had personal friendships with the Banu Qurayza. (Subhan'Allah, look at how perfect Allah's plan is!) So first, he went to the Banu Qurayza in the middle of the night and said, "You know who I am. We have had dealings in the past. Now I am here for your own good. This land is your land, this wealth is your wealth, and this property is your property (i.e., you have everything to lose if things don't work out). But as for the Quraysh (who are camping outside Madinah now), they have nothing to lose if they just leave. If they find an opportunity to attack the Muslims, they will attack, but if not, they will just leave, and you will be the ones who will suffer the consequences. So my advice to you is to refuse to fight (the Muslims) until the Quraysh give you some human-mortgages/hostages from their ashraf (أشراف - nobility) as collateral. If they do this, they will never abandon their own (i.e., the hostages) until they have fought Muhammad." And the Banu Qurayza found this to be very sensible — and indeed, on the surface of it, it makes complete sense. Allah, out of nowhere, through Nuaym, brings this plan. And this is indeed ilham (إلهام - inspiration from God to non-prophets).
2. Then Nuaym went to the Quraysh the next morning and told Abu Sufyan, "You know my status amongst my people, and you know who I am. News has reached me and I feel our friendship owes that I tell you. But please keep this between you and me. Know that the Banu Qurayza regret what they are doing. And they have sent a message to Muhammad saying, 'If we hand over some of the ashraf of the Quraysh to execute, will you forgive us for our lapse of judgment (i.e., for what we have done)?'" So Nuaym tells Abu Sufyan, "If the Banu Qurayza come to you and ask for your ashraf, then this is a sign of treason and treachery."
2. Then Nuaym went to the Quraysh the next morning and told Abu Sufyan, "You know my status amongst my people, and you know who I am. News has reached me and I feel our friendship owes that I tell you. But please keep this between you and me. Know that the Banu Qurayza regret what they are doing. And they have sent a message to Muhammad saying, 'If we hand over some of the ashraf of the Quraysh to execute, will you forgive us for our lapse of judgment (i.e., for what we have done)?'" So Nuaym tells Abu Sufyan, "If the Banu Qurayza come to you and ask for your ashraf, then this is a sign of treason and treachery."
3. Then Nuaym went to his own tribe of Ghatafan and told them, "The Quraysh can leave at any time, and the Banu Qurayza can flip at any time, and they have offered 70 of us and 70 of the Quraysh to Muhammad as an expiation. So if they come asking 70, let us agree not to give them anything."
Sure enough, within a few hours, an emissary from the Banu Qurayza comes to the Quraysh —his name is Azzal ibn Samuel (عزال بن سموأل)— and he says to Abu Sufyan, "The Quraysh have delayed too long (note: by now at least 3 weeks have passed), and you have done nothing but talk. So let us agree on a date — you attack (the Muslims) from your side, we from our side, and the Ghatafan from their side. And we will finish up this matter of Muhammad. But before we set the date, we ask that you give us 70 of your noblemen, because we want to secure the fact that you are not going to turn around when the battle gets tough." Abu Sufyan said, "Let me think about this." So the Banu Qurayza returned empty-handed.
The seeds of doubt have begun to be sown, and this is the start of the destruction of the ahzab army.
[Transcribed by Br. Safwan Khan & Faizan]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, June 2021]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, June 2021]
