The Life of the Prophet Muhammad

The Battle Of The Trench

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

 Despite this agreement, however, some of the Jewish tribes, whoresented the Prophet's presence in Medinah, soon began to cause troubleamongst the Muslims. They tried to set the Muslim Emigrants fromMecca and the Ansar against each other. The troublemakers were givenmany warnings but they continued to be a nuisance. In the end, theMuslims had no choice but to drive them from Medinah. A newagreement was offered to those Jews who remained but the trouble did notend there. One of the Jewish tribes, the Bani Nadir plotted to murder theProphet (Pbuh) but their plan was discovered and they, too, were exiledfrom the city. Knowing that they could not defeat the Muslimsthemselves, some of the leaders of the exiled Jews secretly went to Meccato enlist the help of Quraysh. Knowing what the Meccans would like tohear, they pretended to believe in the same things. They said that theythought that the old Arab tradition was better than the teachings of theProphet Muhammad (Pbuh) and that they believed that the Qurayshreligion of worshipping many idols was better than the Prophet's withonly one God. Then the Jews told them that if all the Arab tribes attackedMedinah, 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 onwhat seemed to them a very good opportunity, agreed to the plan andbegan to gather together a formidable army. In the meantime in Medinah,only one Jewish tribe, the Bani Quraydhah, refused to betray theMuslims. 

Eventually, the Muslims learned of the preparations being made forwar in Mecca and of the plotting of the Jews within Medinahitself. Thebetrayal 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 thetruth. They have forgotten what Muses taught them long ago that there isonly one God.' "The likeness of those who are entrusted with the Law of Moses, yetapply it not, is as the likeness of the ass carrying books. Evil is thelikeness of the people who deny the revelations of Allah. And Allahguideth, not wrongdoing folk". (Qur'an 62.5) 

The Muslims wondered how they could defend Medinah. They heardthat Abu Sufyan was coming to attack them with an enormous armywhich included many other Arab tribes, as well as Quraysh. What werethey to do with only a single week to prepare? The Prophet (Pbuh) andhis men knew that it would be impossible for them to fight off all thesetribes! The only thing they could do was to stay inside the city and try todefend it as best they could. Now among the people of Medinah was aPersian named Salman, who had to live in the city sometime before theProphet's arrival there. As a convert to Christianity, he had traveled toMedinah after Christian sages had told him that a Prophet would be bornin Arabia. On arriving in he was, however, sold into slavery by themerchants with whom he had traveled. Later he became a Muslim, gainedhis freedom, and became a member of the Prophet's household. 

When the people gathered to discuss a plan of action against theapproaching enemy, Salman was present and it was he who suggestedthat they should dig a trench around the city. The Prophet (Pbuh) thoughtthis a good idea, so the Muslims set to work, although it was in themiddle of winter. They worked day and night, digging the trench asquickly as possible. The Prophet (Pbuh) himself carried rocks and whenthe men were tired he gave them the will to carry on. Someone laterrecalled how beautiful he looked, dressed in a red cloak with dust uponhis breast and his dark hair nearly reaching his shoulders. There was littlefood at this time and the men were often hungry as they worked.