Life of Muhammadsa

BY HADRAT MIRZA BASHIRUDDIN

MAHMUD AHMADra

Page 141-151 Treachery of Banu Quraiza

Treachery of Banu Quraiza

It was

agreed that the Banu

Quraiza were in alliance with the Muslims.

They would protect the

Muslims from the enemy on their side.

This part of the town was left

unguarded by the

Muslims.

The Banu Quraiza took advantage of

this and joined the

Arabs secretly.

Treachery of Banu Quraiza Muslims were attacked by the Arabs and Banu

Quraiza on both sides with the aim to plan a full- fledged attack on the Muslim town Medina.

Attack after attack was therefore made. Muslim defenders had to fight ceaselessly.

One day, the Muslims were occupied with fighting that they could not offer all their 5 daily prayers on

time.

This upset the Holy Prophet (saw), ‘God punish the infidels, they have upset our prayers.’ This was his

first and last concern.

Treachery of Banu Quraiza Muslims are

required to pray 5 times a day

Hindus and Christians are only

required to pray once a week

Holding prayers on time during battle

is difficult

The Holy Prophet (saw) still held the

5 daily prayers

It pained him* if one of these prayers was

missed due to an attack

The Holy Prophetsa

Treachery of Banu Quraiza To return to the battle, the enemy was attacking from the front, the Banu Quraiza were planning to attack from the rear but not in such a way as to

make the Muslim population alert.

They wanted to enter the town from behind and to kill the women and children sheltered there.

One day the Banu Quraiza sent a spy to find out whether guards had been posted for the protection of women and children and, if so, in what strength.

While he was doing so, Safiyyara, an aunt of the Prophetsa, spotted him.

With the help of other women she succeeded in over-powering and killing him.

Treachery of Banu Quraiza … Out of twelve hundred men, the Prophetsa sent five hundred

for the protection of women in the town .

This only left seven hundred men to left to fight the huge army comprising of eighteen to twenty thousand men.

Many Muslims were unnerved at the odds which they had to face.

They requested the Prophetsa to pray. They also requested him to teach them a special prayer for this occasion.

Treachery of Banu Quraiza

The Holy prophet (pbuh) replied…

"Have no fear. Only pray

to God that He should protect you from your

weaknesses, strengthen your

hearts, and relieve your anxiety."

Treachery of Banu Quraiza The Prophetsa prayed himself in the following words:

Bukhari

• God, Thou hast sent to me the Qur’an. Thou waitest not to call anyone to account. These hordes which have come to attack us, give them defeat. God, I beseech thee again: Defeat them, make us dominate

over them, and upset all their evil intentions

Zurqani

• God, Thou hearest those who cry to Thee in misery and in affliction. Thou repliest to those who are stricken with anxiety. Relieve me of my

pain, my anxiety, and my fear. Thou knowest what odds I and my Companions are up against.

Treachery of Banu Quraiza The hypocrites in the Muslim force became more nervous… Therefore, they began to desert the Muslims one by one on slender excuses. This is mentioned in the Holy Quran

And a section of them even asked leave of the Prophet (pbuh), saying,

'Our houses are exposed and defenceless.' And they were not

exposed. They only sought to flee away.

The Qur’an refers to this in 33: 14

Treachery of Banu Quraiza

When they came upon you from above you and from below you, and when your eyes became distracted, and the

hearts reached to the throats, and you thought diverse thoughts about Allah. Then were the believers sorely tried,

and they were shaken with a violent shaking. And when the hypocrites, and those in whose hearts was a disease said, 'Allah and His Messenger promised us nothing but delusion'. And when a party of them said, 'O people of

Yathrib, you have possibly no stand against the enemy, therefore turn back' (33: 11-14)

The state of battle at the moment, and the condition in which the Muslims stood at the time is described in the Qur’an in the following verses:

Treachery of Banu Quraiza

Here Muslims are reminded how they were attacked from the front by a confederacy of Arab tribes, and in the rear by the Jews.

The believers were then on trial. They were all given a shaking.

The hypocrites and the spiritually diseased began to say, 'We have all been fooled by falsefighting now. There is nothing to do but to

go back.'

The true believers remained unshaken. Rather they increased in the spirit of obedience and in the fervour of faith.

Treachery of Banu Quraiza

How true believers behaved on this occasion is also described in

the Qur’an: (33: 23, 24).

When they saw the huge numbers of the enemy, they were

reminded of what God and His Prophetsa had told them already.

This concerted attack by the tribes of Arabia was proof only of

the truth of God and the Prophetsa.

Battle of the Ditch The enemy

attacked the ditch fiercely …, important

generals of the enemy succeeded in going across. But they were

attacked so bravely by the

Muslims that they had to fall back

In this encounter, Naufal, a big leader of the disbelievers, lost his life

They, therefore, sent word to the Prophetsa, that if he would return the body of this chief, they would pay ten thousand dirhams. It was a high price for the return of

the dead body.

The offer was made out of a sense of guilt. The disbelievers had mutilated the Muslim dead at Uhud and

were afraid that Muslims would do the same.

But the teaching of Islam was different. Islam forbade outright the mutilation of the dead.

When the Prophetsa received the message and the offer, he said, "What use have we for this body? We want nothing in return for this. If it pleases you, take away

the body"

A passage in Muir's Life of Mohammad (London-1878, p.322) describes eloquently the fierceness of the attack on Muslims.

"   Next morning, Mahomed found the whole force of the Allies drawn out against him. It required the utmost activity and an unceasing vigilance on

his side to frustrate the manoeuvres of the enemy. Now they would threaten a general assault; then breaking up into divisions they would attack various

posts in rapid and distracting succession; and at last, watching their opportunity, they would mass their troops on the least protected point, and, under cover of a sustained and galling discharge of arrows, attempt to force the trench. Over and again a gallant dash was made at the city, and at the tent of Mahomedsa, by such leaders of renown as Khalidra and ‘Amrra; and

these were only repelled by constant counter-marches and unremitting archery. This continued throughout the day; and, as the army of Mahomedsa was but just sufficient to guard the long line, there could be no relief. Even at night Khalidra, with a strong party of horses, kept up the alarm, and still

threatening the line of defence, rendered outposts at frequent intervals necessary. But all the endeavours of the enemy were without effect. The

trench was not crossed.

Battle of the Ditch

The battle had gone on for two days

Repeated attacks on the ditch, .. resulted in

some damage,

and this made further attack easier

Great scenes of valour and of loyalty

were witnessed.

.. The Prophet'ssa .. rose from his sleep again and again to guard the damaged part of the ditch. He became exhausted. He returned to bed but then, having

warmed himself a little, went again to guard the ditch. .. Then he said he wished some devoted Muslim would come and relieve him of the physical

labour of guarding the ditch in the cold of the night. Soon he heard a voice. It was Sa‘d bin Waqqasra. The Prophetsa asked him why he had come. "To guard

your person," said Sa‘dra. "There is no need to guard my person," said the Prophetsa "A part of the ditch is damaged. Go and guard it that Muslims may

be safe.“ Sa‘dra went, and the Prophetsa was able to sleep.

Treachery of Banu Quraiza

As we said before, the Jews tried to enter

secretly ( enclave for Muslim men and children) but the Jewish Spy lost

his life

The plan of the Jews became known by the

Muslims

The Jews helped the Arabs more openly

The Jews and Pagans suddenly made a

simultaneous attack on the Muslims