The Battle of Ahzab

The Biography of Rasulallah The
Battle of Ahzab

By Ahmad Hilmy and Ahmad Azhan Sidqi 1
Muslim

The Start of the Battle

The battle took place 2 years after the Battle of
Uhud, the Battle of Ahzab took place in the
month of Syawal in the 5th year of Hijrah. This
battle took place at the Northern border of
Madinah. There were 3000 Muslim soldiers and
10,000 Quraisy and soldiers from other Arabian
tribes. This battle is known as Ahzab, meaning
“ally” because the Quraisy were fighting alongside
many Arab tribes as well as Khandaq, meaning
“trench” because the Muslims had dug a trench
around the Northen side of Madinah around 5000
arm’s length. This strategy was a Persian strategy
suggested by Salman Al-Farisi, a Persian who
used this strategy in battles.

The Digging of the Trench

When the Muslims were alerted about the
incoming Quraisy, they held a meeting to plan the
war. The idea of digging a trench was suggested by
Salman Al-Farisi. For about six days, the
Muslims alongside Prophet Muhammad
S.A.W digged a trench as long as 5000 arm’s
length along the North border of Madinah. They
only dug a trench around the Northern border
because the other sides of Madinah was
surrounded by rocky mountains and trees which are
essentially impenetrable to even large armies.

The Formation

The War

After the digging of the trench, the Muslims stood
in defense in Madinah, while the allied forces were
on the opposite side of the trench. The battle took
place with only the pelting of stone, throwing of
spears and shooting of arrows. The allied forces
tried to jump over the trench on their horses, but this
proved to be impossible as the trench was too wide
to jump over. When this happened, the Quraisy
barricaded Madinah for nearly a month, starving
the Muslims and exposing them to extreme cold
weather. As such, Rasulallah S.A.W made an
offer to two leaders of Bani Ghatafan, an allied
tribe. The Prophet made an offer to give them one-
third of all the produces in Madinah on condition
that they return to their respective places. While the
two leaders agreed, the leaders of the Aus and
Khazraj didn’t agree unless it was commanded by
Allah S.W.T so the offer was canceled.

While the battle was still going on, the Jewish
leader of Bani Nadhir, Huyaii bin Akhtab asked
the Jews of Bani Quraizah who were in
Madinah to betray the Muslims and attack from

inside the city. During that time, a leader of Bani
Ghatafan named Nu’aim bin Mas’ud had embraced
Islam and went to Rasulallah to state that he will
serve Islam and do any task given to him. With
that, Nu’aim managed to trick Bani Quraizah and
the Quraisy. First, he told the leader of Bani
Quraizah that the Quraisy were going to betray
them. Then he told the Quraisy that Bani
Quraizah were going to betray them. Hence, the
Quraisy and Bani Quraizah mistrusted eachother
and cancelled the attack on the Muslims. The trick
by Nu’aim worked well and he was not suspected
because he had just converted to Islam.

The Effects

After enduring hunger and cold weather, all the
Muslim’s patience paid off. The help of Allah
S.W.T was the main contributing factor of the
victory. Another contributing factor was
Rasulallah S.A.W’s decision and Salman Al-
Farisi’s suggestion to dig a trench. The Quraisy
were very disappointed by their defeat as all their
belongings were destroyed, their economy
deteriorated and their honor had been lost. Bani
Quraizah were surrounded and given punishment.
Their intention to attack the Muslims had been a
big mistake as it meant they had broken their
promise with the Muslims, which is a very big sin
in Islam.

The men among Bani Quraizah would be killed
whereas the women and children among them were
taken captive and had their belongings confiscated.
The enslaved women and children were divided up
among the Muslims who participated in the siege.
The Prophet had given authority to Sa’ad bin
Muaz and Sa’ad bin Ubadah to execute the
punishment as they were more knowledgable about

their own people. At the same time, the Muslims
managed to clear their image and regain their honour
among the Arabs. With their defeat, the Quraisy

no longer dared to attack the Muslims.

Reasons behind the Battle

The main cause of the battle was because Bani
Nadhir, the Quraisy and many other tribes had
joined together to go against Rasulallah S.A.W.
The main objective of the Quraisy was to destroy
Islam and the main reason for Bani Nadhir to
attack was because they were expelled from
Madinah and wanted to seek revenge. It was also
mostly due to some Meccan hate from the
disbelievers to finish off the Muslims, as the
prophet had given Makkah a new religion, Islam,
which was meddling with the old ways, idol
worship, and challenging with the authority of the
elderly that held Makkah in a dictatorship.

End of Battle

The battle was followed by a terrible sandstorm for
three consecutive days. The sandstorm caused pots
to fall of stoves and tents to be pulled from the
ground. As such, the enemies left their camps the
next morning and went out of Madinah with much
resentment and dissatisfaction in their hearts. This
was a great victory for the Muslims as even such
a massive Ahzab army had failed to dampen the
spirits of the Muslims.

Lessons Learned

The Prophet was the leader of the army itself, yet
he took part in digging the trench, despite his severe
hunger. This teaches Muslims that no matter what
their position is, weather heads of state or
community leaders, they should take part in hard
work required for the benefit of its community.