THE BATTLE OF THE DITCH The Battle of the Ditch took place in Shawwal 5 A.H. It was a decisive battle but it presented to the Muslims grave trials that they had not previously experienced. Allah says in the Qur'an:

When they came against you from above you and from below you, and when your eyes swerved and your hearts reached your throats, and you thought thoughts about Allah; there it was that the believers were tried, and shaken most mightily. (33: 11)

The Jews instigated these hostilities. People from the Banu'n-Nadir and the Banu Wa'il went to the Quraysh in Makkah, calling on them to fight the Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah. The Quraysh who had already experienced war with the Prophet were reluctant to get involved again. However, the Jewish delegation painted such a rosy picture of the outcome that they agreed to co-operate.

'We will support you,' the Jews promised, 'until you obliterate him.'

That delighted the Quraysh. They were eager to carry out the Jews' ideas. They gathered their forces and prepared for battle. The Jewish delegation then went to the Ghatafan tribes and invited them to join the Quraysh. After the Ghatafan agreed to join in, they went to other tribes, presenting them with the same plan backed by the Quraysh.

Thus an alliance was formed between the Quraysh, the Jews, and the Ghatafan against the Muslims.

Certain conditions were drawn up. The Quraysh had to gather four thousand fighters and the Ghatafan six thousand, making ten thousand in all. This vast army was to be commanded by Abu Sufyan ibn Harb. The Jews agreed to give one year's harvest of Khaybar to the Ghatafan to compensate them for their military expenses.

WISDOM IS THE LOST PROPERTY OF THE BELIEVER: The Muslims decided to fortify themselves in Madinah and defend the city. Their army numbered less than three thousand so Salman al-Farsi suggested that a ditch should be dug around the city for protection.

'In Persia,' Salman said, 'when we feared invaders, we would dig a ditch around us to keep them at bay.' The Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah agreed to his suggestion and a ditch was dug on

the exposed side from where they feared the enemy would attack. The Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah planned the work and assigned forty cubits of digging to each group of ten Muslims. The length of the ditch was about five thousand cubits and its depth varied between seven and ten cubits. Its width was at least nine cubits.

THE SPIRIT OF EQUALITY AND MUTUAL SUPPORT AMONG THE MUSLIMS: The Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah helped to dig the ditch and encouraged the Muslims working alongside him. Although it was bitterly cold and food was in short supply, the work proceeded smoothly.

Abu Talhah said, 'We complained to the Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah of hunger and we showed him the stones that we had tied round our bellies to ease the pain. Then the Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah showed us that he had two stones on his belly.'

In spite of all this they were happy, praising Allah and chanting poems. No one complained or expressed any regrets.

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said, 'The Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah went out to the ditch when the Muhajirun and Ansar were digging in the bitterly cold morning air. They had no slaves to do it for them. Seeing their state of fatigue and hunger, he said: O Allah! True life is the life of the Next World. So forgive the Ansar and the Muhajirun. In response they said: We are those who have given homage to Muhammad. To fight in jihad as long as we have life.

The Muslims came upon a large rock which their picks could not shift. When they complained to the Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah about it, he took up a pick, saying, 'In the name of Allah.' His first blow broke off a third of the rock and sent sparks flying.

'Allah is greater!' he said, 'I have been given the keys of Syria. By Allah, I see its red castles, if Allah wills.'

He struck at the rock a second time and another third broke off.

'Allah is greater. I have been given the keys of Persia and, by Allah, I see the white castles of al-Mada'in.

With his third blow, he invoked the name of Allah and the rest of the rock shattered.

'Allah is greater!' he exclaimed, 'Allah is greater! I have been given the keys of the Yemen. By Allah, I see the gates of San'a' from here.

PROPHETIC MIRACLES: A number of miracles were witnessed by the Companions at this time. Once when the ground was too hard to dig in part of the ditch, the Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah called for some water, spat into it and prayed a supplication willed by Allah. When he poured the water over the hard ground, it became soft like sand. On other occasions, a great blessing would appear when a small amount of food could satisfy a large number of Muslims or even be sufficient for an entire army of three thousand workers.

"When they came to you from above you and from beneath you"

The Muslims had scarcely finished work on the ditch when the Quraysh and the Ghatafan arrived and pitched camp outside Madinah with ten thousand warriors. The Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah assembled his three thousand Muslims, keeping the ditch between them and the enemy. A treaty existed between the Muslims and the Madinan Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayzah. Huyayy ibn Akhtab, the chief of Banu'n-Nadir encouraged the Jews to break the treaty. When the Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah heard of this, he realised that it was a serious setback and everyone feared the consequences. Some of the hypocrites displayed their hypocrisy openly. The Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah even considered making a treaty with the Ghatafan, giving them one-third of Madinah's dates in order to make things easier for the Ansar who always bore the greatest hardships during wars.

He rejected that option after Sa'd ibn Mu'adh and Sa'd ibn 'Ubadah advised him to remain firm, upright and resolute before the enemy and to refuse any compromise.

'Messenger of Allah,' they said, 'We and these people all used to associate other things with Allah and worship idols; none of us worshipped nor recognised Allah. They would not eat a single date except through hospitality or purchase. Now that Allah has honoured us with Islam and guided us to it and made us mighty by you and Himself, shall we still give them our property? By Allah, we have no need to and, by Allah, we will not give them anything but the sword until Allah decides between us and them.'

QURAYSH CAVALRY: The Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah and the Muslims remained besieged by their enemies but no fighting took place. However, some of the mounted Quraysh galloped their horses up to the edge of the ditch. When they saw the ditch, they Said, 'By Allah, this is a device which the Arabs have never used!'

Then, having found the narrowest part, they beat their horses until they jumped over the ditch into the territory of Madinah. Among them was the famous horseman Amr ibn Abd Wudd who was said to be the equal of a thousand horsemen. He stopped and asked, 'Who will face me?'

Ali ibn Abi Talib sprang forward and said, 'Amr!

You swore by Allah that if a man of the Quraysh offered you two alternatives, you would accept one of them!' 'Yes, I did.' 'I call you to Allah and to His Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) and to Islam,' Ali said. 'I have no need of that.' 'Then I call on you to encounter me.' 'Nephew,' said Amr to Ali, 'By Allah, I do not want to kill you.' 'But, by Allah,' Ali replied, 'I want to kill you.' Amr was so furious that he leapt from his horse, hamstrung it, and slapped its face. Then he advanced on Ali who fought back. They circled one another, thrusting and parrying. Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) eventually beheaded Amr with a sweeping blow of his sword. The other horsemen rapidly retreated back across the ditch.

A MOTHER ENCOURAGING HER SON TO FIGHT AND GAIN MARTYRDOM:

Before the veil was prescribed, A'ishah, Umm al-Mu'minin, said that she was with the Muslim women in the fortress of Banu Harithah when, 'Sa'd ibn Mu'adh passed by wearing armour so short that his forearm was exposed. He was chanting some verses and his mother called, "Catch up, my son. By Allah, you are late." ' A'ishah continued, 'I said to her, "Umm Sa'd, I wish Sa'd's armour were longer than that."

What A'ishah feared took place. Sa'd ibn Mu'adh was hit by an arrow which severed a vein causing excessive bleeding. He died a martyr in the subsequent battle with the Banu Qurayzah.

TO ALLAH BELONG THE ARMIES OF THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH:

Their enemies laid siege to the Muslims for about a month. They invaded all the surrounding areas creating great hardship. The hypocrites showed their true colours; some even asked the Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah if they could go into Madinah because they had left their houses unlocked. In reality, they only wanted to flee from the battlefront.

While the Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah and his Companions kept a close watch on the enemy besieging them, Nu'aym ibn Mas'ud from the Ghatafan came up to him to say,

'Messenger of Allah, I have become a Muslim but my people do not know that. Tell me what you want me to do and I will do whatever you wish.'

The Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah replied, 'You are the only Muslim there, so stay among our enemies and try to help us in whatever way you can. War is a clever device.'

Nu'aym ibn Mas'ud then went to the Banu Qurayzah and aroused doubts in their minds about their position. He mentioned their alliance with the Quraysh and Ghatafan who were distant tribes, and their antagonism towards the Muhajirun and Ansar who were their close neighbours. He suggested they should not fight alongside the Quraysh and Ghatafan until they had taken some leaders as hostages for security. They answered, 'You have given us good advice.'

When he went to talk to the Quraysh, he told them that the Jews were regretting what they had done and would be asking for some of their leaders to be held hostage as security that the treaty would not be broken. He also said that when they handed them over to the Prophet and his Companions, they would strike off their heads. Then he told the Ghatafan the same story as he had told the Quraysh. The seeds of distrust that he planted in their minds put the two groups on their guard and made them angry with the Jews. A split developed between the allies as a result, and each of them feared the others.

When Abu Sufyan and the leaders of the Ghatafan were ready to fight a decisive battle with the Muslims, the Jews put it off, demanding hostages from both sides first. The Quraysh and Ghatafan were convinced that Nu'aym ibn Mas'ud had told them the truth so they refused to grant the Jews' request. The Jews were also convinced that he had told them the truth. Thus their distrust of each other broke their unity and they split up.

Allah supported His Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) by causing

a hurricane to blow during the cold wintry nights. It blew down the enemy's tents and overturned their cooking-pots. The men were disheartened. Abu Sufyan got up and said,

'Company of Quraysh! By Allah, we are not in a permanent camp. The horses and camels are dying. The Banu Qurayzah have broken their promise to us and we have heard things about them which we dislike. We have suffered from the harshness of the wind as you can see and we are left without a cooking pot, or a fire. Not even a tent is standing up. Leave now, for I am going.'

Abu Sufyan went to his camel which was hobbled and mounted it. He beat it but did not unhobble it until it was standing.

When the Ghatafan heard that the Quraysh had departed, they also left. The Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah was standing in prayer when his spy, Hudhayfah ibn al-'Yaman, informed him of what had taken place. In the morning the Messenger(sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) of Allah left the ditch and returned to Madinah. All the Muslims followed him, laying down their weapons. Allah Almighty spoke the truth:

O you who believe, remember Allah's blessing on you when hosts came against you, and We loosed against them a wind, and hosts you did not see. Allah sees what you do. (33: 9) and, Allah sent back those that were unbelievers in their rage and they attained no good. Allah spared the believers of fighting. Surely Allah is Strong, Mighty. (33: 25)

The hardships of war were over and the Quraysh never again returned to fight the Muslims.

The Messenger(S.W.A) of Allah said, 'The Quraysh will never raid you after this year. Rather you will raid them. Seven Muslims were martyred on the Day of the Ditch while four idol-worshippers were killed by the Muslims.

The Battle of the Trench took place after the campaign against Banu Nadir, who had been expelled from Madina for their treachery and who had mostly joined their Jewish brethren in Khaybar.

In the fifth year of Hijra, a group of those Jews including Sallam ibn Abi al-Huqayq and Huyayy ibn Akhtab, together with a number of Banu Wa’il, left for Makka. They urged the Quraysh to make war on the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, and promised help and support.

The Jewish group then went to the tribes of Ghatafan and Qays Aylan and guaranteeing them help also, encouraged them to fight against God’s Messenger.50

These intrigues of the Jews resulted in the formation of a great confederacy against Islam. It consisted of the Makkan polytheists, the desert tribes of central Arabia, the Jews previously expelled for treacheries from Madina, the Jews (Banu Qurayza) remaining in Madina, and the hypocrites led by ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. The last two constituted a treacherous network within Madina.

When God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, heard, through his intelligence service, of the gathering of the allies or confederates (ahzab) against him, and the strength of their desire to fight against him, he consulted his Companions, as he always used to do. It was their unanimous view that they should remain in Madina and fight from there. Salman al-Farisi suggested to God’s Messenger that they should dig a trench around Madina.

The trench took six days of feverish work to dig. God’s Messenger had divided them into groups of ten people and put them to a competition. It was a hard task and time was restricted; what was more, hunger struck them all; yet all the Companions worked enthusiastically. In order not to feel hunger, each fastened a rock around his belly. While digging they recited:

We are those people who

Took the oath of allegiance to Muhammad;

Therefore we shall fight in the way of God

As long as we live.

By God, if God had not enabled us to,

We would have neither been guided

Nor given alms, nor performed prayers.

Send down unto us calmness and tranquility

And make our feet firm if we confront the enemy!51

The Messenger, who dug alongside them, and had fastened around his belly two rocks, answered them with the couplet:

O God, the real life is the life of the Hereafter

So, forgive the Helpers and the Emigrants.52

Madina under threat

The allies advanced against Madina in the hope of destroying the Muslims in a battle to be fought in an open field. However, when they faced a new strategy of God’s Messenger, they took the first blow. Numbering around 20,000 men, they camped near the ditch. The Madinan fighting strength was no more than 3,000, and the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza and the Hypocrites were a source of weakness as they were treacherously intriguing with the enemy. As stated in the verses of the Qur’an (al-Ahzab, 33.12–20) when the Hypocrites first saw the enemy, they were already in a defeatist mood. Not content with disloyalty themselves, they tried to infect others, who made paltry excuses to withdraw from the fight. If the enemy were to gain entrance, they were ready to betray the city to the enemy.

God’s Messenger’s sagacity and military genius showed themselves once more during this war. He had kept them confined within the city and stationed them in a way that they could safeguard their homes against possible attacks from Banu Qurayza. It was the most critical moments of the war when Banu Qurayza sent a man into the city to spy into the conditions of the Muslim women. However, when this man was killed by Safiyya, the Prophet’s aunt, their hopes were frustrated.53

While the war was continuing with exchanges of arrows and stones, God’s Messenger, contacted the leaders of Ghatafan and, offering them peace, urged them to withdraw with their people from the war. Nu‘aym ibn Mas‘ud was one of the leaders of the Allies, who before the battle, had come to Madina to sow discord; instead, he then began to incline towards Islam. During the battle, he secretly entered Islam and, ordered by God’s Messenger, proceeded to stir up Banu Qurayza. Nu‘aym set Banu Qurayza against the Quraysh by telling them that they would be abandoned by the Makkans and should refuse to help unless they were given hostages from the Quraysh. To the Quraysh, on the other hand, he said that Banu Qurayza would not fulfil their promise to help and would attempt to stall by asking for Qurayshi hostages to share their plight in the case of defeat. This stratagem succeeded. Dissension among the Allies grew.54

God’s Messenger, supported by the mountain Sal behind, had ordered a point in the trench to be made narrower. He had expected that leading horsemen of the Quraysh would try to cross the trench through that narrow spot. It happened as he had expected, and some of the most renowned warriors of the Quraysh attempted to cross the trench and volunteered for single combat with Muslim fighters. Among them were ‘Amr ibn ‘Abd Wudd, Ikrima ibn Abi Jahl, Hubayra ibn Abi Wahb, Durar ibn al-Khattab and Nawfal ibn ‘Adbullah ibn al-Mughira.

Boasting of his strength and fighting ability, ‘Amr ibn ‘Abd Wudd dismounted from his horse in the face of ‘Ali, who was ordered by the Messenger to fight against ‘Amr. ‘Amr advanced towards ‘Ali with his sword drawn. He brought his sword quickly against him but he got his sword caught in the shield of ‘Ali. ‘Ali, in return, struck a fierce blow against ‘Amr and the dust rose up around them. Then the words, Allahu akbar – God is the Greatest - were heard: ‘Ali had killed his opponent.55

Dirar, Hubayra and Nawfal were also killed by ‘Ali.56 The attempts of other horsemen or generals of the Quraysh to cross the trench were all brought to naught.

The siege lasted 27 days. It caused the Muslims much suffering, from hunger, cold, an unceasing shower of arrows and stones, and attempts and concentrated assaults to cross the trench, and betrayals and intrigues within the city. The Qur’an describes this situation as follows:

When they come against you from above you and from below you, and when your eyes swerved and your hearts reached your throats, while you thought thoughts about God; there it was that the believers were tried, and shaken most mightily. And when the hypocrites, and those in whose hearts is sickness, said, ‘God and His Messenger promised us only delusion.’ And when a party of them said, ‘O people of Yathrib, there is no abiding here for you, therefore return!’ And a party of them were asking leave of the Prophet, saying, ‘Our houses are exposed’; yet they were not exposed; they desired only to flee. (al-Ahzab, 33. 10-13)

After a close investment of four weeks, during which the enemy were disheartened by their ill success and the believers proved their steadfastness and loyalty, there was a piercing blast of the cold east wind. The enemy’s tents were torn up, their fires were extinguished, the sand and rain beat in their faces, and they were terrified by the portents against them. They had already well nigh fallen out among themselves. Hudayfa al-Yamani, who was sent by God’s Messenger to spy on the movements of the enemy, heard Abu Sufyan’s shouting: ‘Come on, we are returning!’57 The Muslims were victorious by God’s help; there were hidden forces – the Angels – that helped them:

O believers, remember God’s blessing upon you when hosts came against you, and we loosed against them a wind, and hosts you saw not; and God sees the things you do. (al-Ahzab, 33.9)

The predictions of the Messenger

While digging the ditch, the Companions had been unable to break a huge rock and referred the matter to God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings. The Messenger struck the rock with the pickaxe in his hand. In the light of the sparks caused by the blow, he predicted: I have been given the keys to the Kingdom of Persia; my Community will conquer it. He struck the rock a second time and, again in the light of the sparks caused by the blow, declared: God is the Greatest. I have been given the keys to the Empire of Byzantium. My Community will conquer it.58

The Battle of the Trench was the last attempt of the Quraysh to destroy Islam and the Muslims. Following their withdrawal in defeat

and humiliation, God’s Messenger declared: From this moment we will march upon them; they will no longer be able to raid us.59

Marching upon the Banu Qurayza

When the Allies were routed and turned their backs in flight from the Muslims, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, turned his attention to Banu Qurayza. They had betrayed their agreement with God’s Messenger and been allied with the Quraysh against the Muslims. They had also given asylum to the leaders of Banu Nadir, like Huyay ibn Akhtab, who had been expelled from Madina, and never refrained from conspiracies against the Muslims.

No sooner had God’s Messenger arrived home from the Battle of the Trench than Archangel Gabriel came and said to him: ‘I have not taken off my coat of mail, and I am going upon Banu Qurayza’.60

God’s Messenger ordered his Companions to march upon Banu Qurayza and had his tent pitched opposite their fortresses. If Banu Qurayza had asked the Messenger for forgiveness, he would have forgiven them, but they preferred resistance. The Messenger remained besieging Banu Qurayza for twenty-five days. At last they asked the Messenger for surrender terms, agreeing that they should submit to the judgment of Sa‘d ibn Mu’adh, who decreed the sentence according to the Torah. This was the end of the conspiracies of Banu Qurayza, as well as the Jewish presence in Madina.61

Sa‘d ibn Mu‘adh was among the leaders of the Helpers. He had been wounded in the Battle of the Trench and prayed to God: ‘O God! If I am able to fight once more beside God’s Messenger, make me live. Otherwise, I am ready to die’. So, he died a martyr shortly after the Jewish conspiracies ended.

Lessons from the Battle of trench

Lesson 1: The Alliance had gathered around the Muslims all over the world, don’t think that that the battle of the trench has finished e.g. Palestine, Kashmir etc.“O you who believe! Remember Allah(SWT)’s favour on you when all the forces came to you: We sent against them wind and soldiers who no one saw. Allah sees all that you did and will reward you for that.” [EMQ 33:9]We must reflect upon this and take lesson for the alliances against the Muslims today such as those in Iraq, in Chechnya and the US-led alliance against Muslims in Afghanistan. These are all alliances of evil, battles of Islam against Kufr, of Haq against Baatil.Lesson 2: The attack will come from all directions ideological, economical, social etc.“Behold! they came on you from above you and from below”The attack is usually from all angles, in the present attack we can see that the media are whipping the masses into a frenzy of hatred for Islam and Muslim in order to lay the foundation for an alliance against Muslims. This is supported by rhetoric of fighting ‘Terrorism’ from the Western regimes like the US and UK and backed up by the puppet regimes in Muslim countries ensuring their public that it is not Islam but Terrorism and Usama Bin Laden that the US is after. In the meantime the Israelis have taken the chance to murder more Muslims and steal more land. To put the icing on the cake the West use the secular Muslims, like the MCB, to attack those who speak up against this oppression and tyranny.Lesson 3: The Believers will be tested“When all your concepts and ideas became confused and fear entered until your hearts reached your throats and you started to doubt (the victory)!” [EMQ 33:10]“In that situation were the Believers tested: they were shaken as by a tremendous shaking.” [EMQ 33:11]We must remember that we are all being tested by what is happening in Afghanistan. Not only must the Muslims in the region fulfil their responsibility of Jihad physically, likewise it is an obligation upon the Muslim masses to rise and defend Islam from being attacked, as this can be done by coming out and speaking the word of truth in front of the tyrant rulers.Lesson: 4: There will always be Hypocrites in the Ummah“And behold! the Hypocrites and those with weak personalities will say: “what we have been promised will not happen!” [EMQ 33:12]In the same way people deny that the Muslims can never defeat the US-led alliance or that the Islamic Movements world-wide can ever establish the Khilafah or they say that it cannot be

established except in certain countries; whereas Allah (SWT) asks us struggle to implement the Shari’ah, as a law and order, wherever we are.“Behold! a party among them said:”Ye men of Yathrib! Ye cannot stand (the attack)! Therefore go back!”There are always secular Muslims ready to put down those willing to stand up to the oppression and corruption telling them to be realistic, not to stir up trouble for the ‘peaceful’ Muslim community, who are all too ready to stand with murderers like the Pharaoh’s of today referring to them as ‘our Prime Minister’ or ‘our President’ and telling the media to stay away from and not to contact those who speak the truth.“And a band of them ask for leave of the Prophet saying “Truly our houses are bare and exposed” though they were not exposed: they intended nothing but to run away.” [EMQ 33:13]Sadly there are many among our community who would rather sell Muslims out and run away from any call for Jihad by saying that ‘There is no such thing as fighting in Islam…Jihad is only of the Nafs’ trying to save themselves by blaming the sincere Muslims for attacks on the Muslim communities in the US and Europe, for example, instead of the racist, fascist Western regimes.“And if the enemy succeed they will be part of the fitnah (siding with the enemy against the Muslims)!” [EMQ 33:14]“And yet they had already promised before that they would not turn their backs and a covenant with Allah must (surely) be answered for.” [EMQ 33:15]“Tell them that running away will not profit you if ye are running away from death or slaughter; and even if (ye do escape) no more than a brief (respite) will ye be allowed to enjoy!”  [EMQ 33:16]Allah (SWT) asks us to take precaution, he does not tell us to side with the enemy or support them in any way. There is a vast difference between taking precaution and fearing from the enemy!“Say: “Tell them to think, who can protect them from Allah if Allah wishes something for them?” [EMQ 33:17]“Verily Allah knows those among you who are lazy and say to their brothers “Don’t go” and they don’t go but a few.” [EMQ 33:18]There are those who would not only desist from taking any positive action against the perpetrators of atrocities themselves but also prevent others from doing anything as well. Just as we saw many Muslims in Pakistan and the UK demonstrating against the Murtad Musharraf’s decision to help the US-led alliance and Muslims preparing to go to Pakistan to help there, unfortunately we also witnessed those who condemned such actions ridiculing those fulfilling their duties and saying that ‘no one in Britain is sending anyone abroad’ thereby dampening the call of Jihad.“They are stingy with you in anything good, they will look everywhere in fear but when it goes they will attack you again. Such of them do so because they have lost their Imaan and Allah has made all their deeds fall down: and that is easy for Allah” [EMQ 33:19]These people are those who are stingy in commanding good and forbidding evil, stingy with their money (taking a salary from anything collected and calling it ‘administration’ expenses), even if you turn out to be right they will still attack you in order to justify why they stood against you in the first place!

“They think that the alliance will not leave; and if the alliance attacks they would wish they were far away and they will seek news about you (from a safe distance);As opposed to this state of pessimism and defeatism the true Muslims remain strong and hopeful of victory from Allah (SWT). Indeed it was during this time when the Sahabah were building the trench surrounded by the alliance that the Messenger Muhammad (saw) predicted the conquering of Rome and Constantinople, just the way Muslims today, in the midst of the impending attack remain firm in their resolve and belief that the flag of Islam will fly over Downing Street and Muslims will even conquer the White House one day.“And if they were in your midst they would fight but little.” [EMQ 33:20]“Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah the best example for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day and who engages much in the praise of Allah.” [EMQ 33:21]Let us never forget that the Messenger Muhammad (saw) is our only example to follow, not George Bush or Muhammad Ali Jinnah! The Messenger Muhammad (saw) never gave any credence to man made law, he never shared power with non-Muslims or believed in ‘Democracy’ or ‘freedom’, he never sold Muslims out to the enemies of Islam, he always made a clear distinction between the army of the Muslims and that of the non-Muslims, never allowing the Muslims to join the kufr Police or armies and never having any alliance with them (we wonder on whose side the misguided Muslims in the British and American armies are going to fight in the impending war!?). And he (saw) was the one who established the first Islamic State!“When the Believers saw the allied forces they said: “This is what Allah and His Apostle had promised us and Allah and his Apostle told us what was true.” And it only added to their faith and their zeal in obedience.”[EMQ 33:22]We have been promised by Allah several times in the Qur’an that the Jews and Christians are an enemy for the Muslims, what they say with their tongues is hatred (such as a ‘crusade’ of ‘good against evil’ by President Bush) but what they conceal in their hearts is far worse. We are told that if and when the disbelievers have authority over Muslims they will have no mercy, as in Iraq and Israel, Chechnya etc…and that the disbelievers will not be satisfied until they take Muslims away from the Deen of Islam.“Among the Believers are men who have fulfilled their pledge to Allah: some have passed away and some are still to come: they will never change:” [EMQ 33:23]“In order that Allah may reward the trustworthy and punish the Hypocrites. Maybe Allah will forgive the weak: for Allah is Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful.” [EMQ 33:24]“And Allah returned the alliance and saved the Believers. And Allah is full of Strength Able to enforce His Will.” [EMQ 33:25]CONCLUSIONJust as the Jew-led alliance with Quraish planned and attacked the Muslims in the time of the Messenger Muhammad, today the US-led alliance are planning and attacking the Muslims in Afghanistan. Just as the Jews of the past lied to Abu Sufyan, the US and UK lie today that Islam and Muslims are not the enemy but that that they are fighting ‘terrorism’ and Usama Bin Laden. Just the way Imam Ali (ra) represented Imaan and Amru represented Shirk, today each Muslim is on one of the fronts of Islam and must make sure he/she protects it from any kufr, enjoining maoruf (good) and forbidding munkar (evil), making sure that he/she fulfils their duty of supporting the Mujahideen. Just as Bani Quraizah did not keep their treaty the kufr governments

of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia (among many others) have predictably sold-out the Taleban to the US.Let us digest the many lessons given to us by Allah through the battle of Ahzaab and the many other battles of the Messenger Muhammad (saw), such as Badr and Uhud, and put our complete and total trust only in Allah (SWT) with whom rests victory in this life and in the hereafter