The Battle of the “Trench”
or “Khandaq” is also called the Battle of Ahzab because many Divine Ayahs were
revealed in Surah al-Ahzab relating to this very decisive battle between Islam
and combined Kufr.
Two years after the Battle of Uhad, 5 A.H. the Polytheists
of Quraysh together with other forces who were against Islam and its Noble
Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.). They managed to
collect a combined army of 10,000 strong warriors. According to Montgomery, the strategic aim of the
Meccans was nothing less than the destruction of the Muslim community, or the
removal of (Prophet) Muhammad from his position of authority (Muhammad, Prophet
and Statesman). This was the largest force ever assembled by the Arabs till
that time.
Muhammad Husayn
Haykal wrote in “The Life of Muhammad, Cairo 1935”: “The mobilization of the
whole of Arabia against them instilled fears in their hearts as they faced the
prospect of being not only defeated but wiped out. The Prophet convened an
emergency meeting of the principal companions to face the grave situation.
Salman, the Persian, who was later called Salman-e-Muhammadi, advised to dig a
trench around Madinah so as stop the onslaught of the huge army. Everybody
started digging the trench and the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) participated
doing manual work. The trench was completed 3 days before the arrival of the
enemy. Abu Sufyan, this time had brought
Amr Ibn Abd Wudd, the fiercest of the warriors of pagan Arabia. Abbas Mahmood al-Akkad, Egyptian historian
and m.Shibli, an Indian historian, say that Amr Ibn Abd Wudd was reckoned, by
the Arabs of the time, more than a match for 1,000 cavaliers. When the enemy saw the trench, which was some
thong new in that part of the world at that time. They lay siege of the city.
One day, Amr and three other warriors succeeded in clearing the trench and were
now inside Madinah. Amr threw challenge to the Muslims for a duel. The Muslims
saw in his challenge the sentence of their death. He repeated the challenge 3
times and taunted: “You believe that if
you die in the path of Allah, you will go to Janna, who wants to go to Janna?”
Ayahs 10 and 13 of
Suarh al-Ahzaab refers: “Behold, they came on you from above you, and from
below you, and behold, the eyes became dim and the hearts gaped to the throats,
and you imagined various (vain) thoughts about God. Behold, a party among them
said: “You men of Yahtrib! You cannot stand (the attack).Therefore go back.” And
a band of men asked 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.” It is true that most of the
Muslims were terror –stricken but there was among them who were not. He had volunteered
to accept Amr’s first challenge, but the Prophet had restrained him hoping that
someone else might to face Amr! But the Prophet could see that no one dared to
measure swords with him. The young man
who was willing to take up Amr’s challenge was no one other than Ali Ibn Abi
Talib, the “Hero of Islam” The Prophet of Islam had no choice now but to
allow his cousin, Ali, the Lion of Allah,
to go and silence the taunts of Amr Ibn Abd Wudd. As Imam Ali (a.s.) proceeded
to meet Amr, the Noble Prophet
(s.a.w.a.s) prayed: “O Allah! You have called to your service, Obaydah in Badr,
and Hamza in Uhad. Now Ali alone is left with me. Be his Protector, give him victory, and bring him back safely to
me.” For the praise of Imam Ali (a.s.), He said: “He (Ali) is the embodiment of all Faith is going to encounter with the
embodiment of all Unbelief (Kufr).”
Imam Ali (a.s.),
whenever encounters an enemy, he offers 3 options:
1. 1. Abandon idolatry and accept Islam,
2. 2. Withdraw from battle-field and never fight
against God and His Messenger,
3. 3. Strike the first blow. (Because, Imam Ali
(a.s.) never started an attack)
Amr
accepted the third option and struck on his head which cut through his shield,
helmet and turban and made a deep gash on his forehead and blood leapt out from
the wound but Ali was not dismayed. He
rallied and struck a counter blow with his famous “Zulfiqar” and it cleft the
most formidable warrior into two! When Amr was killed, his 3 companions fled
away. Contrary to the custom of
Arabia, Ali did not touch the finest armor Amr was wearing to the great
surprise of Umar ibn al-Khattab! Amr’s
sister came to his dead body and composed some verses praising Imam Ali: “If
someone other than Ali had killed Amr, I would have mourned his death all my life.
But the man who killed him is a HERO and he is peerless. His father was also a
Lord. The Noble Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) said: “Ali’s blow on the day of Khandaq is
better than the prayers of Muslims till the Day of Judgment” It is
important to remember that no Muslim was martyred in the Battle of Khandaq and Allah says in Surah al-Ahzab Ayah 25: “Allah
repelled the unbelievers in their rage. They could not achieve anything good. Allah
rendered sufficient support to the believers in fighting…”
Sources
used :
Restatement of the history of Islam by Sayyid Ali Asghar Razwy, The Life
of Muhammad by Sayyid Sa’eed Akhtar Rizvi, The Message by Ayatollah Ja’far Sub’hani
and Tafsir-e-Namoona by Ayatollah Nasir Makarem Shirazi
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