In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
Treasures of the Prophetic biography (Seerah).
A courageous stance.
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, wished to reconcile with the tribes of Fazarah and Ghatafan, among others.
He spoke to Sa‘d ibn Mu‘adh and Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubadah,
who were the leaders of the Aws and the Khazraj.
He asked them, "What do you say?"
[They replied,] "We shall give Ghatafan a third of the fruits of Medina,
on the condition that they turn back."
This was because Ghatafan represented four thousand [fighters]
out of the ten thousand [besieging them].
The Quraysh had four thousand,
and the remaining tribes who came with the Quraysh
accounted for two thousand.
[The Prophet, peace be upon him,] then asked,
"O Messenger of Allah,
if Allah has commanded you to do this,
then we hear and we obey.
But if this is something you are doing for our sake,
then we have no need for it.
We and these people were once both in a state of shirk (polytheism).
By Allah, O Messenger of Allah,
they would not dare to eat a single fruit of ours,
except by purchase or as a guest.
So how could we [give them our wealth] now that Allah has honored us with Islam?
Is it now, after Allah has honored us with Islam,
guided us to it,
and granted us might through you,
that we should give them our wealth?
No, by Allah, O Messenger of Allah,
we will give them nothing but the sword."
This is a rare form of courage.
They were being besieged by ten thousand,
while they were few in number,
facing betrayal and treachery from within, and hunger.
They could have used this agreement
to turn away four thousand of their enemies,
yet they refused.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, validated their opinion and said,
"By Allah, I would not do that
except that I saw that the Arabs had all targeted you from a single bow."
Treasures of the Seerah.
War is deception.
Nu‘aym ibn Mas‘ud came to the Prophet, peace be upon him,
and said, "O Messenger of Allah,
I have embraced Islam,
and I wish to fight alongside you."
He asked,
"Does anyone know of your Islam?"
He replied, "No."
He said,
"Then sow discord among them as much as you can."
He said, "I will."
So Nu‘aym ibn Mas‘ud went to the Banu Qurayzah from within [the city],
and said to them,
"O my people,
the Quraysh are a treacherous people.
If they gain victory over Muhammad and achieve what they want,
they will leave and abandon you.
Then the people of Medina will take revenge upon you."
They said, "No,
they will stand with us,
for they have made a covenant with us through Huyayy ibn Akhtab."
He said,
"I do not see [it that way];
you should take a ransom from them to guarantee your rights."
They asked, "And what is that?"
He said,
"Demand that they give you ten of their sons,
so that if they betray you, you can kill them.
They will not betray you out of fear for their children."
They said,
"That is a sound idea."
Then he went to the Quraysh
and said to them,
"You know that the Jews are a treacherous people,
and they will betray you."
They asked, "How?"
He said,
"I heard them talking;
they say they will take ten of the Quraysh
and hand them over to Muhammad
to prove to him their good intentions and that they are sincere,
and that they are with him."
So the Quraysh met with the Jews,
and the Jews said to the Quraysh,
"Give us ten of your sons
so that we may guarantee our rights."
The Quraysh said to themselves,
"Yes,
they want the ten to hand them over to Muhammad."
So they said,
"No, that will not happen."
The Jews said to themselves,
"Yes,
the Quraysh want to betray us,
therefore, do not give them the ten."
Thus, Allah, Blessed and Exalted be He, dissolved the covenant that was between them,
and granted victory to His Messenger, peace be upon him.
At that point, the Qurayzah abandoned the Quraysh,
and the Quraysh abandoned the Qurayzah.
The siege continued,
then Allah, Blessed and Exalted be He, sent soldiers from Himself,
consisting of a mighty wind
which Allah, Blessed and Exalted be He, sent against them.
They abandoned their positions
and returned to their lands, disappointed.
Treasures of the Seerah.
Delaying the ‘Asr prayer.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, was distracted from the ‘Asr prayer,
just as his brother Sulayman, peace be upon him, was distracted by his horses,
until the sun had set.
The Prophet, peace be upon him,
was distracted by the army of Mecca and those who came with them,
until the sun had set.
He said,
"They have distracted us from the middle prayer, the ‘Asr prayer;
may Allah fill their graves and their houses with fire."
Thus, he invoked [Allah] against them, peace be upon him.
Treasures of the Seerah.
Hudhayfah, may Allah be pleased with him,
and the night of the Confederates (al-Ahzab).
Hudhayfah, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
"We were with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
on the night of the Confederates.
A severe wind and extreme cold struck us.
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said,
'Is there a man who will bring me news of the people,
and Allah will make him my companion on the Day of Resurrection?'
We remained silent, and none of us answered him.
Then he said,
'Is there a man who will bring us news of the people,
and Allah will make him my companion on the Day of Resurrection?'
We remained silent.
Then he said,
'Stand up, O Hudhayfah,
go and bring me news of the people.'
He said,
'I found no way out,
since he called me by my name, but to stand up.'
He said,
'Go and bring me news of the people,
and do not alarm them against me.'
When I turned away from him,
I felt as if I were walking in a warm bath;
I did not feel the cold.
This was a strengthening from Allah, the Almighty and Majestic.
He said,
'Until I came to them.
Abu Sufyan was warming his back by the fire.
I placed an arrow in the notch of my bow,
and I wanted to shoot him,
but I remembered the words of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
'Do not alarm them against me.'
Had I shot him, I would have hit him.'
Glory be to Allah!
Allah willed for Abu Sufyan to embrace Islam and be safe.
He said,
'I returned, and I was still walking as if in a warm bath.'
When I arrived, I informed him of their news.
When I finished, I felt the cold again.
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, covered me
with the edge of a cloak he was wearing while he prayed.
I remained asleep until morning.
When morning came, he said,
'Get up, O sleepyhead!'"
Treasures of the Seerah.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, invokes [Allah] against the Confederates.
Here, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, prayed, saying:
"O Allah, Revealer of the Book,
Swift in reckoning,
defeat the Confederates.
O Allah, defeat them and shake them."
So Allah sent against them soldiers from His soldiers,
which was a cold wind.
It extinguished their fires,
uprooted their tents,
and overturned their cooking pots.
Cold, hunger, and fear.
And Allah is over all things competent.
Their unity was shattered,
and Abu Sufyan announced the retreat in shame,
and ordered the Quraysh to depart.
That is why the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said:
"There is no god but Allah alone;
He honored His soldiers,
gave victory to His servant,
and defeated the Confederates alone;
there is nothing after Him."
Treasures of the Seerah.
The expulsion of the Banu Qurayzah.
Jibril, peace be upon him, came
to the Prophet, peace be upon him,
and said,
"Have you laid down your weapons?"
He said, "Yes."
Jibril said,
"As for us, we have not yet laid down our weapons.
Set out toward the people.
Allah commands you to do this.
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, set out,
and he commanded the people, saying,
"Let no one among you pray the Asr prayer except at Banu Qurayza."
The Muslims went out in response to the command of the Prophet, peace be upon him,
toward Banu Qurayza.
He hastened them,
and he gave the banner to Ali Ibn Abi Talib.
He appointed Ibn Umm Maktum as his deputy over Medina.
He arrived and camped by the fortresses of Banu Qurayza,
and he besieged them for 25 nights.
Their leader, Ka'b Ibn Asad, presented them with options,
saying,
"Either you embrace Islam and enter into the religion of Muhammad, peace be upon him,"
"or you kill your own offspring,"
"and go out to fight until you are all killed to the last man,"
"or you attack the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and his Companions on the Sabbath,"
"at a time when the Muslims least expect your treachery."
They rejected all of these options.
He said to them,
"By Allah, you are fools,"
"and you will accept nothing."
At that point, one of them came out and said,
"O Messenger of Allah,"
"we will submit to the judgment of Sa'd Ibn Mu'adh."
This was because Abdullah Ibn Ubayy Ibn Salul,
as mentioned previously,
had interceded on behalf of Banu Qaynuqa',
and the Prophet, peace be upon him, had spared them for his sake.
So, these people wanted the judgment of Sa'd Ibn Mu'adh,
because he had been their ally during the pre-Islamic period (Jahiliyyah),
and they said, "Perhaps he will defend us,"
"just as Abdullah Ibn Ubayy Ibn Salul"
"defended Banu Qaynuqa'."
They did not realize the difference between Abdullah Ibn Ubayy Ibn Salul,
the head of the hypocrites,
and Sa'd Ibn Mu'adh,
one of the leaders of the righteous, may Allah be pleased with him.
So they said, "We will submit to the judgment of Sa'd Ibn Mu'adh,"
"just as our brethren submitted to the judgment of Abdullah Ibn Ubayy Ibn Salul."
The Prophet, peace be upon him, ordered
that Sa'd Ibn Mu'adh be brought to him.
He had been wounded in his arm, may Allah be pleased with him.
When he arrived,
the Prophet, peace be upon him, said,
"Stand up for your leader,"
meaning Sa'd Ibn Mu'adh, may Allah be pleased with him,
"and help him down from the donkey he arrived on."
The Prophet, peace be upon him, then said,
"Pass judgment on your allies."
They began to call out to him,
"Be lenient, Abu 'Amr, regarding your allies,"
"just as others have been lenient."
Sa'd Ibn Mu'adh replied,
"The time has come for Sa'd not to fear the blame of any critic for the sake of Allah."
He then said, "My judgment regarding them is"
"that their fighting men be killed,"
"and their offspring be taken captive."
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said,
"You have judged them with the judgment of Allah."
The Prophet, peace be upon him, then ordered
the execution of their men,
and the taking of their offspring and women as captives.
[The narrative continues.]