The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 449
X Siege of Madīnah and Delicate State of the Muslims, Failure of the Disbelievers and Reality of Miracles Battle of the Confederates or Battle of the Ditch - Shawwāl 5 A. H. (February/March 627 A. D. ) Now we enter that period of Islāmic history, when the animosity of the Arabian tribes against Islām not only reached its heights, rather, they gathered their strength and firmly resolved to uproot Islām with a unified plan. However, divine power was manifested in such a manner that this very unity bore the seed of failure. This edifice was still being constructed when its foundations became hollow and began to crumble. The details are that although the Quraish of Makkah and the tribes of Najd known as the Ghaṭafān and Sulaim, were already thirsty for Muslim blood and remained forever engaged in schemes to attack Madīnah, until now they had not yet collected their forces in a single field to oppose Islām. When the people of Banū Naḍīr, which was a Jewish tribe, were exiled from Madīnah due to their treachery and sedition, their chieftains forgot this noble, nay, benevolent treatment of the Holy Prophet sa and proposed among themselves to collect the dispersed forces of the whole of Arabia at one place in an attempt to expunge Islām. 1 Since the Jewish people were very clever and cunning, and possessed great mastery in 1 Aṭ-Ṭabaqātul-Kubrā, By Muḥammad bin Sa‘d, Volume 2, p. 282, Ghazwatu Rasūlillāhi sa Al-Khandaqa Wa Hiyal-Aḥzābu, Dāru Iḥyā’it-Turāthil-‘Arabī, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996)