Death of Ali’s Mother.
Ali’s mother, Fatima-binte-Asad, also loved Nabi Pak like a son from the time when, at the age of six, he entered her home. After the death of Abd-al-Mottalib, she had affectionately looked after him. At the time of her death. in the year 4 A.H., the Holy Prophet had her covered. with his own shirt, after her bath preparatory to her burial. He took part in the digging of her grave, and when it was ready, he first lay down in the grave and sanctified it, then he prayed for her. When the people asked him the reason. for showing such favours to the deceased, the Holy Prophet replied, “After Abu Talib if ever I was grateful to any one. it was this pious soul who mothered me, nurtured me. brought me up and took me as her very own son.”
The Battle of Khandaq.
The Jews were not idle after being expelled and formed a coalition with the other tribes who were banished from time to time. They left no stone unturned to annihilate their common enemy, the Prophet. They stirred up the Jews of Khaibar to join them against him. They sent deputations to the Bedouin tribes and to the Quraish in Mecca. They succeeded in concluding a treaty with the Meccans, binding them conjointly to oppose Nabi Pak to the last. They also succeeded in bringing about an alliance with the great Bedouin tribes of Ghatafan, Solaim, Bani Qais and Bani Asad to suppress Islam. It was contemplated to attack Medina in a body in order to destroy the Prophet and his religion at its very roots.
The Meccans, four thousand strong, having three hundred horses and fifteen hundred camels, were joined by six thousand of the allies from the Jews and the Bedouin tribes; and the three armies set out, ten thousand strong, under the command of Abu Sufyan in the month of Shawwal, 5 A.H. (Feb. 627 A.D.)
The Entrenchment Defence.
The Prophet received intelligence of the invasion before. the approach of the enemy, but had little time to prepare for a confrontation. He resolved this time to defend himself at Medina, so he began preparations for a siege. The stone houses of the town were built so close to one another as to make a high strong and continuous wall for a long distance, excepting the north-west corner, where a wide open gap could afford the enemy an easy ingress. At this place, at the happy suggestion of Salman Farsi, who was familiar with the mode of defending cities in other countries, a trench, fifteen feet in width and fifteen feet in depth, was dug. The work was portioned out amongst the Muslims, the Prophet himself sharing it by carrying the excavated earth. In six days the trench was finished, deep and wide along almost the whole length of
Tabari, Ibn Athir, Rawdzat-al-Ahbab.
the defence. The houses outside the town were evacuated, and the women and children were accommodated for safety on the tops of the double-storied houses within the entrenchment. These arrangements were hardly completed when the approach of the enemy was reported. The Muslim army was immediately marshalled and entrenched behind the ditch; and the Prophet encamped in the centre of the entrenchment in a tent of red leather, on a space appearing like a crescent. The camp had the rising ground of ‘Sila’ on its rear and the trench in front.
The enemy on beholding the trench was struck dumb with astonishment. This mode of defence was not known to the Arabs, and they were at a loss to understand how to overcome this obstacle; they therefore laid siege. Unable to come to close quarters for some time, they perseveringly directed their attacks with archery. Meanwhile, Abu Sufyan attempted to instigate the Jewish tribe of Qoraitza to break their pact of allegiance with Nabi Pak.
Aal-e-Qutub Aal-e-Syed Abdullah Shah Ghazi 