By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz

 

“Allah sent back the faithless in their rage, without their attaining any advantage, and Allah spared the faithful of fighting; and Allah is All-Strong, All-Mighty.” (Holy Qur’an 33:25)     

Today the 17th of Shawwal is the anniversary of a very important event in the history of Islam and humanity. It teaches us that the plots of satanic elements, whether at present or in the future, will continue to fail, since it is God Almighty Who has guaranteed the triumph of the righteous, no matter what great armies, strategic alliances, and sophisticated weapons, the wayward muster.

It is the day the crucial “Battle of Khandaq” (ditch), also known as “Battle of Ahzaab” (confederates) since the Arabs and Israelites had ganged up together against Islam, ended on a victorious note for Prophet Muhammad (SAWA).

It is the day of defeat and humiliating retreat of a formidable 10,000 strong joint Arab-Israelite army that had marched upon Medina to kill the Prophet with the help of the hypocrites amongst the Muslims, and to obliterate Islam.

Following the failure of the first ever armed encounter imposed upon the Prophet by the infidels of Mecca at Badr in 2 AH, the Arabs and the Israelites had been fuming with rage and devising plans to uproot Islam.

Abu Sufyan, the archenemy of Islam, held talks with the Arabicized Jew Ka’b al-Ashraf, and the two after showing reciprocal respect for each other’s dubious creeds, pledged to muster a formidable joint force against the Seal of Messengers. God Almighty has pointed to this conspiracy in Ayah 53 of Surah an-Nisa:

“Have you not regarded those who were given a share of the Book believing in the idol and the evil spirit, and saying of the pagans: These are better guided on the way than those who have faith (in Islam)”?

With the sudden death of Ka’b, the joint plot did not materialize and the Omayyad infidel Abu Sufyan, in his thirst for avenging the defeat at Badr, marched upon Medina in 4 AH, but failed to achieve his goal – thanks to the swordsmanship of Imam Ali (AS) that saved the Prophet and Islam in the Battle of Ohad.

The next year in 5 AH, Abu Sufyan assembled warriors from as many Arab tribes as he could, and in league with the Israelite tribes of Banu Nadheer and Banu Quraydha (the latter having breached their pledge of neutrality to the Prophet), descended upon Medina with a strong army that boasted in its ranks the warlord Amr bin Abduwad, who was a veritable giant known for his brute strength. 

Having been informed of the Arab-Israelite plot against Islam, the Prophet prepared the defences of Medina, whose natural fortifications were rocky heights and thick palm groves, and on the suggestion of his Iranian companion, Salman al-Farsi, dug a deep trench on the strip of the city that was vulnerable to attack. 

While digging the ditch and removing of huge boulders which emitted sparks when struck by pickaxes, the Prophet gave tidings of the liberation of Syria, Iran, and Yemen in the future, at which the hypocrites amongst his companions expressed disbelief and hoped that this battle would result in the end of Islam.

When the confederate army arrived, it found its entry blocked by the newly dug ditch. For fifteen days, the joint Arab-Israelite forces maneuvered, shooting arrows at the Muslim defenders on the other side, but couldn’t find a way to enter the city. 

With patience stretched thin, on the 17th of Shawwal, Amr bin Abduwad, along with two other horsemen found the narrowest point of the ditch and managed to spur their horses for a giant leap to the other side.

Amr hurled a spear at the Prophet’s tent and challenged the defenders to single combat, at which most of the Muslims quaked with fear, while the hypocrites amongst them, devised plans to seize the Prophet and hand him over to the enemy. 

The Prophet of Peace, in order to impart an immortal lesson to mankind that anyone who dares to desecrate the sanctity of the Messenger of God and whatever he possess, is worse than an animal, said: “Who will confront this dog”. Thrice he repeated these words and on all three occasions no one got up, except his dear cousin, son-in-law and Divinely-designated heir, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS). 

Some of the Muslims, who were actually the 5th column, instead of responding to the Prophet’s call, started to praise the strength and physical power of Amr bin Abduwad in a bid to demoralize the ranks of the faithful – similar to what the self-styled Muslims in the service of the US and the West do today, by extolling the military might of the illegal Zionist entity and the benefits for the Arabs to ally with the Israelis against Islamic Iran.

The Prophet gave permission to the Imam to face the challenge of the Arab-Israelite warlord, saying “the embodiment of faith is all set to fight the embodiment of infidelity.” 

The rest is history. As recorded in all books of hadith and history, by both Sunni and Shi’a Muslim authorities, Imam Ali (AS), after inviting Amr to Islam, and telling him to leave in peace instead of risking his life – conditions which the arrogantly ignorant pagan spurned – engaged in combat and won the fray.

With a flashing stroke of his famous twin-bladed sword Dhu’l-Feqar, Imam Ali (AS) dispatched Amr to the netherworld, but not before allowing him to renew the life-and-death combat, because the cowardly representative of the Arab-Israelite force, when hurled to the ground, had dared to spit at him. 

That was among the reasons the Prophet had hailed his cousin’s selfless feat which was solely for the sake of God and without personal emotions involved in the combat, as “The stroke of Ali on the Day of Khandaq is superior to the worship of the Thaqalayn (mankind and jinn combined).”

At this spectacle, the Arab-Israelite force, which was viewing the combat from the other side of the ditch, lost heart, and as God Almighty sent strong gales to disrupt their encampment, the enemies fled.

Thus, Imam Ali (AS) saved the Prophet and Islam from yet another nefarious plot, and spared the rest of the Muslims (the weak of faith and the hypocrites combined) from a fight for which they had no stomach. 

The lessons of the Battle of Khandaq are all too obvious for us and teach us that victory for Islam and Muslims is only possible through firm adherence to the path of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA). The true path of the Prophet means allegiance to Imam Ali (AS) and the rest of the blessed Ahl al-Bayt, in these crucial times, when Global Arrogance led by the US has in its ranks an alliance of the devilish Zionists and the reactionary Arab regimes for splitting the unity of the Islamic Ummah through cowardly crimes against Muslims and the rest of humanity.

In commemoration of this glorious triumph of Islam over the Arab-Israelite force, mosques were built near the site of the Ditch in Medina, such as the Fath or Victory Mosque, the Mosque of Imam Ali (AS), the Mosque of the Prophet’s Daughter Hazrat Fatema Zahra (SA), and the Mosque of Salman Farsi. Over the past millennium and four centuries pilgrims to the Land of Revelation and local believers used to offer prayers at these mosques.

Unfortunately, these mosques have now been destroyed by the heretical Wahhabi cult, which despite its claim to be Muslim, follows Abu Sufyan, the infidel Arabs and the Israelites, as is evident by the open dalliance of Bahrain, the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, and Morocco, with the illegal Zionist entity called Israel – along with the secret relations between Tel Aviv and the Riyadh regime.

We pray to God Almighty for the reappearance of the Prophet’s 12th and Last Infallible Heir, Imam Mahdi (AS), and establishment of the global government of peace, prosperity and justice, in order to end tyranny and root out all these heretical cults, which have tarnished the image of Islam and Muslims.