By: Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer
     
Today, Shawwal 17 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 whether in the future, will continue to fail, since God Almighty has guaranteed the triumph of the righteous, no matter what great armies, alliances and arms, the wayward could muster.
It is the day the crucial Battle of Khandaq or Ditch, also known as Battle of Ahzaab or Confederates since the Arabs and Israelites had ganged up together against Islam, ended on a victorious note for Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), as the Almighty Creator says in ayah 25 of Surah al-Ahzaab: 
“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.”     
Thus, the Almighty Creator sums up the defeat and retreat of a formidable 10,000 strong joint Arab-Israelite force 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 devised 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 creeds (paganism and Judaism), pledged to muster a force against the Seal of Messengers. God Almighty has pointed to this conspiracy in ayah 53 of Surat-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)”?
The sudden death of Ka’b in 4 AH failed to materialize the plot, but this did not stop the Omayyad infidel Abu Sufyan to attempt an attack upon Medina. He, however, failed to achieve his sinister goal – thanks to the swordsmanship of Imam Ali (AS) that had the year before 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 force of 10,000. 
In the ranks of the aggressors was the pagan warlord Amr bin Abduwad, who was a veritable giant known for his brute strength. 
On learning 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-Farisi, dug a deep trench on the strip of the city that was vulnerable to enemy attack. 
While digging the ditch that involved the removing of huge boulders which emitted sparks when struck by pickaxes, the Prophet gave tidings of the liberation of Syria, Iran, and Yemen by the Muslims 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 shot arrows at the Muslim defenders on the other side, but could not find a way to enter the city. 
With patience stretched thin, on Shawwal 17, Amr bin Abduwad and two other pagan warriors 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 Muslims to single combat, at which most of the Sahaba (Salaf or progenitors of today’s Salafis, Wahhabis, Takfiri terrorists) 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 all that anyone who dares to desecrate the sanctity of the Messenger of God is worse than an animal, said “man li hadha al-kalb” (Who will confront this dog?).
Thrice he repeated this sentence, and no one rose, except his dear cousin, son-in-law and Divinely-Designated Heir, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS). 
Some of the Muslims (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. (Note the similarity 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, with those famous phrase, “the embodiment of faith is all set to fight 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 the arrogantly ignorant pagan spurned – engaged in combat and won the fray.
With a flashing stroke 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 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 saving the Prophet and Islam from yet another nefarious plot, and of course, sparing 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 teaches us that victory for Islam and Muslims is only possible through firm adherence to the path of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA). The path of the Prophet is allegiance to Imam Ali (AS) and the rest of the blessed Ahl al-Bayt 
In commemoration of this glorious triumph of Islam over the joint 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 Farisi, the Prophet’s Iranian companion. 
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. Amen.