The Withdrawal of the Confederates and the Victory Is Achieved (The Battle of the Confederates) The Muslims remained under siege for eighteen days, according to some reports. But Nu’aym ibn Mas’ud succeeded in creating discord between the Confederates and the Jews of Banu Qurayza, which ultimately led to their withdrawal. A day before that, Quraysh approached the Prophet’s tent with their arrows, doing everything they could to achieve their goal: killing the Prophet. The companions surrounded his tent, shielding it from the arrows and keeping the projectiles away from him. Then Sa’d ibn Mu’adh came forward wearing a small suit of armor that did not cover his hands. He hurried past an elevated place where a group of women had gathered, watching what was happening around the Prophet’s tent. His mother was among them, as was Mother of the Believers, ‘A’ishah. His mother called out to him: “My son, hurry! You are late in coming to the Messenger of God!” Meaning that he was supposed to be among the first to defend him. Sa’d rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the Prophet’s tent, shielding it from the arrows. Then an arrow was fired, and its shooter called out: “Take this! I am Ibn al-Qam’ah!” The arrow struck the main artery in Sa’d’s arm, and blood began to pour from the wound. The Prophet heard that Sa’d had been wounded and said: “May Allah destroy him in the Fire of Hell.” Sa’d placed his right hand over the wound, but the bleeding was severe. Then he raised his eyes toward the heavens and spoke to his Lord: **“O Allah, if You have left anything of the war with Quraysh for us, then keep me alive for it as long as it remains. For there is nothing more beloved to me than fighting a people who rejected Your Prophet and drove him out. But if You have brought the war between us and them to an end, then make this my path to Paradise.”** Meaning: Grant me martyrdom. Then he continued: “And do not let my soul depart until my eyes are comforted regarding Banu Qurayza.” Allah Almighty heard Sa’d and saw him, and He said to His angels: “Record what Sa’d has asked for in the tablets of destiny, then bring it to pass.” No sooner had Sa’d ibn Mu’adh finished his supplication than the bleeding stopped. The Prophet ordered that Sa’d be cared for in a tent near his mosque. ⸻ Abu Sufyan’s Message The day passed, and the polytheists withdrew from around the Prophet’s tent. Abu Sufyan sent a message to the Prophet saying: “I came to you with ten thousand men. I was determined not to return to Mecca until I had eradicated you, your companions, and your religion. But you protected yourselves behind a trench, and what happened has happened. The days between us will have their turns.” The Prophet sent him a reply: **“As for what you have resolved to do, Allah will stand between you and it. A day will come when I will destroy al-Lat and al-‘Uzza”—the names of the idols worshipped by Quraysh—“before your very eyes, while the keys of the Ka’bah are in my hand. And I will remind you of this, O fool of Banu Ghalib.”** ⸻ The Wind That Destroyed the Confederates Then Allah Almighty sent upon the camp of the disbelievers a fierce, bitterly cold wind. It overturned their cooking pots, extinguished their fires, and tore their tents from the ground. By contrast, the same wind was gentle in the Muslim camp. That night, the Prophet stood in prayer. It was an intensely cold and dark night, near the end of the lunar month. The Prophet wanted to send one of the companions into the army of the Confederates to gather information about them. The Prophet called out: “Is there a man who will bring me news of the people and be my companion in Paradise?” Hudhayfah said: “By the One who sent him with the truth, not one of us stood up.” It was bitterly cold, it was dark, and they were afraid. Quraysh had become emboldened and were exerting all their strength. The Prophet repeated: “Is there a man who will bring me news of the people and be my companion in Paradise?” Hudhayfah said: “By Allah, not one of us stood up.” The Prophet called for the third time. Then he looked directly at Hudhayfah. I said: “Here I am, O Messenger of God.” He said: “You have been hearing my voice all night and not responding?! Go.” Hudhayfah stood before him and said: “By the One who sent you with the truth, I only failed to rise out of shyness before you.” The Prophet said: “Go and bring me news of the people.” Hudhayfah said: “By the One who sent you with the truth, I am not afraid of death. But I am afraid that they might capture me on this bitterly cold night and turn me away from my religion.” The Prophet said: “You will not be captured.” Hudhayfah said: “O Messenger of God, I am trembling from the cold.” The Prophet said: “Do not worry. You will not feel the cold until you return to me.” Meaning: You will remain protected from the cold until you come back to me. Then the Prophet raised his hands and said: “O Allah, protect him from before him, from behind him, from his right, from his left, from above him, and from beneath him.” Hudhayfah said: “When I set out, the Prophet said to me: ‘Bring me news of the people, but do not alarm them because of me.’” Meaning: Do not kill any of them. Do not make any move against them. Simply gather information and do not engage in any fighting. Hudhayfah replied: “I hear and obey, O Messenger of God.” Hudhayfah Enters the Enemy Camp When Hudhayfah entered the army on the opposite side of the trench, he found the wind raging. It was so violent that it left no tent standing. It was a fierce, bitterly cold wind that overturned their cooking pots, extinguished their fires, tore their tents from the ground, and drove sand into their faces. Yet between the Muslims and them there was only the width of the trench. There was no such wind among the Muslims, while for the enemy, it was as though the Day of Judgment had come. This was the will of Allah. Hudhayfah said: “I began to move stealthily until I came upon a group of men with a fire burning among them. In the light of the fire, I saw a large, heavily built man placing his hands over the fire and then rubbing them against his sides. At that time, I did not know Abu Sufyan personally. But as I approached them, I realized from his conversation with the people that he was Abu Sufyan. By Allah, I took an arrow and placed it in my bow. I was about to drive it straight into his liver.” But then the voice of the Messenger of God echoed in my mind: “Bring me news of the people, but do not alarm them because of me.” So I did not do it. Hudhayfah entered deeper into the army and then sat among the people. He heard Abu Sufyan say: “O people of Quraysh, let each man look carefully at the person sitting beside him.” Hudhayfah said: “I immediately placed my hand on the thigh of the man to my right and asked him: ‘Who are you?’ He said: ‘Mu’awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan.’ Then I placed my hand on the thigh of the man to my left and asked: ‘Who are you?’ He said: ‘’Amr ibn al-’As.’” And the people paid no further attention to him. Here came the mercy of Allah. They did not ask Hudhayfah who he was. Had they asked him, his identity would have been exposed. Then Abu Sufyan said: “O people of Quraysh! By Allah, this is not a place where you can remain. The horses and camels have been ruined. Banu Qurayza have failed us, and news has reached us from them that we do not like. And we have suffered from this fierce wind as you can see. I fear that Banu Qurayza and Muhammad may reach an agreement against us tonight. So depart! I am departing!” Abu Sufyan stood up and mounted his camel without even untying its tether. He was in such a hurry that he forgot the camel was still tied. The camel stood on three legs and then jumped twice. Safwan ibn Umayyah burst out laughing. He said: “O leader of your people! Untie your camel first!” His son Mu’awiyah got up and untied the camel for him. Abu Sufyan then turned to the people and said: “O Khalid ibn al-Walid, take charge of the rear of the army. I am going ahead of you to Mecca.” Then he departed, leaving his people before they had even finished preparing to leave. The Confederates Retreat The people began preparing to withdraw. Hudhayfah then returned to the Messenger of God. On his way, he encountered two men dressed in white garments and wearing turbans, riding horses. One of them said to him: “Tell your companion”—meaning the Prophet—“that Quraysh will never attack him again after this day. Rather, he will be the one who attacks them.” When Hudhayfah returned to the Prophet, he found him still praying and worshipping Allah exactly as he had left him. When the Prophet finished his prayer, Hudhayfah told him everything he had learned about the army and also told him about the two men. The Prophet asked: “Did you know who was speaking to you?” I replied: “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said: “That was my brother Jibril.” Then the Prophet covered himself with the cloak in which he had been praying and slept until dawn. Allah Defeats the Confederates Then the Prophet stood and told his companions that Allah alone had defeated the Confederates. He had sent one of His armies against them: the wind. And He had sent the angels. The angels did not fight them, because there was no actual battle. But the angels followed behind the horses, striking them and causing them to speed up, until the army covered in a single day a distance that would normally take three days, because of the intensity of their fear. Quraysh withdrew. Then Ghatafan withdrew as well. The Prophet and the Muslims watched the Confederates retreat. Their withdrawal continued from dawn until close to noon. The Prophet said to his companions: “Now we will raid them, and they will not raid us. We will march toward them.” And this indeed came to pass. For this was the last attempt by the Arabs to invade Medina. All the Arabs had gathered together to fight the Muslims, yet they had failed miserably. Therefore, they would never attempt such a failed invasion again. The Prophet then said to his companions: “Say: Allah is the Greatest. There is no god but Allah alone. He fulfilled His promise, gave victory to His servant, strengthened His forces, and defeated the Confederates alone. There is nothing after Him.” They continued repeating these words and then returned to their homes. The Great Lessons of the Battle of the Confederates The Battle of the Confederates brought many great benefits, including: 1. The battle once again exposed the sincere believers and the hypocrites. 2. It revealed the true nature and deep hostility of Banu Qurayza. 3. It increased the Muslims’ prestige and established a new regional reality: the Muslims had become the foremost power in the Arabian Peninsula. 4. It proved that Quraysh were the weaker side when confronted by the Muslims. They had called upon all their allies and gathered the Arabs together, yet they still failed to defeat the Muslims—and this was by the grace of Allah. The Confederates withdrew, just as Sa’d ibn Mu’adh had prayed, asking Allah to send them back in frustration, without gaining any good, and to suffice His Prophet against them. Allah Almighty says: “And Allah repelled those who disbelieved in their rage; they gained no good. And Allah spared the believers from fighting. And Allah is Powerful, Almighty.” ⸻ The Return to Medina — and the Call to Banu Qurayza The Prophet returned to his home. The women, children, and elderly people came down from the fortresses. By noon, everyone had returned to their homes. Mother of the Believers, ‘A’ishah, said that while the Prophet was in her chamber, she suddenly heard someone calling from outside the chamber: “O Messenger of God!” She said: “The Prophet stood up and went out. I feared that the news might be that Quraysh had returned. So I went out to find out what was happening and stood at the door. There I saw a man riding a grayish-white mule, wearing a red turban.” She said: “I looked at him, and he said to the Prophet: ‘Have you laid down your weapons?’” The Prophet replied: “Yes.” Meaning that the Muslims had also laid down their weapons. The man said: “But the angels have not laid down their weapons yet. Follow me to Banu Qurayza, for I am going ahead of you to them, and I will shake their fortresses.” When the Prophet returned, ‘A’ishah said: “May my father and mother be sacrificed for you, O Messenger of God. Who was speaking to you?” He asked: “Did you see him, ‘A’ishah, and hear what he said?” I replied: “Yes.” He said: “That was my brother Jibril.” Then the Prophet put on his battle garments and ordered Bilal to call the people to battle. The companions gathered. The Prophet then ordered them to proceed immediately to fight the Jews of Banu Qurayza.