Surah Al-Ahzab, Ayah 11

How the Believers were tested, and the Position of the Hypocrites during the Battle of Al-Khandaq

Allah tells us what happened when the Confederates surrounded Al-Madinah and the Muslims were besieged and found themselves in straitened circumstances, with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in their midst. They were tried and tested, and were shaken with a mighty shaking. At this time hypocrisy emerged, and those in whose hearts was a disease spoke about what they really felt.

وَإِذْ يَقُولُ الْمُنَـفِقُونَ وَالَّذِينَ فِى قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَضٌ مَّا وَعَدَنَا اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ إِلاَّ غُرُوراً

(And when the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease said: "Allah and His Messenger promised us nothing but delusion!") Their hypocrisy became apparent, while the one in whose heart was doubt became weak, and he expressed the ideas that were in his heart because of the weakness of his faith and the difficulty of the situation. And other people said, as Allah tells us:

وَإِذْ قَالَت طَّآئِفَةٌ مِّنْهُمْ يأَهْلَ .يَثْرِبَ

(And when a party of them said: "O people of Yathrib...") meaning Al-Madinah, as it was reported in the Sahih:

«أُرِيتُ فِي الْمَنَامِ دَارَ هِجْرَتِكُمْ، أَرْضٌ بَيْنَ حَرَّتَيْنِ، فَذَهَبَ وَهَلِي أَنَّهَا هَجَرُ فَإِذَا هِيَ يَثْرِب»

(I was shown in a dream the place to which you will migrate, a land between two lava fields. At first I thought it was Hajar, but it turned out to be Yathrib.) According to another narration:

«الْمَدِينَة»

(Al-Madinah. ) It was said that the origin of its name Yathrib was that a man settled there from (the people of) Al-`Amaliq whose name was Yathrib bin `Ubayd bin Mahlayil bin `Aws bin `Amlaq bin Lawudh bin Iram bin Sam bin Nuh. This was the view of As-Suhayli. He said: "And it was narrated from some of them that he said, `It is given eleven names in the Tawrah: Al-Madinah, Tabah, Tayyibah, Al-Miskinah, Al-Jabirah, Al-Muhibbah, Al-Mahbubah, Al-Qasimah, Al-Majburah, Al-`Adhra' and Al-Marhumah."' r

لاَ مُقَامَ لَكُمْ

(There is no position for you.) means, `here, with the Prophet , you cannot stand guard,'

فَارْجِعُواْ

(Therefore go back) means, `to your houses and dwellings'.

وَيَسْتَأْذِنُ فَرِيقٌ مِّنْهُمُ النَّبِىَّ

(And a band of them ask for permission of the Prophet) Al-`Awfi reported that Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him said, "These were Banu Harithah, who said, `We fear for our homes, that they may be robbed."' This was also stated by others. Ibn Ishaq mentioned that the one who said this was `Aws bin Qayzi. They were using as an excuse to go back to their houses the claim that they were lying open and had nothing to protect them from the enemy, so they were afraid for their homes. But Allah said:

وَمَا هِىَ بِعَوْرَةٍ

(And they lay not open.) meaning, it is not as they claim.

إِن يُرِيدُونَ إِلاَّ فِرَاراً

(They but wished to flee.) means, they wanted to run away from the battlefield.

Commentary

Identified in the previous verses was the great station of the Holy Prophet ﷺ along with the instruction to Muslims that they should follow and obey him totally and perfectly. Congruent to this, these two full sections of the Qur'an have been revealed about the event of the battle of al-Ahzab. Mentioned therein is the simultaneous attack of the combined forces of many groups of disbelievers and polytheists, their threatening encirclement, the subsequent blessings bestowed on Muslims by Allah Ta’ ala and the several miracles that issued forth at the hands of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . Then, very much as a corollary to this, there are many instructions and injunctions relating to different departments of life. It is because of these very priceless instructions that great commentators have written about the details of the event of Ahzab with considered details at this place, particularly al-Qurtubi, Mazhari and others. Therefore, some details of the event of Ahzab along with the instructions are being written here. Most of it has been taken from al-Qurtubi and Mazhari. That which has been taken from some other book carries the necessary reference.

At the battle of Ahzab (in the fifth year of Hijrah) there was a combined attack by Arab tribes and Jews on Madinah. The number of attackers in this battle was about thirteen thousand and the Muslims were not capable of fighting this huge army. But, Almighty God, by His special devices, caused Islam’s enemies to become so terror-stricken that they themselves abandoned the siege of Madinah and retreated. Such difficulties befall the Islamic mission firstly in order to separate the sincere from the insincere and secondly to show to the enemy forces that God Himself is a supporter of His religion. He will not allow it to be vanquished.