Ahsan Hanif – Lessons From The Battle Of Khandak
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
There are certain chapters in Surah's of the
Quran
that Allah
has dedicated to certain incidents that took took
place in the life of the prophet
For example, the battle of Badr
mentioned in Surah Al Anfal.
The battle of Uhud,
mentioned in Surat earlier Imran.
The battle of Tabuk,
mentioned in Suratul Tawba,
and so on and so forth. Different places,
different incidents that took place in the life
of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
Allah mentioned certain surahs, passages in the Quran
that dealt with some of those major incidents,
lessons, principles, benefits that we can derive.
It is one of those incidents and one
of those passages of the Quran
that I want to share with you today,
and that is the battle of the trench.
The battle of also known as the battle
of Al Hazab,
mentioned in surah named after this battle, Surah
Al Hazab.
This battle took place in the 5th year
of the hijra,
and it is a well known incident, a
well known battle that took place in Islam.
But briefly to summarize and to recap,
in the 5th year of the hijra,
the confederation
of armies of Arabia came and laid siege
to the city of Medina.
This was no longer a battle just between
the Muslims and Quraish, like in Badr, like
in Uhud.
This time,
there were different tribes that came alongside Quraish.
We had the people of Banu Fazara and
and
Banu Sullaim,
and all of these different tribes from Najid
and from the Hejaz and from the different
provinces of Arabia
gathered
together, and they came to fight the Muslims.
Some narrations
in say that they were between 8 to
10, 10000
in the army of the disbelievers.
And just to put that into context,
it is said that the whole population of
Medina,
men, women and children,
was less than that number.
They came and they laid siege to the
city of Medina in the month of Shawwal
in the 5th year of the Hijra. When
the prophet
had that they were coming, this army,
this big army that was coming to destroy
Medina. Their goal is to wipe out Islam,
to kill the Muslims, to sack the city
of Medina once and for all. The prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam gathered the companions as he
would often do and he made
consultation.
Ask them for their advice and their opinions.
And there were different positions from amongst the
companions, but one of them was from the
illustrious companions, Salman al Farisi.
Salman said, oh, messenger of Allah, back home
in Persia, if we were in a similar
situation, what we would do is dig a
trench
that was wide and deep in order to
defend the city from attack.
Madinah,
its geography, its topography
is such that it is surrounded by mountains
and lava rock. There is only one place
that is practical
for an attack, and that's from the eastern
direction.
So the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasalam liked this
idea,
and he told the companions in preparation for
this impending attack that they should start to
dig, so they dug. The prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam and the companions everyday would go and
they would dig. This deep and wide trench,
and even today if you go to Madinah,
there's a place in Madinah where they've built
a masjid called masjid alhandaq,
the mosque of the trench.
That's part of where that trench was dug.
They dug it, and they dug it before
those enemies arrived.
Those people came, their army, 8 to 10000
people.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam, just to give
you an idea of how difficult that situation
was,
the companions
had to rush in their food, rush in
their supplies,
because they don't have the luxury
or the comfort or the ease that they
should go and deal in business,
that they should go and tend to their
lands and cultivate their fields.
They're worried for their existence, for their lives,
and the lives of their families and their
children.
So every day they would go and they
would dig and food was rationed to the
extent that the companions
of would take stones and rocks and they
would tie them to their bellies.
They would tie them
because of the pangs of hunger, to suppress
that feeling of hunger, to fool the body
into thinking or the stomach into feeling that
it was full when it was empty. And
our prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
used to tie 2 rocks
2 stones and 2 rocks, whilst others used
to tie 1. That is how difficult the
situation became. And there are numerous incidents, numerous
benefits. It is a beautiful story
as to how the companions and the prophet
went through those difficult days weeks,
but this isn't the time and place for
that. The army of Quraish and the confederates,
they came and they laid siege to the
city of Madinah.
And one of the things that is interesting
about this battle, even though we call it
a battle, there was very little actual fighting
that took place. There were a few skirmishes,
a few shooting of arrows, a few people
that tried to break the trench from the
side of Quraish
and the non believing army, but actually in
terms of actual fighting, it was very little
because the trench did what it was meant
to do.
They stayed there for over 20 days nights
laying siege to the city of Medina.
And as the time progressed,
because the Quraish came with a very clear
objective thinking that it would be easy, that
their numbers, their force, their might would just
be a quick job. They would come and
they would wipe out Medina and they would
go home, but they came and they found
a trench, something which the Arabs weren't even
familiar
with. So now after 20 days, they begin
to have disputes amongst themselves.
They start to have problems amongst themselves because
this is not looking like it's going to
be the quick and easy job that they
anticipated.
So after 20, 22, 23, 24 nights, the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam is making dua to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And Allah
sends a fierce violent wind
on the camp of Quraish and the other
armies.
It blows away their tents,
blows away their possessions,
blows away the
the the ropes that were tying their animals,
so they start to flee, and the whole
camp goes into disarray.
And so once they realize this and they're
already demotivated, they were already
ready to go home, they decided that they
would leave, that they would just simply go
and they would leave and they would go
home.
The prophet told
us in the hadith,
I was helped with the Saba. Saba is
the easterly strong wind that the prophet that
Allah
sent to help the prophet
Those people left,
and they went back home and Allah
gave victory to the Muslims.
This, in a nutshell, is what took place
in the battle of, the battle of the
trench. But what I want to focus on
today
is something that Allah mentions in Surah Al
Hazab. As we said, the Quran
doesn't speak about the historical story, doesn't give
us a full play by play account. What
the Quran does always is it gives to
us lessons and principles,
teaches you what you can learn from those
incidents.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in this Surah Surah
Al Hazab, as he's mentioning to us one
of those principles, he tells us something which
is extremely interesting, but also extremely important,
and that is the way that the companions
reacted.
And Allah mentions 2 reactions that they had.
The first
is an emotional reaction.
It is a natural reaction.
If you and I or anyone else was
in a similar situation to what those companions
were in,
they would react in the very same way.
It's an actual way to react in moments
of fear,
moments of terror, moments when you're fearing for
your life, for the lives of your family
and your children. It's a natural way to
react. And the second way
is how then the companions dealt with those
emotions
once they coupled it with iman
and with knowledge and with the understanding that
they had of their religion
or what they learned from the Quran and
from the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam.
Allah
says concerning the first reaction.
Or you who believe, remember the favor of
Allah upon you. When the armies amassed against
you,
the armies, meaning the confederates, they amassed against
you.
So we sent upon them a violent wind.
And armies that were invisible to your eyes,
meaning the armies of angels
that came and cast terror into the lions
and into the armies of Quraish.
Is ever watchful of that which you do.
When you saw those armies amassing from above
you and from beneath you. Imagine being in
the city of Madinah,
and there's only a couple of 1,000 of
you, 2, 3, 4,000 of you, and amongst
you, there's the hypocrites. As Allah mentions in
this surah, the hypocrites were there every single
moment of their way saying, there's no hope.
There's no point fighting.
There's no possible way that you can escape
this time.
Go home. And they themselves did that as
Allah mentions in Surat Al Hazam. They came
to the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
the hypocrites and they said, oh messenger of
Allah,
our houses are exposed. We're not going to
defend the city. We have to go and
look after our own dwellings, our own homes.
So they left also.
And all of this is taking place, and
the Muslims can see these thousands of enemy
soldiers amassing,
gathering outside with a single purpose,
and that is to kill everyone within the
city of Madinah.
So
Allah says, so your eyes began to roll
in your heads. It's an expression
to show how much fear was cast into
the hearts of the believers.
It's a natural reaction. Anyone
would be in a very similar way if
they were in that situation.
And Allah says that your hearts reached your
throats,
meaning that you are so overcome by terror,
you can barely speak, you don't know where
to look, you don't know how to react
because of the severity of that situation.
And you even thought Allah
because shaitan plays on those emotions.
Shaitan waits for those times when there's anger
or there's fear, whatever it may be. Shaitan
uses that as an opportunity
to plant those thoughts that are unbecoming of
the believer.
What are those thoughts?
Where's the victory of Allah that was promised?
Didn't they tell us that Islam would be
supreme? Didn't the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam say
that he would protect us? All of those
different things that are playing in their mind,
because what seems to be the case now
is that this is the end.
You had those thoughts that entered your mind
concerning Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
concerning the promises that Allah made, concerning the
words of Allah in the Quran, concerning the
promises made by his prophet
Allah says that is when the believers were
truly tested.
Then Allah
tell us also in the Quran,
Do the people think that they can just
simply say we believe and they won't be
tested?
Doesn't Allah azza wa jal tell us in
the Quran how often he test the believers?
In fact Allah azza wa jal in the
same surah at the beginning of Surah towards
the beginning says,
Allah will question the people of truth concerning
their sincerity.
How can that be questioned unless
you are tested in your faith?
The companions on that day, they were tested.
And they were shaken a severe shaking.
And the word that is used is the
same word that is used for a zelzalah,
for an earthquake,
to show you the severity
of what they were experiencing.
And my words, no matter how eloquent, no
one's description, no matter how descriptive, no one
can put into our minds and our hearts
the actual things that were taking place, the
actual emotions that they were experiencing.
The companions of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
in that situation
had different options, just like anyone in a
similar situation would have different options. But the
one that they chose was to remain firm.
The one that they chose was to trust
in Allah and to trust in the Quran
and what it says, to trust in the
prophet
What they chose is certainty and iman
over nifaq and hypocrisy like those other people
did.
That is the first reaction that they had.
But Allah
towards the end of this passage after he
mentions a number of issues concerning the battle
of Hazar, Allah
then tells us the way that iman benefited
them.
The way that they were able to overcome
and temper
those emotions,
their reaction,
not because they were brave or courageous,
even though amongst them were the bravest of
all people. Abu Bakr is there, Umar is
there, Rasman and Ali
are there. You won't find many people, if
anyone, braver than those individuals,
but they're also humans. They also have real
worries and fears like every other human. But
Allah
gave to them iman,
and Allah gave to them knowledge.
And so they realized that this was a
test from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Allah Subhanahu
Wa
Ta'ala then tells us the way that they
reacted.
When the believers saw the confederal armies gathering,
They said this is what Allah and his
messenger promised,
and Allah and his messenger
ever speak the truth.
And
it only increased them in iman,
it only increased them in submission to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
What's the change that took place? Look at
the words of the Quran and how beautiful
is the description of Allah
They knew that there was a promise that
was taking place, and this is often
the fault that we fall into, the mistake
that we make. We focus so much on
the end result, the promise that is made,
the assurance that was given, the guarantee that
is found in the Quran and the sunnah,
but we forget and neglect the path that
leads you there. That's also mentioned in the
Quran and the sunnah.
The difficulty,
the discipline, the patience, the trials, all of
those things that are mentioned also in the
Quran and the sunnah.
But one of the problems with the weakness
of iman and knowledge is that you only
know the headline. You only take the end
result. You don't know the path that leads
you there.
But the companions realized. They understood because they
were people of knowledge, people of understanding,
people who were closely
linked to the Quran and the sunnah.
They said actually this now what's taking place
is the promise of Allah and his messenger.
What were the Umuna fiqeen saying? They made
you a promise and it was false. Everything
you find in the Quran is not true.
They said certain things, look what's taking place.
The believers realized, no, actually, this is the
promise of Allah, the promise of his messenger
sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
Because they told us that this would be
the path that you would have to take
in order to attain that result.
So we only increased them then in iman,
we only increased them then in submission to
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
This is an amazing principle for you and
I. In all of the issues that we
face in our lives, in the dunya, its
trials and its tribulations, all of the emotions
that we have to deal with because of
the different things that take place
to remember what Allah says, what the prophet
says, salallahu alaihi wasalam. To temp and control
our reaction,
our emotion
with iman and with knowledge, that is something
which is the way of the Muslim, and
it's something which the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
instilled with his companions.
And so if you're able to understand the
Quran and the sunnah, its principles, its methodology,
its etiquettes,
then in every situation you're able to focus
on what Allah azza wa ta'ala wants from
you and to deal with that situation in
a way that is pleasing to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
This principle though is the one that is
only used in times of terror or in
times of fear.
The principle of knowing how to react,
that there is a natural reaction
as as a result of being human, but
our religion doesn't say that you just respond
in a human way. It tells you to
respond in the way that is beloved to
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Everyone can respond in
a human way. And what I mean with
is by that with with the natural reaction.
What our religion tells us is that you
have to find the way that Allah is
telling you to behave in that in that
situation.
What the prophet told us taught us in
terms of how we react to those issues.
And that's not only in times of fear,
it could be in times of anger.
The religion tells us how to behave in
times of anger, in times of sadness, in
times of grief, in times of distress, in
times of fear, even in times of happiness
and joy.
You can't just be happy the way you
want to be happy. You can't just express
that joy in any which way. There is
a way, an etiquette that you behave in
all of these situations,
and I will conclude by mentioning an example
of that also from the Quran.
In the very end, he mentions to us
the story of a man by the name
of Qarun from the people of Musa, alayhis
salatu was salam from Bani Israel.
This was a man who was extremely wealthy
and rich. Allah describes his wealth and his
richness
by saying that the keys to his treasures
used to be carried by strong able-bodied men.
That's just the key, let alone his treasures.
But when he was so overcome with his
joy as someone is when they have an
unlimited amount of wealth, a filthy amount of
witches that they could never, even in a
number of lifetimes ever spend, that person becomes
so happy that sometimes if it isn't tempered
with that iman, with that knowledge with that
knowledge of Allah and his messenger sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam, that person responds
in a way that they gloat
and they boast and they become arrogant. And
now instead of just being happy at the
grace of Allah and his blessing, they become
arrogant and proud.
And so his people said to him
and the word that is used is the
one for joy.
Don't be happy, but it doesn't mean don't
be happy in any which way. It means
don't be happy in that way, in the
way in which you boast and you gloat
and you show arrogance and pride.
For Allah doesn't love that type of joy
and happiness.
So what should he have done instead?
Use that which Allah gave to you to
attain the life of the hereafter.
Allah told you the way. Allah told you
that when you have knowledge on a man,
that is how you should be correctly or
that is how the correct way to respond.
That is how you use these blessings of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So whatever that emotion, whichever situation you're in,
our religion from the rahmah of Allah ajawajal
is that he has given us the knowledge,
the etiquettes, the principles
that show us how to behave and how
to react. This is an issue that all
of us suffer from. In different situations, in
different scenarios, we respond in the way that
we are that is an instant reaction.
It's just the emotion.
Whether it's correct or incorrect, that's something which
we later realize and then maybe we regret
or we don't regret.
But our religion, what Allah praises those companions
for in the battle of the handak, is
they didn't wait till after the effects or
after the result to then respond in the
correct way, but they realized in that moment
of need, in that moment as the message
of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said to
the woman who was suffering from a grief,
someone had died in her family.
So she was extremely upset and she was
expressing
her discontent and upset in a way that
wasn't sanctioned in the Sharia.
Prophet told us
be patient.
But she because of her grief and distress,
she didn't realize who it was. So she
said, you don't know what I'm going through.
Leave me alone. So the prophet salallahu alaihi
wasallam left her. The people around her told
her that's the messenger of Allah you just
spoke to salallahu alaihi wasallam.
So she came to me, she said, oh,
messenger of Allah, I didn't realize it was
you. He said, sallallahu alaihi wasallam
To patience is when calamity first strikes.
Whether it was me or someone else, whether
you're reminded or not reminded,
true patience.
The true level of iman is that you're
able to temper those reactions yourself because you
have enough iman, enough knowledge of what Allah
wants, what is prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam instructed.
Rescayhi that he bestows upon us iman and
knowledge. That Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala makes that
beneficial
alongside righteous action. That Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
makes us from amongst those people who respond
in the way that is pleasing to him.
In a way that lifts our and raises
our station, increases our good deeds, and forgives
and expates our sins.
Still
still
waiting. You're always filling the gaps.
No. I
want more.
No.
Come on.
No.
Brothers and sisters.
Saturday
lectures this Saturday after Maghrib Salah, we will
have our second lecture from the series entitled
Crossroads,
Tear the Flame, Managing Your Desires.
This lecture will be delivered by sheikh Jamal
Abdinasser
on managing your desires.
Al Bina.
As you are aware that we had a
very successful launch of Al Bina Alai Almi.
The classes are open to everyone every Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday.
Today's Al Bina class will be on the
seerah of our beloved prophet Muhammad
delivered by Sheikh Mustafa Aburayyan straight after the
Maghrib Salah, Insha'Allah.
Also,
309 GLM scouts
are marking the start of the term by
a fun day tomorrow
at the masjid from 2
till 5 PM. Please come with the family
and support our young people. All proceeds go
to scout activities.
Brothers will be in the car park, and
sisters will be in the community hall.