A Coalition of Ten Thousand

The next stop is the Battle of the Trench. It also has the name of Ghazwat al-Aḥzāb. Aḥzāb are the confederates, or the parties, or the clans — it is translated differently — but these are the two names of the battle, al-Khandaq and al-Aḥzāb. What was the reason? Ibn Isḥāq says that what happened at al-Khandaq was that a group of Jews brought together a coalition of clans against the Messenger of Allah. So this was a coalition that was pulled together by the Jews. They went to Makkah, they went to the tribes of Ghaṭafān, and they brought together a quite formidable army, ten thousand strong, the largest army ever assembled against the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) up to that point. The agreement was that Ghaṭafān would supply six thousand men in exchange for the Jews paying them the entire date harvest of Khaybar for one year. So with Ghaṭafān, they were in it for money; they were mercenaries. The ones who had an intention of fighting against Muḥammad (peace be upon him) were the people of Quraysh and the Yahūd; but Ghaṭafān were from far away, and they just came in because the Jews promised them money.

And the Jews would go to Makkah, and the people of Makkah would ask them, because they are the learned men. The Arabs used to consider that the Jews are the wise, learned men, because they, the Arabs, were illiterate. So Abū Sufyān and the leaders of Quraysh said, "Well, you are the learned men, you are the People of the Book, so tell us: who is right, us or Muḥammad? Who is on the right path?" So the Jews would tell them, "You are." Allah, the Almighty, revealed:

These are āyāt 51 and 52 of Sūrat al-Nisāʾ. Now one would wonder: what in the world would make the Jews claim that the pagan worshippers are more guided than the Muslims? The Jews have much more in common with the Muslims than they have with the pagan worshippers. There is nothing in common between the People of the Book and the pagan worshippers, but there is a lot in common between them and the Muslims. So what would make them take such a position? That goes back to the reasons discussed before: the stand that the Jews took from very early on against the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), for the various reasons of jealousy and hatred.