Duels at the Trench

Fighting did occur. There were duels; there was the enemy trying to break through the trench from time to time. One incident that happened, a challenge to single combat, was that of ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd Wudd. Now, ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd Wudd was one of the heroes of Quraysh, a strong, powerful man. So he challenges the Muslims: "Send me forth one of your men." The one who went forth was ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib. ʿAmr asked him, "Who are you?" He said, "I am ʿAlī." He said, "ʿAlī the son of ʿAbd Manāf?" He said, "No, I am ʿAlī the son of Abū Ṭālib." He said, "Nephew, there are among your uncles men who are more senior than you, more mature than you. I feel sorry spilling your blood." ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib said, "But I don't feel sorry spilling your blood." Now, ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd Wudd wanted somebody more senior to come and meet him, stronger, with more experience, and he said, "I wouldn't want to spill your blood, my young nephew." ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib said, "I would be very happy to spill yours."

So ʿAmr was very upset, and Ibn Isḥāq said he draws out his sword as if it was a brand of fire, and they exchange blows. And ʿAmr strikes the shield of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, and the blow is so hard that the shield ended up hitting the head of ʿAlī; that was how powerful it was. But on the other hand, because it was such a powerful blow, the sword got stuck in the shield, and ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib struck ʿAmr in the neck, and he fell down dead. And the Ṣaḥābah made takbīr, and that is when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) knew that ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib had won.

Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ was a good marksman. So he had in his sights this enemy soldier who was holding two shields, and it was sort of — whether he was teasing the Muslims or what — he would move down the shield a bit so that the upper part of his head would show, and then he would cover it again, and then pull it down, and up, and down. So Saʿd aims at the man and fires his shot while the shield was down, and it hits the man right in his forehead, so the man falls down and his legs go up. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) saw that and laughed. The way the man fell down was funny, so the Messenger of Allah laughed.

As for Saʿd ibn Muʿādh (may Allah be pleased with him), ʿĀ'ishah said he was a tall and large man, and he was wearing armour, but his arms were not covered. So ʿĀ'ishah said, "When I saw him, I was really worried about his arms." And, Subḥān Allāh, he was shot by an arrow in his arm, and it cut the main vein or artery in his arm, and he was seriously injured. So these were some of the skirmishes that happened during the Battle of al-Khandaq.