Part One: SEERAH (Biographical Sketch) CHAPTER

C:\Users\Admin\Dropbox\The Message - Material of Maulana\16. Books and Review\Apa's Books\Life And 31 The Quraysh lost 14 men, while the Muslims lost 70. Among the dead was Hamzah, the Prophet’s uncle. The Prophet grieved over the loss of this brave soul. With deep sorrow the martyrs were buried and the Muslims came back to Madinah. The Quraysh knew at heart that the Muslims would have emerged victorious, had not the fateful mistake of a few Muslims had turned their victory into defeat. So for two years they made no attempt to invade Makkah. The Battle of the Trench The enemies and hypocrites had been plotting all this while. They managed to bring together all the opponents of Islam. So they were able to assemble a mighty force of 24,000. In the fifth year of Hijrah, this large army started marching towards Madinah. The Prophet came to know of the Jewish plot to exterminate the Muslims. He consulted his companions. One of them, Salman Farsi, a Persian, suggested that a defensive trench be dug around Madinah. This strategy was used by the Sassanids on such occasions. Three thousand men worked for twenty days to dig it. The allied forces of 10,000 marched to Madinah under the command of Abu Sufyan. The Madinans numbered only 3,000. The Makkan cavalry were stopped by the trench. However, they had plenty of provisions and supplies so they decided to lay siege to the city. On the 27th day of the siege, a cyclone hit Madinah. For three days and nights the storm continued bringing torrential rain. All the tents were blown away and the provisions became unusable due to the rain. Dissension in the army was gradually growing. Discouraged, the Quraysh abandoned the siege. Treaty of Hudaybiyyah The Prophet felt that war was not the solution. Therefore he adopted another strategy. Guided by a dream, he left for Makkah to perform Umrah accompanied by 1400 companions. He camped at Hudaybiyyah, a short way from Makkah. It was a completely peaceful march. But the Makkan leaders objected to it. They felt that their prestige was damaged by the fact that the