The Prophetic Method

THE PROPHETIC METHOD against them a wind and soldiers you could not see. God saw all that you were doing.84 This verse deals with the Battle of the Trench (A.D. 627), when God sent two things—wind and an army of angels to support the believers. There is nothing extraordinary about wind. There is nowhere that it does not blow. But it was made to blow faster at a particular time and in a special place, thus assisting the believers. This shows that when God decides to help anyone, normal physical happenings assume a certain intensity, ensuring success. As for the army of angels, they did not come and wield their swords alongside the Muslims. They provided psychological rather than military support. As on several other occasions, they did “give courage to the believers, and cast terror into the hearts of the infidels.”85 They made the enemy appear as a “small band,” while the Muslims were made to appear as a “great army” in the eyes of their enemies.86 During the reign of the second Caliph, ‘Umar (A.D. 634-644), the Muslim army landed at Qadsiyyah, on the threshold of Iran, under the leadership of Saad ibn Abi Waqqas. They had to stay there longer than expected, and it was not long before their provisions ran out. Saad then sent a few men to look for cattle they could eat. They met an Iranian, whom they asked whether there were any goats or cows around. Although—the Iranian was a shepherd himself, he denied all knowledge of any animals in the vicinity. He had hidden his flock in a dense jungle nearby on hearing of the presence of the Muslim army. But then an