Alhamdulillah the CNY school holiday was spent with the sun, sand, sea, and seerah, where Ustazah Farhana told the story of the Battle of Khandaq, or known as the Battle of the Trench, to the children.
News had broken out to the Prophet ﷺ that the Meccan forces were aligning with Jewish and Arab tribes of the area in their fight against Islam. Soon after, news spread that another battle against Islam was on its way. Quickly, the Prophet ﷺ held a meeting with his closest companions to discuss ways to save their city. It was obvious that they were outnumbered, and although it worked for them before, they still had to think of a new strategy to keep the Muslims safe. It became obvious that this battle was no longer a battle of manpower but rather a battle of wits. One of the Prophet’s ﷺ companions was Sayyidina Salman al Farsi. Sayyidina Salman al Farsi was the first Persian to convert to Islam during the time. He grew up in Syria and Palestine and was raised a Christian. However, he converted to Islam after hearing about the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and sought out to the Arabian Penisula.
Sayyidina Salman al Farsi was a very intelligent man who was well-versed in tactical strategies in warfare. He knew both Persian and Roman warfare tactics used in battle. It was there that he suggested to dig a large trench encapsulating the city of Medina. The plan, although unheard of at the time (a completely new strategy that had never been used in battle before), was ingenious. The reason was that Medina was surrounded by mountains, trees and the fortress of the Jews. The entrance to Medina was the only gap that needed to be filled. That was where the men and the Prophet ﷺ started to dig the trenches, which took 6 days to complete, and just in time.
The forces of the Meccan army had no way into the city, and therefore, no way of attacking. Abu Sufyan was infuriated and decided to block off all exits from Medina, causing a siege on the city, in hopes that this would make the Muslims surrender. However, little did they know that the Muslims would prevail.
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After the storytelling, the children got on to work to build the city of Medina in the sand. There was the mosque in the middle and some houses, surrounded by the mountains, fortress of the Jews, and the fields and forests. Then at the entrance, the children had dug a trench.
اَللهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ 💚
