battle of Ahzab(the allies) was fought in 5 AH, after the Meccans and their allies forged an alliance to attack prophet Muhammad and the people of Madina

1. BATTLE OF AHZAB (ALLIES)
After the defeat of the Muslims in the Battle of Uhud, many
tribes became bold and started attacking the Muslims .
Missionaries, sent by Rasulallah (s) to preach Islam were murdered

2. 10,000 strong
The tribe of Banu Nadhir, expelled from Madina, because they tried to
assassinate Rasulallah (s), moved to KHYBER. They made a deal with
the Quraysh to form a 10,000 strong army to march to Madina under
Abu Sufyan.
A group of Combined Forces or allies is called ‘Ahzāb’ in Arabic.
Sura 33 is named Ahzab

3. Muslims plan
Rasulallah (s) found out and consulted his companions on
how to stop such a massive army .

4. SALMAN AL FARSI
HAD A SUGGESTION

5. WHAT WAS HIS SUGGESTION?
• THAT THE MUSLIMS DIG A TRENCH ON THE OPEN
SIDE OF THE ENTRANCE TO THE CITY
• A trench is called ‘Khandaq’. In Arabic

6. Rasulullāh (s) approved this plan and soon the Muslims
were divided into parties of 10, and each party allocated
10 yards to dig

7. • The enemies were surprised to see saw the trench,
which they never expected.
• The enemies tried day and night to bridge and cross
over but each time the Muslim archers prevented
them.

8. The enemies also contacted one of their ALLIED tribes
inside Madina known as Banu Quraizah to attack the
Muslims. Rasulallah(s) had to send 500 men to stop
them

9. Soon a few enemy warriors led by
champion Amr bin Abd wudd manged to
cross the trench
Amr was very much
feared in the Arab world. He was a
giant and considered equal to 1000
warriors in
battle.
He began challenging the Muslims and
mocking them, saying, ‘what are you
afraid of, if you kill me you will go to
paradise and if I kill you, you will still go to
paradise.’

10. No one stands up to challenge Amr,
except………
• None of the Muslims had the courage to stand up and face him
except Imām Ali (‘a).
• The Holy Prophet called out three times to urge them to fight him. But the
Muslims were hesitant because of Amr’s reputation.
•
• Imam Ali got up three times to fight him and the third time the Holy
Prophet let him go and fight.
• Rasulullāh (s) tied a special turban on the head of Imām Ali (‘a) and
prayed for him and as Imām Ali (‘a) left to face Amr bin Abd Wadd,
Rasulullāh (s), said,
• ‘now all of faith (imān) is going forward to fight all of
faithlessness (kufr)’.

11. Imām Ali (‘a) first offered Amr to
surrender and accept Islām but Amr
refused.
Then Imam offered Amr to turn back
and go away but Amr also refused

12. One to one combat
• Imam Ali(a) and Amr started fighting.
• Imam throws Amr on the ground, and was about to kill him,
but Amr spat on the Imam.
• Amr spat on Imām Ali (‘a). And so Imām left him alone and
walked away for a few seconds, before resuming the combat.
• Later on, when Imām Ali (‘a) was asked why he left Amr go the
first time, he said,
• I did not want to kill him for my own anger. I wanted to kill
him only for Allāh’s sake.’
• Lesson to learn :Even in battle and in danger, Imām Ali (‘a)
never forgot why he was doing what he was doing and he
never did anything for his own pleasure or anger.

13. The combat ends
The next time around, as the dust flew, everyone
heard Imām Ali (‘a) shouting, ‘Allāhu Akbar!’ and as
Amr fell to the ground dead and the Muslims
cheered
Abu Sufyan’s army tried all ways to enter Madina for
24 days, but there was no way.
Rasulallah (s) went to a hilltop and prayed to ALLAH
(swt) for help.

14. soon after the prophet’s prayer, a
sandstorm hit the enemy army, uprooting
their tents and making them run in all
directions

15. ALLAH (swt) mentions it in the Quran

16. Lessons learnt
1. ALWAYS CONSULT OTHERS BEFORE MAKING A BIG
DECISION. A SIMPLE TRENCH HELD UP AN ARMY
OF 10,000 FROM DESTROYING MADINA
2.TRUST IN ALLAH (SWT) HE ALWAYS HELPS THE SINCERE
SERVANTS, BUT HE ALSO TESTS HIS SERVANTS AS WE
SAW IN UHUD
3.IMAM ALI(S) PROVES AGAIN THAT HE IS CAPABLE OF
TAKING ON THE BEST ENEMY WARRIORS
4. IMAM ALI(S) ALWAYS FOUGHT FOR THE SAKE OF
ALLAH AND NOT FOR PERSONAL GAINS