We started talking about the role of Nuaym in the battle.

And indeed Allah had c

hosen him to have a very unique status that he had friendships with Abu Suffyan,
people within the Banu Quraydha and he himself was a gatafaani. And he himself
narrates that he accepted Islam on the very evening on the nights of Khandak. He
says in the first person in al Waaqidi that he had dealings with the Banu Quray
dha, and he used to drink with them and have dinner etc. And he said during Khan
dak, Allah threw Islam into his heart - he was camped outside the city and Allah
threw Islam in his heart. So he said he went to the prophet PBUH and saw him pr
aying, so he waited until he finished. And then the prophet PBUH said to him "Oh
Nuaym why have you come?" And as we said the prophet PBUH had already interacte
d with him so out of all of the 10,000 gathered outside, here is one man who kno
ws Ka'ad ibn Asad the leader of the Banu Quraydha, he knows Abu Suffyan and he h
as relationship with the prophet PBUH. Literally Allah threw Islam onto him. So
the prophet PBUH allowed him that "do what you can for us". And again of the ett
iqutes of war is that you are not honest - but this dosen't justify trechary whi
ch Islam forbids; that is breaking promises, breaking treaties etc.
He went to the Banu Quraydha first and said what we said before. And then to the
Abu Suffyan that the Banu Quraydha want to go back to their treaty, and "they'v
e offered Muhammad 70 of your men to execute to be forigven for what they've don
e. So be careful especially if they ask for your noblemen because that is what t
hey promised Muhammad". Then he said the same thing to his own people that "the
Quraysh can leave at any time, and the Banu Quraydha can flip at any time, and t
hey've offered 70 of us and 70 of the Quraysh to the prophet PBUH". The Banu Qur
aydha sure enough sent Azal ibn Samueal to the Quraysh, and he sent harshly: "th
e Quraysh have done nothing but talk. So let us agree on a date, you attack from
your side, we from our side and the Gatafaan on our side. But before this, we w
ant 70 of your noble men because we want to secure the fact you won't turn aroun
d when the battle gets tough". Its a genuine tactic: they are saying we will all
attack togther so give us 70 and they will attack with us. Abu Suffyan said "le
t me think about this" and he announced to the Quraysh what Nuaym had told him.
That it was a clear plot and the Banu Quraydha are flipping over. Nuaym went bac
k to the Banu Quraydha and he said "walahi we will not hand them one baby camel,
do they expect us to trust them that they will not execute these 70 men and han
d them back to Muhammad?" Most likely he really did say this - and the Banu Qura
ydha were furious with this that after all they've done they are being accused.
So Ka'ab ibn Asad began sensing the shift of the tide. And he began saying "Woe
to me woe to me, walahi Huyay ibn Akhtar brings nothing but bad luck". He starte
d cursing Huyay, and ibn Ishaaq mentions another of the Banu Quraydha, Zubair ib
n Batat, said "if the Quraysh and Gatafaan leave, there will be nothing left for
us except the sword - and why should they give us 70 of them? They have more nu
mbers than us, and they have more arms, and they can flee while we remain". So Z
ubair ibn Batat is being logical. And note we learn here the Banu Quraydha fully
understand they deserve what will happen to them. They understand and knew the
stakes.
Abu Suffyan is agitated and feeling more and more perturbed. That if the Banu Qu
raydha flips, the muslims will attack them. So Abu Suffyan said "we will all att
ack tomorrow morning". So he sent a high level delegation led by Ikrimah ibn Abi
Jahal to the Banu Quraydha and demanded that tomorrow morning (as a suprise - l
iterally 12 hours) they all attack. Allah had willed something else. They came t
o the Banu Quraydha after Asr on Friday. And the next day is the Sabbath, Saturd
ay. And they've never heard of this weird custom - they are completely clueless
about this issue. Of course the jews were not allowed to do anything on the Sabb
ath and to this day jews practice this. So Ikrimah says "tomorrow morning we wil
l launch that attack". But they began saying "tomorrow is Saturday we cannot do
it - give us some time and let's do it on Sunday". Alarm bells start going off what do you need time for?! Why should we delay 24 hours? Just enough time to g
o and tell the prophet PBUH so you can attack us? And on top of this Ka'ab ibn A
sad said "we will not attack until you hand over 70 of your men". Still he isn't

budging on that condition. So Ikrimah goes back confused and he says to Abu Suf
fyan "they have betrayed us - they say tomorrow is a day they don't fight and do
n't work etc". And Abu Suffyan went into a rage and called Huyay and said "what
is this Sabbath? It's just a day of the week". But Huyay was adamant they can't
do anything. And Abu Suffyan said "by al Lat and Uzza this is trechary". He lite
rally cannot believe there is something called the Sabbath.
Huyay was so panicked that he himself went to the Banu Quraydha and begged them
to break the Sabbath and fight on Saturday. Ka'ab ibn Asad became even more enra
ged that "how dare you tell me to break the Sabbath - you're supposed to be on o
ur side! Go ahead and break it". So technically Ka'ad was correct in terms of be
ing a jew, and it was apart of their shariah, but Huyay was willing to break the
Sabbath out of hatred of the prophet PBUH. And note the Sabbath was one of the
biggest commandments Allah gave the jews, it was part of the 10 commandments. Ka
'ab said "even if we are killed we won't break the Sabbath". Deep down inside he
could not imagine breaking the Sabbath, and Huyay was so scared of Abu Suffyan
he decided not to return to the Quraysh and that decision proved to be his death
. In his cowardice he remained, and thus he remained inside the trench lines in
the fortress of the Banu Quraydha.
Friday night turned out to be the worst night of the year in terms of the weathe
r. According to some sahabah the worst night of their life. It was thunderstorm,
and gushing winds, and tornadoes etc. And on that very night the prophet PBUH s
tood up and asked for volunteers whats happening with the Quraysh. So the prophe
t PBUH wants a spy: and here we have another famous companion playing an incredi
bly brave and important role. This is Hudhayfa ibn Yaman - the keeper of the sec
rets. His father al Yaman was killed accidently, and he forgave not only the kil
lers but gave them back the blood money. And this is that sahabi whose father an
d him were caught in the middle of the desert by the Quraysh and they agreed the
y wouldn't fight them, so in Badr the prophet PBUH did not let them fight. They
had a genuine promise with the Quraysh, and even though it was extracted literal
ly at the tip of a sword, still they made a promise so the prophet PBUH said "We
have to fulfill that promise". So on this night, Hudhayfah was in Iraq many yea
rs later with some young men, and one of the young men said "Had I been with the
prophet PBUH, I would have shown what is real fighting!" In one version the you
ng man said "Had I been alive then, I would not even have allowed the prophet PB
UH to walk, I would have carried him on my back". So they think they are better
than the sahabah. When Hudhayfah heard this, he became engraged. And he gave a s
tory that tells this night.
This young boastful kid who thinks he is some sort of man, Hudhayfah said "you w
ill show me? I will tell you of that night. Abu Bukr, Umar, Ali, Ubaid are ALL t
here, all of us were with the prophet PBUH. A severe wind was blowing, and on to
p of that it was freezing cold. And the Quraysh was above us, and then the Banu
Quraydha were beneath us, and we were scared our families would be attacked. And
no night never came upon us darker and windy as that night. The wind itself sou
nded like the thunder. And it was so dark we could see our fingertips if we exte
nded our hands". Imagine that night they are cold, hungrey, they are so tired, i
ts been a whole month of siege, they are fearful for their families, the despair
and tiredness they were in. The prophet PBUH stood up and said "who is there wh
o shall bring me news of the enemy and I Shall be his companion on the day of Ju
dgement". SubhanAllah what can our prophet PBUH bribe with? Those of imaan they
want to hear THIS type of reward. In that auspicious gathering not a single soul
gave a whisper. One whole month of toture: its cold, windy, everyone is hungrey
, and Hudhayfa said not a single one amongst the sahabah said anything. And the
prophet PBUH repeated for a second time "who will bring me news and I will be hi
s companion on the day of Judgement?" And again nothing from the sahabah. Then f
or a third time the prophet PBUH said "who will bring me news and I will be his
companion on the day of Judgement?". Three times in a row, and not a single comp
anion stood up. Why? Nobody had the energy or strength to even stand up. Looking

at the situation and danger they were in, not a single sahabi volunteered. And
then the prophet PBUH said "Ya Hudhayfa" so I stood up. "You go and get me the n
ews". From this Hudhayfa said now that he mentioned him by name he had to go.
This shows us his own honsety and modesty: he didn't put himself in a positive l
ight. He said "I had no choice but to go". And in this we see his true makaam. T
here isn't a single witness to correct him, he tells the story exactly as it hap
pened. None of the sahabi stood up, and when his name was mentioned he was force
d to go. In this we see the sincerity of Hudhayfa. Also when the prophet PBUH is
saying "who will go?" - its just a request. Its not a fard commandment. But whe
n the prophet PBUH said Hudhayfah by name, then it becomes waajib for him to go.
Also the prophet PBUH knew the sahabah so he picked Hudhayfah by purpose. For s
ure he cannot send a Qurayshi, he has to send someone they don't recognise. Hudh
ayfah didn't fight in Badr or Uhud. So Hudhayfah stood up shaking and cold and t
he prophet PBUH made a dua "OH Allah protect him from his right, left, on top be
low" and Hudhayfah said every single fear that he felt vanished. And he walked i
n that darkness, Allah only knows how, and he queitly made his way through the c
rowd until he said "I saw the back of the one that looked like the leader, and I
figured out he was Abu Suffyan". So the prophet PBUH told Hudhayfah to find out
the news but to be discrete: don't let them catch you. Hudhayfah said he was ab
out to take his arrow and shoot Abu Suffyan, but then he remembered the command
of the prophet PBUH.
After a while Abu Suffyan spoke and said "I am about to say something, so let ev
eryone amongst you verify the person next to you is trustworthy - make sure its
our group, the Quraysh". And its dark, you can't see clearly anyway but look at
Hudhayfah's quick thinking: Hudhayfa turned to to the person to his right, held
his hand firmly and said "WHO ARE YOU?" And the man replied. And similarly to th
e left, he said to the man "WHO ARE YOU?". In the process Hudhayfah didn't tell
them who he is. He gave the aura of authority: he immitated the people next to h
im with such confidence that they didn't even ask him who he was. And where is t
his confidence coming from on such a night? Nowhere but the dua of the prophet P
BUH. How is he thinking such quickly? SubhanAllah. Then Abu Suffyan stood up and
said "We are not here in our houses; our horses are tired, our animals are peri
shed and the Banu Quraydha has betrayed us". In his eyes this fancy tale of the
'Sabbath' and they can't fight on a Saturday is ludicrous and clearly an act of
betrayal. So he continues and says "now you see this wind harming us, neither ca
n we keep a pot on our fires, nor even can our fired remain lit". SubhanAllah th
e pots themselves were being turned upside down - it was a terrible windstorm, a
nd in the middle of a desert it become a sandstorm. And it is something so harsh
that the dust is so extreme you think you are blind, there is such darkness you
can't see anything, and you see the dust and sand crawling in your entire body.
Its so sticky and you simply cannot breathe. This is IN the city NOW, imagine w
hat it was like for them. Firstly this is an adhaab that Allah Himself has espec
ially sent so its 10x worse. Second its in the middle of the desert - there is n
o protection. So Abu Suffyan is saying "we don't even have a house to protect us
, and I think we should all return. Whatever you say, I'm returning anyway". And
as he said this he went to his camel, told the camel to get up, and just left.
Hudhayfah said again he had a clear shot at him but he remembered what the proph
et PBUH said. And so the entire Quraysh left with him.
With this news Hudhayfah returned back to the prophet PBUH. Al Bayhaqee says whe
n Hudhayfah was returning back, he found in the middle of nowhere 20 horseman co
ming towards him with their faces covered, and they said to him "go tell your co
mpanion we have done the job of fighting for him". And so Hudhayfah returned and
said he found the prophet PBUH praying. And he added what Aisha RA said in Bhuk
ari, that whenever the prophet PBUH was disturbed by something he would stand up
in prayer. And Hudhayfah says the same thing here. He is praying in this time o
f cold - and the prophet PBUH is so cold he is wearing a blanket of his wife dur
ing salat. And Hudhayfah was shivering aswell, and at this the prophet PBUH moti

oned to him to come and sit inside the blanket. So Hudhayfah sat inside the blan
ket while the prophet PBUH finished salah. This was another blessing: he is sitt
ing at the foot of the prophet PBUH inside the blanket. And then he gave the pro
phet PBUH the good news, and at this Allah revealed Surah Ahzab verse 9.
"O you who have believed, remember the favor of Allah upon you when armies came
to [attack] you and We sent upon them a wind and armies [of angels] you did not
see. And ever is Allah , of what you do, Seeing."
What was the prophet PBUH doing? On this night he made special dua to Allah: "OH
Allah the One who's revealed the book, and the One who is quick in retribution,
destroy them and shake the ground from them". In another hadith one sahabi narr
ates the prophet PBUH said to the people: "Don't wish to meet the enemy. But if
you are forced to fight, then be patient and know Jannah is under the shade of t
he swords" and then he made the dua: 'Oh Allah the One who has sent the book, an
d send down winds and clouds, destroyed the Ahzab". And subhanAllah this is exac
tly what Allah did - he sent down the most severe sandstorms and winds. Ibn Isha
aq mentions not a single tent, pot or fire remained lit. Every signle man among
them had to flee because they just could not take it. In a hadith the prophet PB
UH said "Allah has helped me with the winds of Sabaa and Aad was destroyed by th
e wind of Dabur". SubhanAllah - this shows us the winds have armies. The wind of
Sabaa was given to the muslims during Khandak and the winds of Dabur for Aad. W
hat is Sabaa? Its said its that wind which carried the scent of Yusuf AS to Ya'q
oob AS. So its generally a wind of mercy. Dabur comes from the west, and so its
harsher than Sabaa. These are just interpretations of scholars - Allah knows bes
t. And indeed Allah knew the concern the prophet PBUH had for his people, he sen
t him the Sabaa and NOT the Dabur. Because when the Dabur is sent, there is comp
lete distruction. So ibn Hajar comments that was the reason they evacuated and c
aused to leave, but the wind did not kill any one of them. SubhanAllah. Sabaa wa
s just enough to cause them to leave but not destroy them. Why? Allah knew the p
rophet PBUHs love for his people, and the same Gatafaan, the same Quraysh etc al
l eventually accepted Islam.
Thus the Quraysh returned home having gained nothing, having humiliated themselv
es and been humiliated and disgraced in a manner unparalleled in Arabian history
. 10,000 strong, and yet they were not able to kill less than 10 people. In retu
rn, after this as the prophet PBUH said "Now WE will launch an attack and they w
ill never launch an attack against us". The tide has officially changed. That th
ey sent the muslims the BEST they had, but they still failed.
So what did Allah use for the victory of Ahzab?
1. The imaan of the sahabah and the dua of the prophet PBUH. After Ahzab the pro
phet PBUH would frequently say dua pertaining to Ahzab. We normally here these p
hrases during Eid khutbah. That "He fulfilled his promise, that We will defend y
ou. And He helped His servants. He brought about honour to His army. And He dest
royed the massive Ahzab all by Himself. Allah is sufficient to fight on behalf o
f the believers". LITEARLLY they didn't lift a sword. They didn't do ANYTHING ot
her than prove their imaan to Allah. When they proved they imaan, Allah gave the
m everything that they needed.
2. Nuaym ibn Masud - walahi an amazing and most perfect person with the right co
nnections. He was in Mecca when Abu Suffyan needed a neutral party gaining his c
onfidence. Imagine - Allah is planning from YEARS before. Doing this favour he b
uilt a friendship with Abu Suffyan. On top of this he drank wine with cheif of t
he Banu Quraydha and knows him well. And he interacted with the prophet PBUH a f
ew times too. And of course he is from the Gatafaan - and he was a noble busines
sman from the second rank. He wasn't the leader but one below so everyone truste
d them. And again in his wisdom he didn't get his tribe involved with the Qurays
h or Banu Quraydha. Allah is using him - imagine how perfectly the peices are fa

lling into place. On the night of Ahzab out of nowhere Allah threw Islam into hi
s heart. When his tribe are outside Madinah he decides to embrace Islam and just
goes to the prophet PBUH from nowhere. Note Nuaym after this made hijrah and se
ttled in Madinah, and he died a shaheed in the war of the camel.
3. The ignorance of the Quraysh with regards to the rules of the jews. This rule
seems so bizzare - some jews now don't even use electricity, or answer the phon
e. Some walk miles to the synagogue and don't use the car. Imagine the Quraysh w
ho have never heard of this - to think an entire day you do nothing and sit arou
nd. He said "what is saturday except the day before sunday?" So he literally tho
ugh they were inventing something to trick him.
4. The long drawn out seige. Over 25 days - their own supplies are dwindling, an
d their own animals are dwindling. They are away from family and children. From
that high moral in the begining, after 25 days of toture they are so worn out an
d tired they can't take it anymore. They can't take living in the cold in tents
in the desert. As for the muslims they have imaan.
5. Allah sent his armies of winds and angels. Armies that "could not be seen".
And this was the end of Ahzab. And immediately after this the Banu Quraydha had
to be dealth with. When it comes to politics, the number one smear is the Banu Q
uraydha. That he massacared an entire tribe - and then there are charges of anti
-semitism, racism etc. But walahi we have already seen the nature of things. Loo
k at the context. This occured not because of who they are, but because of what
they did. And its in every hadith book, every seerah book so it definately happe
ned. On top of this the Quran indirectly implies what happened to them. But what
happened to them was done because of what they did. Its walahi so simple.