Life-of-Muhammad

84Life of Muhammad sapalm-groves and, at some distance, the fortresses of theJewish tribe, Banu Quraiza. The Banu Quraiza hadsigned a pact of peace with the Muslims. Therefore thisside was also considered safe from enemy attack. Thefourth side was an open plain and it was from this sidethat the enemy attack was most likely and most feared.The Prophet sa , therefore, decided to dig a ditch on thisopen side so as to prevent the enemy from attackingunawares. The task was shared among Muslims—tenmen were to dig ten yards of the ditch. Altogether a milelong ditch, of sufficient width and depth, had to be dug.When the digging was going on, they came upon arock which Muslim sappers found hard to tackle. Areport was sent to the Prophet sa who made for the spotat once. Taking a pickaxe he struck the rock hard.Sparks came out and the Prophet sa cried aloud "AllahuAkbar". He struck again. Again a light came out andagain the Prophet sa cried out, "Allahu Akbar". He strucka third time. Light came out again, the Prophet sa said,"Allahu Akbar" and the rock was in fragments. TheCompanions asked the Prophet sa about all this. Why didhe say, "Allahu Akbar" again and again?"I struck this rock three times with this pickaxe, and threetimes did I see scenes of the future glory of Islam revealedto me. In the first sparks I saw the Syrian palaces of theRoman Empire. I had the keys of those palaces given tome. The second time I saw the illumined palaces of Persiaat Mada’in, and had the keys of the Persian Empire givento me. The third time, I saw the gates of San‘a and I hadthe keys of the Kingdom of Yemen given to me. These arethe promises of God and I trust you will put reliance inthem. The enemy can do you no harm" (Zurqani, Vol. 2).With their limited man-power, the ditch which theMuslims were able to dig could not be a perfect one fromthe point of view of military strategy, but it at leastseemed to ensure against the sudden entry of the enemyinto the town. That it was not impassable, subsequent