Life-of-Muhammad

Life of Muhammad sa 87decided to attack Medina in the rear, the Holy Prophet sa ,having been apprised of their evil intention, decided topost guards in the part of the town exposed to the attackof Banu Quraiza. This part of Medina had originallybeen left undefended because the Banu Quraiza were inalliance with Muslims. And it was assumed that theywould not let the enemy attack the town from their side.It is known that when the defection of the Banu Quraizawas reported to the Prophet sa and it became evident thatMuslim women, considered safe in this part of the townbecause of the alliance, were no longer safe, theProphet sa decided to send two forces, of two and threehundred men, to guard two different parts of the nowexposed town. The Prophet sa ordered them to raiseoccasional cries of "Allahu Akbar", so that the mainMuslim forces should know that the Muslim womenwere safe. The estimate of Ibn Ishaq, therefore, whichputs the number of combatants in the Battle of theDitch at seven hundred, is also correct. If five hundredmen out of one thousand two hundred were sent toguard the rear of the town, only seven hundred couldremain. Thus all the three estimates of the number ofthe Muslim army in the Battle of the Ditch turn out tobe correct.To defend the ditch, therefore, the Holy Prophet sa hadonly seven hundred men. True, the ditch had been dug.But to face and to repel an army as large as the enemyhad, even with the help of the ditch seemed well-nighimpossible. But as usual Muslims trusted their God andrelied on His help. Their small force waited for theenemy host, while the women and children had beensent to two apparently safe parts of the town. When theenemy reached the ditch, they were amazed becausethis stratagem had never been used before in any Arabbattle. So they decided to camp on their side of the ditchand to deliberate over methods of attacking and enteringMedina. One side was protected by the ditch. A secondside had hills with their natural protection. A third sidehad stone houses and groves of trees. It was impossible