That very cold night the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) despatched Hudhaifa bin Al-Yaman  to  hunt around for news about the enemy. He found out that they were preparing to leave frustrated for  their inability to achieve their target. Allâh did really fulfill His Promise, spared the Muslims fighting a  formidable army, supported His slave Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and inflicted a heavy blow on  the Confederates.
The battle of the Trench took place in the fifth year Hijri. The siege of Madinah started in Shawwal and  ended in Dhul Qa‘dah, i.e. it lasted for over a month. It was in fact a battle of nerves rather than of  losses. No bitter fighting was recorded; nevertheless, it was one of the most decisive battles in the  early history of Islam and proved beyond a shadow of doubt that no forces, however huge, could ever  exterminate the nascent Islamic power growing steadily in Madinah. When Allâh obliged the
Confederates to evacuate, His Messenger was in a position to confidently declare that thenceforth he  would take the initiative in war and would not wait for the land of Islam to be invaded.
INVADING BANU QURAIZA:
Archangel Gabriel (Peace be upon him) on the very day the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him)  came back to Madinah after the previous battle, and while he was washing in Umm Salama’s house,  visited him asking that he should unsheathe his sword and head for the habitation of the seditious
Banu
Quraiza and fight them. Gabriel noted that he with a procession of angels would go ahead to shake  their forts and cast fear in their hearts.
The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) , immediately summoned the prayer caller and ordered  him to announce fresh hostilities against Banu Quraiza, institued Ibn Umm Maktum as a ruler of
Madinah, and entrusted the banner of war to ‘Ali bin Abi Talib who marched towards the appointed  target and came close enough to hear the Jews abusing the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) ,  who on his part set out at the head of three thousand infantry men and thirty horsemen of Ansar
(Helpers) and Muhajireen (Emigrants). On their way to encounter the enemy, the afternoon prayer  was  due. Some Muslims refused to observe it until they had defeated the enemy, while others offered it in  its proper time, as usual. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) objected to neither. When they reached  the  habitations of Banu Quraiza, they laid tight siege to their forts. Seeing this terrible situation they were  in, the chief of the Jews Ka‘b bin Asad offered them three alternatives: to embrace Islam, and  consequently their life, wealth, women and children would be in full security, and reminded them that  such behaviour would not be incongruous with what they had read in their books about the veracity of
Muhammad’s Prophethood; to kill their children and women and then challenge the Prophet (Peace be  upon him) and his followers to the sword to either exterminate the Muslims or be exterminated, or as  a  third possibility to take Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and his people by surprise on Saturday — a  day mutually understood to witness no fighting.
None of those alternatives appealed them, so their chief, angrily and indignantly, turned to them  saying: “You have never been decisive in decision-making since you were born” The gloomy future  already visible, they made contacts with some Muslims, who had maintained good relation with them,  in order to learn about their fate in the light of the current circumstances. They requested that Abu
Lubaba be despatched to them for advice. On his arrival, the men began to implore, women and  children to cry desperately. In answer to their demand for advice he pointed to his throat saying it was  homicide awaiting them. He then immediately realized that he had betrayed the Prophet’s trust, so he  headed directly for the mosque in Madinah and tied himself to a wooden tall pole swearing that no one  would untie him save the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him), and added that he would never  enter the habitation of Banu Quraiza in recompense for the deadly mistake he made. When the
Messenger (Peace be upon him) was informed of this incident, he said, “ I would have begged Allâh to  forgive him if he had asked me, but since he had tied himself out of his own free will, then it was Allâh
Who would turn to him in forgiveness.”
The Jews of Banu Quraiza could have endured the siege much longer because food and water were  plentifully available and their strongholds were greatly fortified, whereas the Muslims were in the wild  bare land suffering a lot from cold and hunger, let alone too much fatigue consequent on endless  warfare operations that had started even before the battle of Confederates. Nevertheless, this was a  battle of nerves, for Allâh had cast fear in the the Jews’ hearts, and their morale had almost collapsed  especially when two Muslim heroes, ‘Ali bin Abi Talib and Az-Zubair bin ‘Awwam (May Allah be pleased  with him) proceeded with ‘Ali swearing that he would never stop until he had either stormed their