The event of the battle of al-Ahzab
The word: (al-ahzab) is the plural form of: حِزب (hizb) which means party or group. In this battle, the combined forces of different groups of disbelievers had, under a pact to eliminate Muslims, mounted an attack on Madinah. Therefore, this battle has been named as the battle of al-Ahzab. And since, in this battle, a trench was also dug under the orders of the Holy Prophet ﷺ across the line of enemy attack, therefore, this battle is also called the battle of the Trench (Khandaq). The battle of Banu Quraizah too – which took place immediately after the battle of al-Ahzab and finds mention in the cited verses as well – that too, was actually a part of the battle of al-Ahzab, as it would appear through the details of this event.
In the year only next to the year the Holy Prophet ﷺ graced Madinah after migrating from Makkah al-Mukarramah, the event of the battle of Badr came to pass. In the third year, came the battle of Uhud. In the fourth year, it was this battle of al-Ahzab. Some narrations say that this event came to pass in the fifth year. Nevertheless, the attacks of the disbelievers against Muslims had been continuing since the hijrah up to this time without any break. The attack on the occasion of the battle of al-Ahzab was made with full power, determination and mutual pledge. Therefore, this battle was the severest on the Holy Prophet ﷺ and the noble Sahabah as compared with other battles – because, the count of the attacking confederate forces of the disbelievers has been given as twelve to fifteen thousand. On the other side, there were Muslims, three thousand in all, and those too very ill-equipped. Then, the time was hard winter. The Qur’an describes the horrible severity of this event by saying things like: زَاغَتِ الاَبصَارُ (the eyes were distracted – 33:10), بَلَغَتِ القُلُوبُ الحَنَاجِرَ (and hearts reached the throats – 33:10) and وَ زُلزِلُوا زِلزَالاً شَدِیداً (they were shaken with a violent convulsion – 33:11).
