Life and Teachings of the Prophet Muhammad
2. The Life of the Prophet Muhammad
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was wounded. But the Muslims stood like a solid wall of stone
around the Prophet, and managed to repulse all attacks with
superhuman courage. Many fell dead and several wounded. They
had gone to the extent of sacrificing their lives to save the Prophet
from the enemy onslaught. Slowly the enemy was beaten back.
The Quraysh lost 14 men, while the Muslims lost 70. Among
the dead was Hamzah, the Prophet’s uncle. The Prophet grieved
over the loss of this brave soul. With deep sorrow the martyrs were
buried and the Muslims came back to Madinah.
The Quraysh knew at heart that the Muslims would have
emerged victorious, had not the fateful mistake of a few Muslims
had turned their victory into defeat. So for two years they made no
attempt to invade Makkah.
THE BATTLE OF THE TRENCH
The enemies and hypocrites had been plotting all this while.
They managed to bring together all the opponents of Islam. So
they were able to assemble a mighty force of 24,000. In the fifth
year of Hijrah, this large army started marching towards Madinah.
The Prophet came to know of the Jewish plot to exterminate the
Muslims. He consulted his companions. One of them, Salman
Farsi, a Persian, suggested that a defensive trench be dug around
Madinah. This strategy was used by the Sassanids on such
occasions. Three thousand men worked for twenty days to dig it.
