Fight in the Way of God 91lowers, many of whom had been seriously wounded in the battle,
Muhammad agreed. The Banu Nadir left Medina for Khaybar, taking
their wealth and property with them.
After Uhud, the skirmishes between Mecca and Medina contin-
ued for two more years. These were bloody times rife with secret
negotiations, clandestine assassinations, and horrific acts of violence
on both sides. Finally, in 627 C.E., the Quraysh, having tired of the
ongoing conflict, formed a massive coalition of Bedouin fighters and
headed one last time for Medina, hoping to put a definitive end to the
protracted war. This time, however, Muhammad decided to wait for
the Quraysh to come to him. In an innovative military tactic that
would be copied for centuries to come, he instructed his followers to
dig a trench around Medina, from inside which he was able to defend
the oasis indefinitely. After nearly a month of trying to overcome this
ingenious trench defense, the Quraysh and their large Bedouin coali-
tion gave up and returned home, exhausted and out of supplies.
While this was far from a victory for Muhammad, he could not
have been displeased with the outcome, especially considering how
poorly the Battle of Uhud had gone. There wasn’t much fighting; very
few people died on either side. In reality, not much happened. But the
Battle of the Trench, as it came to be known, is famous not for what
occurred during the fight, but for what happened afterward.
During the month-long siege, while the Medinan army struggled
to keep the Meccan invaders at bay, the Banu Qurayza—now the
largest Jewish clan in the oasis—openly and actively supported the
forces of the Quraysh, going so far as to provide them with weapons
and supplies. Why the Qurayza would so openly have betrayed
Muhammad is impossible to say. The brazenness with which they
pursued negotiations with the Bedouin coalition—even while the bat-
tle was raging around them—indicates they may have thought this
was the end of Muhammad’s movement and wanted to be on the right
side when the dust settled. Even if Muhammad won the battle, the
Qurayza probably assumed that at worst they would be exiled from
Medina like the Qaynuqa and the Nadir, the latter already thriving
among the large Jewish population of Khaybar. But Muhammad’s
generosity had been pushed to its limit, and he was no longer in the
mood for clemency.