[10][11][9] The Quraysh instigated the battle in response to the Islamic prophet Muhammad's continued raids on their trade caravans, and thus decided to occupy his city base of Medina.

[4] The Banu Nadir, whom Muhammad had previously expelled from Medina, were also part of this effort and offered the Bedouins half of their crops in Khaybar to persuade them to participate.

[8] Muhammad, having learned of the impending Quraysh advance, took the advice of Salman the Persian to have his followers make a deep trench to impede the opponent's movement.

[33] The bulk of the Confederate armies were gathered by the Quraysh of Makkah, led by Abu Sufyan, who fielded 4,000-foot soldiers, 300 horsemen, and 1,000–1,500 men on camels.

Meeting the enemy in the open (which led to victory at Badr), and waiting for them inside the city (a lesson learned from the defeat at Uhud) were both suggested.

[35] Ultimately, the outnumbered Muslims opted to engage in a defensive battle by digging deep trenches to act as a barrier along the northern front.

[36] The ditch was dug on the northern side only, as the rest of Medina was surrounded by rocky mountains and trees, impenetrable to large armies (especially cavalry).

[35][37] Muhammad established his military headquarters at the hillock of Sala' and the army was arrayed there;[19] this position would give the Muslims an advantage if the enemy crossed the trench.

[5] Both of the armies gathered on either side of the trench and spent two or three weeks exchanging insults in prose and verse, backed up with arrows fired from a comfortable distance.

Although the confederates could have deployed their infantry over the whole length of the trench, they were unwilling to engage the Muslims at the close-quarter as the former regarded the latter as superior in hand-to-hand fighting.

[5] From the Confederates, Huyayy ibn Akhtab, a Khaybarian, the leader of the exiled tribe Banu Nadir, returned to Medina seeking their support against the Muslims.

[5] The sight of the vast Confederate armies, surging over the land with soldiers and horses as far as the eye could see, swung the Qurayza opinion in the favor of the Confederacy.

Because the people of Adal and Qarah had betrayed the Muslims and killed them at the opportune moment, Maududi believes the metaphor means the Qurayza were thought to be about to do the same.

[53] Quran describes the situation in surah Al-Ahzab: 33:10 ˹Remember˺ when they came at you from east and west, when your eyes grew wild ˹in horror˺ and your hearts jumped into your throats, and you entertained ˹conflicting˺ thoughts about Allah.

The promise of Allah and His Messenger has come true.” And this only increased them in faith and submission.Immediately after hearing the rumors about the Qurayza, Muhammad had sent 100 men to the inner city for its protection.

[5] At about that point, Muhammad received a visit from Nuaym ibn Masud, an Arab leader who was well-respected by the entire confederacy, but who had, unknown to them, secretly converted to Islam.

[55] On the request of the Banu Aus, who were allied to the Qurayza, Muhammad chose one of them, Sa'ad ibn Mu'adh, as an arbitrator to pronounce judgment upon them.

[35][57] Ibn Ishaq describes the killing of the Banu Qurayza men as follows: Then they surrendered, and the Apostle confined them in Medina in the quarter of d. al-Harith, a woman of B. al-Najjar.

Huyayy was brought out wearing a flowered robe in which he had made holes about the size of the finger-tips in every part so that it should not be taken from him as spoil, with his hands bound to his neck by a rope.

[58]A lot of scholars have however cast doubt on ibn Ishaq's account and there is no reliable hadith about the exact number of people killed leading some to argue only prominent ones were executed.

[59] Several accounts note Muhammad's companions as executioners, Umar and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam in particular, and that each clan of the Aws was also charged with killing a group of Qurayza men.

According to Ibn Ishaq's biography of Muhammad, one woman who had thrown a millstone from the battlements during the siege and killed one of the Muslim besiegers, was also beheaded along with the men.

'Ã'isha, one of Muhammad's wives, is cited as describing the woman as laughing and chatting with her during the massacre, down to the moment her name was called out: 'By Allah,' she said,' that is me.'

[48] Scholars argue that Muhammad had already decided upon this judgment before the Qurayza's surrender and that Sa'ad was putting his allegiance to the Muslim community above that to his tribe.

[5] One reason cited by some for such punishment is that Muhammad's previous clemency towards defeated foes was in contradiction to Arab and Jewish laws of the time, and was seen as a sign of weakness.

Others see the punishment as a response to what was perceived as an act of treason by the Qurayza since they betrayed their joint defense pact with Muhammad by giving aid and comfort to the enemies of the Muslims.

[66] The Meccans had exerted their utmost strength to dislodge Muhammad from Medina, and this defeat caused them to lose their trade with Syria and much of their prestige with it.

[ 33:10-22] The Sunni Muslim Mufassir Ibn Kathir mentions this incident in his book Tafsir ibn Kathir, and his commentary on this verse mentions the reason and event of the Battle, his commentary is as follows: Allah tells us of the blessings and favors He bestowed upon His believing servants when He diverted their enemies and defeated them in the year when they gathered together and plotted.

The crisis deepened and things got worse...The event is referenced in the Sunni, Hadith collection Sahih al-Bukhari, it mentions the death of Sa'd ibn Mu'adh, as follows: On the day of Al-Khandaq (Battle of the Trench) the medial arm vein of Sa'd bin Mu'ad was injured and the Prophet pitched a tent in the mosque to look after him.

"Muhammad in order to stop the attacks called for a counter-attack against the idolaters, He asserted to his followers before: Abdullah bin Abu Aufa reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) at one time when he confronted the enemy, and was waiting for the sun to set, stood up and said, "O people!