In every turning point of history there are stories of great figures who remain unread. Everyone knows the events, but very few know about those great people. One such person is Nuaym ibn Mas’ud.
It was the fifth year of the Hijra. The Battle of the Trench had begun. The Quraysh of Mecca, along with Ghatafan and their allied Arab tribes and the Jews of Banu Nadir, had jointly decided to attack Medina. Through the scheming of the Banu Nadir leader Huyayy ibn Akhtab, the Banu Qurayza, who lived inside Medina, also became allies of the polytheist forces. Because the Banu Qurayza were inside Medina and were bound by treaty with the Muslims under the Constitution of Medina, no trench had been dug on that side. News of the Qurayza’s secret betrayal reached the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. Their actions raised the danger of fear and disaster spreading through the Muslim force. The Qurayza also had in their possession about 1,500 swords, two thousand spears, 300 suits of armour and 500 shields. Had they attacked from the rear, there was a strong possibility of the course of the battle changing. At such a critical moment Nuaym ibn Mas’ud of the Ghatafan tribe was seen walking up to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. He came and said: “Messenger of Allah, I have accepted Islam, but my tribe does not yet know it. If you give permission, I want to carry out a stratagem.”
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “You are only one man among us. If you can weaken the enemy by a stratagem, that is better. Go, and do as you wish. For war is the name of strategy.” (Al-Bukhari: 3030)
With the Messenger’s permission, Nuaym went forward with an extraordinary stratagem. First he went to the Banu Qurayza and warned them about the intentions of their other allies. He said that if the siege failed, the Quraysh and their allies would not hesitate to leave them to Muhammad in order to save their own lives. They should therefore demand, before the fighting began, that several Quraysh leaders be kept with them as hostages. Nuaym’s advice made a deep impression on the minds of the Banu Qurayza. They began to think: it was true — if the Quraysh fled, what would become of them? Deep suspicion of the Quraysh thus took root in their minds.
Nuaym ibn Mas’ud then went to the leader of the allied force, Abu Sufyan ibn Harb. He said: “Do you know that the Banu Qurayza are trying to restore relations with Muhammad? I have learned that they will ask you for several of your leaders as surety or hostages. Then, given the chance, they will hand them over to Muhammad to win his favour. So be careful. If they ask you for anyone as a hostage, on no account hand anyone over to them.”
The leaders of the Quraysh and Ghatafan accordingly sent a delegation including Ikrima ibn Abu Jahl to the Banu Qurayza. They said the siege was dragging on and their horses and camels were dying, so what was needed now was a final joint assault on the Muslims. The Banu Qurayza replied: “Today is Saturday. We cannot fight on this day. And until you give us several of your leaders as hostages, we will not take part in the fighting either.”
When the delegation returned and reported this to Abu Sufyan, he said at once: “By God, Nuaym told us the truth.” When news of the Quraysh’s refusal reached the Banu Qurayza, they too said: “By God, Nuaym told us the truth as well.”
In this way, through Nuaym ibn Mas’ud’s extraordinary judgment, deep distrust arose between the two sides. The morale of the allied force broke, and a large crack appeared in their combined strength. Nuaym ibn Mas’ud succeeded completely in his plan, and yet his tribe still did not know that he had accepted Islam. He created such suspicion and distrust between the Quraysh and the Banu Qurayza that their joint war plan was effectively broken.
Allah then sent final aid to the Muslims. He sent a fierce storm across the battlefield, which uprooted the tents of the polytheists, put out their fires, overturned their cooking pots and changed the whole picture of the battle. With Allah’s unseen help the allied force was defeated and scattered and forced to return.
This great companion played an indirect but highly strategic role in saving the Muslims from the joint assault of the disbelievers in this great battle. Through his unique war strategy the Muslim community was saved from an attack on four sides. After failing in that final assault of Yawm al-Ahzab, the Battle of the Trench, the Quraysh and their allies never again dared to mount such a large joint attack on Medina. The name of Nuaym ibn Mas’ud remains written in letters of gold in the history of Islam to this day.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report