When Will the Help of Allah Come?

The Battle of the Trench: Setting the Scene

To destroy it once and for all. And they stayed there surrounding them, trying to choke them to death, basically. 28 days.

That is Ghazwat al-Khandaq, the Battle of the Trench. It was during that time as the Sahaba, may Allah be pleased with them, were in that moment, and they were looking at their situations, their circumstances — they were so scared. They were so afraid.

Never happened before that the entire population of the Arabian Peninsula, the entire Arab tribes, they gathered with Mecca to go against the Prophet ﷺ and against the people there in Yathrib, in Medina. Allah described their situation vividly in the Quran. He said to the believers:

In this ayah, Allah summarizes the emotional state, the situation of the believers in that moment. He says: do you think you will be admitted into Jannah, Paradise, without being tested like those before you? They all were tested. They were afflicted with suffering and adversity and were so violently shaken that even the messenger and the believers with him cried out, "When will Allah's help come?" And Allah gave the answer immediately: "Indeed, Allah's help is always near."

Brothers and sisters, I want you to think about the circumstances. I'm going to bring you back again to the context and the circumstances surrounding this ayah and that event itself.

The Road to Al-Khandaq: Events Leading Up to the Siege

Two years prior to that moment, it was the Battle of Uhud, in which the Prophet ﷺ and the believers lost. And they lost more than 70 of the shuhada. May Allah reward them for their sacrifice, O Lord of the worlds.

So the Prophet ﷺ, the next day, he told the believers: let's go after them. They went, trying to continue to raise the morale of the believers after that loss. They were unable to catch up with them, and they left.

However, the Prophet ﷺ, for the next two years, established a very strict economic sanction against the people of Mecca, patrolling the trade routes that lead to the north, which was almost 50% of the livelihood for the Meccans —

In the summer, they would go up north and start patrolling that area, preventing the Meccans from going there. And the Meccans realized their economy was going down. There was not enough business. They could not bring more goods from the north to sell to the people who came for Hajj and Umrah and visited the house in Mecca.

So eventually, they started thinking about various skirmishes here and there — but it wasn't helping. It wasn't doing anything.

The Role of Huyay ibn Akhtab

Finally, they were given an idea — ironically — by Huyay ibn Akhtab. He was one of the leaders of a Jewish tribe that had been expelled from Medina the year before. He went to the Meccans and said: "Look, I guarantee you — Banu Qurayza, my people who have stayed in Medina, they will break the treaty with Muhammad. You bring your people, and once and for all, we'll finish them all together."

And the Meccans thought: once and for all, let's do that. So they went to all the Arab tribes and said: let's go and finish these people, let's deal with them. The Meccans used the privilege they held in the Arabian Peninsula. They said: "We are Ahl al-Himas. We are the people of the Haram. We are the ones chosen by God to be the guardians of the holy place in Mecca. Are you going to help us with this?" And the Arabs said: "Sure, we'll do that for you."

More than 10,000 people surrounded Medina. And when the Sahaba and the Prophet ﷺ heard the news, they were all terrified. What are we going to do now?

The Idea of the Trench: Salman al-Farisi's Counsel

So the Prophet ﷺ held a shura consultation. He asked: what do we do? Salman al-Farisi said: "Ya Rasulallah, in our time, when I was in Persia and we were threatened by a great army, we used to dig a trench around our areas, our cities, and we would bunker behind it." That was new to the Arabs. But the Prophet ﷺ liked the idea. He said: let's do that — that's what we have, so let's do this.

And they did. They dug the trench.

The Munafiqeen in Times of Trial

As the Prophet ﷺ was digging that trench, the munafiqeen — the hypocrites — and in moments like this, like we have so many munafiqeen in the Ummah, Allah al-Musta'an — they would say: "Muhammad is promising the people that he's going to conquer Persia, and Sham, and the Romans, and this and that — and we can't even feel safe enough to relieve ourselves."

And Allah documented these very words in the Qur'an. He documented their words for them — look at how, when things get difficult, they become those who kill the morale of the people in that moment. And the Prophet ﷺ gave them the promises. SubhanAllah.

The Siege and Its Resolution

When the Meccans and the Arabs came and saw the trench, they were shocked. They had never experienced anything like this before. For 28 days, they tried everything in their power. And even Banu Qurayza broke the treaty, so now the back of the city was open. But Allah had other plans for them.

He sent the wind. And the wind began blowing into their camps. Slowly and gradually, one tribe after another realized: there's nothing for us here. We're not getting anything. And they left. That great gathering was dispersed, and they went back to their places.

That's when the Prophet ﷺ promised the Sahaba something unique. He said:

That's the best they had thrown at us. They threw everything at us, and it did not break their resolve. It did not break their spirits. And still they came out victorious. The Prophet ﷺ said to the Sahaba: from now on, we are on the offense, and they will never dare to come and fight us again.

The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah: A Disguised Victory

But what did the Prophet ﷺ do the next year? He went ﷺ to offer peace. He said: now that we are stronger and could fight you — we are not going to fight. We just want to perform Umrah. And they refused to let the Prophet ﷺ enter Mecca peacefully to perform his Umrah. They forced the Prophet ﷺ to sign a treaty with them — we know it as the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.

The Sahaba felt they had been taken advantage of. How could your Rasul ﷺ accept these terms? They are demeaning. We have the upper hand. We are the stronger ones right now. But the Prophet ﷺ did not come to this world as a fighter — he came as a guide. He wanted only the doors to be opened.

Allah showed the Sahaba that that treaty was a khayr and a blessing. Because on the way back, Allah named that moment — Allah said: We have given you a great victory, a great conquest. The Sahaba were shocked. What conquest are we talking about? We just signed a treaty that put us at a disadvantage. That is what they thought. But the advantage was entirely theirs when they saw the result of that treaty.

The Lesson for Our Ummah Today

Brothers and sisters, when we look at the situation we are in today as the Ummah — a weak Ummah — we look at the situation in Gaza, that siege, now approaching two years. And the world is watching, SubhanAllah. They call it a war. What war are we talking about? What armies are we fighting there? It is the civilians — men, women, and children losing their lives, SubhanAllah — just because some people have political ambitions or their own agenda for the world.

And here, Allah is giving us an example just like in Ghazwat al-Khandaq. The Sahaba persevered. They endured. And eventually, they changed the course of history. SubhanAllah — from the moment of al-Khandaq, when Allah revealed this ayah to the Sahaba, when they were saying, "When will the help of Allah come?" — less than three years later, they marched into Mecca.

And Allah revealed:

You see the people finally believing in your message, coming into Islam in surges and waves. Praise the name of your Lord. Praise Him and seek His forgiveness, for He is all-forgiving.

Brothers and sisters, history repeats itself. And Allah has shown us His way of dealing with arrogant nations — what He did with them. And Allah does not change His way. But the believers first need to change themselves, so they can deserve what Allah has promised.

Key Lessons from the Battle of Al-Khandaq

Lesson One: Trials Are a Path for Purification and Empowerment

When it comes to trials — as we all go through as an Ummah, and especially the people of Gaza, may Allah make it easy for them, Ya Rabb al-'Alamin — trials can sometimes be a path for purification and empowerment. SubhanAllah, we see how vulnerable the community there is. But the message that is coming out from their endurance is just unbelievable. It has changed the whole world. It has changed the narratives. Trials can sometimes be that very source of empowerment and purification for the entire world.

Lesson Two: Weak Means Do Not Mean the Absence of Victory

The Medinans didn't have anything when more than 10,000 people prepared for battle and brought everything with them to fight against the Prophet ﷺ. The people of Medina had virtually nothing. But they had ideas. SubhanAllah — they simply dug a trench. And that trench, with the little means they had, Allah gave them victory. So the absence of means does not mean the absence of victory.

And if Allah has chosen to delay that victory — as He did with the Sahaba, may Allah be pleased with them — in a way they wanted, they wanted a military victory, but Allah had other plans for them. That was not there yet. But Allah gave them victory nonetheless.

And when Allah delays that victory, the promise remains true. He said:

They were shaken violently. Their iman was shaken. Their circumstances were shaken. Everything was shaken. But what happened at the end of that siege? Allah said:

And Allah repelled those who disbelieved in their rage — they achieved no good whatsoever. These people, as they attack civilians, children, women, and the vulnerable, they think they are achieving something great. But Allah will repel them and they will achieve no good.

Lesson Three: Holding Firm to Principles Is the Greatest Ammunition

We learn from the Sahaba, may Allah be pleased with them, that they held so strong and firm to their principles. And those principles were the greatest ammunition they had. As a believer, SubhanAllah, when nothing else is in your hand, your faith becomes the strongest thing you hold on to. And it can move mountains.

The example of the people of al-Khandaq is exactly what Allah promised. When the people gathered around them, the Sahaba said:

"This is what Allah and His messenger promised us, and Allah and His messenger told the truth." They are gathering against us. They are coming after us. And yet it did not stop them from standing firm in their belief.

While the hypocrites said:

"Allah and His messenger promised us nothing but delusion." Like many people today who say: how can we stand against the power of these nations? But Allah is more powerful. And what people call delusion — right now, we see there is a massive awakening in the world to the reality of what is going on. And Allah has paired these two things together:

Victory comes with perseverance. With patience. With endurance. The longer your breath, the more likely you will be the victorious one. And we have so many examples from history to affirm this, my dear brothers and sisters.

Lesson Four: Allah's Armies Are Beyond Our Comprehension

Finally, Allah has shown us that He can use so many things as His armies. As He sent الرِّيحَ — the wind. Allah says:

No one knows the true armies of Allah but Allah Himself. And He sent just the wind — and that wind caused all those allied forces to disperse and leave Medina.

Our Responsibility: Awareness and Truth

Brothers and sisters, what is left for us right now is to understand that it is not only a matter of military tactics and battles — it is also about awareness. Understanding the truth. And that is what is happening right now. People are waking up to the reality of what is going on, to the truth of what is happening — not just in Gaza, but elsewhere, even here locally for us. And that is the most important thing you need to focus on: bring awareness. Let the people see the truth and understand what is really happening in this world.

Brothers and sisters, Allah has shown us examples — just like the example of al-Khandaq — of how things can change. With strong iman, perseverance, and endurance, things can truly come to the victory that Allah promised. Because when He says the victory of Allah is near — indeed it is near.

I say this and ask Allah's forgiveness for me and for you. We ask His forgiveness — indeed He is the Forgiving and the Merciful.

Second Part of the Khutbah

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Peace and blessings be upon our Prophet and his family and his companions.

My dear brothers and sisters, I just want to again mention to you — as we mark nearly two years since the tragedy started in Gaza — the same parallel holds with al-Khandaq. Less than three years from the moment the Sahaba were crying out, "Ya Rabbi, where is that victory You promised?" — less than three years later, Allah revealed:

The Sahaba marched back to Mecca. They had been surrounded by 10,000 people three years before that — and now they came with 10,000 to march into Mecca. When Allah says the victory of Allah is near — in a relative sense — it is absolutely near.

Du'a: Supplication for the Oppressed

May Allah give the oppressed people in Gaza victory, Ya Rabb al-'Alamin. We ask Allah to remove their suffering, Ya Rabb al-'Alamin. We ask Allah to give them peace and tranquility in their lives in this dunya and the akhira. We ask Allah to deal with their enemies and the oppressors, Ya Rahman, Ya Rahim.

O servants of Allah, brothers and sisters — please fill in all the gaps and straighten your rows.