We concluded the battle of Khandak in the last lesson, and the way Allah used a

number of factors: Nuaym ibn Masud, the army of the wind, angels, the mistrust t
he tribes had for each other and so Allah used all of this against them. And ind
eed as Allah says "Allah was sufficient for their fighting". So when the muslims
woke up the next morning after that terrible sandstorm, all the tents were empt
y and everyone left. The prophet PBUH departed back home, and some said he went
to the wife of Umme Salama, and he had hardly come home and put down his sword w
hen Jibreel AS came to him. And at this time it was Zuhr, so it was the time for
an afternoon nap as per the custom. But Jibreel AS comes to him, and ibn Ishaaq
mentions he was wearing a turban made of soft brucade, and riding a mule with a
saddle of silk, and he said "Ya RasulAllah have your put down your weapon?" He
said "yes". And Jibreel AS said "as for the angels, they have not put it down ye
t. And I've just arrived with a new contingent. Ya Muhammad, Allah is commanding
you to go to the Banu Quraydha". SubhanAllah its been a whole month of tirednes
s, fatigue etc. He hasn't even entered his house for rest and Jibreel AS comes a
nd he commanded the prophet PBUH to go to the Banu Quraydha, and Jibreel AS said
"And I am heading there right now, and I will shake the Earth from them". So th
e prophet PBUH sent a crier to the entire city that whoever hears must obey, and
no one can pray Asr except at Banu Quraydha. And they are two hours away - so i
t shows there was no time to relax. And this is was a severe commandment: that y
ou CANNOT pray Asr except in Banu Quraydha.
Quick tangent: this leads to one of the most interesting fiqh episodes. The comm
andment went out, and obviously not everyone will respond immediately. Maybe a f
ew of them have fallen asleep, a few got the message late etc. There would be so
me delay: so the sahabah were arriving in Banu Quraydha in batches. Quite alot t
rickled in until Magrib was about to set. Realise Madinah was much larger than i
t is now: there were many settlements outside the city. Quite alot of sahabah go
t to the Banu Quraydha at the right time, but there was also quite alot who were
on their way to the Banu Quraydha and the sun is about to set. If it sets Asr i
s over so the sahabah on route began to have a back and forth: should we pray As
r now so we don't miss it OR should we follow what the prophet PBUH said and not
pray Asr until we get there, even if we miss it? It's a big issue. Of course wh
en the prophet PBUH is saying "don't pray Asr until you get there" it was but an
expression i.e. hurry up and get there. But the sahabah were taking it at face
value: they differed back and forth and couldn't reach a consensus. Some of them
prayed then and there, and others didn't pray until they reached the Banu Quray
dha even though they missed it. This shows us when equally qualified mujtahids m
ake an ijtihad (and you have to be qualified), neither party is obligated to fol
low the other ijithad. This is exactly what happened to the sahabah here: they e
ach followed their ijtihad and they didn't criticise each other.
Now when they all got to Banu Quraydha, they told him what happened. And what di
d the prophet PBUH say? He did not criticise either party and he let it be. This
shows us a truly profound matter: that, the ultimate truth even in matter of fi
qh is one. How do we know this even though this hadith shows it is multiple? The
scholars say when the prophet PBUH gave this commandment: "Do not pray Asr unti
l you reach the Banu Quraydha" - there is no doubt he intended one of the two me
anings. Second, the sahabah differed in two camps: there was no camp which thoug
h "oh he must have intended both". It's illogical and against common sense to sa
y this. Thus this is the predominant position is usool al Fiqh. Is truth one or
multiple? It's a theological and usool al Fiqh issue, and the position which mak
es the most sense is that truth is one, but a person who genuinely mistakenly mi
sses the truth will not be sinful. We differentiate between truth and reward. Th
is is proven in Bhukari when the prophet PBUH said "if the qualified ruler/judge
judges and is correct, they will get two rewards. If he is incorrect they will
get one reward". And notice it can't be multiple at the same time. You can have
two scholars give two fatwas: in the eyes of Allah only one of them is correct.
This hadith proves it: the prophet PBUH did not criticise either of the two camp
s, and note he didn't clarify what he meant because this is a one-off thing. One

of the two parties honestly misunderstood, and there is no point criticising th

e wrong party, so the prophet PBUH didn't do so.
Here we find a fascinating issue: how literal should we be to the text to the Qu
ran and sunnah? Can we use a little bit of rationality or not? We don't use rati
onality to re-inteperet the unseen. We are discussing laws of Islam. When it com
es to laws of Islam, there are continuous trends of ikhtilaaf: if the hadith sai
d X, but we kind of sort of understand why X was said and it dosen't apply now,
can we move around it? For example, travelling without a mahram. The hadith said
"If you believe in Allah and the Last day do not let your women travel without
a mahram for 3 days" - in one narration its one day. Literals say "the prophet P
BUH said it so you must obey". Others said "yes he said it but our times are com
peltely different". Also what we learn from the incident is that both parties sh
ould not be critical - these trends go back to the sahabah. But the big caveat i
s that the fatwas must be given by people that are QUALIFIED to speak. Especiall
y in western lands when there are so few ulamaa: mostly the gatherings are led b
y people without knowledge. This is a big issue: if reputable scholars have a sp
ectrum of opinion then that is fine. If however conservatives are pronouncing ve
rdicts in Islam with no knowledge, then this is completely wrong. Only scholars
with established credentials and experiance can give fatwaas. The progessives wh
o criticise fiqh are complete idiots who have no knowledge and they question a t
rue fuqahaa. However true fuqahaa have the right to debate and discuss with each
other. This trend of rationality and literalism goes back to the sahabah: one g
roup said "he didn't literally mean to pray Asr at Banu Quraydha if we miss it"
but other group said "no he did". And this will continue on and on, and Allah kn
ows best.
Now lets get back to our seerah lecture. So, the sahabah eventually got there an
d of the first to get there was Ali ibn Abi Talib. The prophet PBUH told him to
go immedaitely and hold up the flag of Islam. And when they saw him they began s
aying the most vulgar things about the prophet PBUH. The prophet PBUH also was w
alking to Banu Qaydhar, and they said "we haven't seen anything apart from 'Dihy
aa al Kalbi' riding on a white mule". Note 'Dihyaa' was the most handsome man in
Madinah, so they said "We just saw Dihyaa on a mule just randomly riding!" and
they didn't know it was Jibreel AS. And the prophet PBUH said "that was Jibreel
to rush down the ground from beneath their feet". When the prophet PBUH reached
the Banu Quraydha, Ali RA immediately rushed out to stop him and said "Ya RasulA
llah why don't you camp over here?" Why? Because he didn't want the prophet PBUH
hear what they are saying. So the prophet PBUH said "perhaps they are saying th
ings about me?" And Ali RA said "yes they are". So Ali RA told the prophet PBUH
to camp far away from the fortress. Note they had massive fortresses that were f
ully protected - the Ansar tried to make copies but it was just an imitation. Th
e prophet PBUH said "once they see me they will not say these things". So he set
his camp up right in front of the fortress. And the prophet PBUH said "Oh jews
aren't you humiliated?" And they said "you were never once who acted foolishly (
meaning please spare us)" So the prophet PBUH surrounded them and told them to s
urrender but they refused.
So the prophet PBUH and the sahabah all camped around the Banu Quraydha - hours
went by, days turned into weeks, and weeks eventually in a month. All the books
of seerah agree this siege lasted for 25 days. And Khandak lasted for 25-30 days
. So the entire ordeal almost two whole months. So for 25 days they are surround
ing the Banu Quraydha - and of course inside is Huyay ibn Akbar, the leader of t
he Banu Nadheer, who through his own arrogance stayed in Madinah. As the days tu
rned into weeks, Ka'ab said to his people "Oh my people I suggest one of three t
hings:
1) We accept this mans religion, for walahi we know he is the prophet who has be
en predicted in our books. If we do so our lives and property will be safe (they
all knew this).

But the people said "walahi we will never leave the religion". Its interesting h
e says the secret that everyone knew but everyone is too embarrased to admit: th
ey all knew he was the prophet PBUH. And by now of course who can have any doubt
? All the miracles are there to see, everything is clear. So Ka'ab said
2) "Ok fine, let us kill our own families and then charge outside with our sword
s drawn until one of us dies. If we die then so be it. If we win there are plent
y of women to marry later".
It was a far shot chance but it was possible - but of course there is no way thi
s is going to happen. The people said "we will never kill our own family". So Ka
'ab then said:
3) "Ok if you refuse the first two, the only thing we can do is a suprise attack
, and let's suprise attack on Saturday the Sabbath - they won't expect us to bre
ak our own Sabbath!"
SubhanAllah look at how low he is willing to go - but his people said "we will n
ever break the Sabbath, don't you know if we do that Allah will send a punishmen
t etc". Ka'ab got so angry he said "walahi since the day your mother has given b
irth to you, you have never made a decision in your lives". Then they sent a mes
senger to the prophet PBUH and he begged and pleaded "Oh prophet PBUH give to us
what you gave to the Banu Nadheer. Take our lands but we'll take our money, cam
els and family and we will go". The prophet PBUH said "no". He comes back and sa
ys "OK fine keep everything, keep the camels and property, but just let us go".
But the prophet PBUH said "No - I will not accept anything else except an uncond
itional surrender. And again the prophet PBUH was not being trecharous here - th
ey wanted a condition to come out. But the prophet PBUH said "No only an uncondi
tional surrender".
Then another messenger comes and said "we want Abu Lubaba to come into our fortr
ess". Who is Abu Lubaba? He was a special close friend in the days of Jaheleya w
ith the Banu Qarudhaya. So he went in, and he is of course a great sahabi. He wi
tnessed Badr in that he was in the army, but he was sent to do an errand and he
didn't fight. He also fought in Uhud and other battles and he has a good record,
but what's about to happen now was a human slip. So he entered their fortress,
and ibn Ishaaq said everyone were so happy to see him, and the women and childre
n began crying and begging for mercy for him. And so ibn Ishaaq said his heart b
ecame soft for them. They asked him "should we surrender or not?" He said "yes y
ou should but.." and then he made a motion of 'you all will die'. And Abu Lubaba
later said in the first person "As soon as I said this, walahi my feet had not
moved, except that I realised I have been disloyal and trecharous to Allah and H
is messenger". Firstly he wasn't sure about their fate, but secondly whose side
is he on? Whose loyalty do you have? To show sympathy is such a tense situation
to the enemy after all that they had done, this was kiyaana. And he knew that he
betrayed Allah and His messenger. And he said he left the fortress, bypassed th
e army and the prophet PBUH, and tied himself to a piller of the masjid. He tied
himself to it and said "walahi I shall remain tied until Allah accepts my repen
tance. And I will never go to the Banu Quraydha again, for I will never be in an
area where I disobeyed Allah and His messenger". After a while the news spread
what happened, and the prophet PBUH said "If he had come to me, I would have ask
ed Allah to forgive him. But now he's done this, I cannot help him". Why? Becaus
e its a promise he made to Allah that he will NOT move from the pillar until All
ah forgives him. And he remained tied for more than a week, and one day at Fajr
the prophet PBUH woke up to go pray and he was laughing. Umme Salama said "what
caused you to laugh?" The prophet PBUH said "Allah has accepted the tawbah of Ab
u Lubaba". So Umme Salama said "should I not tell him?" - note at that stage her
house had a door with direct access to the masjid. So she comes rushing out and
says "Oh Abu Lubaba thank Allah he has forgiven you" but Abu Lubaba said "NO un

til the prophet PBUH comes and unties me I won't move". So the prophet PBUH did
do this. And the repentance of him is in Surah Tawbah verse 102:
And [there are] others who have acknowledged their sins. They had mixed a righte
ous deed with another that was bad. Perhaps Allah will turn to them in forgivene
ss. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
Hasan al Basri used to say this verse is the most optimistic verse in the whole
Quran. Ibn Abbass said everytime Allah said 'asa' for 'might/perhaps' it means H
e will do it so He will forgive. So if you acknowledge you are sinful but ask fo
r repentance Allah willing He will forgive.
24 days have gone - the next day is the 25th. And on this day the Banu Quraydha
decide to surrender. There's no escape, their supplies are diminishing and so on
the 25th day they all surrendered. On the night of the 24th in the middle of th
e night an incident happened: the muslim army is around the fortress - and they
hear someone come outside. One of the muslims said "who is it?" The man said "Am
r ibn Sa'ad" - he was one of perhaps two, or the only, who had vocally refused t
o follow what Ka'ab ibn Asad had done. And he said "I will never betray the prom
ise of the prophet PBUH". But he is in the fortress of course. Now when he hears
they will surrender the next day, he wants to try and get out before this. Muha
mmad ibn Maslama was the guard in charge, and he knew this Amr ibn Sa'ad wan't w
ith the Banu Quraydha, he vocally opposed them, but at the end of the day he is
still with them. So he Muhammad ibn Maslama said "Oh Allah overlook my overlooki
ng of him". So he simply let him go. And it is said that Amr ibn Sa'ad went to M
adinah for one night, and then left thereafter. When the prophet PBUH heard of w
hat happened, he said "that was a man Allah saved because of his honesty". The p
rophet PBUH did not get angry at Muhammad ibn Maslama. And a key point of this i
s that, these people were punished for what they did. NOT who they were. Amr ibn
Sa'ad was truthful to the treaty, so he was saved.
The next morning the message came they are willing to surrender. Immediately the
Aws surround the prophet PBUH and began pleading. As of yet the prophet PBUH ha
s not said what he wants to do. Because of this, the Aws remember the days of Ja
heleya, and they start begging the prophet PBUH to save them; one of them said "
Ya RasulAllah you spared the Khazraj's tribe (Banu Nadheer) so spare our tribe a
swell". And he even did it for Abdullah ibn Ubay. So the Aws are saying do the s
ame for our tribe - but subhanAllah theres a world of difference between what th
e Banu Nadheer did and what the Banu Quraydha did. But the Aws are humans and wa
nt mercy for their own friends. At this, the prophet PBUH said "will you be happ
y if one of your own decides their fate?" They said "OF COURSE". So he said "I h
ave chosen for you Sa'ad ibn Mu'ad, your own leader". Walahi this is amazing. Th
e messenger of Allah stepping down and saying to the Ansar "You guys decide". He
is a true leader, and he has to gain the trust of his followers. Amazing. He sa
ys to them "YOUR leader, Sa'ad ibn Mu'ad - it will be his verdict". Its amazing
that he is willing Sa'ad ibn Mu'ad judge something that is a judgement of Allah
and His messenger.
So Sa'ad ibn Mu'ad up until this point, he is still in the hospital tent. There
was the equivalent of a nurse amongst the sahabah, her name was Rufaydha, and sh
e voluntered to always take care of the sick etc. And she a tent that was a mini
hospital. So he was still in that tent, bleeding for 25 days - and he is going
to die soon. So a group of the Ansar became very happy, they rushed back to Madi
nah, put him on a mule and took him to the Banu Quraydha. And on the way there,
the Aws surrounded him and continued to tell him "you have to be merciful, remem
ber this, remember that etc". One of them said "you've only been chosen by the p
rophet PBUH because you have been merciful". Sa'ad said "Now is the time of Sa'a
d to not care about his people, but only Allah and His messenger". SubhanAllah.
People want to go out with a bang for their people - but what is Sa'ad saying? "
Now is the time to be sincere to Allah". When he said this the Aws understood wh

at his judgement will be. When he came to the Banu Quraydha, the prophet PBUH sa
id to the Ansar "stand up to greet your leader". He himself did not allow the sa
habah to stand up when he entered the room - this leads to a HUGE contraversy in
fiqh as to whether you should stand. The prophet PBUH said "whoever loves it th
at people stand up for him, let him be prepared for his seat in Jahannam". He sa
id this yet he tells the Ansar "STAND UP to greet your leader". How do you recon
cile? Imam Nawawi says whoever has taken this as a habit and expects people to s
tand, this is the person who will be in Jahannam. But once in a while, a one-off
, not as a regular habit, then this is something allowed. When Fatimah RA came t
o see the prophet PBUH after a while, he himself stood up to greet her. So you c
an do once in a while, but not every time. If a grandfather or guest comes, as a
one-off, you can do it.
Anyway, the prophet PBUH then said to Sa'ad ibn Mu'ad, that "your people have ac
cepted you as a judge for these (Banu Quraydha)". Note all of this is taking pla
ce outside the fortress. The muhajir and Khazraj are not really involved either
- the Khazraj had animosity with the Banu Quraydha anyway so they didn't care wh
at happened to them. So it was between the Aws and the prophet PBUH. So Sa'ad sa
id to his people "I call you to Allah, and tell you to make a promise to Allah will you listen and obey me with whatever verdict I give?" They said "Yes it is
you". And then he turned to the prophet PBUH, lowered his face in front of him,
and said "and you aswell ya RasulAllah? Will you be happy with my verdict?" And
the prophet PBUH said "Yes". Walahi its mindboggling to imagine, that RasulAlla
h is willing to go down to the ruling of Sa'ad just for the Aws. And so Sa'ad wi
thout a seconds hesitation said "my judgement in them, is that their men should
be executed, their property distributed and their women and children taken as ca
ptive". As soon as he said this, the prophet PBUH said "Walahi this was judgemen
t of Allah from above the seven heavens". And by the way this shows us Allahs de
cree is ONE. But the prophet PBUH was willing for the sake of unity of the ummah
to perhaps have a softer decree. But when Sa'ad said the verdict, the prophet
PBUH said "this is literally the verdict of Allah".
When the verdict was given, then of course the commandment were given to execute
the men. Trenches were dug, the males were tied up and they were taken in batch
es and executed. One of the young men who survived narrates that "I was a boy th
at was spared because I didn't have hair". And many stories are mentioned regard
ing Huyay ibn Aktab, when he was led out of the fortress, he was wearing his fin
est garment, and he had used strings to tie it around his body because he didn't
want anyone to take it from his body after his death. And when he passed by the
prophet PBUH he said "walahi I have never regreted my aminosity towards you". T
o the last second he is saying "I have no regrets". And then he said a phrase "b
ut whoever Allah humiliates, that is the real one who is humiliated". Look the g
uy himself deep down inside knows whose side Allah is on - and he turned to his
people and said "Oh my people don't be sad, this is the decree of Allah on the B
ani Isreal" and then he lowered his neck and was executed. When Ka'ab ibn Asad w
as let out, the prophet PBUH said "Oh Ka'ab why didn't you benefit from the advi
ce of Ibn Karash (a rabbi who had predicted from the coming of the prophet PBUH)
for he believed in me, and commanded you to follow me, and gave his salaam to m
e through you". So Ka'ab says "I swear by the Torah this is true. And were it no
t for the fact that the jews would criticise me, and say 'because I was scared o
f death I converted' I would follow you know, but I die as a jew." So better tha
n Huyay, but he is still going to die upon his own religion.
Aisha RA said she was sitting with the prisoners, and a lady was laughing and jo
king with all types of jokes while her own people are getting executed, and then
someone called her name and she stood up. Aisha RA said "why are you standing?"
And she said "to be killed". Aisha RA said "why?" and she said "because of some
thing I did" so she knew it was her death. And later on we found out she had kil
led one of the sahabah during the seige, and because she killed him in the manne
r, she was the only women executed. And Aisha RA said "I never ceased to be amaz

ed at her laughing while she knew she was going to be executed".

Another interesting story is that of an ansari, Thabit ibn al Qais. In the wars
of Bu'ath (the wars between Aws and Khazraj, Banu Nadheer etc which finished bef
ore the Hijrah by two/three years) he and his wife were saved by one of the Banu
Quraydha. So Thabit went to the prisoners, found Zubair and said "do you rememb
er me?" And Zubair said "of course you are that person I saved etc". And then Th
abit said "it's time for me to repay that favour". Zubair said "Of course". Zuba
ir was extremely old so Thabit goes to the prophet PBUH and said "Ya RasulAllah
please allow him to be spared". So the prophet PBUH agreed but Zubair said "What
use is life without family?" So Thabit goes back to the prophet PBUH and begs f
or family and children so the prophet PBUH said "Ok they are for you too". But Z
ubair then said "what use is life without money?" So back to the prophet PBUH an
d again the prophet PBUH said "for you aswell". Then Zubair says "where is so-an
d-so?" And he started to list all his friends but they all had been killed. So Z
ubair said "what is the use of life without my friends and tribe? You send me to
my death". So he was in fact killed. One or two people similar to this case sur
vived. This also shows any muslim who had a special favour with someone the prop
het PBUH gave that. Also its said some of the Banu Quraydha had converted to Isl
am and so they were spared.
How many people were killed? The books of seerah many broad numbers. Ibn Ishaaq
is the most authoritative, and he says between 600-700. But then he says "some h
as exagarrated and some 800-900". Some hadith say 400. Allah knows best but what
ever it is it's a large tribe of the Banu Quraydha. Much booty was recieved: acc
ording to one source, 1500 swords and 1500 sheilds were recieved. These were inv
aluable to the muslim ummah. In addition to this, the muslims got 2000 spears, 3
00 body armour suits, 1000s of camels and sheeps and they also found a large qua
ntity of alcohol which was destroyed.. And it was at this point in time when the
ganeema ruling was solidifed: the one who had a horse was given three shares co
mpared to the one walking. In those days the muslim army was not paid, it was on
a volunteered basis. Thus the owner of animals got three shares: one for the an
imal and two for the person. Why? Because he is risking more and had more respon
sibility and burden to take care of the animal, train the animal etc. 1/5 was gi
ven to the prophet PBUH and the Islamic state.
Among those who the prophet PBUH recieved in this battle was Rayhaana and he inv
ited her to Islam but she refused. So eventually the prophet PBUH decided to tra
nsfer ownership, so he let her for a long time decide her fate. When she realise
s the prophet PBUH will leave her, she converted to Islam: she wanted to be with
the prophet PBUH rather than with someone else because of the care and gentlene
ss he showed. After she converted the prophet PBUH gave her the option to free h
er and marry her. Now the books of seerah differed that she didn't want to willi
ngly be a wife, others say no she did. And we will realise contrary to popular b
eliefs there is a lot of differnces in opinion as to how many wives the prophet
PBUH actually had. This is but another issue - we just don't know about Rayahaan
a.
Its pretty obvious there are many who charge the prophet PBUH and Islam as being
anti semetic etc. No doubt the punishment was harsh, and even the prophet PBUH
was willing to comprimise if Sa'ad said so. Indeed there was the possiblity of b
eing merciful and being harsh. But even the most spiteful crticic should not and
cannot say they were killed for who they were. One can understand if you say it
was a harsh punishment, but if you claim the prophet PBUH killed them for who t
hey were, this is a lie. And none of the early scholars even entertained this po
ssibility - its so simple; they were killed because of what they did. Look at th
e context, the circumstance etc. Look at how many times they were told: three ti
mes the prophet PBUH gave them the option and made them sign their treaty. The i
ssue comes: anyone who talks about it, the entire context is ignored. This is no
t fair - when you put the situation in context you will see why the prophet PBUH

did what he did.

And by the way there is no problem with saying its harsh. So what? Sometime its
good to be harsh and sometimes its good to be merciful. Islam is the perfect way
of life because gentleness is the rule, but once in a while you must show harsh
ness and severity. You have to - otherwise people will just walk over you. There
was an element of harshness but it was deserved. And you can't always forgive you need to show there is a line you simply cannot cross.
Detronomy 20 10-14
"10 When you march up to attack a city, make its people an offer of peace. 11 If
they accept and open their gates, all the people in it shall be subject to forc
ed labor and shall work for you. 12 If they refuse to make peace and they engage
you in battle, lay siege to that city. 13 When the Lord your God delivers it in
to your hand, put to the sword all the men in it. 14 As for the women, the child
ren, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunde
r for yourselves. And you may use the plunder the Lord your God gives you from y
our enemies."
Many scholars refer to this verse in the Torah and subhanAllah its right there i
n their own book - their own punishment was exacted on them. And it was Sa'ad wh
o executed hukum'Allah. And Sa'ad is that person whom the prophet PBUH commanded
others to stand up for. He was that person who made a dua to Allah that 'allow
me to live until that day' and Allah accepted. And its mentioned when they carri
ed his body for the janazah, the sahabah said "we have never carried someone lig
hter than him". And the prophet PBUH said "why should it not be light? For veril
y 70,000 angels have come down - they have never come down except for now on thi
s Earth and they are carrying his body with you". And when Sa'ad was being burri
ed, the prophet PBUH said to him "Jazak'Allahu Kharian oh leader of the people.
You have fulfilled your promise to Allah, and Allah will fulfill His promise to
you". This is the prophet PBUH saying to Sa'ad!! This is Sa'ad ibn Mu'ad. And wh
en he was placed in his grave the prophet PBUHs face colour changed out of sadne
ss and he started saying "subhan'Allah etc" and the whole Baqee also said it. An
d then the prophet PBUH said "Allahuakbar" and the sahabah said "why the change?
" And the prophet PBUH said the beautiful haidth: "this righteous servant, for w
hom the throne of Allah shook, and for whom 70,000 angels have come down to witn
ess his shahada, he has now been squeezed in the grave and then set free. And if
anyone were to have been free from the squeezing of the grave, it would have be
en Sa'ad". This shows us as soon as the body is placed in the grave, there is a
squeeze. And he is saying if anyone would have been saved from even this, it wou
ld have been Sa'ad. And the scholars report that Sa'ad ibn Mu'ad was a tall broa
d man, fair skinned and handsome, and he died a young tragic death at the age of
37.