As for her stand on the Day of the Trench, it is a brief yet gripping tale whose warp is shrewdness and insight, and whose woof (1) is bravery and resolve…

Here, then, is the account as preserved by the historians. (2)

It was the practice of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—whenever he set out on a military expedition, to place the women and children in fortified strongholds, fearing that some treacherous enemy might attack Medina in the absence of its defenders.

Accordingly, on the Day of the Trench he lodged his wives, his aunt, and a group of Muslim women in a fortress that belonged to Ḥassān ibn Thābit (3), inherited from his forefathers. It was one of the most impregnable forts of Medina and the hardest to reach.

Meanwhile, the Muslims were stationed along the edges (4)