Ghatafan

There was a reason why Rasulullah chose that location.

The Jews of Khyber had asked the Ghatafan for help and they had accepted.

They had promised that, when necessary, they would come and fight the Muslim army from inside the forts of Khyber.

The Prophet had learned of this situation.

He first went to Bani Qurayza and planted doubt in their hearts.

If the Quraysh and the Ghatafan fail to defeat the Muslims, they will go back home and leave you alone.

And then the Muhammad will easily be able to punish you.

If you don't want that to happen, ask the Quraysh and the Ghatafan to give you some of their men as hostages.

That way, they won't betray you because they would never risk losing their own people.

After that, Noaim went to the Quraysh and said,

They promised the Muslims that in return for forgiveness for breaking the treaty, they would capture 70 men from the Quraysh and hand them over for execution.

So if the Jews ask for any of your men as hostages, do not accept anything like that.

So they sent a delegation of 19 men to persuade the Quraysh and other Arab tribes to go to war against the Prophet Alayhi Salatu Wasallam.

They would first visit the Quraysh, then the tribes of Ghatafan and Banu Sulaym, and after them, many other Arab tribes.

This is why this battle was also known as the Battle of Al-Ahzab, the Battle of the Confederates, because many tribes, large and small, would gather together to stand against the Muslims.

The Jewish delegation made an agreement with the Quraysh and secured their first ally.

But that wasn't enough for them.

To gain more support, they went to the tribe of Ghatafan, who lived between Mecca and Najd, and it didn't take much time to convince them either.

Soon after, the Banu Sulaym also agreed to join forces with them.

It wasn't only the Jewish delegation.

How-- So the Quraysh got confederates, allies from the north.

The northern alliance, the Ghatafan and the different tribes w-joined the Quraysh to attack Medina.

So they did that.

They could have done that too.