It is narrated from Sayyiduna Hudhayfah bin al-Yaman (may Allah be pleased with him) that on the night of (the Battle of) al-Ahzab the people had dispersed from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) (due to the severe cold and fear), and only twelve men remained with him (peace and blessings be upon him). Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to me while I was sitting with my head between my knees because of the intensity of the cold. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O son of al-Yaman! Get up and go to the camp of the Confederates (the army of the disbelievers), and see what state they are in." I said: O Messenger of Allah! By the One who sent you with the truth, I have stood up (to carry out your command) only out of shyness before you; otherwise the cold is very severe. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Go out; this morning cold will not harm you. O son of al-Yaman! Go, and until you return to me, you will feel neither heat nor will the cold affect you." Sayyiduna Hudhayfah says: So I reached their camp and saw that Abu Sufyan was kindling a fire with a group around him, and the rest of the army had dispersed from there. He says: I went and sat among them, and Abu Sufyan sensed that a stranger had entered among them. He said: Let each one of you take hold of the hand of the companion sitting beside him (to identify him). Sayyiduna Hudhayfah says: (Acting cleverly) I immediately struck my hand on the hand of the man to my right and took hold of his hand, then I struck my hand on the man to my left and held his hand (so that they could not question me). I stayed among them for a little while, then got up from there and came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He (peace and blessings be upon him) was standing in prayer. He (peace and blessings be upon him) signaled to me with his hand to come near. I came near, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) signaled again that I should come nearer, until he (peace and blessings be upon him) put over me the sheet that he (peace and blessings be upon him) had wrapped around himself during the prayer. When he (peace and blessings be upon him) finished his prayer, he said: "O son of al-Yaman! Sit down; what news have you brought?" I said: O Messenger of Allah! The people have dispersed from Abu Sufyan, and only a small group remains, warming themselves at a fire. Allah Almighty has sent upon them the same cold as was upon us, but the difference is that we hope from Allah what they do not hope (help and reward). This hadith has an authentic (sahih) chain of narration, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he said: On the day of the Trench a man from the polytheists was killed. They expressed their wish to take his body to bury it, but the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) refused to hand over the body until they had paid its ransom. And Amr bin Abd Wadd of Banu Amir bin Lu'ayy was killed by Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) in single combat. This hadith has an authentic (sahih) chain of narration, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it. It also has a very unusual supporting narration (shahid).

Bahz bin Hakim narrates from his father, who narrates from his grandfather, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Ali bin Abi Talib's coming out to face (the disbelieving champion) Amr bin Abd Wadd in single combat on the day of the Trench is more excellent than all the (voluntary) deeds of my Ummah until the Day of Resurrection."

It is narrated from Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri that on the day of the Battle of the Trench, Amr bin Abd Wadd was killed from among the polytheists; Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) sent him to Hell. The chain of this narration, with regard to the Maghazi (history of the military expeditions), is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim).

Ibn Ishaq narrates that Amr bin Abd Wadd was counted among the three renowned horsemen of Quraysh. He fought at the Battle of Badr until wounds crippled him, because of which he could not take part in the Battle of Uhud. Then when the battle of the Trench took place, he came out wearing a special mark so that people might witness his bravery. When he came and halted with his horsemen, Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him: "O Amr! You made a pledge to Allah for the sake of Quraysh that whenever any man invited you to one of two things, you would certainly accept one of them." Amr said: Yes (that is correct). Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I invite you to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, to His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and to Islam." He said: I have no need of that. He said: "Then I invite you to single combat (mubarazah)." He said: O my nephew! Why so? By Allah! I do not like to kill you. Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "But by Allah! I would like to kill you." Hearing this, Amr became enraged. He dismounted from his horse, hamstrung it (to cut off any thought of retreat), then advanced and challenged: Who will fight me? Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), fully covered in iron (helmet and armor), stood up and said: O Prophet of Allah! I am ready to face him. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He is Amr bin Abd Wadd; sit down." Amr called out loudly again: Is there no man? At this the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) permission, and he advanced towards him reciting these verses: "Do not be hasty, for the one answering your call has come to you, and he is not incapable; he is a man of sincere intention and insight, and truthfulness is the means of salvation for everyone who succeeds. I hope that I will raise over you the wailing of funeral mourners, with a gaping blow whose mention will remain forever in terrible battles." Amr asked: Who are you? He said: "I am Ali." He asked: Whose son? He said: "The son of Abd Manaf; I am Ali bin Abi Talib." He said: O my nephew! There are people in your family older than you; go back, for I dislike shedding your blood. Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "But by Allah! I do not at all dislike shedding your blood." Hearing this he became furious, got down from his mount and drew his sword, which was gleaming like a flame of fire. Then in a state of rage he rushed towards Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). He blocked his blow with his shield. Amr struck the shield with such a forceful blow that he split it, and the sword, lodging in it, struck his head and wounded him. Then Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) struck him on the neck, and he collapsed and a cloud of dust rose up. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) heard the takbir and knew that Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) had killed him. At that time Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) composed these verses: "Do horsemen charge at me like this? My companions have been kept away from me and from them. Today my sense of honor and a sharp sword that sinks into the head keep me from fleeing. Ibn Abd swore a false oath at that time, and I too swore an oath, so hear from this liar that I will not accept as truthful one who shows cowardice. Then two men met, striking each other with full force. I turned back when I had left him rolling in the dust, like a tree trunk lying between the hillocks and the level ground. I refrained from stripping his clothes, although if I had been the one thrown down, he would have stripped me of my clothes. He worshipped stones out of the foolishness of his mind, and I worshipped the Lord of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) with insight." Then he came towards the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) with his face glowing with joy. Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Why did you not take off his coat of mail? The Arabs had no coat of mail better than it. He said: "I struck him and he became exposed, so I felt ashamed before my cousin to strip him of his clothing." After that, his fellow horsemen fled in defeat until they fell (while trying to save their lives) into the trench.

Asim bin Umar bin Qatadah narrates that when Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) killed Amr bin Abd Wadd, his sister Amrah bint Abd Wadd composed these verses in lamentation for him: "Had the killer of Amr been anyone other than him, I would have kept weeping as long as my soul remained in my body; but his killer is one who cannot be faulted, and who since long ago has been called the honor and chief of the city."

Yahya bin Adam says: I have found the killing of Amr bin Abd Wadd at the hands of Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) to be like nothing but this saying of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic: "And Dawud killed Jalut (Goliath)." [Al-Baqarah: 251] So the Muslims defeated them by the permission of Allah.

It is narrated from Urwah bin al-Zubayr that on the day of the Battle of the Trench, from among the disbelievers of Quraysh, of Banu Amir bin Lu'ayy and then of Banu Malik bin Hisl, Amr bin Abd Wadd bin Nasr bin Malik bin Hisl was killed by Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him). Imam al-Hakim says: I have mentioned, regarding the killing of Amr bin Abd Wadd, what reached me from the hadith with chains (musnad) and from the Maghazi of Urwah bin al-Zubayr, Musa bin Uqbah and Muhammad bin Ishaq bin Yasar, so that it may be established before the fair-minded among the people of knowledge that Amr bin Abd Wadd was killed only by the Commander of the Believers Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him), and that no one else shared in killing him. What prompted me to such a thorough investigation of this matter was the statement of a Kharijite who claimed that Muhammad bin Maslamah also struck him a blow and took some of his belongings. By Allah! This has not reached us from any Companion or Successor. And how could this be correct, when the statement of Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) has reached us in which he said: "I held myself above taking the belongings of my cousin, so I left them," and this was his reply to the Commander of the Believers Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was sitting with her when a man greeted us with salam while we were in the house. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) immediately stood up in alarm, and I followed him out and saw that it was Dihyah al-Kalbi (that is, Jibril (peace be upon him) in his form). He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This is Jibril; he is commanding me to go to Banu Qurayzah. He said: You have laid down your weapons, but we have not yet laid them down; we pursued the polytheists until we reached Hamra' al-Asad." This happened when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had returned from the Trench. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) got up quickly and said to his Companions: "I make it binding upon you that none of you should pray the Asr prayer until you reach Banu Qurayzah." The sun set before they reached them. One group of the Muslims said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not intend that you should abandon the prayer, so they prayed. Another group said: We are carrying out the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and there is no sin upon us (for the delay). So one group prayed out of faith and in hope of reward, and the other group delayed the prayer (on the way) out of faith and in hope of reward, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not find fault with either group. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) set out and passed by some gatherings that lay between him and Qurayzah. He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Has anyone passed by you?" They said: Dihyah al-Kalbi passed by us on a white mule, with a silk cloth beneath him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "That was not Dihyah; rather, it was Jibril (peace be upon him), who has been sent to Banu Qurayzah to shake them and cast terror into their hearts." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) besieged them and ordered his Companions to take cover behind their shields so that he could make them hear his words. He called out to them: "O brothers of apes and swine!" They said: O Abu al-Qasim! You were never one to use foul speech. He continued the siege until they surrendered to the judgment of Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him), who was their ally. He judged concerning them that their fighting men should be killed, and their children and women taken captive. This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), because both of them relied on Abdullah bin Umar al-Umari in supporting narrations, but they did not record it.

It is narrated from Atiyyah al-Qurazi (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: At the time of (the judgement on) Banu Qurayzah we were presented before the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and whoever among us had reached puberty or had grown pubic hair was killed. They looked at me, and my pubic hair had not yet grown, so I was left alone. This hadith has an authentic (sahih) chain of narration, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it; and it has several chains from Abd al-Malik bin Umayr, among them (those of) al-Thawri, Shu'bah and Zuhayr.