Editing Fortification (section)

===Pre-Islamic Arabia===

====During Muhammad's lifetime====
{{Main|List of expeditions of Muhammad}}
[[File:The Battle of the Trench.jpg|thumb|Map of defenses available during the [[Battle of the Trench]], 627. Muslim defenders repelled the Confederates using Medina's natural fortifications and makeshift trenches.]]

During [[Muhammad]]'s era in Arabia, many tribes made use of fortifications. In the [[Battle of the Trench]], the largely outnumbered defenders of Medina, mainly [[Muslim]]s led by [[Prophets of Islam|Islamic prophet]] Muhammad, dug a [[Trench warfare|trench]], which together with Medina's natural fortifications, rendered the confederate [[cavalry]] (consisting of horses and [[Camel cavalry|camels]]) useless, locking the two sides in a stalemate. Hoping to make several attacks at once, the confederates persuaded the Medina-allied [[Banu Qurayza]] to attack the city from the south. However, [[Muhammad as a diplomat|Muhammad's diplomacy]] derailed the negotiations, and broke up the confederacy against him. The well-organized defenders, the sinking of confederate morale, and poor weather conditions caused the siege to end in a fiasco.<ref name =statesman>*{{cite book | last = Watt |first=William M. | author-link = William Montgomery Watt | title = Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | year = 1974 | isbn = 978-0-19-881078-0 | page = [https://archive.org/details/muhammadprophets00watt/page/96 96] | url = https://archive.org/details/muhammadprophets00watt/page/96 }}</ref>

During the [[Siege of Ta'if]] in January 630,<ref name="Mubarakpuri 2005 481">{{citation|title=The sealed nectar: biography of the Noble Prophet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r_80rJHIaOMC&pg=PA481|first=Saifur Rahman Al|last=Mubarakpuri|year=2005|publisher=Darussalam Publications|isbn=978-9960-899-55-8|page=481|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419104753/https://books.google.com/books?id=r_80rJHIaOMC&pg=PA481|archive-date=2016-04-19}} Note: Shawwal 8AH is January 630AD</ref> Muhammad ordered his followers to attack enemies who fled from the [[Battle of Hunayn]] and sought refuge in the fortress of Taif.<ref name="William Muir p. 142">{{cite book |first=William |last=Muir |title=The life of Mahomet and history of Islam to the era of the Hegira |volume=4 |page=142}}</ref>