with Muslim power. Muhammad also tried, with limited success, to break up many alliances against the Muslim expansion. Nevertheless, he was unable to prevent the Meccan one. As they had in the battles of Badr and Uhud, the Muslim army again used strategic methods against their opponents (at Badr, the Muslims surrounded the wells, but did not deprive their opponents of water since Ali did not want to follow the footsteps of the Meccan army; at the Battle of Uhud, Muslims made strategic use of the hills). In this battle, they dug a trench to render the enemy cavalry ineffective. Why did this long battle take place? The reason for this battle was to save Medina from attack, after Banu Nazir and Banu Qurayzah tribes formed an alliance with the Quraysh to attack him as revenge for expelling them from Medina during the Invasion of Banu Qaynuqa and Invasion of Banu Nadir. The Muslim scholar Ibn Kathir states: "The reason why the Confederates came was that a group of the leaders of the Banu Nadir, whom the Messenger of God had expelled from Al-Madinah to Khaybar, including Sallam bin Abu Al-Huqayq, Sallam bin Mishkam, and Kinanah bin Ar-Rabi`, went to Makkah where they met with the leaders of Quraysh and incited them to make war against the Prophet." It was also mostly due to some Meccan hate from the disbelievers to finish off the Muslims, as the prophet had given Makkah a new religion, Islam, which was meddling with the old ways, Idol Worship, and challenging with the authority of the elderly that held Makkah in a dictatorship. The Confederates Early in 627, the Banu Nadir met with the Quraysh of Mecca. Huyayy ibn Akhtab, along with other leaders from Khaybar, traveled to swear allegiance with Safwam ibn Umayya at Mecca. The bulk of the Confederate armies were gathered by the Quraysh of Makkah, led by Abu Sufyan, who fielded 4,000-foot soldiers, 300 horsemen, and 1,000–1,500 men on camels. The Banu Nadir began rousing the nomads of Najd. The Nadir enlisted the Banu Ghatafan by paying them half of their harvest. This contingent, the second-largest, added a strength of about 2,000 men and 300 horsemen led by Unaina bin Hasan Fazari. The Bani Assad also agreed to join, led by Tuleha Asadi. From the Banu Sulaym, the Nadir secured 700 men, though this force would likely have been much larger