Surah 48: Al-Fath
The Holy Qur’an with English Translation and Commentary (Five Volume Commentary)
[a]In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.[3816A]
[3816A] Commentary:
See 1:1.
[a] See 1:1.
Verily, We have granted thee a clear victory, [3817]
[3817] Commentary:
The reference in the words "a clear victory" seems to be to the Treaty of Hudaibiyyah. It is remarkable that though, during the previous brief six years of his life at Medina, the Holy Prophet had gained great victories over his enemies which had crippled and crushed their fighting power, yet none of them is called "a clear victory" in the Holy Qur’an. It was reserved for the Treaty of Hudaibiyyah to receive this single honour, in spite of the fact that its terms were seemingly so humiliating that the Muslims were greatly perturbed over this apparently rude rebuff to the prestige of Islam, and even a stalwart like ‘Umar exclaimed in extreme grief and indignation that had the terms been settled by any other person than the Holy Prophet, he would have scorned to listen to them (Hisham). The Treaty was indeed a great victory in that it opened the way to the expansion and spread of Islam and led to the Fall of Mecca and ultimately to the conquest of the whole of Arabia. It proved to be a master stroke of strategy as the Holy Prophet’s "political status as an equal and independent power was acknowledged by the Quraish" (Mohammad at Medina by Montgomery Watt).
As the Treaty of Hudaibiyyah constitutes a great landmark in the early history of Islam and as it forms the principal topic dealt with in the Surah under comment, it needs to be treated at some length.
The Holy Prophet had seen a vision that he was making a circuit of the Ka‘bah along with a party of his followers. In fulfilment of his vision, the Prophet started for Mecca with about 1500 Muslims to perform the Lesser Pilgrimage in 6 A.H., in the month of Dhul-Qa‘dah, one of the four sacred months in which, according to Arab tradition and usage, fighting was forbidden, even before Islam. When he reached ‘Usfan, a place a few miles distant from Mecca, he was informed by an advance party whom he had sent under the command of ‘Abbad bin Bishar that the Quraish were bent upon barring his entry into Mecca. In order to avoid an armed clash the Prophet changed his route and "after a fatiguing march through devious and rugged pathways reached Hudaibiyyah," where he encamped. The Prophet had declared that he would accept all the demands of the Quraish for the honour of the Holy Place (Hisham), but the Quraish were firmly resolved not to allow him to enter Mecca, whatever he might say or do. Messages were exchanged in an attempt to find a solution to the impasse. After heated and protracted parleys in which the Holy Prophet left no stone unturned, even at the cost of his prestige, to arrive at a reasonable compromise with the Quraish, a treaty was signed of which the terms were:
War shall be suspended for ten years. Whosoever would like to join the Holy Prophet or enter into treaty with him, shall have liberty to do so. The same will apply to whosoever would like to join the Quraish or enter into treaty with them. If a believing man goes over to the Prophet from Mecca without the permission of his guardian, he shall be sent back to his guardian; but should any of the followers of the Prophet return to the Quraish, they shall not be sent back. The Prophet shall retire this year without entering the city. Next year he and his Companions may visit Mecca only for three days to perform عمرة (Lesser Pilgrimage), but they shall carry no arms save sheathed swords (Bukhari, Hisham & Muir).
The terms of the Treaty were demonstrably very humiliating. The Muslims were greatly upset. No words could adequately describe their grief, and sense of humiliation and injured pride. The third term was particularly galling. But the Holy Prophet was quite calm and tranquil. Being convinced of the moral force of Islam, he knew that "a believer who had once tasted the sweetness of faith would prefer to be cast into fire than to revert to disbelief" (Bukhari), and that he would be a source of strength to his religion and other believers wherever he might happen to be. The case of Abu Basir, and that of Abu Jandal and their associates fully justified his conviction. He wanted to have a peaceful atmosphere. He knew that a peaceful soil was most congenial for the spread of Islam, and Islam did spread very rapidly after the signing of the Treaty of Hudaibiyyah. When as a result of violation by the Quraish of the terms of the Treaty, the Prophet marched on Mecca two years later, ten thousand faithful Companions were under his command, instead of the paltry 1500 who were with him on the occasion of the signing of the Treaty. Thus the Treaty and its aftermath gave in advance the direct lie to the false and foolish propaganda that was to be conducted by Christian missionaries in our own time, that Islam was propagated by the sword.
One immediate effect of the Treaty was that the tribes of Banu Khuza‘ah entered into an alliance with the Holy Prophet, while the Banu Bakar sided with the Quraish, an incident which later on led to the march on Mecca. The Treaty did indeed prove to be "a clear victory." The Companions of the Holy Prophet were rightly proud of being present on the occasion, and quite justified in regarding the signing of the Treaty, and not the conquest of Mecca as "the victory referred to in the present verse" (Bukhari). According to them no victory was greater and more far-reaching in its results and effects than this Treaty (Hisham). And the Holy Prophet himself called it a victory (Baihaqi as quoted by Zurqani).
That Allah may cover up for thee thy shortcomings, past and future, and that He may complete His favour upon thee, and may guide thee on a right path;[3818]
[3818] Important Words:
لیغفر (that He may cover up). They say غفر المتاع i.e. he put the goods into the bag and covered and protected them. غفران and مغفرة both infinitive nouns mean, protection and preservation. مغفر means, helmet and غفارة means, cloth worn beneath the veil to keep it clean (Lane, Mufradat & Aqrab). See also 2:59; 14:42 & 40:56.
ذنبک (thy shortcomings). ذنبه means, he followed his trail, not quitting his track. ذنب therefore, signifies such natural failings or frailties as adhere to human nature. أذنب means, he committed a sin, a crime, a misdemeanour, fault, etc. According to Imam Raghib ذنب means, such errors and mistakes as bring about a harmful result. It differs from اثم in being either intentional or committed through inadvertence while اثم is peculiarly intentional (Lane). See also 3:17.
Commentary:
The verse has been deliberately misrepresented, or, through lack of knowledge of Arabic idiom and phrase, misinterpreted, by Christian missionaries as signifying that the Holy Prophet was guilty of some moral lapses. But it bears no such construction. It is an article of faith with Muslims, as enjoined by the Holy Qur’an that God’s Prophets are born sinless and they remain sinless throughout their lives. They are incapable of saying or doing anything contrary to Divine commandments (21:28). As they are commissioned by God to purge men of sins, they cannot themselves commit sins. And of Divine Messengers the Holy Prophet was the noblest and the purest. The Holy Qur’an abounds in verses which speak in glowing terms of the purity and spotlessness of his life. Here are a few of them:
(a) Say, if you love Allah, follow me; then will Allah love you (3:32). (b) Verily, Allah has conferred a favour on the believers by raising among them a Messenger from among themselves, who recites to them His signs, and purifies them and teaches them the Book and wisdom (3:165). (c) Say, my Prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are all for Allah, the Lord of all the worlds (6:163). (d) Those who follow the Messenger, the Prophet, the Immaculate (sinless) One…(7:158). (e) O ye who believe! respond to Allah, and the Messenger when he (the Messenger) calls you that he may give you life (8:25). (f) Verily, you have in the Prophet of Allah an excellent model (33:22). (g) Verily, those who swear allegiance to thee, indeed, swear allegiance to Allah (48:11). (h) Your Companion has neither erred, nor has he gone astray, nor does he speak out of his own desire (53:3-4). (i) And thou dost surely possess very high moral excellences (68:5). (j) A noble Messenger, possessor of power, established in the presence of the Lord of the Throne, one who should be obeyed and who is faithful to his trust (81:20-22).
A man of such high moral stature, as the Holy Prophet, who raised a whole people sunk into the lowest depths of moral turpitude to the highest pinnacles of spiritual eminence, could not possibly be guilty of such moral lapses as his detractors seek to impute to him.
A quite simple and harmless word— ذنب —is taken advantage of to malign him. The word, among other things, signifies such frailties as adhere to human nature, and errors as are calculated to bring about harmful results. In this sense of the word the verse signifies that God would protect the Holy Prophet from the harmful results that would follow in the wake of the promised victory referred to in the preceding verse, inasmuch as, large masses of people would enter the fold of Islam, and naturally their moral and spiritual training and upbringing would not be of the desired standard. That is why wherever in the Holy Qur’an success and victories are promised to the Holy Prophet, he is enjoined to seek protection of God from his ذنب i.e. human weakness which might stand in the way of the realization of his great mission which is the spread and expansion of Islam and the creation of a disciplined community of high morals. The fact that of the four words جناح and جرم and اثم and ذنب, which possess almost similar connotations, the first three have not been used in the Holy Qur’an with regard to Prophets of God, shows that ذنب does not possess the sinister meaning which the other three words possess. Besides, according to the idiom in the Holy Qur’an, the expression ذنبک, if at all ذنب be taken to signify a sin or crime, would mean "the sins attributed to thee or alleged to have been committed by thee or the sins committed against thee." Elsewhere in the Holy Qur’an (5:30) a similar expression اثمی (my sin) means, the sin committed against me. Thus the verse under comment means that as a result of the great victory, i.e. the Treaty of Hudaibiyyah, all the sins and crimes and faults which his enemies imputed to the Holy Prophet, viz. that he was a cheat, an impostor or forger of lies against God and man, etc., would prove to be false, inasmuch as all sorts of people by coming into contact with Muslims would find out the truth about him. Moreover, the context also supports this meaning because grant of a clear victory and the completion of Divine favour upon the Holy Prophet, referred to in this and the preceding verse do not seem to possess any relevance to the forgiveness of sins, if ذنب be taken to mean a sin. And the expression لک may also mean "for thy sake".
The words "past and present" signify that the charges that have been levelled against the Holy Prophet in the past by the Quraish and those that will be levelled against him in future by his enemies, will all be dispelled and he will stand completely vindicated. The words seem to embody a great prophecy that in some future time the Holy Prophet will be misrepresented and misunderstood but that all misunderstandings will eventually be dissipated and Islam will shine forth in full glory, and its superiority will be established over all rival Faiths.
And that Allah may help thee with a mighty help.[3819]
[3819] Commentary:
Allah’s help came in the form of the rapid spread of Islam in Arabia after the signing of the Treaty of Hudaibiyyah, and the Holy Prophet was acknowledged as the Head of an independent sovereign State.
He it is Who sent down tranquillity into the hearts of the believers[a] that they might add faith to their faith—[b]and to Allah belong the hosts of the heavens and the earth, and Allah is All-Knowing, Wise—[3820]
[3820] Commentary:
Twice, in this Surah has the statement been made that "God sent down tranquillity upon the believers" (see v. 27) and twice the declaration that "to Allah belong the hosts of the heavens and the earth." These expressions show that though, due to a misunderstanding about the terms of the Treaty of Hudaibiyyah, the believers were temporarily perturbed, they never lost peace of mind so far as fighting in the cause of Allah was concerned, and were fully convinced that divine hosts were with them. That is why when a false news reached Hudaibiyyah that ‘Uthman, the Prophet’s envoy to the Meccans, had been killed, and the Prophet invited Muslims to take a solemn oath at his hand that they would avenge the death of ‘Uthman and would fight under his banner to the bitter end, all of them took the oath without evincing the least hesitation.
[a] 9:26.
[b] 33:10; 74:32.
That He may make the believing men and the believing women enter the Gardens beneath which streams flow, wherein they will abide, and that [a]He may remove their evils from them—and that, in the sight of Allah, is the supreme triumph—
[a] 8:30; 64:10; 66:9.
And that He may punish the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women[b], and the idolatrous men and the idolatrous women, who entertain evil thoughts concerning Allah. [c]On them shall fall an evil calamity; and the wrath of Allah is upon them. And He has cursed them, and has prepared Hell for them. And that indeed is an evil destination.[3821]
[b] 33:25.
[c] 9:98.
[3821] Important Words:
دائرة (calamity) is derived from دار which means, it (an event) came about. دار الدھر means, the time took a turn; it changed. دار بینھم الکأس means, the wine-cup went round them. دائرة means, the circuit of a thing; an evil turn of fortune; calamity; defeat; rout; slaughter; death. دارت علیھم الدوائر means, calamities befell them (Lane & Aqrab).
Commentary:
The verse means that every turn of fortune adds to the faith of believers and any addition to faith of believers increases the heart-burning and jealousy of disbelievers and the hypocrites. The latter had entertained the false hope that the terms of the Treaty of Hudaibiyyah would bring about a weakening of faith among the believers but the opposite happened and this caused heart-burning among them.
[a]And to Allah belong the hosts of the heavens and the earth; and Allah is Mighty, Wise.[3822]
[a] See 48:5.
[3822] Commentary:
The verse warns disbelievers and hypocrites that all their evil thoughts and designs against believers would do the latter no harm, because Allah is with them and His hosts are at their back.
We have sent thee as a witness and [b]a bearer of glad tidings and a Warner,[3822A]
[b] 25:57; 33:46; 35:25.
[3822A] Commentary:
The verse refers to three attributes of the Holy Prophet. He was شاھد i.e. his whole life constituted a standing testimony to the existence of the Almighty God Who gave him success against very heavy odds. He was مبشر because he gave believers the glad tidings of bliss and benediction in this life as well as in the life to come, and he was نذیر (Warner) for those who rejected his Message.
That you should believe in Allah and His Messenger, and may help him, and honour him[c], and that you may glorify Him morning and evening.
[c] 5:13.
Verily, those who swear allegiance to thee indeed swear allegiance to Allah. The hand of Allah is over their hands. So whoever breaks his oath, breaks it to his own loss; and whoever fulfils the covenant that he has made with Allah, He will surely give him a great reward.[3823]
[3823] Commentary:
The reference in the verse is to the oath taken by the believers at the hands of the Holy Prophet under a tree at Hudaibiyyah when a rumour reached him that ‘Uthman, his special envoy, had been killed by the Meccans. The believers were asked to declare on solemn oath that they would stand by the Holy Prophet at all costs and would fight under his banner to the bitter end.
Those of the desert Arabs, who contrived to be left behind, will say to thee, [a]‘Our possessions and our families kept us occupied, so ask forgiveness for us.’ [b]They say with their tongues that which is not in their hearts. Say, ‘[c]Who can avail you aught against Allah, if He intends you some harm, or if He intends you some benefit? Nay, Allah is Well-Aware of what you do.[3824]
[a] 102:2.
[b] 3:168.
[c] 13:17; 25:4.
[3824] Commentary:
Reference in this verse is to those Bedouin tribes around Medina who apparently had friendly relations with the Muslims. These tribes were also invited to join the party of 1500 Muslims who were going to Mecca to perform the Lesser Pilgrimage (عمرة). Though the Prophet was going on a mission of peace, these desert tribes thought that the Quraish would not allow his entry into Mecca and that in all likelihood there would be a clash of arms and Muslims not being properly armed would be defeated, and therefore going with the Holy Prophet was tantamount to marching into the jaws of death (Muir, Hisham & Kathir). The verse may equally apply to those tribes who had remained behind in the expedition to Tabuk because analogous words have been used in Surah At-Taubah about them.