Surah Al-Fat'h - Farhat Hashmi

Surah Al-Fat’hPara-26 In the sixth year after their migration to Madinah, The Messengerof Allah, Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) along with fourteen hundredcompanions, proceeded on a journey to Makkah with the intention ofperforming Umrah. But the disbelieving Quraish stopped them atHudabiya and refused to let them enter Makkah. After that, therefollowed some negotiations between them, which resulted in anagreement, which later became known as the famous pact ofHudabiya. Apparently almost all of the clauses of this treaty were infavour of the Quraish. According to it, the Muslims were to go backto Madinah without doing Umrah, and so they were bitterlydisappointed and heartbroken. Anyone who has ever been stopped enroute a long awaited journey and forced to go back, can understandthe pain they were feeling of apparent defeat and humiliation at thehands of the disbelievers. So with heavy hearts they returned back,but even before they reached Madinah, Allah’s revelation came uponthem, giving them the most unexpected good news, that through thisincident Allah had blessed them with a clear victory:{1} O Prophet, Surely We have granted you a manifest victoryApparently there was no sign of any victory yet but it was a greatassurance from Allah that the treaty of Hudabiya was in fact agreat conquest for the Prophet (s.a.w) and His followers. And that isexactly the way it turned out eventually, as one of the clauses ofthis pact was that there will be no war between the Quraish and theMuslims for the next ten years. Thus the Muslims had a peaceful

environment which enabled them to preach and spread Islamthroughout Arabia, with such speed and spirit that within two yearsthe number of people who embraced Islam was far more than theprevious nineteen years. Moreover it was due to this treaty thatwhen the Quraish violated it two years later, it open the way for theProphet (s.a.w) to conquer Makkah. Similarly, the other things aboutthe treaty, which seemed to be against the interests of Muslims,eventually proved to be a blessing in disguise; thus Allah completedhis favour and blessings on the Believers: {2} so that Allah may forgive your past as well as your future sins, and may perfectHis blessings upon you, and keep you on the Right Way,Allah is always on the side of those who believe in Him and sacrificetheir personal interests in His way. At some point in time it mayappear that things are going against us but we should never doubtAllah’s help. Some things may be difficult to accept but if oneremains patient and keeps going on the straight path, he will findsuccess..... just round the corner:{3}and that Allah may bestow on you His mighty help. [3] Why does Allah put us through these tests? Why don’t things alwaysgo as we plan? It is because these tests and trials increase us in ourfaith and our level of goodness. We become strong and work evenharder for the sake of Allah. Routine life makes us dull and gettingeverything to our hearts desire makes us arrogant and self-centred.These are not the qualities which Allah wants in us so He makes usgo through these difficult times for our self purification:

{4} It was He who sent down tranquillity into the hearts of the believers, so thatthey may add more faith to their Faith. To Allah belong the forces of theheavens and the earth. Allah is All-Knowledgeable, All-Wise. [4]The believers’ ultimate goal is the Hereafter and not the benefits ofthis world anyway: {5} so that He may admit the believing men and believing women into the gardensbeneath which rivers flow, to live therein forever and remove their ills fromthem; and that is the highest achievement for men in the sight of Allah. [5]So whatever takes us to this beautiful end is a blessing; whether it’ssomething good that happens to us and we do shukr and get reward,or something bad happens on which we do sabar and get reward. Lifeis an ever changing test; the only thing that should never change isour commitment with Allah and His Messenger.{9} So that you, O people, may believe in Allah and His Rasool, and that you mayhelp him and honour him and glorify Allah morning and evening. [9]Before the actual agreement at Hudabiya had taken place, The HolyProphet (s.a.w) had sent Hazrat Usman (r.a) to Makkah as anambassador of peace, so that he might convince the Quraish aboutthe harmless intentions of the Prophet and his companions to doUmrah only. The Makkans did not accept it and thus he got delayedin returning back. A rumour broke out that Usman (a.s) had beenkilled. Now the killing of an ambassador was a serious crime and notsomething to be overlooked; so the Prophet (s.a.w) took oath from all

his companions that they will take revenge for Usman’s blood and willnot return to Madinah without doing so. Now we have to understandthe situation to grasp the enormity of this oath. They were so farfrom home, so few in number, unarmed, and right into the hands oftheir worst enemies.......yet they did not hesitate in doing the rightthing, even if their own lives were at stake. This sincerity of theircommitment and firmness made Allah so pleased with them that itbecame known as the “bay’at-e-Rizwan” ........the oath for Allah’spleasure. Thus Allah pays tribute to these true and fearless heroesin the following verse: {10}Surely those who swore allegiance to you O Prophet, indeed swore allegianceto Allah Himself. The Hand of Allah was above their hands. Now, the one whowill break his pledge, will break it at his own peril, and the one who will keephis pledge that he has made with Allah, shall soon be given a great reward byHim. [10]A majority of us read about these things and say: yes, we also wantto serve Allah in this way; but when the time comes to sacrificesome of our comforts, some of our interests, then we lag behind.And the problem is that we don’t even recognize our mistakes;rather we make excuses and this makes us fall back even deeper intoour state of negligence. This is the same attitude which wasdisplayed at that time by the Bedouin Arabs who had entered Islambut were not ready to sacrifice anything for it:

{11} The Bedouin Arabs who stayed behind will soon say to you: “Our goods andfamilies kept us occupied, so please ask forgiveness for us.” They say with theirtongues what is not in their hearts. Tell them: “Who can intervene on yourbehalf with Allah if it be His will to do you harm or He pleases to do you good?Allah is well aware of your actions.[11]See how it angers Allah that we say something which we don’tactually feel in our hearts. Lying or pretending is something that hasbecome such a common disease that we hardly ever notice itourselves. But we should remember that we cannot harm anyone elsewith our lies and pretence except our own self. Whoever wishes toplease Allah and gain the rewards of Paradise will have to prove thetruth of his claims....like these brave companions of the Prophet(s.a.w) about whom Allah says: {18} Allah was well pleased with the believers when they swore allegiance to youunder the tree. He knew what was in their hearts, so He sent down tranquillityupon them and He rewarded them with a speedy victory,[18]The reason why they had taken upon this journey in the first place,despite the unfavourable circumstances, was that Allah Himself hadrevealed to the Prophet (s.a.w), in a dream in which he had seen thatthe believers were doing all the rites of the Umrah. Now, when theyreturned home without having fulfilled this long awaited desire, thepeople started speculating on why the Prophet’s dream had not cometrue? Some believers asked the Prophet about it, to which he repliedthat in the dream he had not been told the specific time of its

fulfilment. And since according to the treaty of hudabiya, theQuraish had promised that they will let them do Umrah next year inpeace then it meant that the dream was truly a revelation fromAllah. The following ayat refers to the same promise: {27} Indeed Allah has in all truth shown the vision to His Rasool, that, Allah willing,you shall enter the Masjid-al-Harãm (Ka'bah) fearless and secure to performUmrah or Hajj and some having their heads shaved and others having their haircut, for He knows what you do not know. So, He granted you a near victorybefore the fulfillment of that vision.[27]Belief in the Prophet is crucial for our deen. How can we be Muslimsif we don’t believe or follow the one who conveyed to us the messageof Allah? Therefore Allah reminds us: {28} It is He who has sent His Rasool with Guidance and the religion of truth, so thatHe may exalt this religion over all other religions: and sufficient is Allah as awitness.[28]And finally we come to the end of this magnificent Surah. The lastAyat is a tribute to the Prophet (s.a.w) and his blessed companions.And it shows how much Allah valued their faith and commitment. Letus see this Ayat in detail as it covers several points. But as we readit, we should think about our own level of faith and compare it withtheirs; because they are the ideals which we should follow if we wantto reach Paradise.It starts with a clear declaration that Muhammad (s.a.w) is theMessenger of Allah: