Volume 8 Surah 9 - Enjoy Islam

Al-Tawbah (The Repentance) | PROLOGUEhas promised the ultimate good to both. God is aware of all that you do.” (57: 10)• “Take it easy, Khālid! Leave my Companions alone. By God, had you hadMount Uĥud in gold and you spent it all for God’s cause, you could not matcha single trip of any one among my Companions, nor a return trip.” (This ĥadīthis mentioned by Ibn al-Qayyim in Zād al-Ma’ād. It is the Prophet’s reply toKhālid ibn al-Walīd when he fell out with `Abd al-Raĥmān ibn `Awf — mayGod be pleased with them both. There is no doubt that Khālid ibn al-Walīd isthe man given the title Sayf Allāh, or God’s Sword, for his great achievementsas a commander of Muslim armies. `Abd al-Raĥmān, however, was one of thevery first people to accept Islam. Hence, the Prophet’s words in describingsuch a group of special distinction in the Muslim community of Madinah.)That there were these different grades on the basis of strength of faith was nobarrier to bridging the gap between them in the Madinah society before the conquestof Makkah. In fact, most of the apparent weaknesses within the ranks of the Muslimcommunity were remedied, and their symptoms disappeared. Hence the whole ofMadinah society could be considered as forming a solid Islamic basis.However, when Makkah fell to Islam in year 8, followed by the surrender of theHawāzin and the Thaqīf tribes, which were the last two large tribes to put upresistance to Islam, this ushered in a great influx of new Muslims. Needless to say,these were of different levels with regard to their outlook. Some among them werehypocrites, while others simply adopted Islam, the new overpowering force. Othersstill needed to be won over to Islam. Mostly, however, these were people who hadnot yet understood the fundamentals of Islam and their souls had not yet interactedwith its values and principles.The stubborn opposition of the Quraysh continued to act as a barrier preventingthe advance of Islam into the rest of Arabia. The Quraysh tribe had the ultimate sayin all religious matters in Arabia, and it exercised a very strong influence overeconomic, political and social matters. Hence its determined and uncompromisingopposition to the new faith ensured that the rest of Arabia turned away from it, or atleast adopted a wait and see attitude until the fight between the Quraysh and one ofits children had produced a clear winner. When the Quraysh declared its submission,followed by the major tribes of Hawāzin and Thaqīf, and when the three main Jewishtribes in Madinah had previously been subdued, and those of Khaybar had beendefeated, people embraced the new faith in flocks. The whole of Arabia submitted toIslam within one year.Advances and WeaknessesThis rapid expansion in the geographical area of Islam heralded the resurgence, on13