Volume 8 Surah 9 - Enjoy Islam

Al-Tawbah (The Repentance) | PROLOGUEArabia, leading to uncertainty. The solid base, however, remained firmly committed.Pure, strong and united, it was able to reverse the tide of apostasy and return allArabia back to Islam.This fact gives us a clear idea that God allowed the campaign of persecutionmounted against the Muslims in Makkah to continue for many years for a definitepurpose. In His wisdom, God left the tyrants of idolatry to continue their persecutionto the extent of bloodshed, killing some Muslims and torturing many others. Godknew that this was part of the proper education of the first Muslim community toform the solid base for Islam. Without such a long trial, people do not growsufficiently solid to withstand great pressures. It is such a degree of steadfastness,dedication and commitment — in the face of torture, hardship, and killings, withpeople turned away from their homes, suffering hunger and hardship, yet beingsmall in number and without any human support — that is needed by the hard coreof the new faith as it makes its first march.This hard core of the early Muhājirīn was subsequently joined by the early Anşār,and both groups formed the solid base in Madinah, before the Battle of Badr. Theywere the ones who remained strongly committed when elements of weaknessappeared following the influx of newcomers who accepted Islam after the Badrvictory, but who had not had time to integrate with the hard core or achieve its levelof commitment.The solid base itself grew in numbers so as to include, just before the fall ofMakkah, the whole Madinah society. Again, this solid base was the one to protectIslam and spare it several pitfalls after the Makkan victory, and then again at thetime of the Prophet’s death, when most parts of Arabia rebelled against Islam.While this fact explains the wisdom behind allowing the hard trial the Muslimsendured in Makkah and the great dangers faced by the Muslim society in Madinah,up to the time of signing the al-Ĥudaybiyah peace treaty, it also gives us an insightinto the method of action the Islamic message follows at all times and in all societies.All efforts should be directed at first to establish the hard core of true believers,who withstand trials and cannot be shaken. They need further education in theirfaith so as to grow in strength and awareness. Extreme caution should be exercised inorder to guard against horizontal expansion before this hard core comes into being:solidly committed and having profound insight. Indeed, shallow horizontalexpansion represents grave dangers that threaten the very existence of any Islamicmovement, because it would then be following a different way from that of the firstIslamic community and adopting a different method of action.Yet it is God who ensures that His message follows the right way. Whenever Hewishes to allow a truly Islamic movement to emerge, He exposes its early advocates15