| Surah Aal Imran, 121-123
"And when you left your house in the morning in order to place the believers in positions for fighting. And Allah is all-Hearing, all-Knowing. [121] When two of your groups were about to lose heart, while Allah was their guardian. And it is in Allah alone that the believers must place their trust. [122] And Allah certainly supported you at Badr when you were weak. So, fear Allah that you may be grateful."[123] (3:121-123)
Sequence
In the previous verses, it was said that no power could harm Muslims if they observed patience and fear of Allah (sabr and taqwa). Now, the temporary set-back faced by Muslims during the battle of Uhud was due to their failure to observe these rules of conduct fully. The present verses remind Muslims of what happened during the battle of Uhud, and also, of their victory at the battle of Badr.
Commentary
Before we proceed to explain these verses, it is appropriate that we have before us a sequence of events that came to pass at Uhud.
The Background Of The Battle Of Uhud
It was the month of Ramadan, Hijrah year 2, when the Quraysh army and the Muslim mujahidin fought a battle at Badr in which 70 well-known kuffar (disbelievers) of Makkah were killed and an equal number was taken prisoners. This defeat, disastrous and disgraceful it was, and really the first instalment of Divine punishment, incensed the Quraysh; their search for revenge knew no bounds. The relatives of Quraysh chiefs who were killed at Badr, appealing to the traditional Arab pride, resolved that they would not rest until they have avenged their defeat at Badr at the hands of the Muslims. They proposed to Makkans that the sale proceeds from things brought in by their trade caravan from Syria should be spent on nothing but this war so that they can avenge the slaying of their comrades by Muhammad Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him and his companions. To this, everybody agreed and it was in the Hijrah year 3 that the Quraysh, along with several other tribes as well, marched out to mount an attack on Madinah. The invading force included even women so that they could appeal to the sense of honour their men had and implore them not to retreat, if they ever did.
When this armed force of three thousand strong, all laced with weapons and other logistics, pitched up its tents near the mountain of Uhud, about three or four miles outside Madinah, the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him went into consultation with Muslims. In his blessed opinion, warding off the enemy by staying in Madinah was easy and more likely to succeed. This was the first time that the leader of the hypocrites, 'Abdullah ibn Ubayy, who outwardly went along with Muslims, was asked to give his opinion, which turned out to be the same as that of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him. But, some zealous Muslims, who were unable to take part in the Badr encounter and were intensely eager to lay down their lives in the cause of Islam, insisted that they should go out and fight the enemy in the open so that the enemy does not take them to be cowards. To this, the majority turned.
In the meantime, the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him went to his house and when he came out, he had his armour on. At that point of time, some people thought that they had forced him, against his opinion, to lead the fight outside Madinah in the open. Realizing what they did was wrong, they submitted to him that he could act according to his opinion and stay in Madinah. The answer was: 'It does not behove a prophet, once he has put on his armour and taken up his arms, to put them off without fighting.' This one sentence is'sufficient to clarify the difference between a prophet and a non-prophet. A prophet cannot show weakness in that capacity. Then, here lies a lesson for the community as well.
When the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him left Madinah on his way to confront the enemy, he had about a thousand men with him, but the hypocrite 'Abdullah ibn Ubayy broke off enroute with about three hundred men, saying: 'When my advice was rejected and action was taken on the advice of others, why should we fight and why should we endanger our lives?' Obviously, most of his comrades were hypocrites, yet there were some Muslims too who swallowed the bait and tugged along with them.
Finally, the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him reached the battlefield with a total of seven hundred mujahidin. He personally took charge of the action area setting up all arrangements in a formal military manner. The formations of his men were so placed that the mount of Uhud remained on their rear. Sayyidna Mus'ab ibn 'Umayr was made the standard-bearer and Sayyidna Zubayr ibn 'Awwam, the commander of the mounted troops. Sayyidna Hamzah was given the command of the unarmoured. On the rear, there was some likelihood that the enemy may cut his way in from that side. So, he positioned a company of fifty archers (arrow-shooters) on a hillock in the rear and ordered them to stand on guard against any attack from that side. They were specifically instructed not to bother about the fighting down the hill, irrespective of whether they win or lose, and were told that they just do not have to move from their appointed place.
The command of the company of archers was given to Sayyidna 'Abdullah ibn Jubayr. As for the Quraysh, they had gone through the battle of Badr and they too went into battle formations in an orderly manner.
The Battle Of Uhud
[The strategy used in this battle shows that the Prophet of Islam was not only a perfect leader and teacher, but also a creative military strategist, something not known in the world of that time. Comparing the battle plans of the two camps, Tom Under, a twentieth century historian says in his book, The Life of Muhammad that his opponents had courage and bravery but it was he who broke new ground in the management of warfare. The Makkan disbelievers fought recklessly and haphazardly while he used great foresightedness, strict discipline and efficient organization as additional assets.]
When the battle started, Muslims had an upper hand right from the beginning, so much so that the enemy forces went into total disarray. Muslims thought they had won and turned toward the spoils. At this point, the archers who were appointed by the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him to guard the rear also noticed that the enemy was on the run and they too started coming down from the mountain leaving their assigned battle station. Their commander, Sayyidna 'Abdullah ibn Jubayr reminded them of the emphatic command of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him not to move from their place of duty and. tried his best to stop them. But, except a few, others took the plea that as the order was tied with time they should now go and be with the rest. Khalid ibn Walid, who had not yet embraced Islam, was commanding a company of Makkan disbelievers. Making timely use of this opportunity, he went round the hill, went up through a pass and made a surprise attack. Sayyidna 'Abdullah ibn Jubayr Radhi-Allahu Anh: Allah be pleased with him and the small number of men left with him tried their best to stop them but they were unable to do so and the chargers were able to pounce on Muslim forces down the hill all of a sudden. This situation made the running enemy turn back and reinforce the attack. The fate of the battle was totally reversed. Muslims were so confused with this unexpected turn of the battle that a major portion of them scattered away from the battle field. However, some Companions were still holding on resolutely.
In the meantime, a rumour went round that the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him has met his shahadah (martyrdom). This shattered the nerves of his Companions and most of them lost heart. At that time, the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him was in the midst of about ten or twelve very devoted Companions. He was injured. Defeat was about to come when, in the right moment, the Companions scattered on the battlefield came to know that the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him was alive. They regrouped themselves around him and moved him away towards the hill safely.
This defeat which made Muslims terribly upset was temporary, and there were causes behind it. The Holy Qur'an comments on each cause in extremely measured words and exhorts Muslims to be cautious in the future.
Lessons From The Events Of Uhud
The events of the battle of Uhud have in them a treasure of good advice and wise guidance for all Muslims. It will be recalled that the Qurayshi disbelievers had brought women with them so that they could excite them to fight and, in case of a retreat, put them to shame and exhort them to go back into the battle. The Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him saw that Hindah, the wife of Abu Sufyan, was leading a group of women who were chanting poetical compositions to arouse the fighting passions of their men. They were saying:
that is, 'if you fight right on and win, we shall embrace you and make a soft bed for you, but, if you turn back, we shall make you miss our love.'
In contrast, the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him may Allah bless him, was saying this in his prayer: 'O Allah, from Thee I draw my strength and for Thee and in Thy name, I attack and fight. Sufficient for me is Allah, the only one good to trust.'
This prayer, every word in it, is demonstrating how Muslims should strengthen their connection with Allah not only in peace, but also in war, a pattern of behaviour which is drawing a line of clear distinction between Muslims and other nations.
2. Victory in war comes from Allah and not from piles of hardware.
Let us look at this lesson through the tightly-held frame of this battle. Is'nt it that the noble Companions, may Allah be pleased with them all left behind them indelible marks of gallantry, sacrifice and dedication the class of which would be difficult to match in history? Sayyidna Abu Dujanah Radhi-Allahu Anh: Allah be pleased with him had turned his body into a shield for his beloved Prophet taking all incoming arrows on his back. Sayyidna Talhah Radhi-Allahu Anh: Allah be pleased with him body all perforated with arrow-heads, but he still did not leave his blessed master unprotected. Sayyidna Anas ibn al-Nadir Radhi-Allahu Anh: Allah be pleased with him, the uncle of Sayyidna Anas ibn Malik Radhi-Allahu Anh: Allah be pleased with him was absent from the battle of Badr which he regretted very much and longed to make amends whenever he could get the first opportunity to take part in a Jihad in the company of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him.
A little later, came the battle of Uhud and Sayyidna Anas ibn al-Nadlr was in it. When Muslims had scattered away and the disbelievers of Quraysh were coming in overwhelming strength, he started to mount his charge, sword in hand, when he met Sayyidna Sa'd who was going with the group of those who had scattered away from the battlefield. He called out to him, "O Sa'd, where are you going? I smell the scent of Paradise in this valley of Uhud.' Saying this, he charged ahead and it was after a tough fight that he finally laid his life in the way of Allah. (Ibn Kathir)
Sayyidna Jabir Radhi-Allahu Anh: Allah be pleased with him says, "when Muslims became scattered, there were only eleven Companions left with the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him, Sayyidna TalhahRadhi-Allahu Anh: Allah be pleased with himbeing one of them. The forces of Quraysh were surging forward. The Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him said, 'Who is going to take care of them?' Sayyidna Talhah Radhi-Allahu Anh: Allah be pleased with him responded immediately, 'I shall do that, O Messenger of Allah.' Another Companion, an Ansari, said, 'I am at your service.' He asked the Ansari Companion to go, who fought, and fell a martyr. Then came another pressure wave. He asked the same question again. Sayyidna Talhah offered himself as before. He was all impatient to hear the command of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him so that he could go ahead. He, once again, sent some other Ansari Companion and Sayyidna Talhah's wish remained unfulfilled. Thus, it was seven times that the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him, asked the question and every time Sayyidna Talhah was not permitted to go while other Companions were permitted to go and meet their shahadah (martyrdom).
3. Muslims were few in number, yet they won at Badr. Comparatively they were more in number at Uhud, yet they lost. Here too, for, Muslims there is a lesson to learn: Muslims should not rely on their numerical or material strength, military hardware or logistic support but they should make sure that they take victory as something which comes by the grace of Allah Almighty and therefore, they must always watch out that their relationship with Allah remains strong.
What happened at the battle of Yarmuk is worth remembering, The officer-in-command at the war front wrote to Sayyidna 'Umar, the Khalifah at Madinah, requesting reinforcements in view of a reduced number of fighters. The reply that he gave is reproduced below:
"Your letter reached me. You have requested reinforcements and I direct you to One who is most-powerful support-wise and most-protecting army-wise, that is, Allah, the Mighty, the Exalted. So, seek help from Him - because Muhammad, may Allah bless him, was helped on the day of Badr despite their being fewer in numbers. So, when this letter of mine reaches you - fight. And do not turn back to me." (Ibn Kathir, with reference to the Musnad of Ahmad)
The narrator says, when they received this letter, they mounted an attack in the name of Allah, all of a sudden, against the formidable forces of disbelievers who were defeated. Sayyidna 'Umar knew that victory or defeat for Muslims does not depend upon numbers. Instead, it depends upon trust in Allah, and on His help. This fact has been clearly stated by the Holy Qur'an with reference to the battle of Hunayn: '(Remember) the day of Hunayn when you became proud about your numbers, then, nothing worked to your advantage.' (9:25)
Now, let us turn to the explanation of these verses:
1. Verse 121 begins with the words, (When you left vour house in the morning in order to place the believers in positions • for fighting).
This is an example of the miraculous style of the Holy Qur'an, specially when it reports events. It does not describe any event in its total detail as a matter of general principle. Events, or their details are taken up only when they carry with them implied points of guidance. For instance, a particular secondary detail, such as the time of leaving the house, has been identified through the word, ('ghadawta'); and hadith narrations prove that this morning was that of the seventh of Shawwal, Hijrah year 3.
Then comes the description of the point from where this expedition started. The word, min ahlika indicates that the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him was with his family at that time and when the time came to leave, he left, leaving his family behind him, even though this attack was aimed at Madinah. These secondary details have guidance built in them. When there is the command of Allah, it is expected that the love of family and home should not stop one from obeying it. It will be noticed that details of what happened between the period of leaving the house and reaching the war front remain undescribed. Instead, the first thing done on the war front has been described as the placing of believers in position for fighting.
The verse ends with the words, (And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing). By reminding Muslims of these attributes of Allah, it has been pointed out that everything said by the two parties at that time was all in the knowledge of Allah Almighty, and absolutely nothing of what happened to the two of them remains hidden from Him, and so shall it be with the end of the war; that too, is not hidden from Him.
Next comes verses 122 beginning with the words, of (When two of your groups tended to lose heart while Allah was their guardian). These 'two groups' refer to the Bani Harithah of the tribe of Aws and Bani Salamah of the tribe of Khazraj. These 'two groups' lost the courage to fight when they saw the hypocrite, 'Abdullah ibn Ubayy and his men breaking away. But, Allah, in his grace, helped them come out of this state of apprehensiveness. Here, the fact was that their weakness was caused by the thought, and certainly not because of any weakness in faith. Ibn Hisham, the famous historian of Muslim battles has made this very clear. Then, the very Qur'anic statement, (while Allah was their guardian) is a testimony to their perfect faith. Therefore, some elders from these two tribes used to say: "No doubt, the verse contains a complaint against us, but at the same time it bears a good news for us in the words: (while Allah was their guardian).
3. Towards the end of the verse, it has been said: "And it is in Allah alone that the believers must place their trust." Here, it has been made clear that Muslims should not rely on their superiority in men and materials. Not that they have to ignore material needs of the combat; of course, they should have whatever they can get together subject to their means, but the crucial thing is that they must place their total trust in Allah, and Allah alone. The apprehension of weakness that overtook Banu Harithah and Banu Salamah was caused by this material lack of strength. Therefore, tawakkul or trust in Allah was suggested as the treatment of all sorts of apprehensions.
Tawakkul is one of the superior human qualities. It does not mean that one should cut off all his connections with the effort to collect material support. On the contrary, one should collect what is obviously needed to the best of his ability, use it, and then, let Allah take care of the outcome. It is also necessary that one should not become proud of what has been collected as material assets, instead, "We trust in Allah" should be the sole concern. The good example of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him is before us. That he himself organized the fighting strength of Muslims during this Jihad, assembled weapons and other war materials to the best of his ability, prepared battle plans appropriate to the time and place. Once on the war front, he set up entrenchments with combat-ready Companions placed therein. These were all part of the material-functional management of the battle. By making use of these with his own blessed hands, our beloved master, the last and foremost of prophets, demonstrated that material facilities are also a blessing of Allah Almighty. Ignoring them or turning away from them cannot be called what tawakkul is. Here, the attitude of a Muslim slightly differs from that of a non-Muslim. A Muslim would, given his ability and means, collect all sorts of necessary material support, yet when it comes to trust and tawakkul that he would place in none but Allah. The non-Muslim is bereft of this spiritual dimension for he relies on his brute material strength. The manifestation of this difference has been common sight throughout all Islamic battles.
4. The focus now turns to a particular battle where Muslims had demonstrated perfect tawakkul and Allah Almighty had blessed them with support and success. The reference to the battle of Badr, in the following words, has appeared in this very context.
And Allah certainly supported you at Badr when you were weak. (123)
Badr: Location And Importance
Badr is located about eighty miles south-west of Madinah and used to be a halting-place while travelling between Makkah and Madinah, before the modern Tariq al-Hijrah was commissioned into service which bypasses it.
At that time, Badr was known for its abundance of water, something very important in the desert zones of Arabia. The first armed encounter between believers and disbelievers came to pass at this spot on Friday, Ramadan al-Mubarak, Hijrah year 2 which fell on March 11, 624 A.D. On a superficial view, this battle appears to be a local tribal war, but the truth is that it has charted a revolutionary course in the history of the world, therefore, the Holy Qur'an calls it Yawm al-Furqan (a day of distinction). According to Professor Philip Hitti, this was Islam's first clear victory.
The expression translated as 'when you were weak' means that 'you were, at that time, few in numbers and materials'. According to strong and authentic narrations, the number of Muslims was 313. This 'army' had two horses and seventy camels. On these, they took their turns while riding.
The verse ends with the statement: (So, fear Allah that you may be grateful). This may remind one of the many places in the Holy Qur'an where Taqwa (fear of Allah) and Sabr (patience) have been prescribed as a security shield against the machinations of the hypocrites and the harmful effects of hostile enemies. Right here, in these two behaviour models, there lies the secret of an entire organized struggle, and clear victory, that comes in its wake. As mentioned elsewhere, taqwa and sabr have not been mentioned here, in conjunction. Instead, taqwa has been considered sufficient for, in reality, taqwa is such a comprehensive human attribute that sabr too gets to be included therein. (Ma'ariful Qur'an)
» Posted by Seifeddine-M on 4th January 2012
0 Comments
|
