| Surah Aal Imran, 139-143
"And do not lose heart and do not grieve, and you are the upper-most if you are believers. [139] If you receive a wound, they have received a similar wound. And such days We rotate among the people, so that Allah may know those who believe and let some of you be martyrs -- and Allah does not like the unjust [140] -- and so that Allah may purify those who believe and eradicate the disbelievers. [141] Do you think that you shall enter Paradise despite that Allah has not yet known those of you who carry out Jihad nor has He known those who are steadfast. [142] And you had been longing for death before you faced it. Now, you have seen it with your open eyes."[143] (3:139-143)
Once again, Muslims are being consoled through these verses about what happened to them at the Battle of Uhud. They are being told that, under the customary practice of Allah, the disbelievers are the ultimate losers; it does not matter if Muslims have not scored a victory at this time because of their strategic mistake, but should they stick to the demands of their Faith, that is, perseverance and fear of Allah, it will be the disbelievers who shall be the ultimate losers.
Commentary
The Battle of Uhud has been fully described earlier in this Surah through which we already know that the initial success of the Muslim army turned into a defeat in this Jihad because of some of their own shortcomings, although they had already scored an earlier victory (at Badr). Seventy noble Companions sacrificed their lives on this occasion. The Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him was hurt. But, inspite of all this, Allah Almighty let the balance of the Battle tilt in favour of Muslims and the enemy retreated.
This temporary defeat and setback came because:
1. The Muslim archers could not abide by the standing orders given to them by the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him due to a difference of opinion. Some favoured holding on to the position they already held; others saw no need to stay there and opted for the collection of spoils with everybody else.
2.The news that the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him has been martyred on the battlefield weakened their resolve to fight.
3. The difference came up in something very serious, that is, the explicit command of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him, the obedience to which was mandatory.
So, these three mistakes by Muslims resulted in a temporary setback. No doubt, this temporary setback was later on turned into final victory for them, yet Muslim mujahidin were virtually torn apart with wounds. Dead bodies of their most valiant fighters were strewn before their eyes. Even the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him was wounded by the merciless enemy. Disappointed, dismayed, they were also terribly shocked over their own mistakes.
In short, Muslims were on the horns of a dilemma. They were pining over the past and there was acute danger that they may become weak in the future and the duty of leading the people of the world entrusted to them may be hampered. In order to cover these two gaps, the Holy Qur'an came up with the declaration:
And do not lose heart and do not grieve, and you are the upper-most if you are believers. (139)
So, the message given to Muslims in the opening verse under comment is: Do not let weakness or inertia come near you in the future and do not pine over what has gone by. Finally, it is you who shall prevail, if you hold on to the path of faith and belief, having total confidence in the promises made by Allah Almighty, never ever turning your backs on obedience to the Prophet and Jihad in the way of Allah.
In other words, the object was to impress upon Muslims that they should not waste their time and energy by feeling sorry for whatever mistakes they have made in the past. Instead, they should devote to ways and means which make things right for them in the future. For success after failure,, strong faith and an unflinching obedience to the Messenger of Allah are certain guarantees of a bright future. If Muslims persist with these qualities, they are bound to be victorious ultimately.
This call of the Qur'an made broken hearts throb again. Sulking bodies were aglow with a fresh spirit. Just imagine how Allah Almighty groomed the men carrying His message and gave Muslims for all times to come a principle and a rule of procedure whereby it was made necessary that Muslims should never shed tears over dead issues. Instead, they should do all they can to get together the means to strength and power. Then, right along with it, it was made very clear that supremacy and glory can be achieved through one, and only one, basic source, which is, having faith and fulfilling its demands. The demands of Faith include among other things, preparations which must be made in view of an impending war. It means that it is necessary to consolidate military power, assemble and make ready all relevant hardware, and harness all other means to that end, of course, in proportion to ability and capacity. The events of the Battle of Uhud, from the beginning to the end, are a testimony to all these considerations.
The second verse that follows gives consolation to Muslims from another angle. It has been said that if Muslims were wounded or hurt in that particular battle, so also were those fighting against them. If seventy Muslim men were martyred with many wounded, is it not that they had condemned an identical number of their enemies to Hell, and wounded many, a year ago? Then, in this very battle, many a men from the enemy ranks were killed and wounded initially. So, when the text says:
If you receive a wound, they have received a similar wound. And such days we rotate among the people ...
it guides us to another important principle and rule of procedure.
In this mortal world, the customary practice of Allah Almighty is to cause the days of hardship and ease, pain and comfort, suffering and peace occur among people by turns. If, for some reason, a falsely-motivated power succeeds in getting a short-lived upper hand, the group motivated by the truth should not lose heart and come to think that from this point onwards, they are always doomed to nothing but defeat. Instead of taking this negative attitude, they should rather go about finding out the causes of that defeat, and once they have discovered those, they should take corrective measures and eliminate all possibilities of repeating those mistakes. In the end, the group motivated by the truth shall emerge as the ultimate victor. (Ma'ariful Qur'an)
» Posted by Seifeddine-M on 9th January 2012
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