The readiness of some and the cowardice of the others, The Muslims should trust only in God, The divine assistance at Badr, The assistance through angels, God’s pardon.

Aal ’Imran Verses 121 – 129

وَإِذْ غَدَوْتَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ تُبَوِّئُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ مَقَاعِدَ لِلْقِتَالِ وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ

“And when thou didst set forth from thy family at early dawn that thou prepare for the believers the encampment for the battle1; and God is The Hearer2, The Knower3.” (3:121)

إِذْ هَمَّتْ طَائِفَتَانِ مِنْكُمْ أَنْ تَفْشَلَا وَاللَّهُ وَلِيُّهُمَا وَعَلَى اللَّهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ

“(Remember O’ Our Apostle Muhammad!) When two groups of you4had thought to flinch, and God was the Guardian5of both; in God should the believers trust.” (3:122)

وَلَقَدْ نَصَرَكُمُ اللَّهُ بِبَدْرٍ وَأَنْتُمْ أَذِلَّةٌ فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ

“Indeed God hath succoured you at ‘Badr’ when ye were contemptibly weak6; so take shelter in God, so that ye may be thankful.” (3:123)

إِذْ تَقُولُ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَلَنْ يَكْفِيَكُمْ أَنْ يُمِدَّكُمْ رَبُّكُمْ بِثَلَاثَةِ آلَافٍ مِنَ الْمَلَائِكَةِ مُنْزَلِينَ

“(Remember O’ Our Apostle Muhammad!) when thou7didst say to the believers, “Doth it not suffice you that your Lord should help8you with three thousand angels sent down (from heaven)?9” (3:124)

بَلَىٰ إِنْ تَصْبِرُوا وَتَتَّقُوا وَيَأْتُوكُمْ مِنْ فَوْرِهِمْ هَٰذَا يُمْدِدْكُمْ رَبُّكُمْ بِخَمْسَةِ آلَافٍ مِنَ الْمَلَائِكَةِ مُسَوِّمِينَ

“Aye! if ye be steadfast10and take shelter in God and if the enemy come upon you in this very dashing manner, your Lord will help you with five thousand (such) angels distinguished11who will be (fully equipped).” (3:125)

وَمَا جَعَلَهُ اللَّهُ إِلَّا بُشْرَىٰ لَكُمْ وَلِتَطْمَئِنَّ قُلُوبُكُمْ بِهِ وَمَا النَّصْرُ إِلَّا مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَكِيمِ

“God did not effect this but as good tidings for you, and that thereby your hearts might rest assured12; and (there) is no succour but from God, the Mighty13, the Wise14.” (3:126)

لِيَقْطَعَ طَرَفًا مِنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَوْ يَكْبِتَهُمْ فَيَنْقَلِبُوا خَائِبِينَ

“That He might cut off a part15of those who believe not or cast them down so that they may retire disappointed.” (3:127)

لَيْسَ لَكَ مِنَ الْأَمْرِ شَيْءٌ أَوْ يَتُوبَ عَلَيْهِمْ أَوْ يُعَذِّبَهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ ظَالِمُونَ

“Nothing of the authority is for thee at all, whether He turneth unto them (mercifully) or chastiseth them, for verily, they are transgressors.” (3:128)

وَلِلَّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ يَغْفِرُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيُعَذِّبُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ

“And God’s is whatever is in the heavens and whatever in the earth; He forgiveth whomsoever He pleaseth and punisheth whomsoever He pleaseth, for, Verily, God is the Oft-Forgiving16, the Merciful17.” (3:129)

Commentary

Verse 121

This is an extract of: The Holy Quran: A Translation with Commentary is an English translation of the Quran by A.F. Badshah Husain. It was published in 1931 by the Moayyedul uloom Association in Lucknow.

“It is to the events of the famous battle of Uhud that this and the following sections are mainly devoted. In the third year of the Hijra the Meccans marched against the Muslims of Medina with an army three thousand strong. Being utterly foiled and defeated at Badr the desire to punish the Musalmans was keener than ever. The Meccan chief Abu Sufyan swore that he would not even wash himself till he had wreaked vengeance on the Musalmans. He ordered all families to refrain from mourning over their dead till he had fully punished them. The vow, of course, became soon a trouble and he was obliged to ease himself by fulfilling it nominally. Coming with a few persons to a place ‘Qarqaratilqadr’ three miles from Medina, he attacked and killed two men, burnt some houses and heaps of fodder and made off. The Prophet hearing of this went out to punish him but found only bags of roasted flour he had left to lighten his burden in his flight back to home. But even in this nominal revenge he did not fail to do something. Before the formal raid he contrived to come secretly to the Jews of Median and negotiated with them for attacking the Prophet. Active preparations for joining all tribes continued. This would certainly have been fatal for the handful of Musalmans, but one event done in pursuance of the Prophet’s policy explained in note to 2:19 expedited the attack without waiting for complete confederacy.

“Being afraid of the Musalmans in the north, the Meccans sent a trading caravan to Syria by the Iraq route. That too was cut off, and so, as was desired, the Meccans could not wait any longer and resolved on an immediate attack. Still they had made immense preparations. For men they had three thousand choicest men from the Meccan and the neighbouring tribes. For arms and provisions, all the money, 5,000 Misqals of gold, that Abu Sufyan had charge of, on account of the Meccan trading Union, is said to have been spent upon it. This is said to be referred to in 8:36. Five hundred camels and two hundred horses and mules were taken merely for the carrying of arms and provisions. Beautiful women were taken to sing songs to keep tickling the warriors to manliness.

When the Prophet heard of this he held a council of war. He himself sided with the opinion of the hypocrite leader Abdullah Ibn Obay that they should only defend themselves, but the most influential Ansars (under that haughty chief Saad ‘bn Maaz) were for going out to meet the enemy in open field. The Prophet ultimately acceded to this and went out to Uhud with 1000 men, including 300 men under Abdullah Ibn Obay who soon left off with his men saying his advice was not accepted and he could no more join the Musalmans. His example was about to be followed by two other parties (referred to in the next Verse), but they yielded to better reason.

Coming to the hill of Uhud the Prophet noticed a pass through which the infidels could come in to attack the Musalmans from their rear. He stationed here 50 archers under Abdullah ‘bn Zubair enjoining them strictly not to leave the place whatever might happen to the Musalmans. After this the fight began, and as might be expected, the Musalmans were victorious and the infidels began to flee. Who fought and who did not is to be read in histories, but now was the time for the Musalmans. They fell to plunder, and seeing this the archers who had been stationed at the pass could not restrain themselves. However much their leader remonstrated, they all slipped away and only 12 remained with him. Seeing this Khalid who had kept his detachment there came down through the pass and began to cut the Musalmans (now in disorder) like cabbages. Confusion seized them and they began to flee. Those that remained fighting could not sometimes distinguish friends from foes, and some Musalmans were killed at the hands of Musalmans themselves. The infidels now directed a severe attack at the Prophet. He was severely wounded and fell into a pit, and a cry was raised that the Prophet was slain. At this the remaining few also took to flight. There were now only, the Lion of God, ‘Ali, Abu Dajjana and Sahl Ibn Hunaif to fight in front of the Prophet and protect him, and to say nothing of their fighting in the main battle, their fighting on this occasion will remain memorable to the end of the world. Suffice it to say that the infidels could not resist this long enough and retreated crying out threats to come back next year. They dared not stop even to take some captives among the fugitives whom they could easily have picked up here and there.

“The Musalmans lost some of the most noted veterans in this battle. Most notable of all is Hamza, the uncle of the Prophet. Hinda the wife of Abu Sufyan, mother of Moaviah had engaged an Abyssinian slave Wahshi to kill one of the three, the Prophet, the Lion of God, ‘Ali, or Hamza. When Hamza was killed the man took out his liver and brought it as a present to Hinda. She chewed it and ate pieces of it but had a vomiting. She then washed the pieces and made them into a garland for her neck. Coming to his corpse she took some other parts from his body and treated them similarly. (And yet the Prophet freely pardoned all when, on the conquest of Mecca, this fiendish woman with her husband and son made a pretence of embracing Islam).

“Retreating from Uhud Abu Sufyan encamped at Hamraul Asad, 8 miles away. Here he began to repent for his hurried retreat. The victory, if victory it could be called, was but a nominal one. The Musalmans had suffered but little loss, much less than his own people had, and so all had come to nothing. With these thoughts he set again to prepare for another attack. But fearing from a chief of Khazaa that the Prophet was coming on with a big army to attack him, he lost heart and sped away as soon as possible.” B.H. Vol. II.

If the Holy Qur’an has to be profitably studied every suggestive implication of its various verses have to be thoughtfully followed. Every intelligent reader has necessarily to give the fullest desirable consideration to the details of the meanings and the indications of every Verse and every word of it. A reference to Verse 29:2-4 will disclose that the Battle of Uhud was one of the stages of the test that those who professed to believe in God were put to: The Holy Qur’an declares this aspect of the events:

أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَنْ يُتْرَكُوا أَنْ يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُونَ

“Do men imagine that they will be left (at ease) because they say, We believe, and will not be tried” (29:2)

وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ فَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا وَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ الْكَاذِبِينَ

“Lo! We tried those who were before you. Thus, God distinguished those who are sincere, and distinguisheth those who feign” (29:3)

أَمْ حَسِبَ الَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ السَّيِّئَاتِ أَنْ يَسْبِقُونَا سَاءَ مَا يَحْكُمُونَ

“Or Do those who do ill-deeds imagine that they can outstrip Us? Evil (for them) is that which they decide” (29:4)

An enquiry into the details as to Who is Who in Islam with reference to the reports about the conduct of the companions in the several defensive battles fought to save Islam and the Muslims, would disclose as to the bonafide of the claim to the companionship of the Holy Prophet of many of those who later on with selfish motives managed to become the leaders of the Muslims and consequently misled them also, in matters religious.

Verse 122

The two tribes referred to here, were Banu Salma and Banu Harisa (B. H.). The details of the events are long. When the companions had tied away, ‘Ali was fighting hard to save the Holy Prophet and Islam. The voice of the Messenger Angel of God viz. Gabriel was heard from the heavens: -

“La Fata illa ‘Ali, La saif illa Zulfiqar.” (M.S.)

There is no (victorious) youth save ‘Ali, i.e., There is no sword (weapon of success) except the ‘Zulfiqar’ (the Sword of ‘Ali).

Verse 123

The Battle of Badr is well-known in the Islamic history in which the whole strength of the Muslims could be numbered only to 313 of ill-equipped and almost famished men.

Verse 124

The enemy was 1,000 strong of the completely equipped and fully prepared forces of the Meccans18.

Verse 125

The fact is clearly and plainly explained here that the Muslims were helped by God with a thousand angels. This has been interpreted by the Ahmadi Commentator, to be only a figurative expression, and the sending down of the angels he says was only the conditioning of the minds of the enemy. This deprives the event of the success being due to the heavenly aid given to the Holy Prophet.

Verse 126-127

The angels sent down to the aid of the Muslims were not to actually fight but to join the Muslim forces in their strength by which the Muslims themselves were encouraged and heartened to fight and the enemy was frightened with the overwhelming number that appeared to them.

There is a meaningful point in God’s sending the angels to join the forces of the Muslims for the enemy on the opposite side were the infidels and the Satanic forces of fiendish zeal were with the enemy, and it was just and necessary that the Muslims also had been strengthened with some godly element to counter the Satanic rage and console and encourage the believers.

Verse 128

This Verse indicates that the Holy Prophet, even in the worst of the miseries inflicted upon him, was ever concerned with the salvation of mankind. When he was so badly attacked by infidels and the hidden enemies of his, the hypocrites, in his own camp, professing themselves to be his companions, had deserted him in the heat of the battle, and he had fallen into a pit grievously wounded, even in that state of agony, he was so much mindful of, and concerned with the future of the people, that this Verse was revealed to say that he need not worry himself about the salvation of his enemies for God was fully aware of the unbounded mercy of His Prophet and no reason for a just punishment would be too great for him to mete out pardon, even for the worst of the tyrants.

It is quite obvious that the All-Just Lord taking into account the conduct of the infidels does not will His ever-merciful Prophet to desire or even be mindful or be concerned in the least about the pardon of his enemies for the infidels’ persistent iniquity needed to be surely punished but God might or might not pardon them according to the merit or the demerit of their individual intentions.

Whereas the all-enveloping mercy of the Holy Prophet might desire a wholesale pardon by the All-Merciful Lord which strict justice might not hold good. The comprehensive divine mercy as the characteristic of the Holy Prophet, is unapproached in the personality of any religious leader.

Verse 129

This Verse sounds a caution against the absolute propriety and the absolute independence of God whose pardon or punishment being meted out at His own will and pleasure.

• 1. The battle of ‘Badr’.
• 2. Ar. ‘Sami’ All-Hearing.
• 3. Ar. ‘Aleem’ All Knowing.
• 4. Muslims.
• 5. Protector.
• 6. Refer to Verse 8:9.
• 7. The Holy Prophet.
• 8. Refers to the divine help rendered at the Battle of Badr.
• 9. Refer to Verse 8:9, 8:142.
• 10. Some of the companions of the Holy Prophet did not abide by this in the battle fields- they gave way and took shelter not in God but in running away from the battle field deserting the Holy Prophet (in Uhud and Hunayn, Khaybar Etc). Refer to Verses 3:151, 3:152, 3:154.
• 11. Ar. ‘Musawwameen’ distinguished with marks. Also ‘Musawwimeen’ dashing - havoc making.
• 12. Tranquil your hearts
• 13. All- Mighty
• 14. The All wise
• 15. A side
• 16. Ar. ‘Ghafoor’
• 17. Ar. ‘Raheem’
• 18. Refer to Verse 8:9.