فَتْحًا

2769

Important Words:

فافتح (so judge) is imperative verb from فتح. They say فتح الباب i.e. he opened the door. فتح الحاکم بین الناس means, the judge decided the dispute between the people. فتح اللّٰه علی نبیه means, God helped His Prophet and made him victorious (Aqrab). See also 8:20.

Commentary:

The last and most effective weapon in the armoury of the Prophets of God is prayer, and Noah prayed to God in the full agony of his heart.

3817

Commentary:

The reference in the words "a clear victory" seems to be to the Treaty of Hudaibiyyah. It is remarkable that though, during the previous brief six years of his life at Medina, the Holy Prophet had gained great victories over his enemies which had crippled and crushed their fighting power, yet none of them is called "a clear victory" in the Quran. It was reserved for the Treaty of Hudaibiyyah to receive this single honour, in spite of the fact that its terms were seemingly so humiliating that the Muslims were greatly perturbed over this apparently rude rebuff to the prestige of Islam, and even a stalwart like ‘Umar exclaimed in extreme grief and indignation that had the terms been settled by any other person than the Holy Prophet, he would have scorned to listen to them (Hisham). The Treaty was indeed a great victory in that it opened the way to the expansion and spread of Islam and led to the Fall of Mecca and ultimately to the conquest of the whole of Arabia. It proved to be a master stroke of strategy as the Holy Prophet’s "political status as an equal and independent power was acknowledged by the Quraish" (Mohammad at Medina by Montgomery Watt).

As the Treaty of Hudaibiyyah constitutes a great landmark in the early history of Islam and as it forms the principal topic dealt with in the Surah under comment, it needs to be treated at some length.

The Holy Prophet had seen a vision that he was making a circuit of the Ka‘bah along with a party of his followers. In fulfilment of his vision, the Prophet started for Mecca with about 1500 Muslims to perform the Lesser Pilgrimage in 6 A.H., in the month of Dhul-Qa‘dah, one of the four sacred months in which, according to Arab tradition and usage, fighting was forbidden, even before Islam. When he reached ‘Usfan, a place a few miles distant from Mecca, he was informed by an advance party whom he had sent under the command of ‘Abbad bin Bishar that the Quraish were bent upon barring his entry into Mecca. In order to avoid an armed clash the Prophet changed his route and "after a fatiguing march through devious and rugged pathways reached Hudai-biyyah," where he encamped. The Prophet had declared that he would accept all the demands of the Quraish for the honour of the Holy Place (Hisham), but the Quraish were firmly resolved not to allow him to enter Mecca, whatever he might say or do. Messages were exchanged in an attempt to find a solution to the impasse. After heated and protracted parleys in which the Holy Prophet left no stone unturned, even at the cost of his prestige, to arrive at a reasonable compromise with the Quraish, a treaty was signed of which the terms were:

War shall be suspended for ten years. Whosoever would like to join the Holy Prophet or enter into treaty with him, shall have liberty to do so. The same will apply to whosoever would like to join the Quraish or enter into treaty with them. If a believing man goes over to the Prophet from Mecca without the permission of his guardian, he shall be sent back to his guardian; but should any of the followers of the Prophet return to the Quraish, they shall not be sent back. The Prophet shall retire this year without entering the city. Next year he and his Companions may visit Mecca only for three days to perform عمرة (Lesser Pilgrimage), but they shall carry no arms save sheathed swords (Bukhari, Hisham & Muir).

The terms of the Treaty were demonstrably very humiliating. The Muslims were greatly upset. No words could adequately describe their grief, and sense of humiliation and injured pride. The third term was particularly galling. But the Holy Prophet was quite calm and tranquil. Being convinced of the moral force of Islam, he knew that "a believer who had once tasted the sweetness of faith would prefer to be cast into fire than to revert to disbelief" (Bukhari), and that he would be a source of strength to his religion and other believers wherever he might happen to be. The case of Abu Basir, and that of Abu Jandal and their associates fully justified his conviction. He wanted to have a peaceful atmosphere. He knew that a peaceful soil was most congenial for the spread of Islam, and Islam did spread very rapidly after the signing of the Treaty of Hudaibiyyah. When as a result of violation by the Quraish of the terms of the Treaty, the Prophet marched on Mecca two years later, ten thousand faithful Companions were under his command, instead of the paltry 1500 who were with him on the occasion of the signing of the Treaty. Thus the Treaty and its aftermath gave in advance the direct lie to the false and foolish propaganda that was to be conducted by Christian missionaries in our own time, that Islam was propagated by the sword.

One immediate effect of the Treaty was that the tribes of Banu Khuza‘ah entered into an alliance with the Holy Prophet, while the Banu Bakar sided with the Quraish, an incident which 1ater on led to the march on Mecca. The Treaty did indeed prove to be "a clear victory." The Companions of the Holy Prophet were rightly proud of being present on the occasion, and quite justified in regarding the signing of the Treaty, and not the conquest of Mecca as "the victory referred to in the present verse" (Bukhari). According to them no victory was greater and more far-reaching in its results and effects than this Treaty (Hisham). And the Holy Prophet himself called it a victory (Baihaqi as quoted by Zurqani).

3828

Commentary:

The swearing of allegiance referred to in the verse took place at Hudaibiyyah under an acacia tree after a report had reached the Holy Prophet that in breach of ambassadorial usage or etiquette his envoy, ‘Uthman, had been killed at Mecca. It was, perhaps, not so much the reported murder of ‘Uthman as the violation of a sacred and time-honoured custom that exhausted the Prophet’s patience. He invited his followers to take a solemn oath at his hand that they would fight the Quraish to the last breath of their lives. The oath came to be known as Bai‘atur-Ridwan, which signified that those lucky people who had taken the oath had obtained God’s pleasure.

The words, "He knew what was in their hearts," mean that God was well conversant with the state of their minds, viz. that they were quite honest and sincere in their oaths and were anxious to vindicate their sincerity with their blood.

What greater proof could there be that "God sent down tranquillity on Muslims," than that, being only about 1500 in number and being far away from home, friendless and surrounded by hostile tribes and faced by a powerful enemy who was entrenched in his citadel, the Muslims were prepared to fight rather than agree to the proposed terms of the Treaty. The expression, "He rewarded them with a victory near at hand" refers to the victory of Khaibar. On his return from Hudaibiyyah the Prophet led an expedition against the Jews of Khaibar (a great hotbed of Jewish intrigue and conspiracy) with those Muslims who were with him at Hudaibiyyah. Judged by worldly standards of political strategy, and in view of the apparently humiliating terms of the Treaty and of the feeling of frustration that some of the Companions felt at those terms, the Holy Prophet should have been a beaten and embittered man, yet God has styled the Treaty "a clear victory" (v. 2), "a grand achievement" (v. 6); "a mighty reward" (v. 11); and "the completion and perfection of His favour on the Prophet" (v. 3). What was it that made this "humiliating" Treaty such a significant event in the annals of Islam? The answer is: Because it opened the floodgates of spiritual and political conquests for Islam. The signing of the Treaty of Hudaibiyyah was immediately followed by the conquest of Khaibar, a Jewish stronghold and a source of great danger and anxiety for Muslims. Besides, the Islamic Republic at Medina came to be recognized as an independent sovereign state, and within the brief space of three or four years the whole of Arabia was at the feet of the Holy Prophet, followed by a chain of victories which culminated in the defeat and destruction of the great and powerful Byzantine and Iranian Empires.

3837

Commentary:

The Holy Prophet had seen a vision that he was performing the circuit of the Ka‘bah with his Companions (Bukhari). The Prophet set out for Mecca with about 1500 of his Companions to perform the Lesser Pilgrimage. It is to this "vision"that the verse under comment refers. The Prophet was not allowed access to the Ka‘bah by the Quraish. On the contrary, he had to sign a treaty of which the terms as mentioned above seemed to be very humiliating and hurtful to the Muslims’ self-respect. They were highly upset, the illustrious ‘Umar, more than anyone else, not only at the terms, but also at the fact that the vision as he understood it had not been fulfilled, could not understand how the Prophet’s journey had served its purpose. He was not quite satisfied with the explanation that the vision did not signify the Pilgrimage would be performed that very year. He was in this frame of mind when, on the way back to Medina, this Surah was revealed and the Prophet called for him and recited it to him. The Surah was clear and emphatic that the Prophet’s vision was true and that the Muslims would most certainly enter the Ka‘bah and perform the ceremonies of the Lesser Pilgrimage. The Prophet’s journey, besides serving other useful purposes to which reference is already made, established an important precedent that sometimes even great Prophets of God are liable to place seemingly erroneous interpretations on their visions.