Quran Garden

Session 457

Chapter 3

Verses 126, 127, 128 and 129

God only made this as glad tidings for you to comfort your hearts with it, for victory comes from God alone, the Almighty and All-Wise.  (Chapter 3: Verse 126)

In the previous session, we discussed the requirements the believer must fufill in order to receive God's help.  We also saw how the believers who abandoned patience and mindfulness were left to face Quraysh alone without divine support in the battle of Uhud, while in Badr the Almighty sent five thousand angels to fight alongside the Muslims.  

In the verse under study, Allah turns our attention to the fact that the three thousand or five thousand angels were in no way the cause of victory.  Allah can grant you victory without the angels or your participation.  The angels were only sent to comfort our human nature.  In Badr the Muslims were at a significant disadvantage in numbers, so, when they learned of the large number of angels coming their way, they felt reassured and confident of victory.  Hence the angels were only a means of good tidings, but success is from God, the Almighty.  He says:

And that He might cut off a part of those who disbelieved or overwhelm them, so that they would retreat in utter disappointment.  (Chapter 3: Verse 127)

Here we ask, what is "cut off a part of those who disbelieved" referring to?  We answer that the "part" could be a section of the forces of Quraysh, so the expression means "killing them and separating them from the army." "A part" could also be referring to the vast lands that came under the Muslims' influence as the area belonging to the disbelievers was gradually lost and added to the land of faith.  God says:

Do they not see how We come to land and shrink its borders?  God decides –no one can reverse His decision– and He is swift in reckoning.  (13:41)

"A part" could also refer to the wealth Quraysh lost in preparation for Badr, the spoils of war they left behind, and the cost of caring for the injured and dead afterward.  Lastly, to "cut off a part of those who disbelieved" means to decrease the high-status Quraysh enjoyed in the Arabian peninsula.  All the tribes feared Quraysh, and no one dared to attack their caravans because Mecca was the center of trade and the destination for Hajj.  A tribe out of line would lose access to the Ka'ba, the trade routes, and the main bazaar in Arabia.  But, the tribes started considering alternatives when they learned that the Meccans had been broken and defeated.  To "cut off a part of those who disbelieved" carries all these meanings, from a division of the army, to land, wealth, and status.

Note that Allah said, "cut off a part," and did not say "to destroy or annihilate." The Muslims were victorious, but many leaders of Quraysh were spared harm in Badr. Why?  The answer is two-fold.  First, many leaders who used to fight the Muslims were the same ones who spread the banner of Islam years later after they embraced the faith.  Khalid Ibn Al-Waleed is an excellent example of a daring commander from the ranks of Quraysh who fought the Muslims early in his life.  Yet when God guided him to Islam, he became one of the most outstanding Muslim military leaders.  What would have happened if such a commander did not get a chance to hear the message of Islam?  What if he had been killed at the hands of Muslims?  Such an act would have deprived Islam of the talent that helped the conquests in Syria and Iraq.  Second, our beloved Prophet, peace be upon him, was full of compassion towards his people, whether Muslim or not.  He had high expectations of them and trusted that God would deliver the message of Islam to each person.  We see many verses of the Quran speak about this matter.  God says:

Perhaps you may destroy yourself with grief, chasing after them if they do not believe in this message.  (18:06)

And, in another verse:

It may be that you will torment yourself to death because they refuse to believe.  If We had wished, We could have sent them down a sign from heaven, at which their necks would stay bowed in utter humility.  (26:3-4)

Allah comforts His Messenger in the following verse:

The Messenger's duty is only to deliver the message: God knows what you reveal and what you conceal.  (5:99)

And also comforts him in the next Aya of Al-Imran:

You have no say in the matter. It is up to Allah to turn to them in mercy or punish them, for indeed, they are wrongdoers.  (Chapter 3: Verse 128)

Prophet Muhammad had one responsibility: to deliver God's message.  Allah tells His Messenger, "O Muhammad, many people chose injustice for themselves through disbelief.  Do not be saddened by their choices, for you are only responsible for delivering the message.  Perhaps you can celebrate some of them when God guides them in the future and accepts their repentance.  If God punishes them, they will have no one to blame but themselves." Injustice, as we know, is taking a right from its owner and giving it to someone else.  The pinnacle of injustice is attributing divinity to others other than God, which is polytheism.  God says:

When Luqman said to his son by way of advice and instruction, "My dear son! Do not associate partners with God.  Surely associating partners with God is indeed a tremendous injustice." (31:13)

God says in the next verse of Al-Imran:

Everything in the heavens and earth belongs to God.  He forgives whoever He will and punishes whoever He will: God is Most Forgiving and Merciful.  (Chapter 3: Verse 129)

Are the disbelievers out of God's control?  Did they go against His will?  No.  God created you as an individual who has freedom of choice.  You are not compelled to follow His orders.  Allah wants you to turn to Him out of love, not by force or compulsion.  When you choose to do something against God's teachings, you can only do so because He granted you freedom of choice.  This matter is not out of God's dominion because the heavens, the earth, and what they contain belong to God.  Had He wanted, He would have compelled you into faith.  He says:

Perhaps you will destroy yourself with grief because they do not believe.  If We had wished, We could have sent them down a sign from heaven, at which their necks would stay bowed in utter humility.  (26: 3-4)

It is narrated that, after the disbelievers bloodied the Prophet's face while he invited them to their Lord, he wanted to supplicate against them, but God forbade him because He knew that among them were those who would turn to faith.