O You Who Believe

32)

"O you who have believed, remember the favor of Allah upon you when some people determined to extend their hands [in aggression] against you, but He withheld their hands from you; and fear Allah. And upon Allah let the believers rely."

[Al Maidah 5:11]

In the seventh verse of Surah al-Ma'idah which appeared earlier Allah Almighty has asked Muslims to remember the pledge taken from them to which they professed belief and obedience: وَٱذۡڪُرُواْ نِعۡمَةَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيۡكُمۡ وَمِيثَـٰقَهُ ٱلَّذِى وَاثَقَكُم بِهِۦۤ إِذۡ قُلۡتُمۡ سَمِعۡنَا وَأَطَعۡنَا‌ۖ وَٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ‌ۚ And remember Allah's favor upon you and His Covenant that He has taken from you when you said, "We have listened and obeyed." And fear Allah .. This pledge is the pledge of obedience to Allah and His Messenger and the pledge of practical adherence to the Shari'ah of Islam.

This is technically known as the Kalimah or the statement of creed and which is: "There is no god worthy of worship but Allah Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah."

Every Muslim who says this Kalimah is bound by this pledge. In the verse which follows (5:8), some important articles of the pledge, that is, particular religious injunctions have been described. These enjoin equity and justice for friend and foe alike and teach justice and tolerance - not revenge - for enemies once overpowered.

This pledge is, in itself, a great blessing of Allah, therefore, it has been made to begin with: وَٱذۡڪُرُواْ نِعۡمَةَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيۡكُمۡ (And remember Allah's favor upon you...). By beginning the current verse, i.e. verse 11, with the same sentence: ٱذۡكُرُواْ نِعۡمَتَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيۡڪُمۡ (And remember Allah's favor upon you), the objective is to tell Muslims that as long as they remained faithful to their pledge, Al-mighty Allah blessed them with power and excellence in the present world and with high ranks for the Hereafter, shielding them all along against their enemies, in war and in peace.

This verse particularly mentions how enemies conspired to destroy Muslims and kill their Prophet on so many occasions, but Almighty Allah foiled all their plans and put them to disgrace - 'some people planned to lay their hands on you, and He kept their hands away from you.'

Speaking generally, there are innumerable events on the annals of the history of Islam when the plans made by disbelievers were seen rolling in dust by Divine grace.

But, there are some special events as well which our learned commentators have pinpointed as the substantiation of this verse - for example, in the Musnad of 'Abd al-Razzaq, a report from Sayyidna Jabir RA says: In a Jihad, the Holy Prophet PBUH and his Companions RA stopped to rest at one stage.

The noble Companions scattered out to rest at various spots. The Holy Prophet stopped by a tree, all by himself. He hung his weapons on a branch of the tree. A villager from among the enemies pounced on this occasion, dashed in and took possession of the sword of the Holy Prophet PBUH.

Then, taking it out from the sheath, he threatened him by saying: 'now tell me who can save you from my hand?'. Undaunted, the Holy Prophet PBUH said: 'Allah the Mighty, the Exalted'.

The villager repeated what he had said earlier, that is, 'now tell me who can save you from my hand?'

Once again, the Holy Prophet PBUH said with the same composure: 'Allah the Mighty, the Exalted'.

After two or three exchanges in this manner, it was the awe of some unseen power which forced the challenger to put the sword back in its sheath. At that point, the Holy Prophet PBUH called the Companions in and narrated what had transpired. The villager was still sitting by his side. He said nothing to him. (Ibn Kathir).

There is no contradiction about these events. All of them can be taken to be substantiating the present verse where, after mentioning the unseen protection provided to the Holy Prophet PBUH and to Muslims in general, it was said: وَٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ‌ۚ وَعَلَى ٱللَّهِ فَلۡيَتَوَكَّلِ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنُونَ (And fear Allah. And in Allah the believers should place their trust).

First of all, what is being said here is that this blessing from Allah is not restricted to the Holy Prophet PBUH, rather, the real cause of this Divine support and protection is the quality of Taqwa (the fear of Allah) and Tawakkul (Trust in Him).

Any nation, or individual who lives by these two virtues, in any time and in any place, will have the support and protection from Almighty Allah in the same manner. How well this was put in two lines by poet Iqbal: Create the atmosphere of Badr, for your help the angels could Descend from the heavens, file after file, even now!

It is also possible to refer this sentence back to the set of previous verses where Muslims have been commanded to treat their worst enemies with courtesy and justice. If so, the sentence would indicate that the teaching of courtesy and tolerance in the case of such avowed enemies may amount to making a political error which may put them back on their feet.

Therefore, in this sentence, Muslims were warned that this tolerance and courtesy will bring absolutely no harm to them only if they continue being the kind of people who fear Allah and trust in Him.

In fact, instead of giving the enemies the courage and opportunity to renew their hostility against them, this behavior of theirs will become the cause of bringing them closer to Islam into the Muslim area of influence.

Besides, Taqwa the fear of Allah is the only factor which can compel a person to abide by a pledge both physically and spiritually. Wherever this quality of Taqwa remains missing, pledges get readily broken as commonly witnessed these days. So, the earlier verse (5:8) which mentions a pledge, also directed to وَٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ‌ۚ (Fear Allah) towards the end. The same assertion was repeated here. Finally, this whole verse gives a clear hint that a Muslim victory with Divine support does not simply depend upon outward logistics and hardware, instead of that, the secret of their real power lies in Taqwa (the fear of Allah) and Tawakkul (trust in Him).

Things we learnt:

> Mankind is bundled with countless favours from Allah Almighty. The start of thid verse reminds us to remember the favours and be thankful often.

> Allah is the Helper, Benefactor and the Protector. The roots of Islam are buried very deep because of the protection of Allah and His angels. Allah protected Believers many times, a prominent and prime example beinh the Battle of Badr.

> Believers are required to put their faith in Allah and fear Allah in their dealings.

May Allah guide us to the right path.
Ameen.
Wama alayna illal balaghul mubeen.