Appearance
Verses 149–155
It is the continuation of the verses revealed about the battle of Uḥud. These verses exhort and encourage the believers to obey none except their Lord, because He alone is their Guardian and Helper; it calls them as witness that God had fulfilled His promise to them, and the debacle and disaster which they suffered on that day was brought upon them by their own hands, because they had transgressed the limits of what God had told them and His Messenger had invited them to; in spite of that God has forgiven them of their sins because He is Forgiving, Forbearing.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنْ تُطِيعُوا الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا يَرُدُّوكُمْ عَلَىٰ أَعْقَابِكُمْ فَتَنْقَلِبُوا خَاسِرِينَ ١٤٩ بَلِ اللَّهُ مَوْلَاكُمْ ۖ وَهُوَ خَيْرُ النَّاصِرِينَ ١٥٠
(3:149-150) O you who believe! If you obey those who disbelieve, they will turn you back upon your heels, so you will turn back losers. Nay! Allah is your Guardian and He is the best of the helpers.
It may possibly be inferred from the context that the unbelievers—after the battle of Uḥud, when these verses were revealed—were putting ideas in the believers’ minds (just as ‘‘friendly’’ advice!) to hold them back from fighting and to incite strife and disunity among them, in order to create rift and division in the camp of Islam. This implication might probably get support from the verses 173–175 coming later: Those to whom the people said: ‘‘Surely men have gathered against you, therefore fear them’’ … It is only the Satan that frightens his friends; so do not fear them, and fear Me if you are believers.
It has also been said that the verse alludes to the shouting by the Jews and the hypocrites on the day of Uḥud, ‘‘Muḥammad has been killed; you should return to your families.’’ But this explanation is nothing.
The verse first made it clear to the Muslims that if they obeyed the unbelievers and were inclined towards their friendship seeking their help, they would suffer a great loss, that is, they would turn back to infidelity, would become unbelievers themselves. Then it strikes at this idea by showing them the bright reality that Allah is your Guardian and He is the best of the helpers.
سَنُلْقِي فِي قُلُوبِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا الرُّعْبَ بِمَا أَشْرَكُوا بِاللَّهِ مَا لَمْ يُنَزِّلْ بِهِ سُلْطَانًا ۖ وَمَأْوَاهُمُ النَّارُ ۚ وَبِئْسَ مَثْوَى الظَّالِمِينَ ١٥١
(3:151) We will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve, because they set up with Allah that for which He has sent down no authority, and their abode is the fire; and evil is the abode of the unjust.
It is a beautiful promise to the believers that God will help them through terror and scare. The Messenger of God used to mention ‘‘scare’’ among the special bounties which God had reserved for him—not giving it to any other prophet. Such traditions have been narrated by both sects.
The clause, because they set up with Allah that for which He has sent down no authority, points to the fact that the polytheists set up such things as partners or colleagues for God, which have got no authority, no proof for it. The Qur’an repeatedly says that there is no authority, no proof, which could prove any partner or colleague for God. Among many types of polytheism is the rejection of the Creator by saying that some entities other than God—like time or matter—has caused the creation and goes on managing it.
وَلَقَدْ صَدَقَكُمُ اللَّهُ وَعْدَهُ إِذْ تَحُسُّونَهُمْ بِإِذْنِهِ ۖ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا فَشِلْتُمْ وَتَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي الْأَمْرِ وَعَصَيْتُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا أَرَاكُمْ مَا تُحِبُّونَ ۚ مِنْكُمْ مَنْ يُرِيدُ الدُّنْيَا وَمِنْكُمْ مَنْ يُرِيدُ الْآخِرَةَ ۚ ثُمَّ صَرَفَكُمْ عَنْهُمْ لِيَبْتَلِيَكُمْ ۖ وَلَقَدْ عَفَا عَنْكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ ذُو فَضْلٍ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ١٥٢
(3:152) And certainly Allah made good to you His promise, when you were extirpating them by His permission, until when you became weak-willed and disputed about the affair and disobeyed after He had shown you that which you loved; of you were some who desired this world and of you were some who desired the hereafter; then He turned you away from them that He might try you; and He has certainly pardoned you, and Allah is Gracious to the believers.
al-Ḥass to extirpate by slaying.
The traditions unanimously say, and history records, that on the day of Uḥud, at first the believers overpowered the enemy and defeated them; they started slaughtering them and plundering their goods. But then most of the archers left their position at the mountain-pass, and Khālid b. Walīd with his group attacked and slaughtered ʿAbdullāh b. Jubayr and the few archers who had remained with him. Now the way was clear for them to attack the believers from the rear—which they did. Seeing this, the fleeing polytheists turned back and put the Muslims to the sword, killing seventy of the companions and bringing utter defeat upon them.
Accordingly, the words, And certainly Allah made good to you His promise, affirms that God’s promise of help—on the condition that they should remain on guard and be patient—was certainly fulfilled; the clause, when you were extirpating them by His permission, is applicable to the victory which God gave to them to begin with on the day of Uḥud; and the next clause, ‘‘until when you became weak-willed and disputed about the affair and disobeyed after He had shown you that which you loved’’, may be pointing to what the archers had done; they disputed one with the other, an overwhelming majority of them left their position and ran away to join those companions who were busy in gathering the booty. In this way they showed their lack of will-power; they differed among themselves and disobeyed the Prophet’s order not to leave their place no matter what happened to the others. Accordingly, al-fashal (generally translated as ‘to lose heart’, ‘to be weak-hearted’), would imply here, weakness or lack of will-power; obviously the meaning of weak-heartedness or cowardice would not be appropriate in this context, because they had not left their position because of any fear; rather it was because of the avarice of war-booty. If we take al-fashal for cowardice, then it would apply to the whole ‘army’; and in that case, the adverb, ‘‘then’’, in the clause, ‘‘then He turned you away from them’’, would denote ordinal sequel, not sequence of time. The word, ‘‘disputed’’, proves that not all of them were united in that weak-willedness and disobedience; some of them were determined to carry on the order, and to continue in the obedience. That is why God follows it with the comment: ‘‘of you were some who desired this world, and of you were some who desired the hereafter’’
…then He turned you away from them that He might try you: God stopped you from entangling with the idol-worshippers, after you manifested your lack of will-power, disputed one with the other and disobeyed the Prophet—in short, after you became disunited. He did so in order that He might examine you and test your faith and patience in His cause. When the hearts and minds are disunited, it provides the strongest reason to conduct an examination, so that a believer may be distinguished from a hypocrite; such a test would also separate a believer who is firmly-rooted in belief and steadfast in conviction from the one who is inconsistent and fickle. Nevertheless, God has forgiven them by His grace, as He says, ‘‘and He has certainly pardoned you.’’
إِذْ تُصْعِدُونَ وَلَا تَلْوُونَ عَلَىٰ أَحَدٍ وَالرَّسُولُ يَدْعُوكُمْ فِي أُخْرَاكُمْ فَأَثَابَكُمْ غَمًّا بِغَمٍّ لِكَيْلَا تَحْزَنُوا عَلَىٰ مَا فَاتَكُمْ وَلَا مَا أَصَابَكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ ١٥٣
(3:153) When you ran off precipitately and did not turn towards any one, and the Messenger was calling you from your rear, so He gave you another sorrow instead of (your) sorrow, so that you might not grieve at what had escaped you, nor (at) what befell you; and Allah is aware of what you do.
al-Iṣʿād (to go far away on the ground) is different from al-ṣuʿūd which means to rise up, to ascend. They say, Aṣʿada fi jānib al-barr (he went far in the land), and Ṣaʿada fi al-sullam (he climbed up the ladder). It is said that al-iṣʿād is, sometimes, used in the meaning of al-ṣuʿūd.
The adverb, ‘‘when’’, is related to an implied verb, ‘‘remember’’ (that is remember when you ran off …); or to the verb in the preceding verse, ‘‘He turned you away’’; or to the one after that, ‘‘He might try you’’, according to various explanations. al-Layy (means, to turn towards, to incline). According to Majmaʿ al-bayān, it is always used in negative (and never in affirmative), that is they do not say, Lawaytu ʿalā kadhā (I turned towards so-and-so).
In the clause, and the Messenger was calling you from your rear, the word, ‘‘rear’’ here is opposite of front. The fact that the Prophet was calling them from their rear, shows that they had fled away en masse from around him in such a way that the mob in the forefront was far off from the Prophet and the rear group was nearer; he was calling them but nobody was turning towards him—neither those in the front nor those in the rear. They ran off precipitately to save their own skins, leaving the Messenger of God (blessings of God be on him and his progeny), almost alone surrounded by the hordes of the blood-thirsty enemies.
Of course, the words in the verse 144, and Allah will reward the grateful, (as explained earlier) prove that there were a few among them whose determination was not shaken; they did never retreat—neither in the beginning nor after the rumor spread that the Prophet was martyred, as is clear from the words, ‘‘if then he dies or is killed, will you turn back upon your heels?’’
The words under discussion, and did not turn towards any one, and the Messenger was calling you from your rear, clearly show that the rumor of the Prophet’s martyrdom spread among them after they had retreated and run away from him.
…so He gave you another sorrow instead of (your) sorrow, so that you might not grieve at what had escaped you, nor (at) what befell you; and Allah is aware of what you do: He changed their sorrow to another sorrow in order to divert their attention from this grief. This ‘‘another sorrow’’ that afflicted them was, in any case, a divine grace; because God says: ‘‘so that you might not grieve at what had escaped you, nor (at) what befell you;’’ and He has condemned such grief in His Book where He says: So that you may not grieve for what has escaped you, nor be exultant at what He has given you []. Obviously, this ‘‘another sorrow’’ that would prevent them from that disliked grieving would be a grace and bounty. Accordingly, this ‘‘another sorrow’’ should refer to the remorse that overwhelmed them for what they had done, to the distress they felt for the victory that had slipped from their hands because of their weak will-power. Consequently the second sorrow mentioned in the clause, ‘‘instead of (your) sorrow’’, would refer to that undesirable grieving; the preposition bi in bi-ghammin (instead of sorrow) indicates exchange. The meaning is therefore as follows: You were grieving at what had escaped you and what had befallen you; God changed it to the remorse and distress for the lost victory.
Another alternative: athābakum (translated here as ‘‘He gave you’’) may contain the connotation of change. The meaning in this case will be as follows: He changed your remorse and distress to the grief, entitling you for its reward. Then the meanings of the two ‘‘sorrows’’ will interchange, vis-a-vis, the preceding explanation.
In either case, the sentence, ‘‘so He gave you another sorrow’’, branches out from the clause, ‘‘and He has certainly pardoned you’’; and the next verse, ‘‘Then after sorrow He sent down security upon you …’’, is closely related to it. The meaning: He pardoned you, then changed your sorrow to another sorrow to prevent you from that grief of yours which He was not pleased with, then He sent down upon you security in the form of slumber which overtook you.
A third alternative is apparently supported by the context, in that the sentence, ‘‘so He gave you another sorrow …’’, would branch from the immediately preceding clause, ‘‘When you ran off precipitately …’’; in this case, ‘‘another sorrow’’ would refer to their running off and retreating from the battlefield; and the next phrase, bi-ghammin would be translated ‘‘because of the sorrow’’ (taking the preposition bi for the cause); it would then refer to the polytheists’ attack on them from the rear which in its turn was the direct result of their disputation and disobedience. It is a good meaning. In this case, the clause, ‘‘so that you might not grieve …’’, would mean as follows: We explain these facts to you so that you might not grieve. Thus, it would fall into line with the words of God: No misfortune befalls you on the earth nor in your own souls, but it is in a book before We bring it into existence; surely that is easy to Allah: So that you may not grieve for what has escaped you, nor be exultant at what He has given you; and Allah does not love any arrogant boaster [].
[The meaning: He gave you another sorrow that you ran away from the battle-ground, because the polytheists attacked you from the rear when you disputed among yourselves and disobeyed the Prophet. We explain it to you so that you might not grieve at what had escaped you, nor at what befell you.]
These three possible grammatical structure maintain the order of the verse and keep the sentences well-connected to each other. The exegetes have written many other possibilities. For example, to which sentence does the conjunctive, ‘‘so’’, join the words, ‘‘so He gave you another sorrow.’’ What are the connotations of the first and the second ‘‘sorrow’’? What is the import of the preposition bi in bi-ghammin (translated here as ‘‘instead of’’)? What is the significance of ‘‘so that you might not’’? But they are not tenable in the least, and there is no use of quoting and commenting on them.
In the light of the first two meanings given by us, ‘‘what had escaped you’’, (in the clause, ‘‘so that you might not grieve at what had escaped you, nor [at] what befell you’’) would refer to victory and war booty; and ‘‘what befell you’’ to their slaughter and injuries.
ثُمَّ أَنْزَلَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ الْغَمِّ أَمَنَةً نُعَاسًا يَغْشَىٰ طَائِفَةً مِنْكُمْ ۖ وَطَائِفَةٌ قَدْ أَهَمَّتْهُمْ أَنْفُسُهُمْ يَظُنُّونَ بِاللَّهِ غَيْرَ الْحَقِّ ظَنَّ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ ۖ يَقُولُونَ هَلْ لَنَا مِنَ الْأَمْرِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ ۗ قُلْ إِنَّ الْأَمْرَ كُلَّهُ لِلَّهِ ۗ يُخْفُونَ فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ مَا لَا يُبْدُونَ لَكَ ۖ يَقُولُونَ لَوْ كَانَ لَنَا مِنَ الْأَمْرِ شَيْءٌ مَا قُتِلْنَا هَاهُنَا ۗ قُلْ لَوْ كُنْتُمْ فِي بُيُوتِكُمْ لَبَرَزَ الَّذِينَ كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقَتْلُ إِلَىٰ مَضَاجِعِهِمْ ۖ وَلِيَبْتَلِيَ اللَّهُ مَا فِي صُدُورِكُمْ وَلِيُمَحِّصَ مَا فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ ١٥٤
(3:154) Then after sorrow He sent down security upon you, a slumber coming upon a party of you, and (there was) another party who cared only for their own selves; they entertained about Allah thoughts of ignorance quite unjustly. They say: ‘‘Do we have any hand in the affair?’’ Say: ‘‘Surely the affair is wholly (in the hands) of Allah.’’ They conceal within their souls what they would not reveal to you. They say: ‘‘Had we any hand in the affair, we would not have been slain here.’’ Say: ‘‘Had you remained in your houses, those for whom slaughter was ordained would certainly have gone forth to the places where they (now) lie;’’ and that Allah might test what was in your breasts and that He might purge what was in your hearts; and Allah knows what is in the breasts.
The verse shows that this slumber had overtaken only some, and not all, of the believers, as the clause, ‘‘a party of you’’, clearly says. These were the people who had come back to the Messenger of God after retreating and running off precipitately, and felt remorse and sorrow for what they had done. Far be it from God to pardon them mercifully while they were still fleeing away from the jihād, and were thus engaged in one of the greatest sins. God says about them, and He has certainly pardoned you, and Allah is Gracious to the believers, and it is unthinkable that God’s grace would cover a sinner when he was actively engaged in open defiance and sin—until and unless he repented. But as explained above, God looked on them graciously when He changed their sorrow to another sorrow in order that they might not grieve, lest their hearts be polluted with something disliked by God; [and it proves that they had come back and repented before that].
So, these were some of the believers; they were those who felt remorse for what they had done, and returned to the Prophet gathering around him. Probably it was at the time when the Prophet separated himself from the hordes of the polytheists and reached the mountain-pass—although they returned to him gradually, one by one, when it was known that the Prophet was not slain.
The other group is referred to in the next sentence, ‘‘and (there was) another party who cared only for their own selves.’’
…and (there was) another party who cared only for their own selves: This was another group of the believers. The word ‘‘believer’’ is used here only to distinguish them from the hypocrites who have been mentioned later on [in ]: And that He might know the hypocrites and it was said to them: ‘‘Come, fight in Allah’s way, or defend yourselves.’’ They said: ‘‘If we knew fighting, we would certainly have followed you.’’ God did not give this second group (that cared only for itself) the honor accorded to the first one (who were pardoned, then given another sorrow and lastly provided security and slumber). This second party, on the other hand, was left on their own; they were wholly engrossed in their own selves, oblivious of everything else.
God mentioned here their two characteristics although one was a concomitant or a branch of the other. First, that they cared only for themselves. It does not mean that they wanted for their own selves the happiness—in its real sense. After all, even the believers want the same thing—the happiness for themselves. Not only man, every creature that has a little bit of will and volition thinks only about itself. The connotation of this clause is that their whole attention was riveted to save their own skins—lest they lose their lives and be slain. In other words, their only aim in accepting the religion—or doing any other work—was to let their own selves have the usufruct of this world. They had professed Islam only because they thought that it was an unconquerable factor, and that God would not like it to be overwhelmed by His enemies—even if the enemies had all the factors in their favor. These people sought to gain benefits from the religion as long as it went on giving them something to their advantage. But if the situation changed and the tables were turned against them, they would turn back on their heels, retreating into disbelief.
…they entertained about Allah thoughts of ignorance quite unjustly. They say: ‘‘Do we have any hand in the affair?’’ Say: ‘‘Surely the affair is wholly (in the hands) of Allah: They entertained about God a thought that was incorrect, was actually a thought of ignorance. They ascribed to Him a characteristic that was not true, and was like that which the people of ignorance used to ascribe to Him. Whatever that thought, it was related to their words, ‘‘Do we have any hand in the affair?.’’ It may also be inferred from the reply God taught His Prophet, that is, ‘‘Say: ‘Surely the affair is wholly (in the hands) of Allah.’ ’’ This reply evidently shows that according to their thinking some affairs were in their own hands. That is why as soon as they were defeated and massacred, they started having doubts about religion, and said to each other, ‘‘Do we have any hand in the affair?’’
It is clear from the above that they thought that outright victory and triumph was their right. Why? Because they were Muslims ! They believed that the true religion cannot be vanquished, and consequently the followers of that religion cannot be defeated—because, according to them, it was incumbent on God to help it unconditionally, without any restriction, because He had promised to help.
So that was the unjust thought, the thought of ignorance. The idol-worshippers of the days of ignorance believed that God was the Creator of everything; that at the same time there was a separate lord for every phenomenon, like sustenance, life, death, love, war, etc. Also, every species and every part of creation like man, earth, river, etc., had a lord of its own; each lord managed the affair of his subjects and none could overpower him within his jurisdiction. They worshipped those lords so that they would provide them with sustenance, give them happiness, and protect them from evil and misfortune; and God was like an overlord, allotting each group of His subjects and each part of His Kingdom to a lord who had full authority to do whatever he liked within his jurisdiction and in his domain.
If someone thinks that the true religion could not be over-powered in its advancement, and that the Prophet—being the first to receive it from his Lord and be responsible for it—could not be defeated in his mission or could not die or be killed, then surely such a man entertains thoughts of ignorance about God. He has taken a partner for God, and idolized the Prophet as a deity who has been given domain over victory and war booty—while in fact God is One Who has no partner, and in Whose hand lies every power and every authority; and none else besides Him has any authority at all. That is why when God said in a preceding section, ‘‘That He may cut off a portion from among those who disbelieve, or abase them so that they should return disappointed of attaining what they desired’’, He cut short the speech, turning towards His Prophet to tell him, ‘‘You have no concern in the affair.’’ He did so, lest someone thought the Prophet had any concern or authority in that cutting off a portion of unbelievers or abasing them. It is God Himself Who has established the system of cause and effect. The stronger the cause the surer the appearance of its effect, no matter whether that effect is right or wrong, virtue or vice, good or bad, guidance or misguidance, justice or injustice. Also, it make no difference whether the person involved is believer or unbeliever, beloved or hated, Muḥammad or Abū Sufyān.
Of course, God has special providence for His religion and for His friends. It is because of that concern that the system in the creation is run in such a way that it would finally lead to the victory of religion, and prepare the earth for His friends—and the end is for the pious ones [].
It is a universal law and no exception has been made for prophethood and divine mission. That is why we find that when the normal factors and causes were present for the advancement of the religion and victory of the believers (as was the case in some battles of the Prophet), the believers triumphed; and when there was any weak link in the chain (for example, hypocrisy raised its head, or they disobeyed the Prophet, or became weak-hearted or nervous) the polytheists got the upper hand, defeating the believers. The same was true in case of other prophets, vis-a-vis, their people. The enemies were men of the world, whose only aim was to gain benefits of this life; they had overwhelming powers and gathered strength upon strength, and mobilized army after army. Naturally, they got upper hand and crushed the prophets—some were slain like Zachariah, others were beheaded like John, yet, others had to leave their place like Jesus and so on.
Nevertheless, if the truth of the religion could not be established without disturbing the normal casualty—in other words when it was a question of life or death for the truth—then it was necessary for God to strengthen the religion in an extraordinary and supernatural way, lest evidence of its truth be destroyed. Some details of this subject were given in the discourses on Miracles in volume one, and on Deeds in volume three.
However, to return to our topic: When these people (who did not care except for their own selves) asked each other whether they really had any authority in the affair, it showed that they entertained doubts about the truth of the religion, and as we have explained above, their religion had the spirit of idolatry in its body. Therefore, God told His Prophet to reply them in these words: ‘‘Surely the affair is wholly (in the hands) of God.’’ Before that He had told the Prophet himself that he had no concern, no authority, in the affair. All this made it clear that the religion of nature, the religion of monotheism, is the one in which all authority is reserved for God; the rest of the things—including the Prophet—have got no authority at all; rather they are links in the chain of cause and effect, governed by the divine system that leads to the law of test and trial.
They conceal within their souls what they would not reveal to you. They say: ‘‘Had we any hand in the affair, we would not have been slain here.’’ Say: ‘‘Had you remained in your houses, those for whom slaughter was ordained would certainly have gone forth to the places where they (now) lie;’’ and that Allah might test what was in your breasts and that He might purge what was in your hearts; and Allah knows what is in the breasts: It exposes their lack of belief in a much more harsher tone than their words, ‘‘Do we have any hand in the affair?’’, had shown. Those words had expressed their doubt in the form of a question. But the idea hidden in their hearts (‘‘Had we any hand in the affair, we would not have been slain here’’), is an argument to prove according to their thinking untruth of the religion! That is why although they had dared to utter the former question before the Prophet, they kept the later words concealed in their hearts, as it would have clearly shown that they gave preponderance to disbelief over belief.
God therefore told His Prophet to reply their undisclosed thought in these words: Say: ‘Had you remained in your houses, those for whom slaughter was ordained would certainly have gone forth to the places where they (now) lie;’ and that God might test what was in your breasts and that He might purge what was in your hearts. These words made it clear to them that:
First: When the martyrs were slain in the battlefield, it was not because you were not on truth nor because the authority was not in your hands—as you think. Rather, it had happened because the divine decree—which is enforced without fail—had ordained that those martyrs would lie in this place. If you had remained behind, those for whom martyrdom was ordained would surely have gone ahead to the place of their martyrdom. There is no way of escaping from the appointed time of death; when it comes nobody can delay it an hour nor can he bring it on before its times.
Second: It is a divinely established system that test and purge would encompass each and every human being; it would inevitably cover one and all, you as well as them. Neither you could avoid coming out of your homes nor the battle could be put off. All this was necessary in order that the martyrs might arrive at their right positions and achieve their high ranks, and you might reach your due places. In this way, everyone would be placed in his proper place—either felicity or infelicity, happiness or unhappiness—after the testing of the thoughts and ideas hidden in your breasts, and the separation of belief and polytheism concealed in your hearts.
It is amazing to see a number of exegetes writing that the group mentioned in this verse refers to the hypocrites—when the context clearly shows that it describes the condition of some believers. As for the hypocrites (that is, the group of ʿAbdullāh b. Ubayy that had withdrawn from the battle in the very beginning even before the battle had started), their condition has been described much later. Of course, that explanation might be in place if they use the word, ‘‘hypocrites’’, for those of weak faith, who were so confused in their belief that it ultimately boiled down to rejection of faith (in reality) although they professed Islam (in words). It is they whom God describes as ‘those in whose hearts was disease’. He says: When the hypocrites and those in whose hearts was disease said: ‘‘Their religion has deceived them’’ []; and among you there are those who hearken for their sake []. Or may be they want to say that all hypocrites had not gone back to Medina with ʿAbdullāh b. Ubayy.
Even more amazing is some others’ assertion that these people were good believers. They say that these people thought that the affair of divine help and victory was in their hands because they were on the true religion, and they had seen how in the battle of Badr they were given victory and how angels were sent to help them. According to these exegetes, when they said, ‘‘Do we have any hand in the affair?’’, and thought, ‘‘Had we any hand in the affair, we would not have been slain here’’, it was actually their way of confessing that the affair was in the hands of God, not theirs, otherwise they would not have been massacred.
If we accept this interpretation then the replies (Say: ‘‘Surely the affair is wholly [in the hands] of Allah’’, and, Say: ‘‘Had you remained in your houses, those for whom slaughter was ordained would certainly have gone forth to the places where they [now] lie’’), would be totally irrelevant. Some people have realized this defect and then have tried to explain it away in a way that has compounded the confusion. In any case, we have already explained its true meaning to you.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَوَلَّوْا مِنْكُمْ يَوْمَ الْتَقَى الْجَمْعَانِ إِنَّمَا اسْتَزَلَّهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ بِبَعْضِ مَا كَسَبُوا ۖ وَلَقَدْ عَفَا اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ حَلِيمٌ ١٥٥
(3:155) (As for) those of you who turned back on the day when the two armies met, only the Satan sought to cause them to make a slip (istazallahumu al-shayṭān) on account of (bi) some deeds they had done, and certainly Allah has pardoned them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Forbearing.
Istazallahumu al-shayṭān (the Satan wanted them to slip); he wanted so only because they had acquired some evil traits in their psyches, and done some bad deeds; one evil leads to another, because it emanates from following the heart’s desires—and the heart desires only that which has some affinity to it.
Someone has taken the preposition bi (on account of) as indicative of instrument, and said that ‘‘some deeds’’ refers to their turning back on the day of fighting. But this interpretation is far fetched; because ‘‘some deeds they had done’’ manifestly shows that their deeds had preceded their turning back; the two cannot refer to the same thing.
In any case, the verse shows that some sins and evil deeds done by them had given the Satan power to mislead them by making them retreat and flee from the jihād. Consequently, there is no ground to suppose that the verse points to the Satanic cry on the day of Uḥud that the Prophet was killed (as has been narrated in some traditions), because such interpretation is not supported by the wordings of the verse in any way.
… and certainly Allah has pardoned them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Forbearing: This pardon was granted to those who turned back on the day of battle, as mentioned in the beginning of the verse. The verse is unrestricted, and therefore covers all those who fled on that day. In other words, it includes both groups: those on whom slumber was sent down and those who cared only for their own selves. But there is a difference between the two, as the former has been honored by God, but not the latter. Because of that difference, this general pardon (which covers both groups) does not mention the aspects of honor related to the former’s pardon (as mentioned earlier).
It also shows that the pardon mentioned in this verse is not the same as the one described [in ] above, and He has certainly pardoned you. That the two pardons are different may be gathered from different tones used in the two verses. Look first at the former where God says, and He has certainly pardoned you, and Allah is Gracious to the believers. It clearly, shows God’s grace and mercy on them, and mentions them as ‘‘believers’’; thereafter it goes on saying that He changed their sorrow to another sorrow in order that they might not grieve; then tells them that He sent down security on them in the form of slumber. How different is that tone from the one employed in this verse where it merely says: and certainly Allah has pardoned them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Forbearing. Note that it speaks only about the pardon, but is silent about all the above mentioned aspects of honor; then it ends with the adjective, ‘‘Forbearing’’—focusing the attention on the fact that God does not make haste in giving punishment. A pardon accompanied by forbearance indicates that although the Master has overlooked the sin but still He is not pleased with the sinner.
Suggestion: Those who think that both groups are equal in rank, do so because both have been granted pardon.
Reply: The former pardon is different from the latter in its connotation, although both denote pardoning. There is no proof to show that pardon, forgiveness and things like that have the same connotation everywhere; and we have explained how the two differ in these verses.
Discourse
The discussion “Pardon and Forgiveness in the Qur’an” appears here in the printed volume. Read it in the Al-Mizan App.
al-Amanah (security); al-nuʿās (lethargy before sleep; light sleep; slumber); ‘‘slumber’’ is appositional substantive standing for ‘‘security.’’ It is also possible to take al-amanah as plural of al-ʾāmin (peaceful) like al-ṭālib and al-ṭalabah; in that case it will be a circumstantial clause related to ‘‘you’’ in ‘‘upon you’’; and ‘‘slumber’’ will become object of the verb, ‘‘sent down.’’ al-Ghashayān (means, to cover, to envelop). (Auth.) ↩︎
Vide al-Mīzān [Eng. trans.], vol. 1. (Trans.) ↩︎
ibid. Eng. vol. 3. (Trans.) ↩︎