Appearance
Verses 172–175
These verses have connection with those revealed about the battle of Uḥud, as may be understood from the clause, ‘‘after the wound had afflicted them’’, when read in conjunction with the preceding words, ‘‘If a wound has afflicted you (at Uḥud), a wound like it has also afflicted the (unbelieving) people.’’
الَّذِينَ اسْتَجَابُوا لِلَّهِ وَالرَّسُولِ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا أَصَابَهُمُ الْقَرْحُ ۚ لِلَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا مِنْهُمْ وَاتَّقَوْا أَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ ١٧٢
(3:172) (As for) those who responded to the call of Allah and the Messenger (even) after the wound had afflicted them, those among them who do good (to others) and guard (against evil) shall have a great reward.
al-Istijābah and al-ijābah both reportedly have the same meaning: You ask for something and get positive response.
Both God and His Messenger have been mentioned here, although either word would have sufficed. Perhaps it is because the Muslims in Uḥud disobeyed both God and the Prophet. They disobeyed God by fleeing and retreating from the battlefield, while God had ordered them to fight and they were forbidden to flee. They disobeyed the Prophet when the archers violated his order not to leave their post in any case, and when the rest of the Muslims ran off precipitately and did not respond to his call although he was calling them from their rear. Now that they did respond positively on this later occasion, they were described as responding to God and the Messenger both, to set the matter in parallel.
The clause, ‘‘those among them who do good (to others) and guard (against evil) shall have a great reward’’, restricts the promise to only a group among those who had responded. It is because the response is an external action which does not necessarily spring from the reality of doing good and guarding against evil—on which the great reward depends. It is an amazing watchfulness of the Qur’an that one topic does not distract it from other realities. It is evident from above that not all of the responders were sincere to God in this matter; some of them were not true doers of good to others nor did they sincerely guard themselves against evil—and these are the important characteristics which make one eligible for great reward from God.
Some people have said that min (from, among) in minhum (among them), is not here to indicate a portion; rather it is explanatory, in the same way as it is in verse , where it says: Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah; and those with him are severe against the unbelievers … Allah has promised those among them who believe and do good, forgiveness and a great reward. But it is an interpretation which does not agree with the context.
Also, it is clear that their praise contained in later verses, ‘‘Those to whom the people said …’’, is intended for a selected band of them although in wordings it is attributed to the whole group.
الَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ النَّاسُ إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا لَكُمْ فَاخْشَوْهُمْ فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَقَالُوا حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ ١٧٣ فَانْقَلَبُوا بِنِعْمَةٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَفَضْلٍ لَمْ يَمْسَسْهُمْ سُوءٌ وَاتَّبَعُوا رِضْوَانَ اللَّهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ ذُو فَضْلٍ عَظِيمٍ ١٧٤
(3:173-174) Those to whom the people said: ‘‘Surely men have gathered against you, therefore fear them’’; but this (only) increased their faith, and they said: ‘‘Allah is sufficient for us and most excellent Protector is (He).’’ So they returned with favor from Allah and (His) grace; no evil touched them and they followed the pleasure of Allah; and Allah is the Lord of mighty grace.
al-Nās (people, men) is used for human beings when no distinguishing factor (to separate one from another) is taken into account. The first al-nās (translated here as ‘‘people’’) is different from the second (translated as ‘‘men’’); the latter refers to the enemy that was gathering army to fight the believers, while the former were those who had forsaken the believers in Uḥud and held back from them and were now talking with them in this way to keep them back, so that they (the believers) would not proceed forth to fight the polytheists. In other words, the latter refers to the polytheists and the former to their agents within the Muslim camp who insidiously worked against the believers. The verse manifestly shows that they were a group not one person. It supports the report that the verses were revealed not about the events of the Lesser Badr, but about the Prophet’s campaign when, after Uḥud, he went forth with the remnants of his companions in pursuit of the polytheists. Both events will be narrated in the coming ‘‘Traditions.’’
Surely men have gathered against you: That is, they have gathered to attack you again. (And God knows better.)
… but this (only) increased their faith: It is but natural that when a man intends to do something, and someone whom he does not trust advises him not to do it, then that prohibition gives an impetus to do it by all means; his powers and faculties become geared to do that work, and his intention becomes firmer. The more the said advisor persists in prohibition, the more determined the man becomes to do it. This effect is even more stronger when the man so advised believes that he is on right and that he must do what his duty requires him to do. That is why whenever someone blamed the believers regarding some divine orders or put hindrance in their way, their belief increased even more and their determination and courage became much more stronger.
Possibly one factor that helped to increase their faith is confirmation of the revealed information they had in advance that they would have to suffer trouble, harm and damage in the divine cause until their affairs would be favorably settled by God’s permission. God had promised to help them, and naturally that type of help presupposes fighting and war.
… and they said: Allah is sufficient for us and most excellent Protector is (He): Ḥasbunā (sufficient for us) is a word derived from al-ḥisāb (to count, to reckon), because sufficiency is reckoned, vis-a-vis, the need. The sentence portrays their total dependence on God, because of their faith without caring about external causes which the divine system has created in the world. al-Wakīl (agent, manager, representative) refers to one who manages the affairs on behalf of someone. The connotation of the verse is therefore similar to that of the verse 65:3: and whoever trusts in Allah, He is sufficient for him; surely Allah attains His purpose. That is why this clause (and they said: ‘‘Allah is sufficient for us and most excellent Protector is [He]’’) has been followed by the words, So they returned with favor from Allah and (His) grace; no evil touched them. Therefore, when they followed His pleasure, He praised them in these words, and they followed the pleasure of Allah; and Allah is the Lord of mighty grace.
Discourse
The discussion “Trust in God” appears here in the printed volume. Read it in the Al-Mizan App.
إِنَّمَا ذَٰلِكُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ يُخَوِّفُ أَوْلِيَاءَهُ فَلَا تَخَافُوهُمْ وَخَافُونِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ ١٧٥
(3:175) That is only the Satan that frightens his friends; so do not fear them; and fear Me if you are believers.
Evidently the demonstrative pronoun dhālikum (that) refers to the people who had brought the quoted news. It is therefore one of the occasions where the Qur’an has used the word, ‘‘Satan’’, for man; as is apparent also from the verses: from the evil of the whispering of the slinking (Satan), who whispers into the hearts of men, from among the jinn and the men []. This explanation is supported by the next sentence, ‘‘so do not fear them’’, that is, do not fear the people who have spoken to you in that manner, because they are only Satans. (We shall later on explain this matter, unveiling the reality behind it, if God so wills.)
Examining Narrations
Innumerable traditions have been narrated concerning the battle of Uḥud; but there is so much contradiction and conflict among them—about various aspects of the event—that it is difficult to trust all of them. The most glaring contradictions are seen in those traditions which try to explain the reasons of revelation of most of the verses (there are nearly sixty verses in all). One is amazed to look at those traditions; a contemplating reader finds himself bound to decide that various sectarian inclinations have filled them with their own spirits—making them to speak what would benefit narrators in their sectarian causes. That is why we have not quoted them in this discourse; whoever is interested, should consult various collections of traditions and bigger books of exegesis.
- Ibn Abī Ḥāim narrates from Abu al-Ḍuḥā that he said: ‘‘The verse was revealed: and take (al-shuhadāʾ) witnesses from among you []; so seventy of them were martyred on that day: four from the Emigrants—Ḥamzah b. ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, Muṣʿab b. ʿUmayr (from Banū ʿAbd al-Dār), al-Shammās b. ʿUthmān al-Makhzūmī and ʿAbdullāh b. Jaḥsh al-Asadī—and the rest were from the Helpers.’’ (al-Durr al-manthūr)
Author’s comments: The tradition shows that ʿAbu al-Ḍuḥā has taken the word al-shuhadāʾ for ‘martyrs’; and an overwhelming majority of the exegetes has followed suit. But we have explained in the relevant Commentary that apparently no proof can be found in the Book for this meaning; evidently the word refers to the witnesses of the deeds.
- al-Ṣādiq said about the words of God, Do you think that you will enter the Garden while Allah has not yet known those who strive hard from among you …[]: ‘‘Certainly God did know what He was going to create before He created it, when they were tiny particles; (likewise) He knew who would strive and who would not, as He knew that He would give death to His creatures (even) before He caused their death—while their death was not yet seen, (and) they were still alive.’’ (al-Tafsīr, al-ʿAyyāshī)
Author’s comments: The tradition points to what has been explained earlier that there is a difference between knowledge before creation and the factual knowledge which is the same as the action. When this verse says, God has not yet known those who strive …, it does not speak about the knowledge before creation.
- al-Ṣādiq said about the words of God, And certainly you desired death before you met it, so indeed you have seen it (even) while you look (at it) []: ‘‘When God, the High, informed the believers what (favor) He had done to their martyrs of Badr in their abodes in the Garden, they coveted that (honor), and said: ‘O God, show us [that is provide for us] a fighting in which we should be martyred.’ Therefore God showed it to them on the day of Uḥud; but they did not remain firm except him whom God wished among them. So this is the word of God, And certainly you desired death …’’ (al-Tafsīr, al-Qummī)
Author’s comments: This meaning has been narrated in al-Durr al-manthūr from Ibn ʿAbbās, Mujāhid, Qatādah, al-Ḥasan and al-Suddī.
- The Imām said: ‘‘Surely the Messenger of God was wounded on the day of Uḥud, and observers saw him in that condition; then they started telling whomever they met, ‘Certainly the Messenger of God has been killed; (look for) safety.’ So when they returned to Medina, God revealed: And Muḥammad is no more than a Messenger, the messengers have already passed away before him; if then he dies or is killed, will you then turn back upon your heels? (He means: to the disbelief?) And whoever turns back upon his heels, he will by no means do harm to Allah in the least.’’ []. (ibid.)
- Ibn Jarīr and Ibn Abī Ḥātim have narrated from al-Rabīʿ about the above verse; ‘‘It was on the day of Uḥud when they were afflicted with what afflicted them of slaughter and injury, and they talked among themselves about the Prophet of God; they said: ‘He has been killed.’ Others among them said: ‘Had he been a prophet he would not have been killed.’ But some high-ranking Companions of the Prophet said: ‘Fight for what your Prophet had fought for, until God gives you victory or you join him (after martyrdom).’ And we have been told that an Emigrant passed by a Helper who was struggling in his blood, and said: ‘O so-and-so! do you know that Muḥammad has been killed?’ The Helper said: ‘If Muḥammad has been killed, then surely he had (already) conveyed (the divine message); so fight in the cause of your religion.’ Then God revealed: And Muḥammad is no more than a Messenger, the messengers have already passed away before him; if then he dies or is killed, will you then turn back upon your heels? He means: Will you then turn back to disbelief after believing?’’ (al-Durr al-manthūr)
- Ibn Jarīr has narrated from al-Suddī that he said: ‘‘(A rumor) spread among the people on the day of Uḥud that the Messenger of God was killed. Then some Companions of the rock [that is the people who had fled on the mountains] said: ‘Would that we had a messenger to ʿAbdullāh b. Ubayy so that he could obtain protection for us from Abū Sufyān. O people! Muḥammad has been killed; so return back to your people [to polytheism], before they come to you and kill you.’ [Hearing this] Anas b. al-Naḍr said: ‘O people! If Muḥammad has been killed, the Lord of Muḥammad has not been killed. Fight therefore for what Muḥammad had fought for. O God ! I apologize to Thee from what these people say, and disavow before Thee what they have brought.’ [Saying this] he drew his sword and fought until he was martyred. Then God revealed: And Muḥammad is no more then a Messenger …’’ (ibid.)
Author’s comments: This theme has been narrated through numerous other chains of narrators.
- al-Bāqir said: ‘‘Surely ʿAlī was afflicted with sixty wounds. The Prophet told Umm Salīm and Umm ʿAṭiyyah to treat him. They said: ‘No sooner do we dress him [his wounds] in one place than another place is torn apart; and we are afraid about him [his life].’ Then the Messenger of God entered, and the Muslims were visiting him (ʿAlī)—and he [his body] was one [big] wound. [The Prophet] started wiping him [ʿAlī’s body] with his hand; and was saying: ‘Certainly a man who met this [much affliction] in [the way of] God, has proved himself brave and is absolved [from every blame].’ And no sooner did the Messenger of God touch a wound then it was healed. Then ʿAlī said: ‘Praise be to God as I did not flee and did not turn [my] back.’ So God thanked him for it in two places in the Qur’an; and it is His word, and Allah will reward the grateful, and, We will reward the grateful.’’ (al-Kāfī)
Author’s comments: It means that God thanked ʿAlī’s steadfastness and firmness, not his words, ‘Praise be to God.’
- al-Ṣādiq recited, ‘‘And how many a prophet has fought with whom were myriads of Godly men’’, and said: ‘‘Thousands and thousands.’’ Then he said: ‘‘Yes, by God, they were martyred.’’ (al-Tafsīr, al-ʿAyyāshī)
Author’s comments: This recitation and meaning has been reported in al-Durr al-manthūr from Ibn Masʿūd and others; and it has been narrated that Ibn ʿAbbās was asked about this word and he said: ‘‘gatherings.’’
- ʿAbd b. Ḥamīd and Ibn Abī Ḥātim have narrated from Mujāhid that he said about the words of God, after He had shown you that which you loved: ‘‘God helped the believers against the polytheists until the women of the polytheists rode every spirited and feeble [camel]. After that the polytheists were let to triumph over them because of their (the Muslims’) disobedience of the Prophet.’’ (al-Durr al-manthūr)
- Ibn Isḥāq, Ibn Rāhwayh, ʿAbd b. Ḥamīd, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abī Ḥātim and al-Bayhaqī (in his Dalāʾil al-nubūwwah) have narrated from al-Zubayr that he said: ‘‘You would have seen me with the Messenger of God; when the fear overwhelmed us, God sent sleep on us; then there was not a man among us but his chin was on his breast. Then, by God, I was hearing the talk of Muʿtab b. Qushayr—and I heard it as if it were in a dream—‘Had we any hand in the affair, we would not have been slain here.’ So I remembered it from him; and it was about it that God revealed: Then after sorrow He sent down security upon you, a slumber coming upon a party of you, … we would not have been slain here, because of the talk of Muʿtab b. Qushayr.’’ (ibid.)
Author’s comments: This information has been narrated from al-Zubayr b. al-ʿAwwām through numerous chains of narrators.
- Ibn Mandah has narrated in, Maʿrifat al-ṣaḥābah, from Ibn ʿAbbās that the verse, (As for) those of you who turned back on the day when the two armies met, was revealed about ʿUthmān, Rāfiʿ b. al-Muʿallā and Ḥārithah b. Zayd. (ibid.)
Author’s comments: Nearly similar traditions have been narrated through several chains from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAwf, ʿIkrimah and Ibn Isḥāq. In some of them the names of Abū Ḥudhayfah b. ʿAqabah, al-Walīd b. ʿAqabah, Saʿd b. ʿUthmān and ʿAqabah b. ʿUthmān, have been added.
In any case, the names of ʿUthmān and others have been mentioned in these traditions as examples only. Otherwise, the verse covers all those Companions who had fled away and disobeyed the Messenger of God. Of course, there is a reason why ʿUthmān has especially been mentioned in the traditions: He and those who fled with him continued running away until they reached al-Jalʿab (a mountain in the region of Medina near al-Aghwaṣ), and they remained there for three days; then they came back to the Messenger of God, who said to them: ‘‘You had indeed gone very far in it!’’
As for the Companions of the Prophet in general, there are numerous traditions that all of them had fled; and there was none left with the Messenger of God except two persons from the Emigrants and seven from the Helpers; then the polytheists attacked the Messenger of God and all the Helpers, one after the other, gave their lives defending the Prophet; none of them survived.
It has been variously reported that eleven persons remained with the Prophet, or eighteen or even thirty—but this tradition is the weakest of all.
Perhaps, this difference emanates from different information reaching the narrators, or for some other reasons. The traditions which describe how Nasībah al-Māziniyyah defended the Messenger of God prove that at that particular time nobody was with the Prophet and that those who had remained steadfast—had not fled away—were busy in fighting the polytheists. The only person who, the traditions unanimously say, had not fled was ʿAlī; and probably Abū Dujānah al-Anṣārī, Simāk b. Kharashah also comes into this category; but he fought with the sword of the Messenger of God, thereafter when the Companions left the Prophet alone, Abū Dujānah continued shielding him with his own body, deflecting the arrows from him with his shield until he fell down seriously wounded. May God be pleased with him.
As for the rest of the Companions, some returned to the Prophet when they recognized him and realized that he was not killed; some others came back after sometime. It were these returning Companions on whom God had sent the slumber. However, God pardoned all of them. You have seen in the preceding Commentary what pardon means. Some exegetes have said that pardon in this verse means that God diverted the polytheists from them, so that they (the polytheists) did not exterminate them (the Muslims) completely.
- Ibn ʿAdiyy and al-Bayhaqī (in his Shuʿab al-īmān) have narrated through good chain from Ibn ʿAbbās that he said: ‘‘When the verse (and take counsel with them in the affair) was revealed, the Messenger of God said: ‘As for God and His Messenger, they are in no need of it [counsel]; but God has made it a mercy for my ummah; therefore whoever among them shall consult [others] will not be deprived of guidance, and whoever leaves it will not avoid misguidance.’ ’’ (ibid.)
- al-Ṭabarānī has narrated in his al-Awsaṭ, from Anas that he said: ‘‘The Messenger of God said: ‘He who asks (God) for good, does not go wrong; and he who takes counsel does not regret.’ ’’ (ibid.)
- ‘‘He who proceeds independently in his opinion is destroyed, and he who seeks advice of men becomes partner in their wisdom.’’ (Nahj al-balāghah)
- ‘‘To seek advice is the guidance itself; and he who proceeds independently with his opinion incurs the danger.’’ (ibid.)
- The Prophet said: ‘‘There is no solitude more dreary than pride; and no support stronger than consultation.’’ (al-Tafsīr al-Ṣāfī)
Author’s comments: There are numerous traditions about consultation. The consultation is valid in those matters where one has the choice of doing or not doing a thing as would seem more preferable. As far as the definite divine rules and laws are concerned, there is no question of consultation about them, as no one has got any authority to change them. Otherwise, it would be as though current events and new trends would abrogate the words of God!
- al-Ṣādiq said: ‘‘People’s pleasure cannot be controlled, and their tongue cannot be restrained. Did not they accuse him [that is, the Prophet] on the day of Badr that he had taken for himself a red velvet from the war booty? Until God informed him of [the whereabouts of] the velvet and absolved His Prophet from [embezzlement and] faithlessness; and revealed in His Book: And it is not attributable to a prophet that he should defraud’’ (al-Majālis)
Author’s comments: al-Qummī has reported it in his, al-Tafsīr; and there it says: ‘‘Then a man came to the Messenger of God and said: ‘Surely so-and-so has fraudulently taken a red velvet and has buried it in that place.’ So the Messenger of God ordered to dig that place; and the velvet was discovered.’’
This and nearly similar meanings have been narrated in al-Durr al-manthūr through numerous chains. Perhaps when the traditions say that this verse was revealed about that event, they mean that it points to that; otherwise, as we have already explained, the context shows that it was revealed after the battle of Uḥud.
- al-Bāqir said: ‘‘He who defrauds something, will see it on the Day of Resurrection in the Fire; then he will be charged to enter therein and take it out of the Fire.’’ (al-Tafsīr, al-Qummī)
Author’s comments: It is a fine inference from the words of God: ‘‘and he who defrauds shall bring (with him) that which he has defrauded.’’
- al-Ṣādiq said about the words of God, They are of (diverse) grades with God: ‘‘Those who follow the pleasure of God are the Imams, and they are, by God, of grades with God for the believers; and through their love and devotion to us, God increases their deeds for them, and God enhances (their) high grades for them; and those who have brought upon themselves the wrath from God are those who rejected the right of ʿAlī and the right of the Imāms from us, Ahl al-bayt; so in this way they brought upon themselves God’s wrath.’’ (al-Tafsīr, al-ʿAyyāshī)
Author’s comments: It is based on the ‘flow’ of the Qur’an, and applies the verse to its most prominent example.
- al-Riḍā said: ‘‘The ‘grade’ is (the distance) between the heaven and the earth.’’ (ibid.)
- al-Ṣādiq said about the words of God, What! when a misfortune befell you while you had certainly afflicted (the unbelievers) with twice as much: ‘‘The Muslims had afflicted at Badr one hundred and forty (unbelieving) people—they had killed seventy men and imprisoned seventy. When there came the day of Uḥud, the Muslims were afflicted with seventy men, and they were grieving for them; so (this verse) was revealed.’’ (ibid.)
- Ibn Abī Shaybah, al-Tirmidhī (who said that this tradition is good), Ibn Jarīr and Ibn Marduwayh have narrated from ʿAlī that he said: ‘‘Gabriel came to the Prophet and said: ‘O Muḥammad! Surely God is displeased with what your people have done in taking the prisoners; and He has ordered you to give them option between two things: Either they [the prisoners] are brought forward and beheaded; or they [the Muslims] take ransom [for the prisoners] on the condition that an equal number from among them [the Muslims] shall be killed [later].’ So the Messenger of God called the people and explained the matter to them. They said: ‘O Messenger of God! [they are] our clans and our people; we shall take their ransom and shall strengthen ourselves by it for fighting against our enemy; and there shall be martyrs from among us equal to their number but it is not something that we might be displeased with.’ Thus were martyred seventy men from among them on the day of Uḥud—the number of the prisoners of Badr.’’ (al-Durr al-manthūr)
Author’s comments: [al-Ṭabrisī] has narrated it in Majmaʿ al-bayān from ʿAlī; and also al-Qummī has quoted it in his al-Tafsīr.
- al-Bāqir has said about the verse, And reckon not those who are killed in God’s way as dead , that it was revealed about the martyrs of Badr and Uḥud together. (Majmaʿ al-bayān)
Author’s comments: Numerous traditions of the same meaning have been narrated in al-Durr al-manthūr and other books. But you have seen that the verses are general and cover everyone who is actually martyred in the way of God or is counted as a martyr.
Sometimes it is said that these verses were revealed about the martyrs of Biʾr [that is the Well of] Maʿūnah. They were seventy or forty Companions of the Prophet whom he had sent to call ʿĀmir b. al-Ṭufayl and his people to Islam; and they were near that water. [The Companions] sent Abū Milḥān al-Anṣārī ahead to convey the message; but they killed him, then they attacked the rest of the Companions of the Prophet and fought them until they [the enemy] killed all of them. May God be pleased with them.
- al-Ṣādiq said about this verse: ‘‘They are, by God, our Shīʿahs. When their souls enter the Garden and they receive the honor from God, the Mighty, the Great, they acquire knowledge and certainty that surely they were on the truth and on the religion of God, the Mighty, the Great; so they rejoice on account of those who have not yet joined them, from among their brothers, who are left behind them from among the believers.’’ (al-Tafsīr, al-ʿAyyāshī)
Author’s comments: It is based on the ‘‘flow’’ of the Qur’an. That they would acquire knowledge and certainty of their being on the truth, means that they would perceive it by the eye of certainty, after they had known it in this world by knowledge of certainty. It does not mean that before that they had any doubt or uncertainty about it.
- Aḥmad, Hannād, ʿAbd b. Ḥamīd, Abū Dāwūd, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir, al-Ḥākim (who said that this tradition is correct) and al-Bayhaqī (in his Dalāʾil al-nubūwwah) have narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās that he said: ‘‘The Messenger of God said: ‘When your brethren were afflicted (that is martyred) in Uḥud, God put their souls inside the green birds, who come to the Garden’s rivers, and eat from its fruits and lodge in a golden candelabra suspended in the shadow of the Throne. ‘So when they found the goodness of their food and drink, and beauty of their resting place, they said: ‘‘Would that our brothers knew what God has done for us.’’ ’ Another narration says: ‘They said: ‘‘[Would that our brothers knew that] we are alive in the Garden, getting sustenance, so that they would not abandon jihād and would not shrink from fighting.’’ Thereupon, God said: ‘‘I shall convey to them [this message] on your behalf.’’ So God sent down these verses: And reckon not those who are killed …’ ’’ (al-Durr al-manthūr)
Author’s comments: There are numerous traditions of this theme, narrated from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, ʿAbdullāh b. Masʿūd, Abu al-ʿĀliyah, Ibn ʿAbbās and others. Some of these traditions, like that of Abu al-ʿĀliyah, use the phrase, ‘in the forms of green birds’; others like that of Abū Saʿīd say, ‘in the green birds’; yet others like that of Ibn Masʿūd say, ‘like green birds’; but all the wordings convey almost similar meanings.
It has come to us through the chains reaching to the Imāms of the Ahl al-bayt that the above tradition was put before them and they denied that it was said by the Prophet; some traditions say that they interpreted that tradition in some other way; and there is no doubt that—keeping in view the confirmed and accepted principles—that tradition has to be interpreted away, if it is not rejected altogether.
In any case, those traditions do not purport to describe the martyrs’ condition in the Garden of the hereafter; rather they refer to the Garden of al-Barzakh. It is proved by the tradition of Ibn Jarīr from Mujāhid in which he says: ‘They are given sustenance from the fruit of the Garden and feel its scent but they are not in it.’ Also, Ibn Jarīr narrates from al-Suddī in which he says: ‘Surely the souls of the martyrs are inside the green birds in golden candelabra hanging from the Throne; so they pick their food in the Garden in morning and evening, and lodge at night in the candelabra.’ As you have seen in the earlier discourse on al-Barzakh that these themes may fit the Garden of this world, but not on that of the hereafter.
- As regards the verses: (As for) those who responded to the call of God and the Messenger …, Ibn Isḥāq, Ibn Jarīr and al-Bayhaqī (in his al-Dalāʾil) have narrated from ʿAbdullāh b. Abī Bakr b. Muḥammad b. ʿAmr b. Ḥazm that he said: ‘‘The Messenger of God came out [proceeding] towards Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad; and Abū Sufyān [and his retreating army] had unanimously decided to return to [reattack] the Messenger of God and his Companions. They said [to each other]: ‘We have returned before annihilating them (that is, the Muslims); certainly we must attack their remnants again.’ Then news reached him (that is, Abū Sufyān) that the Prophet had come out with his Companions in his pursuit. This (news) dissuaded Abū Sufyān and his army [from pursuing their plan]; Some riders from the tribe of ʿAbdu al-Qays passed them; so Abū Sufyān. said to them: ‘Give the news to Muḥammad that we [the Quraysh] have decided to reattack his Companions aiming at their annihilation.’ The riders met the Messenger of God at Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad, and informed him as Abū Sufyān had asked them to do. But the Messenger of God and the believers with him said: ‘God is sufficient for us and most excellent Protector is He.’ Thereupon God revealed about it: (As for) those who responded to the call of Allah and the Messenger (al-Durr al-manthūr).
Author’s comments: al-Qummī has narrated it in his al-Tafsīr in detail; he reports, inter alia, that the Prophet had taken with him to Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad only those of the Companions who had been wounded [at Uḥud]. Some other traditions say that he had taken only those who were with him at Uḥud. Practically the import of both reports is the same.
- Mūsá b. ʿAqabah (in his al-Maghāzī) and al-Bayhaqī (in his al-Dalāʾil) have narrated from Ibn Shahāb that he said: ‘‘Surely the Messenger of God called the Muslims together to be at the appointed time at Badr for [fighting] Abū Sufyān [about a year after the battle of Badr]. The Satan thereupon instigated his friends among the men who went to the people frightening them and saying: ‘We have been informed that they (the polytheists) have gathered for fighting you an army like the (dark) night, they hope to attack you and plunder you. Therefore, beware, beware.’ But God protected the Muslims from the frightening [campaign] of the Satan; and they responded to the call of God and His Messenger, and came out with their [trade] articles; they said: ‘If we meet Abū Sufyān, then it is for what we have come forth; and if we did not meet him then we would sell our articles.’ (Badr was the site of an annual trade-fare.] So, they went forth until they reached the fare-ground of Badr, and they fulfilled their needs there; while Abū Sufyān failed to reach the rendezvous—neither he nor his companions did come forth. Meanwhile, Ibn Ḥamām passed from near them (the Muslims) and asked: ‘Who are these?’ People told him: ‘(They are) the Messenger of God and his Companions (who are) waiting for Abū Sufyān and his group of the Quraysh.’ He then went to the Quraysh and told them the news. This frightened Abū Sufyān who went back to Mecca. And the Messenger of God returned to Medina with God’s favor and grace. This al-ghazwah is called the expedition of the army of al-sawīq; and it was in Shaʿbān, the third year of hijrah.’’ (al-Durr al-manthūr)
Author’s comments: [al-Suyūṭī] has narrated it from another chain too. [al-Ṭabrisī] has narrated it in Majmaʿ al-bayān, in detail, from al-Bāqir, in which he, inter alia, says that the verses were revealed about the ghazwah of the Lesser Badr; and that the army of sawīq refers to that of Abū Sufyān, because he had come out from Mecca with an army of the Quraysh; and they had with them loads of sawīq (as provision). They camped out of Mecca and sustained themselves with the sawīq, and then they returned to Mecca because they became frightened of meeting the Muslims at Badr. Therefore, the people called them the ‘‘army of sawīq’’, in mockery and derision.
- al-Nasāʾī, Ibn Abī Ḥātim and al-Ṭabarānī have narrated through correct chain from ʿIkrimah from Ibn ʿAbbās that he said: ‘‘When the polytheists returned from Uḥud, they said [to each other]: ‘Neither you killed Muḥammad, nor you took buxom girls with you [as captives] on the camels. Wretched is what you have done! Return [to attack the Muslims].’ The Messenger of God heard the news; so he called the Muslims and they gathered until he reached Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad or the Well of Abū ʿUtbah. (The doubt is from Sufyān, [one of the narrators]). Then the polytheists said: ‘We shall come back next year.’ Therefore, the Messenger of God too returned. So it was counted as al-ghazwah. Thereupon, God revealed, (As for) those who responded to the call of God and the Messenger. Indeed Abū Sufyān said to the Prophet: ‘Your appointed place and time is the fare of Badr where you had slain our companions.’ So as for the coward, he returned, and as for the brave, he took (his) fighting arms and trade-articles; then they came there (that is Badr) but did not find anyone there; so they sold and bought [at the fare]; then God revealed: So they returned with favor from Allah and (His) grace.’’ (al-Durr al-manthūr)
Author’s comments: We have quoted this tradition here although it goes against the principle of brevity and abridgement which we generally observe in the traditions. We have quoted here comprehensive examples of every theme, in order that a discerning research scholar may understand that what the scholars have written regarding the causes of revelation is—all or most of it—based on personal views; that is, generally they would describe historical events, then write after it the Qur’anic verses which would correspond with the theme; and then they would count that event as the cause of that verse’s revelation. Often this results in fragmentation of a single verse, or a set of verses of a single context, and then they ascribe each part to an independent cause of revelation—even if it disturbs the verse’s structure or negates its context. It is one of the causes of weakness in those traditions that are narrated about the occasions of revelation.
Add to it what we have mentioned in the beginning of this topic that sectarian differences and inclinations have greatly influenced the style and tone of these traditions as everyone has tried to pull them in the direction of his particular belief and view.
Moreover, political environment and ruling atmosphere has in every era strongly put its stamp on the realities either by hiding it completely or covering it in ambiguity. Therefore, a thinking scholar should never close his eyes from these factors which have utmost relevance to the understanding of realities. And God is the Guide.
Discourse
The discussion “The Martyrs of Uḥud” appears here in the printed volume. Read it in the Al-Mizan App.