Аль-Фатх 48:15–18

Injunctions and Related Issues

The reference in this passage is to the incident which took place in the 7th year of Hijrah after the Holy Prophet ﷺ returned from Hudaibiyah. When he intended to march on Khaibar, he took with him only those sincere Muslims who were with him at Hudaibiyah and participated in the Pledge of Ridwan. When Allah promised His Messenger ﷺ the conquest of Khaibar and great spoils, those Bedouin tribes who had contrived to remain behind when the Holy Prophet ﷺ went for ` Umrah, requested the Holy Prophet ﷺ to be allowed to join the Muslim army, either because they guessed that Khaibar would be conquered and they would receive a good share of the booty, or because they perceived the divine blessings bestowed on the Muslims as a result of the expedition of Hudaibiyah' and being remorseful on their wrong decision, they intended to join the new expedition. In response to their request, the Qur'an says: يُرِ‌يدُونَ أَن يُبَدِّلُوا كَلَامَ اللَّهِ "They wish to change the statement of Allah...[ 48:15] " 'Allah's statement' refers to the injunction that the right to participate in the expedition of Khaibar and receiving a share in its spoils is reserved exclusively for those sincere Muslims who were with the Holy Prophet ﷺ at Hudaibiyah. The same injunction is again referred to by saying, كَذَٰلِكُمْ قَالَ اللَّهُ مِن قَبْلُ "Allah had said like this beforehand.... [ 48:15] " It means that the injunction of restricting the right of participation in Khyber to the participants of Hudaibiyah had been revealed by Allah before the revelation of these verses. However, this injunction is not available in the Qur'an anywhere else. So the question is: how is it then correct to refer this injunction as a 'statement of Allah' or as 'Allah has said like this'? Answer to this question depends on understanding the different kinds of the divine revelation which follow:

Divine Revelation is not restricted to the Qur’ an; Many injunctions are revealed without being a part of the Qur’ an, and Prophetic ahadith have also the status of being 'Allah's injunctions'

Wahy [ revelation ] is divisible into two types: [ 1] Wahy Matluww or recited revelation; and [ 2] Wahy Ghayr-Matluww or unrecited revelation. Wahy Matluww refers to the Qur'an - the words and meanings of which are both from Allah. Wahy Ghayr-Matluww refers to the Hadith of the Holy Prophet ﷺ - the wordings of which are from the Holy Prophet ﷺ and the meanings of which are from Allah (See Ma ariful Qur an: Vol. 2/570).Wally Ghayr-Matluww, like Wahy Matluww, is one of the fundamental sources of Islamic injunctions.

With this juristic principle in mind, scholars have explained that the restrictive injunction made to the participants of Hudaibiyah is nowhere asserted explicitly in the Qur'an or Wahy Matluww. However, it was made for them to the Holy Prophet through Wahy Ghayr-Matluww on his way to Hudaibiyah to which the Qur'an refers by the phrases Kalamullah (the statement of Allah) and qalAllah (Allah said). From this a general juristic rule may be deduced that the injunctions entrenched in ahadith sahihah [ Authentic Prophetic Traditions ] have the status of being 'Allah's statement' and 'Allah's saying'. These verses are sufficient to unmask the deviation of those who turned aside from the truth by refusing to accept ahadith as a religious authority.

Some people have tried to argue that the restrictive injunction is found in the Qur'an itself, that is in verses 18 and 19 of this very Surah "so He sent down tranquility upon them, and rewarded them with a well-nigh victory, and many spoils that they would receive." This verse was revealed in the beginning of the journey to Hudaibiah, and "well-nigh victory" refers, according to consensus of Qur'anic scholars, to the victory of Khaibar. Thus the phrases Kalamullah (the statement of Allah) and qalallah (Allah said) could refer to verses 18 and 19, and it is not necessary that it is construed as an injunction conveyed through Wahy Ghayr-Matluww. But this argument is misconceived because verse 18 and 19 contain a promise that the participants of Hudaibiah would receive many spoils in the victory of Khaibar, but it is nowhere mentioned in these verses that these spoils will be restricted to the participants of Hudaibiah and no one else will participate in them. Therefore, No doubt, this restriction was made by Wahy Ghayr-Matluww or the Hadith of the Holy Prophet ﷺ which is meant by the Qur'anic phrases Kalamullah and qalallah.

Some people have applied the words, 'the statement of Allah' occurring in verse 15 to verse 83 of Surah At-Taubah:

فَاسْتَأْذَنُوكَ لِلْخُرُ‌وجِ فَقُل لَّن تَخْرُ‌جُوا مَعِيَ أَبَدًا وَلَن تُقَاتِلُوا مَعِيَ عَدُوًّا ۖ إِنَّكُمْ رَ‌ضِيتُم بِالْقُعُودِ أَوَّلَ مَرَّ‌ةٍ

They sought disorder even earlier and tried to upset matters for you, until the Truth arrived and the will of Allah prevailed, though they disliked it. [ Surah Taubah: 83]

This is not true, because the verses of Surah At-Taubah pertain to the battle of Tabuk which took place in the 9th year of Hijrah whereas the expedition of Khaibar took place two years earlier in the 7th year of Hijrah (Qurtubi; and others).

قُل لَّن تَتَّبِعُونَا ("...say: 'You shall not follow us' - 48:15".) In this clause, the laggards who contrived to be left behind are emphatically told that they could not be allowed to march against the Jews of Khaibar and partake of the booty. However, this prohibition is restricted to the expedition of Khaibar, but in the near future they would be allowed to fight other battles. This is the reason why from among the laggards, the tribes of Muzainah and Juhainah later on fought in the company of the Holy Prophet ﷺ (a1-Ruh citing from al-Bahr; Bayan).

Some of the Laggards Repent and Become Sincere Muslims

All the laggards that did not march towards Hudaibiyah were prohibited from taking part in the expedition of Khaibar, whereas not all of them were hypocrites, some were sincere Muslims. And some at that particular time were hypocrites, but later on, through the Grace of Allah, they became sincere Muslims. Verse [ 16] consoles and comforts the laggards that though, because of Allah's promise made to the participants of Hudaibiyah, they cannot be allowed to take part in the expedition of Khaibar, yet in the near future the sincere Muslims would be called upon to fight against much more powerful enemies. Thus the Qur'an predicts '' سَتُدْعَوْنَ إِلَىٰ قَوْمٍ أُولِي بَأْسٍ شَدِيدٍ تُقَاتِلُونَهُمْ أَوْ يُسْلِمُونَ "You will be called against a people possessed of strong fighting power; you will have to fight them, or they will submit". (48:16)

We need to bear in mind the verse foretells that they will be invited to take part in battles that will be fought against a formidable militant nation. Islamic history bears ample testimony to the fact that this prediction was not fulfilled during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . There are several reasons for this. First of all, though battles did take place during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet ﷺ after the expedition of Khaibar, there is no proof that the Holy Prophet ﷺ called upon the Bedouins to fight. Secondly, after that no battle took place with such a nation whose fighters were so brave, chivalrous and formidable as the Qur'an describes. Although in the battle of Tabuk the encounter was with a formidable force, neither is there any evidence that the Bedouins were invited to fight, nor did any actual fighting take place in Tabuk, because Allah had infused terror in the minds of the opponents, and they did not turn up. As far as the battle of Hunain is concerned, there is no proof of their being invited, nor was the opponent so powerful. Therefore, some of the leading scholars of Tafsir express the view that the prediction in the verse refers to the fierce and protracted wars with the Byzantine and Iranian empires which took place during the reign of Sayyidna Al-Faruq ul-A` zam ؓ (Ibn ` Abba, 'Ata, Mujahid, Ibn Abi Laila, and Hasan in Qurtubi' ). Sayyidna Rafi` Ibn Khadij ؓ says: " We read this verse in the Qur'an in which the word 'qawm' (people) occurs, but we did not know to which 'qawm' reference is made, until after the Holy Prophet ﷺ when Abu Bakr ؓ took over the reign of Caliphate and invited us to take up arms against Banu Hanifah, the people of Yamamah, that is, Musailimah-Kadhdhab. So we thought the Qur'an refers to this 'qawm' (people)." However, there is no conflict or contradiction between these views. The word 'qawm' (people) could comprehend all these nations. Having cited all these views, Imam Qurtubi asserts that this verse confirms the legitimacy of the Caliphate of Sayyidna Abu Bakr and Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ . The Qur'an itself asserts in the above-quoted verse their calling upon the people to fight.

تُقَاتِلُونَهُمْ أَوْ يُسْلِمُونَ ("...you will have to fight them, or they will submit" ) According to the gira’ ah (reading) of Sayyidna 'Ubaiyy in the second disjunctive clause أَوْ يُسْلِمُوا au yuslimu the nun has been omitted. Therefore, Imam Qurtubi takes the disjunctive particle au originally standing for "or" in the sense of hatta (until). In other words, the fighting will carry on with that nation until they surrender - whether by embracing Islam or by submitting to the Islamic rule.

لَّيْسَ عَلَى الْأَعْمَىٰ حَرَ‌جٌ (There is no blame on the blind, nor is there any blame on the lame, nor is there any blame on the sick...48:17) Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ reports that when some sincere Muslims who were physically unable to fight read the concluding clause of verse 16: وَإِن تَتَوَلَّوْا كَمَا تَوَلَّيْتُم مِّن قَبْلُ يُعَذِّبْكُمْ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا .

“ And if you turn away, as you had turned away before, He will punish you with a painful punishment. [ 48:16] " they expressed their concern about the warning. Verse [ 17] was revealed to exempt them from the injunction of jihad. These people included blind, lame or sick persons (Qurtubi). And Allah knows best!

Commentary

لَّقَدْ رَ‌ضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِذْ يُبَايِعُونَكَ تَحْتَ الشَّجَرَ‌ةِ (Allah was pleased with the believers when they were pledging allegiance with you by placing their hands in your hands under the tree,...48:18). The reference in this verse is to the same pledge that was given at Hudaibiyah and which was referred to earlier in verse 10. Verse [ 18] reinforces verse [ 10.]. In verse [ 18] Allah announces that those sincere participants who took this solemn oath have obtained His pleasure. Therefore, the oath came to be known as bai` at-ur-Ridwan (that is, the pledge that earned Allah's pleasure). The purpose of this is to compliment the participants of the allegiance and to emphasise the obligation of fulfilling the covenant. It is recorded in Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of Sayyidna Jabir ؓ that on the day of Hudaibiyah, the companions were 1400 people, and the Holy Prophet ﷺ said to them: اَنتُم خَیرُ اھلِ الارضِ "You are the best of people living on the surface of the earth." It is recorded in Muslim on the authority of Umm Bishr ؓ that the Holy Prophet ﷺ has said, لا یدخل النَّارَ اَحَدُ مِمَّن بَایَعَ تَحتَ الشَّجرَۃِ "None of those who swore fealty under the tree will enter the Fire" (Mazhari). Therefore, the participants of this allegiance are like the participants of the battle of Badr. The Qur'an and Hadith give glad tidings of Allah's pleasure and Paradise to the participants of the battle of Badr. Likewise the sources give glad tidings of Allah's pleasure and Paradise to the participants of bai` at-ur-Ridwan. These tidings bear testimony to the fact that these sincere participants meet their end in the state of faith, righteousness, and with deeds that please Allah, because this announcement of Allah's pleasure guarantees that.

Vilification of, and Finding Fault with, the Noble Companions prohibited

Tafsir Mazhari says that the noble Companions are among the best of the Prophet's ﷺ followers, and as such Allah has announced forgiveness of their sins, shortcomings and slips - if they committed any. Therefore, it is against the declaration of this verse to investigate into those of their deeds that are not laudable, and to make it a subject of debate. It is also a crystal clear denunciation of the attitude of Rawafid, the Shiites, who reject the legitimacy of the caliphs Abu Bakr ؓ ، ` Umar ؓ and ` Uthman, and vilify them and other blessed Companions ؓ - condemning them as unbelievers and hypocrites.

The Tree of Ridwan

The tree that is mentioned in this verse refers to mimosa arabica or the gum-acacia tree. It is reported that after the Holy Prophet ﷺ some people used to take walk there and perform salah. Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ came to know about this and feared that the future generation lacking in knowledge might start worshipping the very tree, as it happened in the past generations. Therefore, he had the tree felled (cut down a tree). However, it is recorded in Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of Sayyidna Tariq Ibn ` Abdur-Rahman who reports: "I once went for Hajj, and I passed by some people who had gathered in a place and were performing salah. I asked them: 'Which mosque is this?'. They replied: 'This is the tree under which the Holy Prophet ﷺ took bai` at-ur-Ridwan.' After that I went up to Sayyidna Said Ibn Musayyab and narrated this incident to him. He said: 'My father was one of those who participated in bai` at-ur-Ridwan. He said to me that when he went to Makkah the following year he looked for the tree, but could not find it.' Then Sayyidna Said Ibn Musayyab ؓ added: 'Companions ؓ who participated in bai` at-ur-Ridwan at the hands of the Holy Prophet ﷺ themselves are unaware of the location of the tree, but it is strange that you should know about it. Are you more knowledgeable than they are?'" (Ruh-ul-Ma’ ani). This goes to show that later on people must have determined conjecturally - based on incomplete and doubtful evidence - about a particular tree that it was the tree under which the pledge was taken. As a result, they frequented the place and performed salah. Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ knew that it was not the real tree. Then he apprehended people's involvement in shirk. Therefore, he had the tree felled.

Conquest of Khaibar

Khaibar is the name of a province which comprises many settlements, fortresses and gardens (Mazhari). Verse 18 refers to the victory of Khaibar by saying, وَأَثَابَهُمْ فَتْحًا قَرِ‌يبًا "and rewarded them with a well-nigh victory,". There is consensus of the scholars on that 'well-nigh victory' in this verse means the victory of Khaibar which occurred after returning from Hudaibiyah. According to some versions, the Holy Prophet ﷺ stayed in Madinah after returning from Hudaibiyah only for ten days, and according to other versions, he stayed for twenty days. Then he marched against Khaibar. According to Ibn Ishaq's version, he returned to Madinah in the month of Dhulhijjah and set out for Khaibar in the month of Muharram in the 7th year of Hijrah.

Khaibar was conquered in the month of Safar in the 7th year of Hijrah. This is reported by Waqidi's Maghazi. According to Hafiz Ibn-Hajar, this is the preferred opinion. (Tafsir Mazhari)

In any case, this shows that the conquest of Khaibar took place many days after the march to Hudaibiyah. According to consensus of scholarly opinion, Surah Al-Fath was revealed in the course of his return journey from Hudaibiya. However, there is a difference of opinion whether the Surah was revealed in its entirety or some of its verses were revealed later. If the first view is preferred, then the conquest of Khaibar is a prophecy that Muslims will definitely achieve and is described in past perfect tense to denote that it is as certain as an event that has already happened in the past. If the second view is preferred, it is possible that these verses were revealed after the conquest of Khaibar. Allah knows best!