Surah Al-Fath (The Victory)

1. This surah (chapter) was revealed while the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was on his way from Hudaybiya to Medina, after signing a treaty known as the Treaty of Hudaybiya. Abdulla ibn Masoud said: “You consider the conquest of Makkah a dazzling victory, whereas we consider the treaty of Hudaybiya a brilliant victory.” Allah Almighty tells His Messenger in this chapter that He had granted him a manifest victory by allowing him to sign the Hudaybiya treaty with the people of Quraish. People then felt safe and reunited. Believers and unbelievers conversed together, and Arabs would enter Allah’s religion in groups. Two years after the truce, Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) conquered Makkah with an army of ten thousand men, most of whom had embraced Islam after the Hudaybiya treaty.

2. Allah Almighty gives you victory so that He should forgive all your sins, those before the message and those after. Your Lord will complete His favours towards you and raise you and Islam by causing it to spread throughout the land. He glorifies you both in life below and the Hereafter. Your Lord guides you to the straight path of religion, without crookedness, through laws and a firm religion.

3. He will help you achieve a crushing defeat over your enemies.

4. Among the conditions set in the Hudaybiya treaty were two that affected believers:
a- That Muslims were not to enter Makkah that year, but to perform the lesser pilgrimage and visit the Kaaba the following year.
b- That the Muslims should send back any Muslim who came to them after the treaty, but that Quraish would not send back any Muslim who had abjured Islam.
Some Muslims thought that these two conditions were unfair to them; thus when the Messenger (peace be upon him) ordered the Muslims to sacrifice cattle and shave their hair, they did not obey his command at the beginning. They were angered for the sake of Islam. However, Allah Almighty sent tranquillity into the hearts of the believers to increase their security and their confidence in their faith by obeying Allah and His Messenger. Allah Almighty controls the universe. He makes some of His army fight so that the word of Truth may prevail, while others fight in the devil’s cause. If Allah chose, He would have sent forces from the heavens to defeat them. But He commanded combat and battle for a purpose which only He knows. Allah has knowledge of everything, and He is wise in His laws.

5. Allah Almighty decreed all this so that the Muslims should be victors in order that the believers, both men and women, may recognize the blessing of Allah and thank Him. He then will admit them to Paradise where they will dwell forever and expiate their evil deeds with their good deeds. This is a the great success for which they strive.

6. Allah also decreed this so that He would punish the hypocrites, both men and women, and the polytheists, both men and women, in their lifetime through defeat and opposing the Prophet and believers against them, and in the Hereafter by punishing them severely in Hellfire. Those hypocrites and polytheists thought that Allah would not help His Messenger or the believers to overcome the unbelievers. They were waiting for them to meet with disaster. And Allah Almighty damned them and called down evil, disaster and calamity upon them. Then Allah was angered by them and cursed them; He warned them against a severe punishment in Hellfire. Evil is the destiny of the hypocrites and polytheists!

7. Allah Almighty says that He is capable of taking vengeance on His enemies and those of His Messenger, the hypocrites and polytheists. He says that to Him belong the forces of the heavens and the earth: the angels, men and jinn, the cry, the tremor, earthquakes and floods, the violent wind. So if He chose to destroy His enemies, He would send several of these forces against them. Allah is All-Powerful, Invincible and Wise in His laws and management.

8. We have sent you, O Mohammad, as a witness to see if people answered your call to believe in Allah and to announce to those who responded to Allah and His Messenger that they will have Paradise in the Hereafter and will receive a good reward. We have also sent you to warn those who treat your message as a lie and turn away from your call of a severe punishment in Hellfire.

9. O people! Believe in Allah and His Messenger and support His true religion. Glorify Him morning and evening, and purify Him from anything which is not suitable to His Majesty.

10. When the holy Prophet reached Hudaybiya for the lesser pilgrimage (Hudaybiya is a village near Makkah) in the company of one thousand four hundred companions, he called Khurash ibn Ummayah Alkhuza’i and sent him to Quraish in Makkah to inform the nobles of his intentions. The people of Quraish killed the camel and wanted to kill Khurash. But the Ahabeesh tribe stopped them and set him free. He returned to the Messenger of Allah and informed him of what had happened. The Messenger (peace be upon him) wanted to send Omar ibn al-Khattab, but the latter excused himself, saying that he had no kin in Makkah to protect him and indicated Othman ibn Affan. The Messenger called Othman and sent him to meet Abi Sufyan and the leaders in Makkah and inform them that the Messenger had not come to wage war upon them but to visit the Kaaba (holy shrine) and to perform the lesser pilgrimage. Aban ibn Sa’eed ibn Al-Aa’s met him when he arrived in Makkah and gave him protection until he had finished conveying his message. He was then imprisoned. Rumour then spread among the Muslims that Othman had been killed. The noble Prophet said: “We will not move until we have fought the people of Quraish.” He called his people to a pledge of allegiance which was called the “pledge of willingness” under a tree. The people swore their fealty to the holy Prophet to fight until death and not to flee from the battle. Everyone was present at the fealty except for Al-Jadd ibn Qaiss who was a hypocrite. Quraish knew of the pledge and was afraid. They sent a messenger to the Prophet asking him for a reconciliation and a truce. It was then agreed that the Prophet along with the Muslims would leave Makkah that year and perform their pilgrimage the following year; the peace treaty between the Prophet and Quraish would last for ten years.
In this verse, Allah Almighty talks about the “pledge of willingness” which took place under a tree. He says to His Prophet: “Those who pledged their allegiance to you among your companions at Hudaybiya not to flee from the battle or turn away, have pledged their allegiance to Allah; for Allah is present while they place their hands over yours plighting their fealty. He hears all they say and sees them. He knows what they conceal and what they reveal. His hand is over theirs, for it is Allah whom they are plighting their fealty to through His Messenger.” (In a Hadith, the Prophet says: “Whoever draws his sword in the cause of Allah is pledging allegiance.”) Anyone who violates the pledge he gave the Prophet (peace be upon him) will only harm himself. But he who fulfills the covenant of fealty, Allah will grant him a reward in the Hereafter. He will admit him to the Garden where he will dwell forever.

11. When the holy Prophet headed towards Makkah for the lesser pilgrimage in the year of the Hudaybiya, he called upon all the Muslim tribes who lived around the Medina to go with him. Some people rushed to him while others lagged behind. Among the tribes that lagged behind were the tribes of Juhayna, Muzayna, Gifar, Ashja’, and Aslam. They excused themselves saying that they were engaged in caring for their wealth and families. In reality, their faith was weak and they feared confronting Quraish, Thukayf, Kinana and all the tribes around Makkah who were allies of Quraish. Some told others: “How can we go to people who fought Mohammad in his own home in Medina? Mohammad and his companions will surely not return from this trip.” Allah Almighty revealed this verse to expose them. It means: The desert Arabs who lagged behind will tell you: “We were engaged looking after our affairs as well as our families, so ask Allah, your Lord to forgive us. For our intention was not to disobey you.” Allah Almighty answers them, saying: “They are not truthful in saying that they were engaged in looking after their affairs and families and therefore did not join you. They lagged behind thinking that the Prophet and the believers would be defeated and that they would not return from their journey.” Allah Almighty commands His Prophet to tell them: “You lagged thinking that you would be safer, but if Allah wanted to inflict harm upon you, your staying behind would have been of no benefit to you, and if He wanted to benefit you, none could prevent Him from doing so.” Allah is well acquainted with what His servants conceal and what they reveal. Nothing is hidden from Him. He knows that the ones who excused themselves and stayed behind are liars because of their doubt, hypocrisy, and weakness of faith.

12. You stayed behind thinking that the Messenger and believers would be killed and destroyed and that none of them will return to their families. The devil made this evil thought pleasing to you. So you did not join him and you thought that Allah would not help His Messenger and the believers to defeat their enemies. You were a people doomed to perish and you deserve Allah’s wrath and punishment.

13. He who does not believe in Allah, and His messenger and is not faithful to him apparently and at heart, Allah Almighty has prepared for him a blazing fire in which he will be punished on Judgement Day for his disbelief.

14. Allah is capable of doing what He chooses; no one can change His judgement. He has absolute authority in heavens and on earth. He forgives whom He wills, for his sins and admits him to Paradise, and He punishes whom He wills and admits him to Hell. Allah is All-Forgiving and All-Merciful.

15. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) was secured against the evil of Quraish through the treaty of Hudaybiya, he turned to the Jews of Khaibar to destroy them and end their evil. For the harm inflicted by those Jews upon the Prophet and the believers was great. When the Prophet set out to go to Khaibar, the desert Arabs who had lagged behind when the Prophet had gone to Hudaybiya, came to him and asked his permission to join him on his trip to Khaibar. But Allah Almighty commanded the holy Prophet not to give them permission to join him because they had lagged behind when there had been the dangers of a terrible war and now they wanted to join him to gain easy booty. They said that the believers were preventing them from joining them on the journey to Khaibar because they were jealous of their sharing the booty with them. The meaning of the verse is: Those who lagged behind and did not join you to Hudaybiya, claiming that they had to look after their affairs, say: “Let us join you to Khaibar.” They wish to change what Allah had promised His Messenger and his companions who joined him at Hudaybiya, namely that they would acquire the booty at Khaibar alone, without anyone sharing it with them. If Allah’s Messenger allowed them to set forth with him to Khaibar, they would have a right to a share of the booty with them. They would thus be changing Allah’s word and promise. Allah Almighty commanded His Messenger to tell them: “You will not follow us, for Allah has already said earlier that the spoils of Khaibar are only for those who were with the Messenger at Hudaybiya.” But they claimed that Allah had not said this and that the Muslims were jealous of them and did not want anyone to share the booty with them. But Allah Almighty answers them saying: “It is not so! For the hypocrites say that you forbade them to follow you out of jealousy. They say so because they only understand a little about religion, for if they did, they would not accuse the Prophet and the believers of jealousy, and they would not have denied that Allah had promised the fighters at Hudaybiya alone the booty of Khaibar.”

16. O Mohammad! Tell the desert Arabs who lagged behind during your trip to Hudaybiya, that they will be invited to fight strong people and they would have to make them choose between the sword and Islam — this is a general rule concerning the Arab polytheists and the apostates. If they obey Allah’s order and that of His Messenger and go to battle against them, Allah will grant them a great reward. Thus they would receive spoils in this life and Paradise in the Hereafter. But if they refuse to go out to fight them, and they disobey the command of Allah and His Messenger, as they did when they lagged and did not set out to Hudaybiya, He will punish them with a grievous torment in this life and the Hereafter.

17. In this verse, Allah Almighty shows the excuses that are accepted for staying behind and not fighting: There is no blame or guilt for those who stay behind and do not join in the Jihad with other believers for certain illness they may have; such as being blind, lame or ill. Allah Almighty urges the Believers to go to Jihad and tempts them because of the reward that He has prepared for those who fight. He says: He who obeys Allah and His Messenger, and answers the call to fight the Unbelievers and the polytheists and to defend his religion, to raise Allahs’ name high; He will admit him in the Hereafter to gardens beneath which rivers flow. But he, who disobeys Allah and His Messenger, and refuses to go to ‘Jihad’, Allah will punish him with a grievous chastisement.

18. Allah Almighty informs His Messenger that He is pleased with the believers who swore fealty to him under a tree on the day of Hudaybiya. They were one thousand four hundred men and Allah knew well the truth and obedience that was in their hearts. He sent them tranquillity and peace of mind, and gave them a reward for obeying Allah which is the conquest of Khaibar immediately after their return from Hudaybiya. After that He rewarded them with the conquest of Makkah.

19. He compensated them for the spoils which they missed because of the Hudaybiya treaty with many gains in Khaibar. He distinguished them alone with this. Allah is Exalted in might and wise in His laws.

20. Allah Almighty promised the believers that they would acquire many gains in the days to come, so long as there were Muslims to fight for the cause of Allah. He hastened to them the gains of Khaibar and prevented the unbelievers and polytheists from attacking Medina, and restrained their hands from the believers and their families as well as from the ones who had stayed behind while the Muslim army was in Hudaybiya and Khaibar. Thus this was proof for the believers that Allah was protecting them and making them victorious over their enemies. They would therefore be guided to the straight path by obeying Him and His Messenger and submitting to them.

21. Allah promised you the conquest of other countries which you would not have been able to achieve earlier had Allah not made that possible for you through the power of Islam. He made the conquest and the gains effortless. Allah has Power over everything.

22. Allah Almighty gave His faithful servants glad tidings that if the polytheists attacked them, the Muslims would surely defeat them and the army of disbelief would retreat and would not find any protector to protect or guide them, nor would they find any helper because they were fighting Allah and His Messenger.

23. This is the law of Allah applied to men. There has never been a battle between disbelief and faith but Allah granted victory to faith and defeated disbelief. The law of Allah will never change. For Allah granted victory to His Prophet and the Muslims in the battle of Badr although they were few in number and He helped them in many other battles.

24. Allah reminds the believers of the blessings which He bestowed on them when He restrained the hands of the polytheists from them in the valley of Makkah (the day of Hudaybiya); therefore, no harm came to the believers. He also restrained the hands of the believers from the unbelievers, so the latter did not fight them in the Sacred Mosque (Kaaba). He prescribed a peace treaty between them for the benefit of the Muslims. This verse refers to the small army which the tribe of Quraish sent to encircle the Muslim camp and to attack the Muslims unexpectedly. The Messenger then sent out a troop and captivated the army. They brought the prisoners to the Prophet who in turn pardoned them all. This in itself is a victory for the Muslims. Allah sees all that both you and they do. Nothing is hidden from Him.

25. Those whom Allah restrained the hands of the Muslims from, and whose hands He restrained from the Muslims in the sacred Mosque in the valley of Makkah, are the polytheists from Quraish who disbelieved and all those who supported them and assembled to help them from the tribes of Ahabeesh, Thukayf, and others. They disbelieved in Allah and they prevented the Muslims from coming to the Sacred Mosque and stopped the sacrificial animals that the holy Prophet and the Muslims had brought from reaching the Holy Mosque where they were to be slaughtered after the rites of the pilgrimage and the lesser pilgrimage had been carried out. (The Prophet had brought seventy animals to be sacrificed.)
In Makkah there were believing men and women who had concealed their faith fearing harm from the tribe of Quraish. Had the Muslims entered Makkah in battle, they might have killed some of the Muslims there, not knowing that they had embraced Islam. But for that reason, Allah Almighty would have ordered His prophet and the Muslims to kill the non-believers; they would have killed and abolished them, and they would have entered Makkah by force. But Allah Almighty did not want the Muslims to kill their Muslim brothers unknowingly in Makkah. They would then have been guilty of sin and charged with the fine of atonement (that is the penalty for killing without intention). But Allah Almighty prevented the battle between the Muslims and the unbelievers to give the Muslims in Makkah a chance to leave and thus escape harm, and to give a chance to many polytheists to embrace Islam before the Muslims entered Makkah. Had the Muslims who entered Makkah been able to distinguish between the unbelievers and the believers who were in Makkah, Allah would have allowed them to fight and kill the unbelievers.

26. Had there not been Muslim men and women in Makkah, Allah would have punished the unbelievers. He would have commanded the believers to kill them when the furore and arrogance of the Age of Ignorance set in their hearts, for their representative in the peace negotiations, Suhail ibn ‘Amru, refused to write on the peace treaty document: “In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate”; he also refused to write: “Mohammad, the Messenger of Allah”. Feeling proud of their guilt, they insisted on preventing the Messenger and the Muslims from entering Makkah that same year. But Allah Almighty sent down peace of mind and tranquillity upon His Messenger and the believers, which calmed them, and they accepted the terms of the treaty. Allah preserved them from the whisperings of the devil and made them attached to the word of piety and monotheism (“there is no Allah but Allah”). They were well entitled to it and worthy of it. Allah has full knowledge of all things about both believers and non-believers, and He will compensate each according to his deeds.

27. Before the Prophet left Medina for Hudaybiya, he dreamt that he and his companions had entered the Sacred Mosque in peace. Some of the believers had shaved their heads, and some had shortened them. He told his companions about his vision, and they rejoiced, for they believed that they would enter Makkah that same year. Therefore, when they turned back from Hudaybiya, after signing the peace treaty with Quraish, without having entered Makkah, some of the Muslims felt disappointed. Even Omar ibn Al-Khattab came to Abu Bakr and some of the companions to ask about the reason behind accepting that treaty. He thought that some of its conditions were unfair to Islam and to the Muslims. Abu Bakr said: “But did the Messenger of Allah tell you that you would enter Makkah this year?” Omar ibn al-Khattab said: “No!” Abu Bakr said: “Then you will come and circumambulate the Kaaba.”.
Allah Almighty says that He showed His Messenger a dream in which he was entering the Sacred Mosque with the believers, calmly and without fear of the polytheists, after having performed the rituals. Some had shaved their heads. Allah would make a reality of this vision. But Allah Almighty knew that in Makkah there were Muslim men and women, while the Prophet and his people did not know this. If they had entered Makkah in battle, they might have killed some of them and hurt others. Therefore Allah made the Muslims turn back that year to prevent any harm to the Muslims there. He granted them instead a prompt victory before the Messenger and the believers entered Makkah, which was the Hudaybiya treaty and the conquest of Khaibar. Two years later, He granted them the conquest of Makkah and the collapse of polytheism.

28. It is Allah Almighty Who sent His Messenger with guidance and the true religion, Islam, to make it prevail over all other religions on earth. He promised His Messenger that he would enter the Sacred Mosque with his companions in peace. Allah fulfilled His promise, and He will fulfill His promise that Islam shall prevail. He is Witness to that, for Allah does not break His promises.

29. Mohammad is truly the Messenger of Allah; there is no doubt about it, and his companions are favoured with splendid attributes: they were strong and severe against the unbelievers but merciful and gentle with each other. They were accustomed to performing their prayers sincerely and with devotion to Allah, and sought His pleasure and satisfaction. Their peaceful souls rendered their faces relaxed and smiling. These are the qualities of the believers contained in the Torah. In the Bible, it was mentioned that the followers of Mohammad would be few in number, then would increase just like a seed that sends forth its shoot, which branches off on all sides. It then acquires strength and thickness and stands up straight on its stem, causing the farmer to admire its fertility, strength, and beauty. Allah Almighty has multiplied the Muslims and increased their number to enrage the unbelievers. He has promised the believers in Allah and His Messengers who do righteous deeds forgiveness for their sins and a generous reward by admitting them to His Gardens. Allah does not go back on His promises.