The Family of ‘Imran (Al-‘Imran) آل عمران 121–129
121
وَإِذْ غَدَوْتَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ تُبَوِّىءُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ مَقَاعِدَ لِلْقِتَالِ وَاللّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
When you set out at dawn from your home to assign battle positions to the believers—God hears all and knows all.
122
إِذْ هَمَّت طَّآئِفَتَانِ مِنكُمْ أَن تَفْشَلاَ وَاللّهُ وَلِيُّهُمَا وَعَلَى اللّهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ
When two groups from among you were about to lose heart, God was their protector. In God let the faithful put their trust.
123
وَلَقَدْ نَصَرَكُمُ اللّهُ بِبَدْرٍ وَأَنتُمْ أَذِلَّةٌ فَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ
God had already helped you at Badr, when you were weak. Fear God, so that you may be grateful.
124
إِذْ تَقُولُ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَلَن يَكْفِيكُمْ أَن يُمِدَّكُمْ رَبُّكُم بِثَلاَثَةِ آلاَفٍ مِّنَ الْمَلآئِكَةِ مُنزَلِينَ
[And remember] when you said to the believers, ‘Does it not suffice that your Lord helps you by sending down three thousand angels?
125
بَلَى إِن تَصْبِرُواْ وَتَتَّقُواْ وَيَأْتُوكُم مِّن فَوْرِهِمْ هَـذَا يُمْدِدْكُمْ رَبُّكُم بِخَمْسَةِ آلافٍ مِّنَ الْمَلآئِكَةِ مُسَوِّمِينَ
If you remain patient and God-fearing, and the enemy should fall upon you all of a sudden, Your Lord will reinforce you with five thousand angels clearly marked!’
126
وَمَا جَعَلَهُ اللّهُ إِلاَّ بُشْرَى لَكُمْ وَلِتَطْمَئِنَّ قُلُوبُكُم بِهِ وَمَا النَّصْرُ إِلاَّ مِنْ عِندِ اللّهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَكِيمِ
and God ordained this only as good news for you so that your hearts might be comforted—help comes only from God, the Powerful, the Wise One—
127
لِيَقْطَعَ طَرَفًا مِّنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ أَوْ يَكْبِتَهُمْ فَيَنقَلِبُواْ خَآئِبِينَ
and so that He might cut off a portion of those who are bent on denying the truth or abase them so that they might be turned back frustrated.
128
لَيْسَ لَكَ مِنَ الأَمْرِ شَيْءٌ أَوْ يَتُوبَ عَلَيْهِمْ أَوْ يُعَذَّبَهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ ظَالِمُونَ
You have no say in this affair to decide whether He will relent towards them or He will punish them: they are wrongdoers.
129
وَلِلّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الأَرْضِ يَغْفِرُ لِمَن يَشَاء وَيُعَذِّبُ مَن يَشَاء وَاللّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth belong to God. He forgives whoever He pleases and punishes whoever He pleases. God is most forgiving and ever merciful.
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
(a) These verses were revealed after the Battle of Uhud which took place in the third year after hijrah. The enemy forces numbered three thousand, while the Muslims who rose in defence were initially only one thousand in number. When three hundred hypocritical Muslims, led by ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy, deserted, some of the Madinan Muslims were disheartened at this, so the Prophet reminded them that they had come forth to defend themselves, relying on God rather than only on themselves. If, due to the severity of circumstances, believers show some temporary weakness, God does not leave them to fend for themselves. He sends His special succour to restore their faith. This special succour of God was sent to the whole group of believers at a time when, by exploiting the weakness of the Muslims, the enemies had overcome them, and had every opportunity to crush the Muslim forces completely. But the enemy army, in spite of being victorious, retreated from the battlefield. This astonishing event in military history took place because of the special divine succour, which diverted the enemy towards ‘Makkah’ rather than ‘Madinah’ (the Muslim area). It was the defeated who pursued the victorious. (a) Believers should never be upset at any lack of manpower or resources. When small in number, they should have the conviction that God will amply compensate for this by sending angels down to help them. When confronted with inadequate resources, they should trust God to create such situations as will compensate for this deficiency. Success depends more on patience and being God-fearing (taqwa) than on material resources. Those who fear and trust God can receive His divine succour in two ways: first, by His causing a section of the enemy to be brought to repentance and submission, thus reducing their number; and second, by His bringing about their outright defeat. The first kind of God’s succour comes by way of dawah work. God opens to the truth the hearts of those opponents, who have some receptivity in them, and thus they join the believers. In this way they weaken the enemy forces and strengthen the believers’ ranks. By the second method, God gives strength and courage to the believers and enables them to emerge victorious.