Have Allah’s Help and Triumph Come True?

04/11/2004

Allah’s saying: [When Allah's succour and the triumph cometh...] (An-Nasr 110:1) indicates two meanings. First, the verse informs of the nearness of the Prophet's death. Second, it gives the glad tidings of Allah’s help to His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and the religion he propagates.

Imam Al-Bukhari provided proof for the first indication as illustrated in the following hadith. Sa`id ibn Jubayr reported that Ibn `Abbas said, “`Umar used to make me sit with the elderly men who had fought in the Battle of Badr. Some of them did not like that and said to `Umar ‘Why do you allow this young man to enter with us, while we have sons of his own age?’ `Umar replied, ‘Because of what you know of his position (that is, his religious knowledge.)’ One day, `Umar called me and made me sit in the gathering of those people; and I think that he called me just to show them (my religious knowledge). `Umar then asked them (in my presence), ‘What do you say about the interpretation of the Qur’anic surah, [When Allah’s succour and the triumph cometh…] (An-Nasr 110:1)?' Some of them said, ‘We are ordered to praise Allah and ask for His forgiveness when Allah’s help and the conquest (of Mecca) come to us.’ Some others kept quiet and said nothing. On that, `Umar asked me, ‘Do you say the same, O Ibn `Abbas?’ I replied, ‘No.’ He said, ‘What do you say then?’ I replied, ‘That is the sign of the death of Allah’s Messenger of which Allah informed him. Allah said, ‘(O Muhammad) When Allah’s succor and the triumph cometh, then it would be the sign of the approach of your death.’ Thereupon, `Umar said, ‘I do not know anything about it other than what you have said.’” 

Moreover, `Ikrimah reported on the authority of Ibn `Abbas that the latter said,  “When Surat An-Nasr was revealed, Allah’s Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) summoned Fatimah (the Prophet’s daughter) and said to her, “I have been informed of my death.” So Fatimah wept but then laughed and said (interpreting the matter), “He (the Prophet) told me that he was informed of his death so I wept. Then, he said, ‘Be patient for you will be the first of my family to follow me (that is,  die after me),’ so I laughed.” 

The triumph meant in the verse is the Conquest of Mecca as Sheikh As-Sa`di has stated in his exegesis of the Qur’an. He says:

“In this noble surah, there are glad tidings and a command to the Prophet when such tidings are fulfilled. There is also an indication to what should follow such tidings. The glad tidings are of the support Allah grants to His Messenger which is manifested in the conquest of Makkah and in the conversion of people to Islam in great numbers, upon which they became among the Prophet’s supporters after they had been among his enemies. These glad tidings actually came true. As for the command which should be done after the victory is realized, it is that the Messenger should praise his Lord for such victory and ask for His forgiveness. Indeed, there are two important indications in this verse: First, this religion would remain triumphant, and second, such triumph would increase as long as the Messenger keeps glorifying, praising, and asking for the forgiveness of Allah. Uttering such invocations shows one’s gratefulness to Allah Who says, [If ye give thanks, I will give you more…] (Ibrahim 14:7) It is worth mentioning that Muslims continued to abide by these teachings, so Allah’s help remained by the Muslims’ side during the period of the Rightly-guided Caliphs and those who followed them until Islam attained a status which no other religion ever achieved. It remained as such until the Muslim nation violated the commands of Allah and thus He afflicted them with disunity so the nation reached the conditions we are now witnessing. Still, Allah Almighty grants this nation from His mercy and grace what nobody can imagine. The second indication is of the end of the Prophet‘s life. In brief, the surah conveys two tidings, the first of which is of the support Allah grants to His Messenger and the second concerns the approach of the Prophet’s death.” 

Exegetes have different opinions concerning what is meant by “Allah's help” in the verse as follows:

1. Imam At-Tabari said that the succor meant is the victory of the Prophet over Quraysh.

2. Al-Hassan Al-Basri and Mujahid said that the intended meaning is the victory of the Prophet over all the disbelievers and “the triumph” meant is the Conquest of Mecca.

3. Ibn `Abbas and Sa`id ibn Jubayr said that the triumph refers to conquering cities and capturing palaces.

4. Other scholars said that the triumph refers to the conquest of different countries.

5. Others are of the opinion that “the triumph” means the knowledge of many branches with which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was well acquainted. They further said that the verse referred to a victory which had already happened before the verse was revealed, basing their opinion on the fact that the verse was revealed after the Conquest of Mecca.

All these opinions are stated in Imam Al-Qurtubi’s exegesis of the Qur’an. 

Thus, saying that Allah’s succor has not come yet is in fact a baseless opinion, for Allah Almighty made His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) victorious over his enemies and perfected the religion; and along with the perfection of religion the Prophet was informed of the approach of his life’s end. Allah’s support to the Muslim nation is not dependent on this verse only, as there are many other proofs which show how the Almighty supports the Muslims. For example, Allah Almighty says, [He it is Who hath sent His Messenger with the guidance and the Religion of Truth, that He may cause it to prevail over all religion, however much the idolaters may be averse.] (At-Tawbah 9:33) The Almighty also says, [Fain would they put out the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will perfect His light however much the disbelievers are averse.] (As-Saff 61:8) In another verse, the Almighty states: [Allah hath decreed: Lo! I verily shall conquer, I and My messengers. Lo! Allah is Strong, Almighty.] and He promised as saying: [Allah hath promised such of you as believe and do good works that He will surely make them to succeed (the present rulers) in the earth even as He caused those who were before them to succeed (others)… ] (An-Nur 24:55) 

Moreover, there are many Prophetic hadiths which confirm the fact of Allah’s support to the Muslims. Among these hadiths is the Prophet’s saying: “The earth was contracted for me and I could see all its parts. And the authority of my nation shall reach all that was shown to me of the earth.” In fact there are many other hadiths which confirm the glad tidings of the triumph of Islam.