The Triumph

This surah praises the believers for standing up for Allah and His Messenger.

The hypocrites are criticized for not marching with the Prophet to Makkah.

The idol-worshippers are criticized for not giving the believers access to the Ka'bah to do 'umrah.

Allah always supports the Prophet and the believers.

Allah is the Most Merciful, Who gives second chances.

The Prophet and 1,400 of his companions travelled to Makkah to do ‘umrah in the 6th year after Hijrah to Madinah. He sent 'Uthman ibn 'Affan to let the Makkans know that the Muslims had come in peace, only to visit the Ka'bah. When the Makkans delayed 'Uthman, the Prophet got some news that they might have killed him. So he invited the faithful to give him a pledge under a tree (at a place called Hudaibiyah, just outside Makkah) to defend the truth with their lives. He told those 1,400 companions, “You are the best people on the face of the earth today.” He also told them that none of them will ever enter the Fire. Shortly after, 'Uthman returned safely, and a peace agreement was signed by the Muslims and Makkan idol-worshippers. According to the Hudaibiyah Peace Agreement, the Muslims would have to return to Madinah and come back next year for ‘umrah.

Some of the companions (like 'Omar ibn Al-Khattab) were not too happy with the agreement because the people of Makkah were very arrogant with the Prophet. For example, when 'Ali ibn Abi Talib was writing the agreement, Suhail ibn 'Amr told him arrogantly, "Don't write Muhammad the Messenger of Allah, just write Muhammad the son of 'Abdullah." 'Ali didn't want to do that, but the Prophet asked him to do what Suhail had requested. He wanted his companions to see the big picture and not to be distracted by small details. As we will see at the beginning of this surah, Allah calls this peace agreement a great success, because of the amazing results that the Muslims achieved in the long run.

'Omar did not like Suhail because of his attitude towards Islam. When Suhail fought against the Muslims and was taken as a prisoner at the Battle of Badr, 'Omar told the Prophet, "Let me break his teeth and cut off his tongue so he doesn't talk against Islam ever again." But the Prophet told him, "I'm not allowed to do that. Leave him alone. Maybe one day he will stand up and say something that will make you very happy." This came true after Suhail accepted Islam a few years later, along with many people in Makkah. When the Prophet passed away, many Makkans wanted to leave Islam. So Suhail stood up and gave a powerful speech. He told them, "Shame on you. You were the last people to accept Islam, and now you want to be the first to leave it. This will never happen! Islam will reach every corner of the world." So the people were moved by his words and stayed as Muslims. 'Omar was very happy with what he said.

The arrogant idol-worshippers didn't allow the Muslims to do ‘umrah, even though the Muslims had travelled over 400 km to Makkah (which took them 2 weeks), and now they had to travel another 400 km back to Madinah. Then next year, they had to travel 400 km to Makkah then another 400 km back to Madinah. That's a total of over 1,600 km (and almost 2 months of travelling) just to do ‘umrah that would normally take less than an hour to finish. So when the Prophet told the Muslims that they had to stop their ‘umrah and do it next year, nobody listened. Even though the Prophet was receiving revelations, he asked his wife, Umm Salamah, for advice. She said, "Don't talk to anybody. Just sacrifice your animal and shave your head, and they will follow you." And things worked exactly as she expected.

Seeing something is often more impactful than simply hearing about it. Many people like visuals, so they may be more interested in a video or PowerPoint presentation rather than a regular speech. This is probably what happened with Musa in Surah Ta-ha (20:83-86). Allah told him that his people started to worship the golden calf after he left, but he became very angry when he saw it, even though the words of Allah are more reliable than his own eyes. Maybe this is why Umm Salamah advised the Prophet not to talk to the people and to just to do it himself. As soon as they saw the Prophet doing it, everybody followed his example.

During their stay at Hudaibiyah, the Muslims ran out of water. When they reported that to the Prophet, he took an arrow and told them to put it inside the well of Hudaibiyah. When they did, water started to flow, so they had enough water for themselves and their animals for the rest of their stay. Jabir ibn 'Abdillah said, "Even if we were 100,000 people, that water would have been enough for all of us."

In the following passage, Allah criticizes the idol-worshippers for being arrogant, stopping the Prophet and his companions from visiting the Ka'bah (which was very shameful even before Islam), and for preventing the animals (that Muslims sacrifice as offerings after ‘umrah) from reaching their destination. Some of them even tried to attack the Muslims on their way to Makkah, but they were quickly chased away and some were captured by the Muslims before they were released by the Prophet. The Muslims were not allowed to fight because there were some people who had accepted Islam secretly in Makkah and the Prophet didn't want them to get hurt by mistake. This passage promises that those Muslims will be safe and many Makkan idol-worshippers will end up accepting Islam, which happened a few years later.

Before the Hudaibiyah peace agreement, the Prophet had a dream that he and his companions were entering the Holy Mosque in peace and shaving their heads (which is done after 'umrah). When he told his companions, they got very excited. However, when the idol-worshippers stopped them from doing 'umrah, the companions were very disappointed. Some hypocrites started to say, "What is this? No heads have been shaved, and no Holy Mosque has been entered!" 'Omar reminded the Prophet of his dream, and the Prophet said, "Did I say it is going to be this year?" 'Omar said, "No!" Then the Prophet told him that they would definitely do it in-sha-Allah.

A şahabi is someone who met the Prophet at least once, accepted Islam while the Prophet was alive, and died as a Muslim. The sahabah are the best generation among Muslims, as the Prophet says in a hadith. They saw the Prophet. They lived with him. They prayed behind him. They heard his talks. They listened to his recitation of the Quran. They travelled with him. They supported him. They stood up for his message. They took Islam to many countries. They spread the Quran and the teachings of Islam after him. To honour their legacy, we should love them, follow their example, support Islam, and teach others about this beautiful religion.

Someone may ask, "If the companions are the best generation of Muslims, how come some of them disagreed and even fought against each other?" To answer this good question, think about the following points: We cannot question their intention or sincerity because we are not at their level of faith. As we mentioned before, the Prophet said that his companions are the best in the history of Islam. At the end of the day, the sahabah are great human beings, not angels. They wanted the best for the Muslim Ummah (nation). Hard decisions had to be made, and disagreements happened. Some of them got it right, and some got it wrong. Allah will be their Judge, not us. He already says in the Quran (9:100) that He is pleased with them and has prepared Jannah for them. The Jews respect the companions of Musa. The Christians respect the companions of 'Isa. We should love and respect the companions of Muhammad even more. The disagreement among some companions is another proof that Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah. He warned his companions that these disagreements were going to happen after his death and told them the best course of action. The part of verse 29 that says "the believers are tough with the disbelievers" refers to the idol-worshippers and other enemies who were at war with Muslims because of their faith. Otherwise, Islam encourages Muslims to treat peaceful non-Muslims with kindness and fairness, as Allah instructs in 60:8-9. One day, the Prophet was with his companions. He said to them, "I wish I could see my fellow believers (brothers and sisters)!" They asked, "Are we not your fellow believers?" He replied, "You are my companions. Our fellow believers will come later. They will believe in me without seeing me." He was then asked how he would recognize them on Judgment Day? He said, "They will come with brightness on their faces from making wudu' (purifying themselves for salah).