Sura-33 [Al Ahzab madina 90]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s version:

33:21 [Ali] Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern of (conduct)

...لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو اللَّهَ وَالْيَوْمَ الْآخِرَ ...

for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day,

C3694. We now have the psychology of the Believers,-God-fearing men, led by that pattern of men and of leaders, Muhammad Al-Mustafa.

... وَذَكَرَ اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا ﴿٢١﴾

and who engages much in the praise of Allah.

C3695. Cf. 26:227: see especially the last clause of that verse in a Makkan Surah, which was amply fulfilled in Madinah.

Other versions:

33:21 VERILY, in the Apostle of God you have a good example for everyone who looks forward (with hope and awe] to God and the Last Day, and remembers God unceasingly. 24

[[Asad’s notes -

24 This verse (and the passage that follows) connects with verses 9-11 above, and especially with verse 1 1 - "there and then were the believers tried, and shaken with a shock severe" - which summarizes, as it were, their experiences during the critical days and weeks of the War of the Trench. Although it is addressed, in the first instance, to those early defenders of Medina who were thus exhorted to emulate the Prophet's faith, courage and steadfastness, the above verse is timeless in its import and its validity for all situations and conditions. - Since the verb rajawa, as well as the noun-forms rajw, rujuww and raja' derived from it, carry the connotation of both

"hope" and "fear" (or "awe"), I have rendered yarju accordingly. ]]

33:22 And [so,] when the believers saw the Confederates (advancing against them], they said, "This is what God and His Apostle have promised us!" - and, "Truly spoke God and His Apostle!" 25 - and all this but increased their faith and their readiness to surrender themselves unto God.

33:23 Among the believers are men who have [always] been true to what they have vowed before God; M and among them are such as have [already] redeemed their pledge by death, and such as yet await (its fulfilment] without having changed [their resolve] in the least.

لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ...

وَلَمَّا رَأَى الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الْأَحْزَابَ قَالُوا...

22. When the Believers saw the Confederate forces, they said:

...هَذَا مَا وَعَدَنَا اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَصَدَقَ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ...

"This is what Allah and His Messenger had promised us, and Allah and his Messenger told us what was true."

C3696. This is in contrast to what the Hypocrites said in verse 12 above.

The divine promise of help and success is contingent upon our striving and faith. Nothing comes to the poltroon and the skeptical idler. Dangers and difficulties, and conflict with Evil, are foretold us, and we must meet them with fortitude and courage.

...وَمَا زَادَهُمْ إِلَّا إِيمَانًا وَتَسْلِيمًا ﴿٢٢﴾

And it only added to their faith and their zeal in obedience.

مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ رِجَالٌ صَدَقُوا مَا عَاهَدُوا اللَّهَ عَلَيْهِ...

23. Among the Believers are men who have been true to their Covenant with Allah:

...فَمِنْهُم مَّن قَضَى نَحْبَهُ وَمِنْهُم مَّن يَنتَظِرُ...

of them some have completed their vow to (the extreme), and some (still) wait:

C3697. In the fight for truth were (and are) many who sacrificed their all-resources, knowledge, influence, life itself-in the Cause, and never wavered.

If they won the crown of martyrdom, they were blessed. Such a one was Sa'd ibn Muaz, the chief of the Aus tribe, the intrepid standard-bearer of Islam, who died of a wound he had received in the Battle of the Trench. Other heroes fought valiantly and lived, always ready to lay down their lives.

Both classes were staunch: they never changed or wavered.

...وَمَا بَدَّلُوا تَبْدِيلًا ﴿٢٣﴾

but they have never changed (their determination) in the least:

33:24 [Such trials are imposed upon man] so that God may reward the truthful for having been true to their word, and cause the hypocrites to suffer - if that be His will - or [if they repent,] accept their repentance: 27 for, verily, God is indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace!

33:25 Thus, for all their fury, God repulsed those who were bent on denying the truth; 28 no advantage did they gain, since God was enough to (protect] the believers in battle - seeing that God is most powerful, almighty -;

(33:26) and He brought down from their strongholds those of the followers of earlier revelation who had aided the aggressors, 2 ' and cast terror into their hearts: some you slew, and some you made captive;

(33:27) and He made you heirs to their lands, and their houses, and their goods - and [promised you] lands on which you had never yet set foot: 30 for God has indeed the power to will anything.

[[25 These seem to be allusions to 29:2 (which may have been one of the last Meccan revelations) as well as to 2:155 and 214 (i.e., verses of the first surah of the Medina period).

26 Specifically, this verse is said to apply to certain of the Companions who vowed, at the time of the early campaigns, that they would fight until death at the Prophet's side (Zamakhshari); in its wider sense, however, it relates to all efforts involving a supreme sacrifice in God's cause.

27 Cf. 6:12 - "God, who has willed upon Himself the law of grace and mercy" - and the

corresponding note 10.

28 I.e., the pagans among the Confederates (see note 13 above); their Jewish allies are mentioned separately in the next verse.

29 Lit., "them", i.e., the tribes allied against Muhammad and his community. The "followers of earlier revelation" (ahi al-kitab) referred to here were the Jews of the tribe of Banu Qurayzah, who despite their monotheistic faith had betrayed the Muslims and made common cause with the pagan Confederates. After the dismal rout of the latter, the Banu Qurayzah, anticipating the vengeance of the community which they had betrayed, withdrew to their fortresses in the vicinity of Medina. After a siege lasting twenty-five days they surrendered to the Muslims, forfeiting all that they possessed.

30 I.e., lands which the Muslims were to conquer and hold in the future. This clause - with its allusion to yet more prosperous times to come - provides a connection between the present passage and the next. ]]

لِيَجْزِيَ اللَّهُ الصَّادِقِينَ بِصِدْقِهِمْ...

24. That Allah may reward the men of Truth for their Truth

...وَيُعَذِّبَ الْمُنَافِقِينَ إِن شَاء أَوْ يَتُوبَ عَلَيْهِمْ...

and punish the Hypocrites if that be His Will, or turn to them in Mercy:

C3698. Before Allah's Mercy there is always room for repentance and forgiveness, even after treason and crime; but the forgiveness will be according to Allah's Will and Plan, which will judge the penitent's sincerity and capacity for good to the nicest degree in his favour.

Cf. also 33:17 above.

...إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا ﴿٢٤﴾

for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

وَرَدَّ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِغَيْظِهِمْ لَمْ يَنَالُوا خَيْرًا...

25. And Allah turned back the Unbelievers for (all) their fury: no advantage did they gain,

C3699. In spite of the mighty preparations and the great forces which the Makkans in concert with the Central Arabian Bedouins, the discontented Jews, and the treacherous Hypocrites, brought to the siege of Madinah, all their plans were frustrated.

Their fury availed them nothing. They departed in hot haste. This was their last and dying effort.

The initiative thereafter lay with the forces of Islam.

...وَكَفَى اللَّهُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ الْقِتَالَ...

and enough is Allah for the Believers in their fight.

...وَكَانَ اللَّهُ قَوِيًّا عَزِيزًا ﴿٢٥﴾

And Allah is full of Strength, Able to enforce His Will.

C3700. For the meaning of Aziz, see n. 2818 to 22:40.

وَأَنزَلَ الَّذِينَ ظَاهَرُوهُم مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ ...

26. And those of the People of the Book who aided them -- Allah did take them down...

C3701. The reference is to the Jewish tribe of the Banu Qurayzah.

They counted among the citizens of Madinah and were bound by solemn engagements to help in the defence of the City. But on the occasion of the Confederate siege by the Quraish and their allies they intrigued with the enemies and treacherously aided them. Immediately after the siege was raised and the Confederates had fled in hot haste, the Prophet turned his attention to these treacherous "friends" who had betrayed his City in the hour of danger.

... مِن صَيَاصِيهِمْ...

... from their strongholds

C3702. The Banu Qurayzah (see last note) were filled with terror and dismay when Madinah was free from the Quraish danger.

They shut themselves up in their castles about three or four miles to the east (or north east) of Madinah, and sustained a siege of 25 days, after which they surrendered, stipulating that they would abide by the decision of their fate at the hands of Sa'd ibn Muaz, chief of the Aus tribe, with which they had been in alliance.

...وَقَذَفَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمُ الرُّعْبَ فَرِيقًا تَقْتُلُونَ ...

and cast terror into their hearts, (so that) some ye slew,

C3703. Sa'd applied to them the Jewish Law of the Old Testament, not as strictly as the case warranted.

In Deut. 20:10-18, the treatment of a city "which is very far off from thee" is prescribed to be comparatively more lenient than the treatment of a city "of those people, which the Lord thy God does give thee for an inheritance," i.e., which is near enough to corrupt the religion of the Jewish people. The punishment for these is total annihilation: "thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth" (Deut. 20:16).

The more lenient treatment for far-off cities is described in the next note, According to the Jewish standard, then, the Banu Qurayzah deserved total extermination-of men, women, and children. They were in the territory of Madinah itself, and further they had broken their engagements and helped the enemy.

... وَتَأْسِرُونَ فَرِيقًا ﴿٢٦﴾

and some ye made prisoners.

C3704. Sa'd adjudged them the milder treatment of the "far-off" cities which is thus described in the Jewish Law: "Thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: but the women and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself, and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the Lord thy God hath given thee" (Deut. 20:13-14).

The men of the Quraiza were slain: the women were sold as captives of war; and their lands and properties were divided among the Muhajirs.

وَأَوْرَثَكُمْ أَرْضَهُمْ وَدِيَارَهُمْ وَأَمْوَالَهُمْ وَأَرْضًا لَّمْ تَطَؤُوهَا...

27. And He made you heirs of their lands, their houses, and their goods, and of a land which ye had not frequented (before).

C3705. If this part of the Surah was revealed after the autumn of the Hijrah year 7, it refers to the result of the Khaybar expedition of the autumn.

Khaybar is a Harrah or volcanic tract, well-watered with many springs issuing from its basaltic rocks. It has a good irrigation system and produces good harvests of grain and dates in its wet valleys, while the outcrop of rocks in the high ground affords sites for numerous fortresses.

At present it is inhabited chiefly by men of the race of Bilal (the Abyssinian) who played a prominent part in the expedition. It is a sort of island in the deserts on the outskirts of Najd.

In the holy Prophet's time there were Jewish colonies settled here, but they were a source of constant trouble especially after Siege of Madinah. It became a nest of all the hostile Jewish elements expelled for their treachery from elsewhere.

Its capital, Khaybar, is about 90 miles due north of Madinah. Its inhabitants offered some resistance, and Hadhrat Ali, though he had just risen from a bed of illness, performed prodigies of valour. After its surrender, a land settlement was made, which retained the cultivators of the soil on the land, but brought them under control, so that no further focus of active hostility should remain near Madinah.

The terms of the settlement will be found in Waqidi.

...وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرًا ﴿٢٧﴾

And Allah has power over all things.