Sura-48 [Al Fath madina 111]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s version:
وَهُوَ
الَّذِي كَفَّ
أَيْدِيَهُمْ
عَنكُمْ وَأَيْدِيَكُمْ
عَنْهُم بِبَطْنِ
مَكَّةَ ...
24. And it is He who has restrained their hands from you and your hand from them in the midst of Mecca,
C4902. Little incidents had taken place that might have plunged the Quraish and the Muslims from Madinah into a fight. On the one hand, the Quraish were determined to keep out the Muslims, which they had no right to do: and on the other hand, the Muslims, though unarmed, had sworn to stand together, and if they had counter-attacked they could have forced their entrance to the Ka'bah, the centre of Makkah. But Allah restrained both sides from anything that would have violated the Peace of the Sanctuary, and after the Treaty was signed, all danger was past.
...مِن بَعْدِ أَنْ أَظْفَرَكُمْ عَلَيْهِمْ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرًا ﴿٢٤﴾
after that He gave you the victory over them. And Allah sees well all that ye do.
هُمُ
الَّذِينَ
كَفَرُوا
وَصَدُّوكُمْ
عَنِ الْمَسْجِدِ
الْحَرَامِ
وَالْهَدْيَ
مَعْكُوفًا
أَن يَبْلُغَ
مَحِلَّهُ...
48:25. They are the ones who denied revelation and hindered you from the Sacred Mosque and the sacrificial animals, detained from reaching their place of sacrifice.
C4903. The Muslims from Madinah had brought the animals for sacrifice with them, and had put on the Ihram or pilgrim's garb (see n. 217 to 2:197), but they were not only prevented from entering Makkah, but were also prevented from sending the sacrificial animals to the place of sacrifice in Makkah, as they could have done under 2:196.
The sacrifice was therefore actually offered at Hudaybiyah.
...وَلَوْلَا رِجَالٌ مُّؤْمِنُونَ وَنِسَاء مُّؤْمِنَاتٌ لَّمْ تَعْلَمُوهُمْ أَن تَطَؤُوهُمْ...
Had there not been believing men and believing women whom ye did not know that ye were trampling down
C4904. There were at the time in Makkah believing Muslims, men and women, and the faith of some of them was unknown to their brethren from Madinah. Had a fight taken place in Makkah, even though the Muslims had been successful, they would unwittingly have killed some of these unknown Muslims, and thus would unwittingly have been guilty of shedding Muslim blood. This was prevented by the Treaty.
...فَتُصِيبَكُم مِّنْهُم مَّعَرَّةٌ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ لِيُدْخِلَ اللَّهُ فِي رَحْمَتِهِ مَن يَشَاء ...
and on whose account a crime would have accrued to you without (your) knowledge. (Allah would have allowed you to force your way, but He held back your hands) that He may admit to His mercy whom He will.
C4905. Allah works according to His wise and holy Will and Plan, and not according to what seems to us, in the excitement of human life, to be the obvious course of things. By preventing a fight He saved many valuable lives, not only of Muslims but also of some who became Muslims afterwards and served Islam.
He grants His Mercy on far higher standards than man in his limited horizon can see.
لَوْ تَزَيَّلُوا لَعَذَّبْنَا الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْهُمْ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا ﴿٢٥﴾
If they had been apart, We should certainly have punished the Unbelievers among them with a grievous punishment.
C4906. If the party from Madinah could have distinguished Muslims from non-Muslims among the Makkans, they might have been allowed to enter and punish the pagan Quraish for their inordinate vanity and gross breach of the unwritten law of the land. But in the actual circumstances the best solution was the Treaty of Hudaybiyah.
إِذْ
جَعَلَ
الَّذِينَ
كَفَرُوا
فِي قُلُوبِهِمُ
الْحَمِيَّةَ
حَمِيَّةَ
الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ
...
48:26. While the Unbelievers got up in their hearts heat and cant - the heat and cant of Ignorance,
C4907. While the Unbelievers were blustering and excited, and meticulously objected to introductory words such as "In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful (they did not like the titles), the Prophet remained calm and collected, and got the substance of their demands embodied in the Treaty without worrying about words.
Even though the terms of the Treaty appeared to the companions, at first, to be unfair to Muslims, they remained faithful to their Leader and showed trust in his better judgment, a trust that was vindicated by the events that followed. (R).
... فَأَنزَلَ اللَّهُ سَكِينَتَهُ ...
Allah sent down His tranquility
C4908. Cf. above 48:18, and n. 4894.
...عَلَى رَسُولِهِ وَعَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَأَلْزَمَهُمْ كَلِمَةَ التَّقْوَى ...
to His Messenger and to the Believers, and made them stick close to the command of self-restraint;
...وَكَانُوا أَحَقَّ بِهَا وَأَهْلَهَا...
and well were they entitled to it and worthy of it.
C4909. It = Tranquility.
Their calmness amid much provocation was a gift of Allah; they had earned a right to it by their- obedience and discipline, and showed themselves well worthy of it.
...وَكَانَ اللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمًا ﴿٢٦﴾
And Allah has full knowledge of all things.
Asad’s Version:
48:25
[It was not for your enemies' sake that He stayed your hands from them: 29 for] it was they who were bent on denying the truth, and who debarred you from the Inviolable House of Worship 30 and prevented your offering from reaching its destination. 31 And had it not been for the believing men and believing women [in Mecca], whom you might have unwittingly trampled underfoot, 32 and on whose account you might have become guilty, without knowing it, of a grievous wrong -: [had it not been for this, you would have been allowed to fight your way into the city: but you were forbidden to fight 33 ] so that [in time] God might admit to His grace whomever He wills. 34 Had they [who deserve Our mercy and they whom We have condemned] been clearly discernible [to youj, 35 We would indeed have imposed grievous suffering [at your hands] on such of them as were bent on denying the truth.
48:26
Whereas they who are bent on denying the truth harboured a stubborn disdain in their hearts - the stubborn disdain [born] of ignorance 38 - God bestowed from on high His [gift ofl inner peace upon His Apostle and the believers, and bound them to the spirit of God- consciousness: 37 for they were most worthy of this [divine gift], and deserved it well. And God has full knowledge of all things.
[[ Asad’s notes -
29 This interpolation is based on Razi's explanation of the connection between this and the preceding verse.
30 I.e., the Ka'bah, which, until the year 7 H., the Muslims were not allowed to approach.
31 See surah 2, note 175.
32 I.e., killed. After the Prophet's and his followers' exodus to Medina, a number of Meccans - both men and women - had embraced Islam, but had been prevented by the pagan Quraysh from emigrating (Tabari, Zamakhshari). Their identities were not generally known to the Muslims of Medina.
33 Thus Zamakhshari, supported by Razi, Ibn Kathir, and other commentators.
34 I.e., so that the believers might be spared, and that in time many a pagan Meccan might embrace Islam, as actually happened.
35 Lit., "had they been separated from one another": i.e., the believers and the pagans among the Meccans. In its wider sense, the above implies that man never really knows whether another human being deserves God's grace or condemnation.
36 Although this reference to the "stubborn disdain" (hamiyyah) on the part of the pagan Quraysh may have been characteristic of their over-all attitude towards the Prophet and his mission, it is probable - as Zamakhshari points out - that its special mention here relates to an incident which occurred at Hudaybiyyah during the truce negotations between the Prophet and the emissary of the Meccans, Suhayl ibn Amr. The Prophet began to dictate to Ali ibn Abi Tilib the text of the proposed agreement:
"Write down, 'In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace'" ; but Suhayl interrupted him and said: "We have never heard of [the expression] 'the Most Gracious'; write down only what we know. " Whereupon the Prophet said to Ali: "Write, then, 'In Thy name, O God'." Ali wrote as he was told; and the Prophet continued:
"This is what has been agreed upon between Muhammad, God's Apostle, and the people of Mecca...". But Suhayl interrupted again: "If thou wert [really] an apostle of God, [this would be an admission on our part that] we have been doing wrong to thee; write, therefore, as we understand it. " And so the Prophet dictated to 'Ali: "Write thus: 'This is what has been agreed upon between Muhammad, the son of 'Abd Allah, son of Abd al-Muttalib, and the people of Mecca..." (This story is recorded in many versions, among others by Nasa'i, Iba Hanbal and Tabari.) ]]