لَقَدْ نَصَرَکُمُ اللَّهُ فِی مَوَاطِنَ کَثِیرَهٍ وَ یَوْمَ حُنَیْنٍ إِذْ أَعْجَبَتْکُمْ کَثْرَتُکُمْ فَلَمْ تُغْنِ عَنْکُمْ شَیْئاً وَ ضَاقَتْ عَلَیْکُمُ الْأَرْضُ بِمَا رَحُبَتْ ثُمَّ وَلَّیْتُمْ مُدْبِرِینَ
Indeed, Allah has given you ˹believers˺ victory on many battlefields, even at the Battle of Ḥunayn, when you took pride in your great numbers, but they proved of no advantage to you. The earth, despite its vastness, seemed to close in on you, then you turned back in retreat
ثُمَّ أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ سَکِینَتَهُ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ وَ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِینَ وَ أَنْزَلَ جُنُوداً لَمْ تَرَوْهَا وَ عَذَّبَ الَّذِینَ کَفَرُوا وَ ذٰلِکَ جَزَاءُ الْکَافِرِینَ
Then Allah sent down His reassurance upon His Messenger and the believers, and sent down forces you could not see, and punished those who disbelieved. Such was the reward of the disbelievers
ثُمَّ یَتُوبُ اللَّهُ مِنْ بَعْدِ ذٰلِکَ عَلَى مَنْ یَشَاءُ وَ اللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِیمٌ
Then afterwards Allah will turn in grace to whoever He wills. And Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful
Proportion of verses
According to some commentators, these verses are a continuation of the matter mentioned in verse 23. Others have said that the content of this verse includes the content of verse 23, so it is not necessary to follow that verse
However, this is not important to us, because each of these verses is a statement of a stage to achieve that goal. Some have also said that verse 23 is the introduction to the verses of the Day of Hunayn. This is also not correct, because what is said first is not a priority, but rather the essence of the matter, and the Day of Hunayn will be its sequel
The letters "lam" and "qad" in
لَقَدْ نَصَرَكُم اللهُ
are for emphasis. Indeed, Allah has given you victory through investigation and emphasis in many situations and events that befell you, and the Day of Hunayn is one of these many situations
In determining the amount of wealth, one can take help from several narrations that have been narrated about the number of times that God helped the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family) in wars and conflicts with the polytheists. Among them, it is said that Mutawakkil fell ill and vowed that if he recovered from his illness, he would give a lot of wealth in the way of God[1]
After his illness was cured, he was astonished and asked the jurists how much was the wealth of the great man? They could not give him a convincing answer. Nadimi said to Mutawakkil, "Aren't you going to ask this man Imam Hadi (a.s.)?"[2]
Mutawakkil asked: “Do you think he can answer me?” He said: “Yes.” They made a deal and sent for the Imam and asked him about the amount of wealth. The Imam replied: It refers to 80 dinars, because of the verse
لقد نصرکم الله فی مواطن کثیره
“Allah has indeed helped you in many places,” which we have counted and we saw that God helped the Prophet in 80 cases. From this narration, we can infer that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was have had 80 conflicts with infidels[3]
Referring to the story of Hunayn war
"And the day of Hunayn" This day was designated because, firstly, it was a very difficult day. Furthermore, these verses were recited when a year or less had not passed since the event of Hunayn
اذ اعجبتکم کثرتکم
when an army of twelve thousand men came to you
It was awe-inspiring and admiring that ten thousand of these people had come from Mecca
And two thousand people had just joined the armies of Islam. So it did not benefit you at all; But this abundance did not benefit you and was of no use to you. This expression collectively means "it did not benefit you"; that is, this abundance did not benefit you
And the earth became narrow for you, with all its spaciousness
و ضاقت علیکم الارض بما رحبت
"Rahb" means spaciousness and vastness. You were so surrounded by the enemy that you felt that the earth was narrow for you
ثم ولیتم مدبرین
The expression "then", which is used to express a sense of urgency, is used after the army of Islam was under pressure and siege, first they endured for a while, then they fled. Then Allah sent down His tranquility upon His Messenger and upon the believers, and sent down upon you armies that you did not see, and He punished those who disbelieved. And that is the recompense of the disbelievers
These armies were either angels or psychological and spiritual feelings, awakening of conscience and perseverance, which are also the army of God and the means of progress, and in this respect they are no different from each other. The verse is general and there is no mention of angels. God punished those who disbelieve with defeat and despair; this is the punishment of the disbelievers
The Lord of the universe has established the system of creation on the basis of truth, and God's religion, which is one of the greatest manifestations of truth, is like a tree that has taken root deep in the earth and is developing and evolving; but falsehood is like an unhealthy tree that has no roots and is uprooted by the wind. It is like a weak weed that grows around the truth and hinders its growth and perfection. For the progress of truth, these obstacles must be removed and falsehood, the most obvious examples of which are disbelief and polytheism, must be fought
الم تر کیف ضرب الله مثلا کلمة طیبة کشجرة طیبة اصلها ثابت و فرعها فی السماء...ومثل کلمة خبیثة کشجرة خبیثة اجتثت من فوق الارض ما لها من قرار[4]
“Have you not seen how Allah presents a parable: a good word, like a good tree, its roots firmly established and its branches in the sky... and a malicious word, like a malicious tree, which gathers from above the earth what it has of its destiny
Meanwhile, God's tradition is to help and support the believers, and if they are patient and steadfast in the face of disbelief and polytheism, they will be granted divine approval and support
The divine armies are sometimes like invisible soldiers like angels who descend to help the believers; as they descended to help the Muslims in the Battle of Badr? But for God, other than that, those soldiers are like the awakening of conscience, spiritual feelings, enthusiasm, determination and perseverance that help the believer from within. However, it should be known that there are other traditions in the world, one of which is the defeat of arrogant people if the believers are deceived by their own numbers and hide the hand of divine grace behind the curtain
They do not see external causes and instead of relying on God and cutting off everything other than Him, they turn their hearts to Him
If they do good deeds, God will leave them to themselves until the end
Let them taste the neglect of Him and know that there is no refuge other than Him. In the Battle of Hunayn, the army of Islam was initially overwhelmed by the increase in its numbers, and the Sunnah of punishing them took hold, and God left them to themselves; as a result, fear and terror of the enemy took hold of them, and the increase in the army, It did not work for them, and the earth, despite all its vastness, became narrow for them to the point that they fled and stopped supporting the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family), and the signs of defeat became apparent in the army of Islam. But when they came to their senses and became alert with the call of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family), God sent down tranquility upon them and sent down invisible armies, so they attacked the infidel enemy.They were victorious, and God punished the disbelievers with defeat and despair. Based on the divine tradition in the battle between disbelief and faith, disbelief and the disbeliever are becoming more and more powerful day by day
They become weaker and more humiliated, and there is no lasting, enduring, or final end for them. On the contrary, the truth is expanding and exalting until it covers the entire earth at the hands of Hazrat Mahdi (peace be upon him) and the religion of God is everywhere
May it prevail and leave no trace of falsehood. It is important to note that sometimes progress is misunderstood. There are ups and downs along the path of truth, and sometimes it seems that truth is defeated or retreats and falsehood advances, but in reality, for the progress of truth
Such returns are necessary; may the believers become more vigilant. Descents are a part of progress, and this is like digging the ground to raise a building, while this descent is necessary to lay the foundation of the building. Progress should be viewed as a whole, in terms of its direction and outcome, and temporary and fleeting changes of direction should not be the criterion for judgment. All cultures, inventions, and discoveries progress in this way
Then Allah the Almighty turns back. "Turning" means returning; however, the servant's turning back to Allah means turning to repent and seek forgiveness, but Allah's turning back to His servant is the same as accepting the repentance and return of His servants. Accepting you has a precise meaning here. Those who had turned their backs on the war and jihad and fled from the enemy had to return to the battlefield to accept you as theirs; not that
While fleeing, they said, "I seek forgiveness from Allah." Their repentance was to return to the battlefield. This is the criterion of repentance in Islam. When they returned, God also returned; because God's actions, except in exceptional cases, whatever they may be, are carried out through ordinary causes and means
Islam's method for implementing rulings
After clarifying the status of the revelation of the verses and their contents, we should pay attention to the beginning of the revelation of these verses. Verses 10 onwards speak of encouraging and inciting Muslims to jihad in the way of God. As we have repeatedly said, Islam does not limit itself to mere expression in communicating duties, but rather focuses on the implementation of the rules and in a beautiful and firm manner, it deals with eliminating the factors that may hinder the implementation of the rules. These factors and obstacles may be in the way of thinking of a person, his soul and his inner being, or they may be external and external obstacles. One way to remove obstacles is to state the reasons for the rules. Pointing out the benefits of divine commands and instructions and the harms of the prohibitions of Islam is a way to implement the commands of God Almighty. What is stated in the benefits of prayer
ان الصلوة تنهی عن الفحشاء و المنکر[5]
“Indeed, prayer forbids indecency and evil,” or what is stated in the description of the harms of alcohol and easy drinking
انماالخمر والمیسر والانصاب والازلام رجس من عمل الشیطان[6]
“Indeed, alcohol and easy drinking, and gambling are an abomination from the work of Satan.” All of this is in line with providing a path for implementing divine commands, laying the groundwork for the rule of law, and facilitating the establishment of God’s religion
This method has also been applied in expressing the ruling on jihad in the way of God. In this regard, the Quran has explained the obstacles to rising up in the way of God and fighting against the infidels and has wisely taken steps to eliminate the internal and external obstacles to jihad. Among the obstacles was attachment to superficial values prevalent in society, such as the provision of water for the pilgrim and the building of the Grand Mosque, which were replaced by "the value of faith in God and the Day of Judgment and jihad in His way, and the pursuit of comfort and well-being, attachment to family ties and attachment to material things. It was condemned in a threatening tone
The design of real values instead of apparent values was to prevent human desire for ease from leading him towards absurd values that are prevalent in thought and society.It does not kill and revives the desire for jihad in the way of God in the hearts. Another obstacle that exists on the path of jihad is the state of despair and hopelessness that must be confronted, because this state prevents participation in the war. And if a Mujahid enters the war in such a state, he will not be victorious. The mentioned verses also deal with this obstacle. In the year when these verses were recited, there were only about fourteen months left in the life of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family), and he knew what problems and issues the Muslims and the society would face after him. The Islamic duties were not only for that ten-year period of his rule, but this rule would remain until the Day of Judgment, and everything that happened to the Islamic society during his lifetime will be in front of this society for the rest of its life
Since the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him and his family) is aware of this matter, he wants to give Muslims a provision that will always be with them, and he is forced to recount these matters in a general assembly and in the presence of all segments of society
During this time, there are few opportunities for the Prophet in public gatherings that one was the incident of Ghadir Khumm and the other was the day of Hunayn. If the Islamic community loses its Prophet one day, the Islamic mission will not be destroyed and the Islamic community will not be trampled upon. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family) will be a witness and presence to all nations and peoples at the same time
It is not specific to him, but is for all times. The mention of Hunayn is an example of the revelation of the verse, which brings hope to the help of God and a warning against despair and hopelessness and an encouragement to fight with the infidels. Another message of the verses is that one should not be deceived and deceived by the abundance and excess of strength, because that is not the source of victory
Paying attention to the descent of divine tranquility and peace upon the army of Islam is one of the good news of this verse to the people of faith and steadfastness. Tranquility is a divine gift to the soul of man that causes him not to fear hardships and death. If this heavenly breeze, which in some ironic interpretations has been given a human face, It brings happiness and victory
Sakina is a spiritual concoction that is obtained from the mixture of several states and their sum. The first state is the "state of spiritual peace" which in contrast to that, the state of worry is anxiety, worry, and worry. The second state is the state of trust, confidence, and certainty, which is opposed to the state of hesitation and doubt that usually occurs to humans along the way about the future of the path and destination, and when humans encounter a problem, they doubt whether this is the path they should take? The third state is the "state of stability," which is opposed to the "state of uncertainty." The state of stability results from the strength of the intellectual structure and the stability of thought that prevents humans from falling to this or that side; like a building its foundations are deep in the earth and no storm or earthquake can shake it
From the totality of the verses revealed about Sakina, it is clear that these three states together create the state of Sakina, which, on the one hand, is characterized by mental peace, on the other hand, certainty and trust, and on the other hand, a state of contemplation and stability
The fourth state, which can perhaps be traced back to one of the three semantic components of Sakina, is the tendency to a state of stability and invulnerability, which stabilizes a person against the colorful motives and human desires and prevents him from being attracted to this or that side; so that he will not even tend towards them and remains stable and straight on his path
This state, which arises from the penetration of faith in the heart, itself increases faith and has levels, the higher levels of which are granted to a person when he has brought faith to the realm of manifestation. Therefore, the tranquility that descends on the heart of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him and his family) is very higher than what is revealed to the hearts of the believers
Some commentators have said: “The effect of Sakina on the heart of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him and his family). It was because he knew that the infidels would no longer be after him, and this was for a prophet who, in the path of consolidating the belief in monotheism, was seeking to establish an Islamic base to confront polytheism and infidelity, and who had not yet escaped the reach of the enemy and was not yet in danger. He sees their swords of hatred, which is a source of relief and peace
In the battle of Hunayn, the Muslims initially fled from the attack of the infidels, but then they became aware and resumed the jihad, and as a result, they received divine peace
We must know that if a person believes through emotions and accepts a way of thinking, this faith will not last and will disappear with the first manifestations of difficulty
If Muslims had become Muslims simply because of the overwhelming emotions and the fact that the Quran is epic, they would not have been able to bear the poison of Abu Jahl's torture. They would have understood Islam, it’s thought and purpose, deep in their hearts, and through a series of historical fabrications, they would have achieved a special understanding of it that we are both far from and at odds with
Those who stood firm in the Battle of Hunayn
There are several narrations about those who did not flee and stayed with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). The greatest number said to be eighty; But the smallest number that is mostly mentioned in the Shiite and Sunni narrations is four: Amir al-Mu'minin (as), Abbas, Fazl ibn Abbas, and Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, one of the great emigrants of Islam. There is uncertainty about the presence of others.Some commentators, who have looked at this event with a biased and prejudiced view, have made a grave mistake and have made unjustified accusations against the Shia
[1]It is noteworthy that Mutawakkil, the anti-God and anti-Islamic dictator who changed the Islamic path and, following the path of his ancestors, took fundamental steps to destroy Islamic monuments, believed in vows and covenants. (His Excellency)
[2] From the tone of the narration, it is clear that Nadim Mutawakkil was one of the supporters of Imam Hadi (a.s.) in the court of Mutawakkil Abbasi, who wanted to further clarify the position of that great Imam in society by referring Mutawakkil to the Imam (a.s.); however, since he was in taqiyyah and did not want his devotion to Imam Hadi (a.s.) to be known to Mutawakkil, he referred to the Imam (a.s.) as if he were like wheat, using the expression "this is the black one" so that Mutawakkil would not suspect him. In addition, it is clear to what extent the Imams (a.s.) had influence within the Abbasid caliphate, to the extent that some the Caliph's relatives were supporters and believers of the position of Imamate
[3] See: Al-Kafi, Vol. 7, pp. 463-464 and Rawzat al-Mutaqeen, Vol. 8, p. 49
[4] Surah Ibrahim (peace be upon him), verses 24 and 25
[5] Surah Al-Ankabut, part of verse 45, prayer prevents one from doing bad and immoral things
[6] Surah Al-Ma'idah, part of verse 90: Alcohol, gambling, idols, and arrows of divination are abominable and they are evil deeds.
