Surah Al-Fath 48:11-17 - Quran Translation Commentary

(48:11) Those who were left behind¹⁴ of the Bedouins will presently say to you, ‘We were occupied by our possessions and our families, therefore, seek forgiveness for us.’¹⁵ They say with their tongues what is not there in their hearts. Say, ‘Who can avail you against Allah by aught, if He wished for you a harm, or wished for you a benefit?’ But rather, Allah is ever Aware of what you do.

(48:12) Nay, you thought the Messenger and the believers will never, ever, return to their families,¹⁶ and that was made pleasing in your hearts; you assumed evil assumptions, and you were indeed a destroyed people.¹⁷

(48:13) And whoso does not believe in Allah and His Messenger, then surely, We have prepared for the unbelievers a blazing fire.

(48:14) And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth; He will forgive whom He will and punish whom He will; although ever was Allah Forgiving, Merciful.

(48:15) As you start off to take booties, those who were left behind will surely say, ‘Allow us to follow you.’¹⁸ They wish to alter Allah’s words.¹⁹ Say, ‘Never will you follow us; thus did Allah say about you earlier.’²⁰ They will surely say, ‘Nay, but you are jealous of us.’ Rather, they never understood except a little.²¹

(48:16) Say to those who were left behind of the bedouins,²² ‘You will soon be invited²³ to (face) a people given to hard fighting,²⁴ against whom (either) you will fight, or they will surrender.²⁵ If you obeyed, Allah will grant you a goodly recompense; but if you turned away, as you turned away earlier, then He will chastise you with a painful chastisement.’

(48:17) There is no blame on the blind, nor any blame on the lame, nor is there any blame on the sick.²⁶ Whoso obeys Allah and His Messenger, He will admit him into gardens underneath which rivers flow. But whoever turned back, He will chastise him with a painful chastisement.

Commentary

14. They were left behind because they showed no inclination to join the Prophet when he invited them, under the impression that the Quraysh would surely resist, and, in a fight likely to ensue, will wipe them out to the last man. Their disinclination, and following that, the refusal, led to their exclusion by the will of Allah (Au.).

15. The reference is to the Arabs around Madinah, in particular the tribes of Juhaynah and Muzaynah whom the Prophet urged to accompany him, in fear that the Quraysh might force him into a battle, although he intended no more than an `Umrah (Ibn Jarir, Qurtubi).

Ghifar, Ashja`, Aslam, and Dhayl also refused, although the Prophet’s allies (Asad).

16. Since the opposition to the Prophetic mission was at its highest pitch, making it unsafe for any of his followers to venture into enemy territory, no matter how peaceful the purpose, and, since, the pagans outnumbered Muslims by huge proportions, the Bedouins thought that the Muslims were journeying to their end. The pagan Arabs will annihilate them to the last man (based on Tabari).

17. Sayyid expands: “This is how the Qur’an makes (the hypocrites') stand – unveiled and exposed - face to face, with the evil intentions concealed in the hearts .. their judgments .. and their evil guesses. They believed that the Prophet and his followers were heading to their end. They will not return to their families in Madinah. They said, ‘They are heading towards an enemy who had fought them right in their courtyard and had defeated them’ – alluding to the Uhud and Ahzab battles. But they forgot to take into account Allah’s own care and His protection of the truthful who stood apart from other men. They ignored this fact because of their very nature, and hearts devoid of the warmth of belief. They forgot that an obligation is an obligation. It has to be responded to, without ever any thought of the consequences, or fear of apparent material losses. An obligation has to be fulfilled without consideration of the consequences.

“They guessed an evil guess, and it was made fair in their hearts, to the extent that they foresaw no other outcome but one, did not reckon but it, which in fact was an evil estimation of Allah, indicating that there was destruction in their hearts (as in Qur’anic text) – an expression that gives rise to profound meaning. The simile is apt: a scorched piece of land is barren, infertile. So are their hearts and so are they in all aspects of their existence: barren, infertile … no life, no output, no fruition. What kind of a heart can it be when it bears evil assumptions about Allah? It is severed off Allah’s mercy. What else, but barren, desolate, dead .. whose end is destruction?”

18. The allusion is to the Khayber expedition (Qurtubi and others). Those who had stayed behind from accompanying the Prophet to Makkah, in fear of death, now felt encouraged by his triumphant treaty, and his intended journey to Khayber, which, as they realized, was likely to prove easier to subdue. Booty would come, and they wished to get a share (Au.).

19. Allah (swt) had decreed that no one would be allowed to accompany the Prophet to Khayber except those who had participated at Hudaybiyyah. This was the opinion of Mujahid, Muqsim, Qatadah and others (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir).

The demands of the ayah do not contradict that shares should be given to other than those who were at Hudaybiyyah; so that, the Prophet allotted shares at Khayber to those who had arrived from Abyssinia with Ja`far b. abi Talib, or to a few men of the Ash`ari and Daws tribes. It were those who had refused to accompany to Hudaybiyyah, but later wished to join in order to get a share of the Khayber booties who were denied it (based on Alusi’s note).

Mufti Shafi` adds: The ayah goes to prove that the ahadith are revelations, except that a non-recitable revelation (wahyu ghayr matlu; the Qur’an being wahyu matlu, i.e. the revelation which is recited). Although the instructions were revealed to the Prophet with regard to the non-participation of those who had refused to go along with him to `Umrah, they were not part of the Qur’an, yet it said that they are the “words of Allah.”

20. That is, this had been decided even before the Prophet (saws) had started off for Khayber (Qurtubi).

21. Yusuf Ali returns a punch to the Orientalists: “The desert Arabs loved fighting and plunder and understood such motives for war. The higher motives seemed to be beyond them. Like ignorant men they attributed petty motives or motives of jealousy if they were kept out of the vulgar circle of fighting for plunder. But they had to be schooled, and they were schooled to higher ideas of discipline, self-sacrifice, and striving hard for a Cause.”

22. They understood only the worldly affairs, and none of the Hereafter, which is to understand pretty little (Zamakhshari, Qurtubi).

23. It was Abu Bakr and `Umar who later invited the Bedouins of this mention, to fight various adversaries of Islam (Au.).

24. While some of the earliest commentators thought that the allusion was to the Romans and Persians, others believed that it was to the Haw azin, and a third opinion was that the allusion was to the forces of Musaylimah the Liar. However, Ibn Jarir does not see any reason for preferring one over another, all or anyone could be meant.

Another interpretation is that the allusion is either to the Turks or Kurds. The following hadith of Bukhari is quoted in this connection:

The Prophet said, “The Hour will not strike until you have fought a people who wear footwear made of hair. And it will not strike until you have fought a people whose face is as if layered shields.” .. Other reports adds: “Of small eyes, flat noses, as if their faces are layered shields” (Ibn Kathir).

Abu Hanifa’s opinion was that it were only the Peninsula Arabs who had no third option but to either accept Islam or leave the lands, while others (outside of Arabia) could pay jizyah and remain on their religions within their territories. In view of this opinion, it seems fair to say that the allusion by the words, “against whom (either) you will fight, or they will surrender” could only be to Banu Han ifah led by Musaylimah the Liar (Zamakhshari); in which case the translation of the textual “yuslimun” should be, “they will become Muslims” (Au.).

But the majority have believed that the allusion was to the Romans and Persians (Shafi`).

25. “That is, you shall go forth to war if you learn discipline, not for booty, but for a great and noble Cause. For if your opponents submit to the Cause, there will be no fighting and no booty” (Yusuf Ali).

26. That is, there is no sin upon these categories if they do not participate in Jihad (Ibn Jarir).