Reflections From The Qur’ān (10): You Never Fight Alone!

Alhamdulillāh… All praise and thanks are due to the Almighty Allāh. I send peace and blessings upon Ḥabībī Muḥammad, his household, his companions and all those who follow his guided path, till the Day of Judgement.

This is part 10 of the ‘Reflections from the Qur'ān’ series, which is posted here on GSalam.Net, every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, throughout the holy month of Ramaḍān 2014. I pray that Allāh grants us more understanding of His book and religion.

Hollywood has succeeded in feeding us with the impression that wars are only won with power, strength and technological advancement. In response to that, those of us, who are deceived by that impression, are usually confident of victory when they perceive their nations to be stronger than their enemies.

The Qur'ān, on the other hand, tells us through a divine revelation that, although we are supposed to have military strength and readiness, we only gain victory against any enemy of the Ummah (visible or invisible), with our faith and never with such military readiness alone.

Throughout the history of Islam, there's not, for once, a time that Muslims gained victory over their oppressors as a result of their strength and military readiness. In fact, in the Battle of Hunayn, the Muslims ‘thought highly of themselves'. They were (unfortunately) deceived by the hugeness of their number, and they thought with that, there's no way the oppressor can defeat them, considering previous clashes where they won, despite the scarceness of their number. Allāh disciplined them, in a way that they almost lost the battle. Eventually, Allāh bestowed tranquility upon His Messenger and the believers, and descended invisible fighters to join the camp of the Muslim fighters against the oppressors.

In the battle of Badr, the first battle of Islam, the oppressors were three times bigger than the Muslims in number. They were 1000 men with 200 horses, while the Muslims were 310+ with 2 horse and 40 camels. It was terrifying for some Muslims. Even the Prophet, salla Allāhu ‘alaihi wa sallam, had to make a special plea and cry before Allāh, asking for help and victory for Islam.

Jibril ‘alaihi al-salam descended in the company of his invisible battalions. He also instructed the Prophet salla Allāhu ‘alaihi wa sallam to take a handful of sand and throw it towards the enemies. This thrown-sad reached the eyes of every single man in the enemy's camp. They, then, started to engage with their eyes instead of the Muslims. The war began, the oppressors (Quraish and it allies) lost the war and their commander, Abu Jahl (don't mistake him with Abu Lahab) was killed.

The Qur'ān educates us, afterwards, that we don't engage in any fight with the enemy merely depending on our physical readiness alone, but with total submissiveness to Allāh's choice for us. That is spiritual readiness. For that Allāh says in Sūrah al-Anfāl, 8:17-18, Allāh says:

فَلَمْ تَقْتُلُوهُمْ وَلَـٰكِنَّ اللَّـهَ قَتَلَهُمْ، وَمَا رَمَيْتَ إِذْ رَمَيْتَ وَلَـٰكِنَّ اللَّـهَ رَمَىٰ، وَلِيُبْلِيَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْهُ بَلَاءً حَسَنًا، إِنَّ اللَّـهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ ﴿١٧﴾ ذَٰلِكُمْ وَأَنَّ اللَّـهَ مُوهِنُ كَيْدِ الْكَافِرِينَ

“You did not kill them; it was Allāh who killed them; and when you [Prophet] threw [sand] at them it was not you, but Allāh who threw it so that He might confer on the believers a great favour from Himself. Surely, Allāh is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. That is what happened, and Allāh will surely undermine the design of those who deny the truth.”

Today, the same scenario repeats itself in a way or another between Hamas and the so-called state of Israel. It's clear that Israel underestimated Hamas, and thought of finishing its existence before it's too late.

The only known reason Israel has for attacking Gaza this time, is the disappearance of its three soldiers (they were not teenagers as Israel claims to gather sympathy in the media, as much as they were soldiers). Benjamin Netanyahu started accusing Hamas for the disappearance of the three soldiers even before the discovery of their dead bodies. Palestinians were humiliated like never before, during the search of the lost soldiers. Finally, Netanyahu decided to start bombing children, women, elderly, schools, hospital and everything under the sun of Gaza, claiming it targets Hamas. After all, it turns out that Hamas kidnap and kill the three soldiers.

Unexpectedly, Hamas has surprised not only Israel, but the world. Although Gaza has been, for the past 7 years under the siege of Israel and the Arab Zionists, Hamas managed to develop home-made rockets and drones. Some of Hamas rockets were ineffective, but they reached the heart of Israel for the first time. Despite Hamas “weakness”, Israel has lost its focus, I mean its mind. Israelis are now packed in shelters. And the good news is Hamas is now in control of the crisis. In the meantime, 80 airlines have cancelled all their flights to Israel until further notice.

The Hollywood deception is exposed. It's up to us to allow it to continue to fool us. The alternative to this deception is to take heed to the guidance of the Qur'ān.

إِن يَنصُرْكُمُ اللَّـهُ فَلَا غَالِبَ لَكُمْ، وَإِن يَخْذُلْكُمْ فَمَن ذَا الَّذِي يَنصُرُكُم مِّن بَعْدِهِ، وَعَلَى اللَّـهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ

“If Allāh helps you, none can overcome you, but if He withdraws His help from you, who is there who can help you besides Him? In Allāh, then, let the believers place their trust!” [Sūrah ‘Ali ‘Imrān, 3:160].

We are Muslims. If we want strength, and peace of mind, the Qur'ān is our solution. Let's make a hold to it. We need to learn how to live from the Qur'an, not from Hollywood, Bollywood or Nollywood.

إِنَّ هَـٰذَا الْقُرْآنَ يَهْدِي لِلَّتِي هِيَ أَقْوَمُ وَيُبَشِّرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ الَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ الصَّالِحَاتِ أَنَّ لَهُمْ أَجْرًا كَبِيرًا ﴿٩﴾ وَأَنَّ الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْآخِرَةِ أَعْتَدْنَا لَهُمْ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا

“Surely, this Quran guides to the most upright way and gives good news to the believers who do good deeds, so that they will have a great reward. And [it] warns those who deny the life to come with grievous punishment.” [Sūrah Al-Isrā', 17:9-10].

Oppressors always outnumber their victims. Falsehood will continue to oversize the truth, but the oppressed shall win over their oppressors, and the truth shall prevail. This is because Allāh dislikes oppression and oppressors. He is the Truth, and by Him shall stand the truthful.

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Allāh knows best.
Allāhu Ḥāfiẓ 🙂