The sūrah speaks of the Muslims’ surprise at the turn of events, which betrayed their naïve concept of life. Soon, however, experience told them to look at the realities of life and how the laws of nature work. They realised that anyone who does not conform to nature and its laws should expect no preferential treatment. People must adapt themselves to the seriousness inherent in the nature of the universe, life and fate. The sūrah brings them back to reality as it explains to them that what has befallen them is the result of their own doing. But this is not all. Behind cause and effect lies God’s predestination, and beyond the laws of nature lies God’s free will.

The purpose of what happened is explained to them so that they learn how God directs events in the believers’ favour to serve the cause which they advocate. It was an experience which made them better equipped to face what was bound to come, to put them through a serious test in order to sift their ranks and to mark out the hypocrites who were able to betray them. The whole affair, then, was part of the accomplishment of God’s will. They were thus able to view the event in its totality, equipped with this Qur’ānic explanation: “Why, when a calamity befell you, after you had inflicted twice as much [on your enemy], did you exclaim, ‘How has this come about?’ Say: ‘It has come from your own selves. Surely, God has the power over all things.’ That which befell you, on the day when the two hosts met in battle, happened by God’s leave, so that He may mark out the true believers.” (Verses 165-6)

God has committed Himself to grant victory to those who support His cause and fight to defend His faith. He, however, has made the granting of victory conditional upon certain things: that the whole concept of faith be deeply entrenched in their hearts, that the practical implications of faith manifest themselves in their organisation and behaviour and that they equip themselves with all the means necessary to achieve victory and exert their maximum effort. This is the law of nature which God has set in operation and which favours no one. When the believers fall short of meeting any of these conditions, they have to accept the consequences. The fact that they are Muslims and believers does not mean that the laws of nature should be suspended or abrogated for their sake. They are Muslims because they submit themselves to God and conduct their lives according to the laws of nature God has set in operation. This means, in practice, that they achieve harmony between their nature as human beings and the laws of nature.

That they are Muslims is a fact which does not remain inconsequential. They submit themselves to God, raise His banner and determine to obey Him and conduct their lives according to His constitution. All that will eventually turn their errors and shortcomings to good effect after they bear any sacrifice or pain attendant on them.

Their mistakes become lessons and experiences which have their good effect. They make their faith pure and their submission clearer. Their ranks are purged of those whose faith is suspect. They are better equipped to achieve the ultimate victory.

Now the sūrah moves on to tell us about the “believers” who are concerned with the martyrs and rejoice at what is held in store for them by their Lord: “Those who responded to the call of God and the Messenger after misfortune had befallen them: a great reward awaits those of them who continued to do good and feared God.” (Verse 172)

The Prophet called upon those who had fought in the Battle of Uĥud to turn out for battle duty with him the following day. They were wounded and exhausted; they had barely escaped death. They were still living the horrors of the battle and the humiliation of defeat. They had lost some of their finest and dearest, were weaker because of their wounds, and also less in number.

Nevertheless the Prophet called them up, and called them in person. He did not allow any new recruits to join this second expedition, which might, some would say, have reinforced the Muslim fighting force. They responded to the Prophet’s call, which was, in essence, a call by God, as the verse makes absolutely clear. Their response was immediate, positive and favourable, despite their misfortune and wounds.

The fact that God’s Messenger singled out those who had actually fought at Uĥud for this new call is particularly significant. Perhaps the Prophet did not wish the feelings of defeat and misfortune to be the last that remained with the Muslims after the battle. He called on them to chase the Quraysh in order to drive home to them that all that had happened was merely a test and an experience which was not the end of the matter. They remained strong while their victorious enemies were weak. It was an experience which was certain to be followed by victory once they had shaken off their weakness and failure, and responded to the call issued to them by God and His messenger.

As a corollary, the Prophet may have decided that the Quraysh should not leave the battlefield overjoyed and boastful at their victory. He, therefore, followed the Quraysh so as to make it clear to them that they had not caused any permanent damage to the Muslims; there still remained enough of them to chase off the Quraysh army. Those objectives were fulfilled, according to historical reports.

The Prophet might have also wished to make clear to the Muslims and to all mankind the birth of a faith that meant everything to its adherents. They had absolutely no aim or objective in their lives other than to serve the cause of their faith. They lived for it and they looked to nothing beyond it. They spared nothing of themselves. They offered all as a sacrifice for their faith. This was a new phenomenon the like of which had never been seen before. It was necessary that all mankind realised this after the believers themselves had realised it. Nothing could reflect the birth of this faith better than the marching of those who responded to God’s call after misfortune had befallen them. Their march was both spectacular and awesome. It clearly reflected the fact that they relied totally on God. They did not care for people’s scaremongering about the size of the Quraysh host as told by the messengers sent by Abū Sufyān, the chief of the Quraysh.

The pain and the grief suffered by the Muslims at Uĥud has been recorded by the Prophet’s biographers. Muĥammad ibn Isĥāq reports the following:

One of the Prophet’s Companions from the Anşār clan of `Abd al-Ashĥal who fought in Uĥud reports: “My brother and I were at Uĥud with God’s messenger.

Both of us came back wounded. When we heard the Prophet’s call to us to come out and chase the enemy, I said to my brother, or perhaps he said to me: ‘Can we miss an expedition led by God’s messenger? By God, we have no animal to ride and both of us are wounded and can hardly move.’ Nevertheless, we went out with the Prophet.

My wounds were less serious than those of my brother. When he could no longer go on, I would carry him for some distance, until we reached the same destination as the rest of the Muslim soldiers.” The second report mentions that the Battle of Uĥud took place on Saturday, the middle day of the month of Shawwāl. On the following day, Sunday the 16th of Shawwāl, the call of the Prophet was made to people to go out and chase the enemy.

The message was also made clear: only those who had attended the battle the day before were to come out. However, one of the Prophet’s Companions called Jābir ibn `Abdullāh ibn `Amr, sought special permission to join the army. He said: “Messenger of God, my father ordered me to stay behind to look after my seven sisters, saying:

‘My son, it does not behove you or me to leave these women without a man to look after them. Moreover, I am not one to allow you to have the privilege of fighting alongside God’s Messenger and deny myself that privilege. Therefore, you stay behind and look after your sisters.’ I did as he asked.” The Prophet gave Jābir special permission to join him.

Such fine examples confirm the birth of this great faith in those hearts who recognise no one other than God as a guardian and whose faith is strengthened at time of hardship. When they are told that people are gathering forces against them, their answer is: “God is enough for us; He is the best Guardian.” The practical outcome is the fulfilment of God’s promise to those who rely on Him and dedicate themselves to His cause: “... so they earned God’s grace and bounty, suffering no harm. For they had striven to please God.” (Verse 174) They were saved, suffering no harm, but enjoying God’s pleasure. That is indeed a manifestation of “God’s grace and bounty.” This statement emphasises the primary cause of what God may bestow. It all comes through God’s grace and out of His bounty, with which He favours whomever He pleases. It is true that their attitude was uniquely splendid, but nevertheless, it is through God’s grace that all bounty is bestowed.

God’s bounty is certainly limitless. God records their attitude in His immortal book, with His own words echoed throughout the universe. As we contemplate this attitude and the picture so drawn, we feel that the whole community went through a fundamental change overnight. It had matured and become much more certain of its stand. Its vision was no longer blurred. No more hesitation or reluctance as those witnessed the day before. It had now acquired a seriousness which had not been experienced before. Yet the time span between these two greatly differing attitudes is only one night. The hard experience produced its results and shook the very souls of the believers. Indeed, God’s bounty through this difficult test is greater than anything else.

Be not grieved by those who hasten on to disbelief They cannot harm God in any way.

It is God’s will not to assign to them any share in the [blessings of the] life to come. A great suffering awaits them. (Verse 176)

This verse addresses the Prophet in words which are meant to console him and lighten his grief when he sees people hastening to disbelief and vying with one another to embrace it, as if they were competing for a coveted prize. He is told that all such actions will harm God in no way. The question is one of temptation for them which they cannot resist. God is fully aware of what they think and do, which qualifies them to be deprived of all blessings in the hereafter. He, therefore, has left them to follow their disbelief wherever it leads them. The point is that guidance has been provided for them but they preferred disbelief and, in consequence, they were left alone to follow the way of their choosing. Indeed, they have been given plenty of time and comfort, but they have not been wise enough to understand that it will all end in their undoing. God’s purpose behind all events, including the tests endured by the believers and the indulgence allowed disbelievers is then explained. Good will be distinguished from evil. People’s thoughts and beliefs are known only to God, but He wanted this to be known to people in such a way that they could easily comprehend it.

This conclusion is the most suitable after the Qur’ān’s detailed comments on the events of a battle in which the Muslims suffered a heavy defeat and the idolaters achieved a spectacular victory. For there will always be doubts and silent complaints whenever a battle between truth and falsehood ends up with a setback for the truth and a triumph for falsehood. Why does this happen, Lord? Why do the advocates of the truth suffer while the followers of falsehood triumph? Why is the truth not victorious in every battle it fights against falsehood? Should not the truth always achieve victory? Why is falsehood allowed to gather such strength when it only shakes people and raises doubts in their hearts?

This is indeed what happened at Uĥud when, surprised at what befell them, the Muslims exclaimed: “How has this come about?” (Verse 165)

At the conclusion of this long passage, the final answer is given to reassure people and remove all doubts. God’s purpose and His law are explained for that particular occasion and for all time. What we are told here is that when falsehood is victorious in any confrontation with the truth then that is not the end of the matter.

Falsehood may appear to be all-conquering, but it is only temporary. No one should think that falsehood is invincible or that it can reduce the truth to a permanently weak position from which it will never recover. Nor does the apparent weakness of the truth in any particular period of time mean that God has abandoned it or that He would allow evil and falsehood to put the truth out of existence.

All this is part of a clearly defined purpose. God allows evil to go the length of its way, committing the most ghastly of crimes and sins so that it merits the worst of suffering. He also tests the truth and its advocates in order to distinguish those who remain truly steadfast and increases their reward. It all, then, ends up in a net gain for the truth and net loss for evil. Each has a double portion of what it earns.

Indeed, those who have bought disbelief at the price of faith cannot harm God in any way. A grievous suffering awaits them. Let not those who disbelieve imagine that Our giving them rein bodes well for their own souls. We only give them rein so that they may grow in sinfulness. A humiliating suffering awaits them. It is not God’s purpose to leave the believers in your present state except to set apart the bad from the good.

And it is not God’s purpose to reveal to you what is kept beyond the reach of human perception. But God favours from among His messengers whomever He wills. Believe, therefore, in God and His messengers. If you believe and are God fearing, you shall have a great reward. (Verses 177-9)

To believe in God and to follow the path of faith was available to them. The proofs and pointers which guide human beings to faith are everywhere in the universe, planted deep into human nature. The harmony and complementarity which manifest themselves in clear and unique ways, and the direct, positive response of human nature to such remarkable evidence represent a clear invitation to man to have faith.

He feels that only God could have created and organised the universe. Moreover, God has sent messengers to convey to mankind His message and to call on them to believe in Him. The message meets the needs of human nature and provides a complete and harmonious way of life.

Knowing that faith is so readily available to them, they nevertheless bartered it away for disbelief. In doing so, they deserve to be abandoned by God so that they can drive headlong into disbelief, exhausting all their share of God’s grace, leaving no reward for themselves in the hereafter. Immersed so totally in error and having nothing of the truth, they are too weak to cause God any harm whatsoever. Error has no justice and falsehood has no strength. Its advocates cannot harm those who respond to God’s call, even though they may have forces with which they can inflict temporary harm on the believers.

“A grievous suffering awaits them.” The suffering they will have to endure is incomparably more painful than what they can inflict on believers in this life. “Let not those who disbelieve imagine that Our giving them rein bodes well for their own souls. We only give them rein so that they may grow in sinfulness. A humiliating suffering awaits them.” At this point the sūrah tackles the doubts entertained by some people and their silent remonstrations as they see the enemies of the truth and of God go about unpunished, demonstrating their power and enjoying their strength, position and wealth. What they seem to possess hardens their attitude and tempts people to side with them. Those whose faith remains weak may entertain evil thoughts so as to believe that God has acquiesced to falsehood, accepted evil and tyranny and given their advocates rein. Far be it for God to do so. They may also think that God takes a neutral position in the battle between truth and falsehood, allowing falsehood to smash the truth. They may even think that a certain brand of falsehood is right; otherwise, how is it allowed to grow and triumph? Or they may go as far as to think that it is the natural order of things in this life for falsehood to triumph over the truth. As for the transgressors who serve evil, wreak injustice and spread corruption, they continue with their erring ways and drive headlong into unbelief, imagining that they wield absolute power and that there is no force to stand up to them. All this is plainly wrong. It is an erroneous concept of how God conducts matters. God warns the disbelievers against entertaining such thoughts. If He does not visit them with immediate punishment for their disbelief and, instead, allows them a chance to enjoy themselves in this life, they should know that it is all a test which lures them away so that their attitudes harden and their errors become plainly apparent: “Let not those who disbelieve imagine that Our giving them rein bodes well for their own souls. We only give them rein so that they may grow in sinfulness.” Had they deserved to be helped out of their distractions with an awakening test, God would have put them to such a trial. But He does not wish them well after they have bought disbelief at the price of faith. They no longer deserve to be awakened.

The Qur’ān’s analysis of the events of the Battle of Uĥud and their ramifications determine that further exploration of the facts be set forward. Only the most important and far-reaching of these facts, however, will now be pointed out.

1. The first principle relates to the nature of the Islamic system, the way of life God has chosen for mankind, and the way it works in real life. This is a basic aspect which many people overlook or fail to understand. There are those who think that since Islam is a Divine system, it ought to work in real life in a miraculous or supernatural way, with no regard for human nature, man’s natural abilities or the real world in which man lives.

However, when these people see that Islam does not work in this manner, and that it only operates within the constraints of human power and the material limits of man’s existence, and that it interacts with that power and that existence, they are hit by a sudden sense of disappointment. They are surprised that Islam is affected by man’s capacity and environment, and that these realities do actually influence, sometimes negatively, people’s response to Islam. Their faith in the efficacy and practicality of religious faith thus becomes dented, and some may even lose all faith in religion as such.

Such misunderstandings stem from one fundamental misconception about the nature of Islam and its practical operation in human life. Islam is implemented by human efforts, within the limits of human power. It begins from where man is at a particular moment. It proceeds from his material existence and takes him all the way to the end. It goes as far as man’s endeavour and capacity can take him, always mindful of his limitations and capabilities.

Islam’s main characteristic, however, is that it never for one moment neglects human nature and the realities of man’s physical existence, all the while allowing him to reach new heights of progress and achievement. This is unparalleled in any man-made system. It happened in the past and can always happen again if a serious attempt is made to revive Islam.

The mistake lies in misunderstanding or ignoring the nature of this religion, and in looking for supernatural miracles that distort human nature or are totally divorced from man’s propensities, aptitudes, capabilities, and from his real physical existence. Is not Islam a Divine way of life? Is it not the religion chosen by the most Omnipotent power in the whole universe? Why, then, does it only operate within the bounds of human power? Why does it require human effort to succeed? Why does it, and its followers, not prevail every time? Why is it sometimes overtaken by habits, desires and material realities?

Why should its opponents, who are in the wrong, prevail over its followers, who are in the right? These, as we can see, are all misleading questions that arise from a failure to understand the most basic and simplest fact about the nature of Islam and the way it works in real life.

God is, of course, capable, through Islam or otherwise, of modifying human nature, and He was able to create man with a different nature. But, He chose to create man as we know him; He chose to grant him a will and the ability to respond; He chose to make guidance dependent on effort and perception. He further ordained that human nature remains a constant and active force for all time. He intended that His way of life shall only be realised in real life through human effort and within man’s power, and He planned that man’s achievements correspond to the effort he makes within the constraints of real life.