Tranquillity, and the Soldiers of Allah

It is He who sent down tranquillity into the hearts of the believers. The Muslims had come with the intention of ʿumrah, and they were turned back. At a certain moment, they gave the pledge to die, so they prepared themselves mentally to fight, and then there was no fighting. And then suddenly: now we have to go back without making ʿumrah. So there were a lot of changes, very difficult to bear, within that short period. Because one prepares oneself mentally for something; one wants to do it; one is ready to do it; and then one is prevented from doing it. One tries to do something else, and then one is prevented from doing that. That causes a state of insecurity. And Allah (swt) says that this state of insecurity was replaced with sakīnah: tranquillity came down. This tranquillity was the understanding the Muslims now had of the promise of Allah (swt): we are coming back victorious; Allah (swt) has opened for us.

And then Allah (swt) says, wa li-llāhi junūdu al-samāwāti wa al-arḍ, wa kāna Allāhu ʿalīman ḥakīmā: He is reminding the believers that to Allah belong the forces of the heavens and the earth — the soldiers of Allah. The angels are soldiers of Allah that came down at the Battle of Badr. The wind is a soldier of Allah that was sent upon the enemy in Ghazwat al-Khandaq. Rain is a soldier of Allah that was sent upon the Muslims at Badr. You do not know who the soldiers of Allah are: wa mā yaʿlamu junūda rabbika illā huwa — only Allah knows who His soldiers are.

When the muʾminūn heard the first āyāt of Sūrat al-Fatḥ, which promised the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) those great promises, they said: that is for you; what about us? They were happy for what Allah had given the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and now they wanted to know what Allah had promised them. Allah (swt) says:

That He may admit the men and women who believe to gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell therein for ever, and remove their evils from them — and that is, in the sight of Allah, the highest achievement. Now, the āyah here specifies al-muʾminīn wa al-muʾmināt, even though, when the masculine plural muʾminīn is used, it usually refers to both men and women. But here women were mentioned specifically, because the actions that occurred at Ṣulḥ al-Ḥudaybiyah were actions of men: it was men who were going to fight, because battles are fought by men. But because Muslim women accompanied them, and Muslim women are the ones who have ṣabr when their husbands leave, and it is Muslim women who take care of the families when the husband is absent or when he is killed, Allah (swt) is telling the Muslim women that they will receive the high status along with the men.

What Allah has given the believers has been told; now Allah tells us what He has given their enemies: that He may punish the hypocrites, men and women, and the polytheists, men and women, who imagine an evil opinion of Allah; upon them is a round of evil; the wrath of Allah is upon them; He has cursed them and made Hell ready for them, and evil is it as a destination. So here, too, the women were mentioned, because they are supportive of their men. The women of the munāfiqūn are mentioned, and the women of the mushrikūn are mentioned too, because they are the ones who keep their secrets, they are the ones who support them, they are the ones who take care of their families in their absence: so they share the burden. And now Allah repeats the āyah: to Allah belong the forces of the heavens and the earth, and Allah is Exalted in power, full of wisdom. So this was mentioned with the believers, and now it is mentioned with the non-believers: with the believers, Allah has soldiers fighting for them; and here, with the non-believers, Allah has soldiers fighting against them.