The Madinan Period, Part 12: The Battle of Uḥud, Part Four
Section 14 of 14 · The Life of the Prophet Muhammad: The Madinan Period
Ten Rules of Victory and Defeat
Next, the rules of victory and defeat in Sūrah al-Anfāl and Sūrah Āl ʿImrān. There are many rules of victory and defeat, but the ones that follow are confined to those mentioned in Āl ʿImrān and al-Anfāl, because these are the two sūrahs revealed after Badr and Uḥud, the two battles already discussed. So what are the rules of victory in the Qur'an, specifically in Āl ʿImrān and al-Anfāl?
Number one, first and foremost: victory is from Allah. It belongs to Him, and victory is not but from Allah. Verse ten, Sūrat al-Anfāl.
وَمَا جَعَلَهُ ٱللَّهُ إِلَّا بُشْرَىٰ وَلِتَطْمَئِنَّ بِهِۦ قُلُوبُكُمْ ۚ وَمَا ٱلنَّصْرُ إِلَّا مِنْ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ
“And Allah has made it (the promise) merely to give you a good news, and so that your hearts might be at rest thereby. And the help is from none but Allah. Surely, Allah is Mighty, Wise.” (8:10)
Victory belongs to Allah — it does not belong to arms, it does not belong to preparation, it does not belong to a particular king or leader; it belongs to Him. Number two: if Allah wants to give victory, no power on earth can stop that from happening, so no one should be feared — as long as Allah wants to hand down His victory, it will happen. It was given to Mūsā when he was fighting against Pharaoh:
إِن يَنصُرْكُمُ ٱللَّهُ فَلَا غَالِبَ لَكُمْ ۖ وَإِن يَخْذُلْكُمْ فَمَن ذَا ٱلَّذِى يَنصُرُكُم مِّنۢ بَعْدِهِۦ ۗ وَعَلَى ٱللَّهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ
“If Allah helps you, there is none to overcome you. And if He abandons you, then, who is there to help you after that? In Allah the believers should place their trust.” (3:160)
If Allah should aid the believers, no one can overcome them; but if He should forsake them, who is there to aid them after Him? And upon Allah let the believers rely. Rely on Allah, because victory comes from Him, and do not rely on anybody else, because if you rely on anybody else, Allah will forsake you.
Number three: attachment to this world, and preferring it over the Ākhirah, is a reason for defeat. Allah (swt) said: "And Allah had certainly fulfilled His promise to you when you were killing them by His permission" — this was the beginning of the Battle of Uḥud; they were winning — "until the time when you lost courage and fell to disputing about the order, and disobeyed after He had shown you that which you love. Among you are some who desire this world." Because of this desire for this world, they lost. Also a reason for losing: disobeying the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). Another reason for losing is disunity. And these are going to come up: obedience to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and having unity.
Number four: numbers are not the cause of victory or defeat. A lack of numbers does not bring defeat, and overwhelming numbers do not bring victory. This is very important to learn — numbers should not be depended upon. Allah had already given the believers victory in the Battle of Badr when they were weak:
وَلَقَدْ نَصَرَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ بِبَدْرٍ وَأَنتُمْ أَذِلَّةٌ ۖ فَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ
“Allah certainly supported you at Badr when you were weak. So, fear Allah that you may be grateful” (3:123)
And on the day of Ḥunayn, the believers were impressed by their own great numbers, and those numbers did them no good at all:
لَقَدْ نَصَرَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ فِى مَوَاطِنَ كَثِيرَةٍ ۙ وَيَوْمَ حُنَيْنٍ ۙ إِذْ أَعْجَبَتْكُمْ كَثْرَتُكُمْ فَلَمْ تُغْنِ عَنكُمْ شَيْـًٔا وَضَاقَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْأَرْضُ بِمَا رَحُبَتْ ثُمَّ وَلَّيْتُم مُّدْبِرِينَ
“Allah has surely blessed you with His help on many battlefields, and on the day of Hunain, when you were proud of your great number, then it did not help you at all, and the earth was straitened for you despite all its vastness, then you turned back on your heels.” (9:25)
This did not only happen to this Ummah; it happened also to the righteous people before, as with the people of Ṭālūt, who were small in number and still won:
فَلَمَّا فَصَلَ طَالُوتُ بِٱلْجُنُودِ قَالَ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مُبْتَلِيكُم بِنَهَرٍ فَمَن شَرِبَ مِنْهُ فَلَيْسَ مِنِّى وَمَن لَّمْ يَطْعَمْهُ فَإِنَّهُۥ مِنِّىٓ إِلَّا مَنِ ٱغْتَرَفَ غُرْفَةًۢ بِيَدِهِۦ ۚ فَشَرِبُوا۟ مِنْهُ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا مِّنْهُمْ ۚ فَلَمَّا جَاوَزَهُۥ هُوَ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مَعَهُۥ قَالُوا۟ لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا ٱلْيَوْمَ بِجَالُوتَ وَجُنُودِهِۦ ۚ قَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ يَظُنُّونَ أَنَّهُم مُّلَـٰقُوا۟ ٱللَّهِ كَم مِّن فِئَةٍ قَلِيلَةٍ غَلَبَتْ فِئَةً كَثِيرَةًۢ بِإِذْنِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ مَعَ ٱلصَّـٰبِرِينَ
“So, when Tālūt set out along with the troops, he said: “Allah is going to test you by a river, so, whoever drinks from it is not my man, and whoever does not taste it is surely a man of mine, except the one who scoops a little with his hand.” Then they drank from it, except a few of them. So, when it (the river) was crossed by him and by those who believed with him, they said: “There is no strength with us today against Jālūt and his troops.” Said those who believed in their having to meet Allah: “How many small groups have overcome large groups by the will of Allah. Allah is with those who remain patient.”” (2:249)
How many a small company has overcome a large company by the will of Allah. So numbers have nothing to do with victory or defeat.
Number five: obeying Allah and His Messenger, already described. Number six: unity — unity is important. Number seven: perseverance:
وَأَطِيعُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ وَلَا تَنَـٰزَعُوا۟ فَتَفْشَلُوا۟ وَتَذْهَبَ رِيحُكُمْ ۖ وَٱصْبِرُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَ ٱلصَّـٰبِرِينَ
“Obey Allah and His Messenger, and do not quarrel with each other, lest you should lose courage, and your prowess should evaporate; and be patient. Surely, Allah is with the patient.” (8:46)
Obey Allah and His Messenger, and do not dispute — and thus lose courage, and your strength will depart — and be patient. Be patient: the word here is wasbirū, which could be called either patience or perseverance. Number eight: preparation. Be prepared, but do not depend on preparation. Allah (swt) is telling the believers to be prepared — physically, mentally, militarily, in terms of arms and training — and to prepare against them:
وَأَعِدُّوا۟ لَهُم مَّا ٱسْتَطَعْتُم مِّن قُوَّةٍ وَمِن رِّبَاطِ ٱلْخَيْلِ تُرْهِبُونَ بِهِۦ عَدُوَّ ٱللَّهِ وَعَدُوَّكُمْ وَءَاخَرِينَ مِن دُونِهِمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ يَعْلَمُهُمْ ۚ وَمَا تُنفِقُوا۟ مِن شَىْءٍ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ يُوَفَّ إِلَيْكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ لَا تُظْلَمُونَ
“Prepare against them whatever force you can, and the trained horses whereby you frighten Allah’s enemy and your own enemy and others besides them whom you do not know. Allah knows them. Whatever thing you spend in the way of Allah, it will be paid to you in full, and you shall not be wronged.” (8:60)
Prepare against them whatever can be mustered of power and of steeds of war, to terrify thereby the enemy of Allah and the believers' own enemy, and others besides them whom the believers do not know but whom Allah knows. And whatever is spent in the cause of Allah will be repaid in full, and none will be wronged.
Numbers nine and ten, steadfastness and then remembrance of Allah, are mentioned in one ayah:
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِذَا لَقِيتُمْ فِئَةً فَٱثْبُتُوا۟ وَٱذْكُرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ كَثِيرًا لَّعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ
“O you who believe, when you face a group (in battle), stand firm and remember Allah abundantly, so that you may be successful.” (8:45)
O you who have believed, when you encounter a company from the enemy forces, stand firm and remember Allah much, that you may be successful. Stand firm, do not move from that spot, do not turn the back to the enemy, and make dhikr of Allah — Allāhu akbar, subḥānallāh, lā ilāha illallāh — connect the heart to Allah, and victory follows. And in another verse:
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِذَا لَقِيتُمُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ زَحْفًا فَلَا تُوَلُّوهُمُ ٱلْأَدْبَارَ وَمَن يُوَلِّهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ دُبُرَهُۥٓ إِلَّا مُتَحَرِّفًا لِّقِتَالٍ أَوْ مُتَحَيِّزًا إِلَىٰ فِئَةٍ فَقَدْ بَآءَ بِغَضَبٍ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ وَمَأْوَىٰهُ جَهَنَّمُ ۖ وَبِئْسَ ٱلْمَصِيرُ
“O you who believe, when you face the disbelievers in a battle, do not turn your backs to them. Whoever turns his back to them on such a day,- unless it is for a tactic in the battle, or to join a company,-turns with wrath from Allah, and his abode is Jahannam (Hell), and it is an evil place to return.” (8:15–16)
O you who have believed, when you meet those who disbelieve advancing for battle, do not turn to them your backs in flight. Stand firm.
***
* Kept as said. The hadith (al-Bukhārī 335) reads: "Every Prophet used to be sent to his nation only, but I have been sent to all mankind." It is not worded as a supplication.
** Kept as said. The accounts of the battle name the man who struck the Prophet (peace be upon him) alongside Ibn Qamiʾah as ʿUtbah ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, the brother of Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ.
*** Al-Bukhārī 6464 and Muslim 2818: "None of you will enter Paradise by his deeds alone … not even I, unless Allah covers me with His mercy."
**** "Uḥud is a mountain that loves us and we love it" is in al-Bukhārī and Muslim. The wording "Uḥud is a mountain in Paradise" is reported with a chain graded weak by hadith scholars, including al-Būṣīrī and al-Albānī.