Surah As-Saaffaat (37) — Ayah 171

(Ayah 171 to 173) ➊ { وَ لَقَدْ سَبَقَتْ كَلِمَتُنَا …:} In the previous verse, the disbelievers were threatened that they would soon see the result of their denial. Now, to give the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) encouragement and reassurance, it is said that for those servants of Ours whom We send as Our Messengers, it has already been decreed that they will be helped, and not only them, but whoever forms Our army in the form of them and their followers, they alone will prevail. The evidence for this is also the statement of Allah Almighty: «كَتَبَ اللّٰهُ لَاَغْلِبَنَّ اَنَا وَ رُسُلِيْ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ قَوِيٌّ عَزِيْزٌ » [ المجادلۃ : ۲۱ ] "Allah has decreed: 'Surely, I will prevail, and My messengers.' Indeed, Allah is All-Powerful, All-Mighty." And He said: « اِنَّا لَنَنْصُرُ رُسُلَنَا وَ الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْا فِي الْحَيٰوةِ الدُّنْيَا وَ يَوْمَ يَقُوْمُ الْاَشْهَادُ» [ المؤمن : ۵۱ ] "Indeed, We will surely help Our messengers and those who believe in the life of this world and on the Day when the witnesses will stand."

➋ { اِنَّهُمْ لَهُمُ الْمَنْصُوْرُوْنَ : } In this verse, the certainty of the Messengers of Allah being helped is emphasized in several ways: first, the pronoun {’’هُمْ‘‘} is emphasized again by bringing {’’هُمْ‘‘}, then further emphasis is added with "lam," then by bringing "al" on the predicate {’’ الْمَنْصُوْرُوْنَ ‘‘}, which also creates exclusivity in the statement. In summary, in every situation, only they will be helped, not others in opposition to them, and in every situation, the Messenger and his followers will be the ones who prevail.

➌ Here, a question arises that sometimes the disbelievers also prevail over the Prophets and the believers, as mentioned in Sahih Bukhari, where Abu Sufyan was questioned by Heraclius: "Have you ever fought with this man who claims prophethood? If so, what was the outcome?" He replied: [ كَانَتْ دُوَلاً وَ سِجَالاً، يُدَالُ عَلَيْنَا الْمَرَّةَ وَنُدَالُ عَلَيْهِ الْأُخْرٰی] "The battle went in turns; sometimes he prevailed over us, and sometimes we prevailed over him." The best answer to this question is what Heraclius said in his commentary after hearing all the answers: [ وَ سَأَلْتُكَ هَلْ قَاتَلْتُمُوْهُ وَ قَاتَلَكُمْ فَزَعَمْتَ أَنْ قَدْ فَعَلَ، وَ أَنَّ حَرْبَكُمْ وَ حَرْبَهُ تَكُوْنُ دُوَلاً، وَ يُدَالُ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَرَّةَ وَ تُدَالُوْنَ عَلَيْهِ الْأُخْرٰی، وَكَذٰلِكَ الرُّسُلُ تُبْتَلٰی، وَ تَكُوْنُ لَهَا الْعَاقِبَةُ ] [ بخاري، الجہاد والسیر، باب دعاء النبي صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم إلی الإسلام والنبوۃ… : ۲۹۴۱، ۴۵۵۳، عن ابن عباس رضی اللہ عنھما ] "And I asked you whether you fought with him and he with you, and you told me that yes, you did, and your battles were in turns; sometimes he prevailed over you, and sometimes you prevailed over him, and this is how the messengers are tested, and the final outcome is always in their favor."

The reality is that help and dominance in the world sometimes occur in terms of evidence and argument, sometimes with victory and governance, and sometimes by remaining steadfast and firm on one's stance. Thus, if a believer is sometimes overcome due to weakness in worldly circumstances, even then, in terms of argument and by remaining steadfast in faith, he is the one who prevails, and the final outcome will be in his favor, as Heraclius said. Even if he is martyred, he has succeeded in attaining a life of everlasting blessings, and surely a time will come when the superiority of the believers over the disbelievers will become evident. Allah said: « فَالْيَوْمَ الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْا مِنَ الْكُفَّارِ يَضْحَكُوْنَ (34) عَلَى الْاَرَآىِٕكِ يَنْظُرُوْنَ (35) هَلْ ثُوِّبَ الْكُفَّارُ مَا كَانُوْا يَفْعَلُوْنَ» [ المطففین : ۳۴ تا ۳۶ ] "So today those who believed are laughing at the disbelievers, on couches, observing. Have the disbelievers been repaid for what they used to do?" And Allah Almighty has mentioned both this world and the Hereafter: « اِنَّا لَنَنْصُرُ رُسُلَنَا وَ الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْا فِي الْحَيٰوةِ الدُّنْيَا وَ يَوْمَ يَقُوْمُ الْاَشْهَادُ » [ المؤمن : ۵۱ ] "Indeed, We will surely help Our messengers and those who believe in the life of this world and on the Day when the witnesses will stand." As for the Muslims sometimes facing defeat in this world, as Heraclius said, this is due to the wisdom of Allah Almighty's trial and test. If Muslims were always victorious in this world, the matter of testing would end altogether. See Surah Al-Baqarah (124), Al-Imran (142), and Surah At-Tawbah (16).

The exegesis of this verse has been done along with the previous verse.

The tafsir of this ayah is included with the following verse(s).