Surah Al-Fath (48) — Ayah 10

(Ayah 10) ➊ {اِنَّ الَّذِيْنَ يُبَايِعُوْنَكَ اِنَّمَا يُبَايِعُوْنَ اللّٰهَ:} In terms of context, this pledge refers to the Pledge of Ridwan, and the commentators have identified it as such, although the word {’’ يُبَايِعُوْنَكَ ‘‘} includes every pledge that was made to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), whether it was the Pledge of Ridwan or any pledge before or after it. It is called a pledge because, through this covenant, a Muslim sells his life and wealth in exchange for Paradise. The meaning of Islam is also this: whoever accepts Islam has sold his life and wealth to Allah Almighty, as He said: « اِنَّ اللّٰهَ اشْتَرٰى مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ اَنْفُسَهُمْ وَ اَمْوَالَهُمْ بِاَنَّ لَهُمُ الْجَنَّةَ يُقَاتِلُوْنَ فِيْ سَبِيْلِ اللّٰهِ فَيَقْتُلُوْنَ وَ يُقْتَلُوْنَ وَعْدًا عَلَيْهِ حَقًّا فِي التَّوْرٰىةِ وَ الْاِنْجِيْلِ وَ الْقُرْاٰنِ وَ مَنْ اَوْفٰى بِعَهْدِهٖ مِنَ اللّٰهِ فَاسْتَبْشِرُوْا بِبَيْعِكُمُ الَّذِيْ بَايَعْتُمْ بِهٖ وَ ذٰلِكَ هُوَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيْمُ » [ التوبۃ : ۱۱۱ ] “Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties [in exchange] for that they will have Paradise. They fight in the way of Allah, so they kill and are killed. [It is] a true promise [binding] upon Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur’an. And who is truer to his covenant than Allah? So rejoice in your transaction which you have contracted. And it is that which is the great attainment.”

In this verse, Allah Almighty, to express the honor and dignity of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), said: «اِنَّ الَّذِيْنَ يُبَايِعُوْنَكَ اِنَّمَا يُبَايِعُوْنَ اللّٰهَ » “Indeed, those who pledge allegiance to you, [O Muhammad], they are actually pledging allegiance to Allah.” This is similar to what He said: « مَنْ يُّطِعِ الرَّسُوْلَ فَقَدْ اَطَاعَ اللّٰهَ» [ النساء : ۸۰ ] “And whoever obeys the Messenger has certainly obeyed Allah.” Because the Messenger is appointed by Allah Almighty, his obedience is obedience to Allah Almighty, and the pledge on his hand is, through him, a pledge to Allah Almighty.

➋ The literal meaning of {يَدُ اللّٰهِ فَوْقَ اَيْدِيْهِمْ: ’’ يَدُ اللّٰهِ ‘‘} is “the hand of Allah,” and the reality of Allah’s hand is beyond the knowledge and comprehension of the creation, so one should suffice with the words as Allah Almighty has stated: “the hand of Allah is over their hands.” As for how it is, only Allah Almighty knows. The commentators have made various interpretations here, and the reason for all these interpretations is that they considered Allah’s hand to be like their own hands and His hand being above to be like their own hand being above, so they denied it or interpreted it. However, it is established from many verses and hadiths that Allah Almighty has a hand, and it is also established that there is nothing like unto Him. The noble Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) also heard these verses; none of them felt the need for interpretation, nor did anyone deny it. They accepted the words as they came. We should also not get involved in how Allah’s hand is and how it is above their hands.

➌ The Pledge of Ridwan is the pledge that the noble Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) made under a tree at Hudaybiyyah on the hand of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). According to most authentic narrations, their number was fourteen hundred, and some Companions have also mentioned fifteen hundred. From Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), both fourteen hundred and fifteen hundred are authentically narrated. Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) reconciled this by saying that their number was between fourteen hundred and fifteen hundred; sometimes the lesser number was mentioned by leaving out the extra, and sometimes the number was rounded up to fifteen hundred. In the hadiths, it is stated that all these Companions made this pledge, except for a person named Jad bin Qais who did not pledge.

The reason for this pledge was that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent Uthman bin Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) from Hudaybiyyah to the people of Makkah to negotiate so that they would not prevent the Muslims from performing Umrah at the House of Allah. When Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) was delayed in returning, a rumor spread that he had been killed. Upon this, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) firmly resolved to fight and invited the Companions to pledge allegiance. Salamah bin Akwa’ (may Allah be pleased with him) mentioned pledging allegiance twice under the tree at Hudaybiyyah to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so his student Yazid asked: “O Abu Muslim! What were you pledging for that day?” He replied: “For death.” [ بخاري، الجہاد والسیر، باب البیعۃ في الحرب علٰی أن لا یفروا:۲۹۶۰ ] Whereas Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: “We did not pledge to you (peace and blessings be upon him) for death, but rather we pledged that we would not flee.” [ مسلم، الإمارۃ، باب استحباب مبایعۃ الإمام الجیش… : ۶۸ /۱۸۵۶ ] From this, it is known that some Companions pledged for death and some pledged that they would not flee from the battlefield under any circumstances, and the reality of both is the same, because not fleeing under any circumstances means being ready for death. Since the news of Uthman’s (may Allah be pleased with him) martyrdom was not certain, and there was also a possibility of him being alive, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) included him in this pledge as well. Thus, Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: [ فَلَوْ كَانَ أَحَدٌ أَعَزَّ بِبَطْنِ مَكَّةَ مِنْ عُثْمَانَ لَبَعَثَهُ مَكَانَهُ، فَبَعَثَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عُثْمَانَ وَكَانَتْ بَيْعَةُ الرِّضْوَانِ بَعْدَ مَا ذَهَبَ عُثْمَانُ إِلٰی مَكَّةَ، فَقَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بِيَدِهِ الْيُمْنٰی هٰذِهِ يَدُ عُثْمَانَ فَضَرَبَ بِهَا عَلٰی يَدِهِ، فَقَالَ هٰذِهِ لِعُثْمَانَ ] [بخاري، فضائل أصحاب النبي صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم ، باب مناقب عثمان بن عفان أبي عمرو القرشي رضی اللہ عنہ : ۳۶۹۹ ] “If there had been anyone more honorable than Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) in the valley of Makkah, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would have sent him instead. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) to Makkah, and the Pledge of Ridwan took place after Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) had gone to Makkah. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) pointed to his right hand and said: ‘This is the hand of Uthman.’ Then he struck it on his other hand and said: ‘This is the pledge of Uthman.’” When the disbelievers learned about this pledge, they became afraid and sent Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) back and began efforts for reconciliation, which resulted in the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.

➍ {فَمَنْ نَّكَثَ فَاِنَّمَا يَنْكُثُ عَلٰى نَفْسِهٖ:} It is an established fact that none of these Companions broke the covenant made in this pledge, especially since this pledge was taken regarding fighting for the retribution of Uthman’s blood, and its duration was from the time of the pledge until the reconciliation. This was sufficient for them to earn the divine pleasure obtained from this pledge, even though later on, it is not proven that any of these Companions fled from the battlefield.

➎ { وَ مَنْ اَوْفٰى بِمَا عٰهَدَ عَلَيْهُ اللّٰهَ …:} For those who fulfill this covenant of Allah Almighty, there is a great reward, as will be mentioned ahead. After the glad tidings of Allah’s pleasure, what doubt can there be in the misfortune of those who harbor enmity or hatred towards these blessed personalities?

➏ {بِمَا عٰهَدَ عَلَيْهُ اللّٰهَ:} The majority of reciters have read the “ha” of {’’ عَلَيْهُ ‘‘} with a kasrah, and the reason is that this pronoun is originally {’’هُوَ‘‘}, and even after omitting the waw, it remains with a dammah, as is the case in {’’ لَهُ ‘‘} and {’’ ضَرَبَهُ ‘‘}, but if there is a ya before it, it is read with a kasrah, as in {’’فِيْهِ، إِلَيْهِ، عَلَيْهِ‘‘} and so on. Here, Hafs has read it with a dammah, and Alusi has mentioned two reasons for this; one of them is that at this place, the pledge and covenant with Allah Almighty is mentioned, which requires the word {’’ اللّٰهَ ‘‘} to be pronounced in such a way that it expresses its greatness and majesty, that such a great Being has been covenanted with, and it is known that if there is a kasrah before the word {’’ اَللّٰهُ ‘‘}, its lam is pronounced lightly, not with tafkhim (heavily). Therefore, instead of a kasrah on the “ha” of {’’ عَلَيْهُ ‘‘}, a dammah is brought, so that the pronunciation of {’’ اللّٰهَ ‘‘} is with full grandeur and majesty. The second reason is that in {’’ عَلَيْهُ ‘‘}, the “ha” is originally {’’هُوَ‘‘}, as mentioned earlier, so its original vowel is dammah, not kasrah, so retaining the original dammah is more fitting with maintaining and fulfilling the original covenant.

10. 1. That is, this pledge is actually with Allah Himself because He is the One who has commanded jihad and He alone will grant the reward for it. Just as it is stated elsewhere that this is a transaction of their lives and wealth with Allah in exchange for Paradise (at-Tawbah: 111). This is similar to (مَنْ يُّطِعِ الرَّسُوْلَ فَقَدْ اَطَاع اللّٰهَ) (4:80).

10. 2. The verse refers to the same pledge of Ridwan which the Prophet ﷺ took from the 14 or 15 hundred Muslims present at Hudaybiyyah after hearing the news of the martyrdom of Hazrat Uthman, in order to take revenge for him.

10. 3. NAKTH (breaking the covenant) here means breaking the pledge, that is, not participating in the battle as per the agreement. That is, whoever does so, its consequence will fall upon him.

10. 4. That he will help the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, fight alongside him, until Allah grants victory and dominance to the Muslims.

10. Surely, those who pledge allegiance to you are actually pledging allegiance to Allah. Allah’s Hand is over their hands [10]. So whoever breaks his pledge, he breaks it only to his own loss, and whoever fulfills the covenant he has made with Allah, He will soon grant him a great reward.

[10]
The Pledge of Ridwan Was a Pledge on Blood:

This pledge was being taken on the condition that if the news of the martyrdom of Uthman ؓ was true, then the Muslims would fight with their lives to take retribution for him, and until this objective was fulfilled, none among them would return alive. The manner of this pledge was that the one pledging would place his hand below, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would place his hand above his and take the pledge.

The Manner of the Pledge for Sayyiduna Uthman ؓ:

Since the news of the martyrdom of Sayyiduna Uthman ؓ was not certain, it was merely a rumor, and there was a possibility of him being alive and well, therefore, the Prophet ﷺ himself took the pledge on behalf of Sayyiduna Uthman ؓ. He placed one of his own hands below and the other above, thus completing the pledge. It is as if the Prophet ﷺ had such trust in Sayyiduna Uthman ؓ that if he were alive, he would certainly never hold back from such a pledge.

This Pledge Was in Fact a Covenant with Allah:

Furthermore, Allah Almighty said to those who pledged that do not think that the hand above yours is merely the hand of the Messenger ﷺ with whom you are making a covenant. Rather, it is the hand of the Messenger, the deputy of Allah, who at that moment is not taking the pledge on his own behalf, but in the capacity of being Allah’s deputy.

Different Forms of Pledge:

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ took pledges several times during his life. The very first pledge was the Pledge of Aqabah, in which the people of Madinah pledged that if the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to them, they would help him in every hardship and protect his life. Here, the pledge is mentioned regarding jihad or blood, and in some places, the Quran also mentions pledges regarding doing good deeds and abstaining from evil deeds, and such pledges were taken by the Prophet ﷺ from both men and women.

The Pledge of Hearing and Obeying the Leader is Obligatory, Even if Indirect:

Here, a general question arises: is the pledge necessary for every person? The answer is that the only pledge necessary for everyone is the pledge taken with the leader of the believers on the principle of hearing and obeying, and this can also be indirect. The purpose of this is only to strengthen the unity and political power of the Muslims and to collectively uphold and maintain the religion of Allah.

The Pledge to Spiritual Guides?

As for the pledge that spiritual guides and Sufi masters have made obligatory, this is by no means obligatory, although it is permissible, but only on the condition that the spiritual guide or sheikh himself is fully observant of the Shariah. And if the spiritual guide himself is not observant of the Shariah, then his pledge is not permissible; rather, it will become a cause of punishment.