Surah Al-Fath (48) — Ayah 18

(Ayah 18) ➊ {لَقَدْ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنِ الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ … :} Before this, in {’’ اِنَّ الَّذِيْنَ يُبَايِعُوْنَكَ اِنَّمَا يُبَايِعُوْنَ اللّٰهَ ‘‘}, after declaring the pledge at Hudaybiyyah on the hand of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) as a pledge to Allah, the condition of those who stayed behind was described. Now, once again, Allah mentions His pleasure with those who pledged and other glad tidings.
➋ The Companions who pledged allegiance under that tree received the greatest blessing of the universe at the time of the pledge, and that is the pleasure and approval of Allah, because there is no greater blessing than this, as He said: « وَ رِضْوَانٌ مِّنَ اللّٰهِ اَكْبَرُ» [ التوبۃ : ۷۲ ] “And a little of Allah’s pleasure is the greatest.” Because Allah said: « لَقَدْ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنِ الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ اِذْ يُبَايِعُوْنَكَ تَحْتَ الشَّجَرَةِ » “Indeed, Allah was pleased with the believers when they pledged allegiance to him under the tree.” Because of this pleasure, it became known as the Pledge of Ridwan. Allah’s pleasure and entry into Paradise are inseparable. (See Mujadila: 22; Tawbah: 72) When Allah has testified about these Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) that He is pleased with them, how unfortunate is the group that is displeased with these accepted servants and harbors hatred and enmity against them, and says that later, God forbid, they became apostates. Did Allah not have knowledge of the future, and what kind of pleasure is it that, despite it, those servants become apostates upon whom He is pleased? The mention of further blessings, in addition to attaining Allah’s pleasure, is coming ahead.
Apart from the Noble Qur’an, there are also many virtues of the Companions who participated in the Pledge of Ridwan mentioned in authentic ahadith. Amr bin Dinar says that he heard Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrate: “On the day of Hudaybiyyah, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to us: [ أَنْتُمْ خَيْرُ أَهْلِ الْأَرْضِ ] ‘You are the best of the people on earth.’ And (at that time) we were fourteen hundred, and if I could see today, I would show you the place of that tree.” [ بخاري، المغازي، باب غزوۃ الحدیبیۃ : ۴۱۵۴ ] Umm Mubashir (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that she heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say at the house of Hafsa (may Allah be pleased with her): [ لَا يَدْخُلُ النَّارَ، إِنْ شَاءَ اللّٰهُ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ الشَّجَرَةِ أَحَدٌ الَّذِيْنَ بَايَعُوْا تَحْتَهَا ] [ مسلم، فضائل الصحابۃ، باب من فضائل أصحاب الشجرۃ… : ۲۴۹۶ ] “Insha’Allah, none of those who pledged allegiance under this tree will enter the Fire.” Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that a slave of Hatib (may Allah be pleased with him) came with a complaint against Hatib and said, “O Messenger of Allah! Hatib will surely enter the Fire.” So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ كَذَبْتَ لَا يَدْخُلُهَا فَإِنَّهُ شَهِدَ بَدْرًا وَالْحُدَيْبِيَةَ ] [ مسلم، فضائل الصحابۃ، باب من فضائل حاطب بن أبي بلتعۃ… : ۲۴۹۵ ] “You have lied; he will not enter the Fire, for he participated in Badr and Hudaybiyyah.”
➌ Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: [ كُنَّا يَوْمَ الْحُدَيْبِيَةِ أَلْفًا وَ أَرْبَعَ مِائَةٍ فَبَايَعْنَاهُ وَعُمَرُ آخِذٌ بِيَدِهِ تَحْتَ الشَّجَرَةِ وَهِيَ سَمُرَةٌ ] [ مسلم، الإمارۃ، باب استحباب مبایعۃ الإمام الجیش… : ۱۸۵۶ ] “On the day of Hudaybiyyah, we were fourteen hundred, we pledged allegiance to him (peace and blessings be upon him), and Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was holding his hand under the tree, and it was an acacia tree.”
➍ Tariq bin Abdullah narrated that he went for Hajj and saw some people praying. He asked, “Is this a place for prayer?” They said, “This is the tree where the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) took the Pledge of Ridwan.” He went to Sa’id bin Musayyib and told him, so Sa’id said, “My father told me that he was among those who pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) under the tree, so when we came the next year, the tree was made forgotten to us, and we could not find it.” Sa’id said, “The Companions of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) did not know it, and you have come to know it, so are you more knowledgeable?” [ بخاري، المغازي، باب غزوۃ الحدیبیۃ : ۴۱۶۳ ] Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: [ رَجَعْنَا مِنَ الْعَامِ الْمُقْبِلِ فَمَا اجْتَمَعَ مِنَّا اثْنَانِ عَلَی الشَّجَرَةِ الَّتِيْ بَايَعْنَا تَحْتَهَا، كَانَتْ رَحْمَةً مِّنَ اللّٰهِ ] [ بخاري، الجھاد والسیر، باب البیعۃ في الحرب أن لا یفروا : ۲۹۵۸ ] “When we came again the next year, not even two of us could agree on the tree under which we had pledged allegiance; this was a mercy from Allah.” While explaining this in Fath al-Bari, Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “The wisdom in this was that people would not fall into trial because of the good deed done under that tree, because if its identification had remained, there was a danger that some ignorant people would venerate it, to the extent that they might believe that the tree itself had the power to benefit or harm, as is observed even now in lesser things.” Ibn Hajar was speaking of his own time; in our era, the obsession with relics has gone even further. Nowadays, those who do not refrain from worshipping the trees, stones, and graves at the shrines of saints—if they had found that tree, who knows what they would have done.
➎ { فَعَلِمَ مَا فِيْ قُلُوْبِهِمْ فَاَنْزَلَ السَّكِيْنَةَ عَلَيْهِمْ:} That is, Allah knew the truthfulness, sincerity, and obedience because of which they pledged to remain steadfast in the field until the end, despite being very few in number compared to the enemy and almost unarmed, and also the intense anxiety and restlessness that arose in their hearts due to the unpleasant conditions of the treaty, which was not due to any disobedience but rather out of love for Allah, His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and Islam, and the desire for their honor and elevation. So, due to their truthfulness and sincerity, Allah sent tranquility upon their hearts, by which they attained inner satisfaction and peace with every command of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and just as they were ready to fight to the death, they also became ready to accept the terms of the treaty accepted by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
➏ This verse is clear evidence of the sincere faith of the Companions of the Pledge of Ridwan, because Allah Himself has testified to the sincerity of their hearts. Most unfortunate are those who say about such sincere believers that they were hypocrites. [ نَعُوْذُ بِاللّٰہِ مِنْ ذٰلِکَ ]
➐ { وَ اَثَابَهُمْ فَتْحًا قَرِيْبًا:} Most commentators interpret this “near victory” as the conquest of Khaybar, and this is not far-fetched. However, one view among the scholars is that it refers to the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, because after the Pledge of Ridwan, this was the fundamental and important victory that opened the way for all other victories for the Muslims, and shortly after, Khaybar was conquered, then Makkah was conquered, until the entire Arabian Peninsula came under Islam during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). At the beginning of this surah, this very treaty is called a clear victory.

18. 1. This is the certificate of Allah’s pleasure and their being true, steadfast believers for those Companions of the Pledge (Bay‘at al-Ridwan) who, at Hudaybiyyah, pledged under a tree that they would fight the Quraysh of Makkah and would not flee.

18. 2. That is, Allah is also aware of the sincerity and purity of feelings in their hearts. This refutes those enemies of the Companions who say that their faith was only outward, and that inwardly they were hypocrites.

18. 3. That is, they were unarmed and had not gone with the intention of war, so they did not have the required number of weapons. Despite this, when the Prophet ﷺ took the pledge of jihad from them to avenge Hazrat Uthman ؓ, all of them, without the slightest hesitation, were ready to fight. That is, We removed the fear of death from their hearts and instead sent down patience and tranquility upon them, which gave them the courage to fight.

18. 4. This refers to the conquest of Khaybar, which was the stronghold of the Jews, and after returning from Hudaybiyyah, the Muslims conquered it.

Indeed, Allah was pleased with the believers when they pledged allegiance to you under the tree [24]. He knew what was in their hearts, so He sent down tranquility [25] upon them and rewarded them with a near victory [26].

[24]
Those Who Slander the Companions?

This verse begins with ﴿لَقَدْ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ﴾. For this reason, this pledge is called the Pledge of Ridwan, meaning such a sincere and devoted pledge upon which Allah granted these people the certificate of His pleasure. And in some hadiths, it is explicitly mentioned that all those who participated in this pledge are destined for Paradise. Yet, despite this, some people even doubt the faith of these noble Companions, may Allah be pleased with them. They say that no doubt, at the time of the Pledge of Ridwan, these people were loyal to Islam and sincere for its cause, but later they proved to be disloyal. In other words, these people first accused those great Companions, may Allah be pleased with them. The second accusation is against Allah Almighty, as if, when granting His certificate of pleasure, He could not even know that those to whom He is giving this certificate would later turn out to be disloyal. Thus, this belief is not only an insult to the distinguished Companions but also a severe blow to the knowledge of the unseen of Allah Almighty. Such people should be concerned for their own faith.

The Tree Under Which the Pledge Was Taken:

Regarding the tree under which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ took the pledge, two types of narrations are found. According to the narration of Tabari, Muslims began to visit this tree. They would go there and perform prayers and nawafil, etc. When Sayyiduna Umar ؓ learned of this, he had it cut down during his caliphate. In contrast, from authentic and reliable narrations, it is known that the very next year, some Companions who had participated in the Pledge of Ridwan went there, but even they could not recognize the tree under which the pledge had been taken. In this regard, consider the following hadiths:
1. Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah Ansari ؓ says that on the day of Hudaybiyyah, we were one thousand four hundred men. [بخاري۔ كتاب التفسير]
Tariq bin Abdur Rahman says: I set out with the intention of Hajj. On the way, I saw some people performing prayers, so I asked, "What is this mosque?" They said: Here was the tree under which the Prophet ﷺ took the Pledge of Ridwan from the Companions. Hearing this, I went to Sa'id bin Musayyib. He said that my father (Musayyib bin Hazm) was among those who pledged under the tree. He used to say, "When I went there the next year, I could not recognize that tree." Sa'id says: The Companions of the Prophet ﷺ could not recognize that tree, and do you people know more than them? (that you recognized it and built a mosque there). [بخاری۔ کتاب المغازی۔ باب غزوۃ الحدیبیۃ]

[25]
On That Day, Stopping the Battle Was Allah’s Favor:

That is, regarding those who pledged, it became clear how much devotion and self-sacrifice for Islam existed among them. Thus, Allah Almighty made their hearts firm on the matter that, whatever the outcome, we must fight. Apparently, the result that seemed likely was that on one side there were only fourteen hundred unarmed and foreign Muslims, and on the other side was their powerful mortal enemy, who, in terms of equipment, numbers, supplies—in every respect—was superior to them. And the most important thing was that he was at home, and his opponents, the Muslims, had come to his home. In this situation, for Allah to make the hearts of the Muslims firm on battle and to provide them with tranquility was indeed a great blessing from Allah. And its second meaning could also be that, after so much progress towards war, Allah cooled their emotions for the sake of making peace with the disbelievers, and made them content with obedience to Allah and His Messenger ﷺ.

[26] The near victory refers to the conquest of Khaybar, which occurred only three months after the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.