Surah Al-Fath (48) — Ayah 25

(Ayah 25) ➊ {هُمُ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوْا وَ صَدُّوْكُمْ عَنِ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ:} This describes the excess of the people of Makkah, which Allah has declared a disgrace for them, and that is that instead of believing in the Messenger of Allah, they persisted in disbelief and prevented the Muslims from entering Masjid al-Haram, from performing Tawaf, and from fulfilling other rites of Umrah, and became ready to fight, even though the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and the Muslims had not come with the intention of fighting, nor had they brought full weapons, rather they were in the state of Ihram. Fighting aside, in that state they could not even harm anyone.

➋ {وَ الْهَدْيَ مَعْكُوْفًا اَنْ يَّبْلُغَ مَحِلَّهٗ: ’’ الْهَدْيَ ‘‘} A verbal noun with the meaning of a passive participle: {’’أَيْ اَلْأَنْعَامُ الْمَهْدِيَّةُ‘‘} those cattle that are brought to the Ka'bah for sacrifice. This word, being a verbal noun, is used for singular, plural, masculine, and feminine. {’’ مَعْكُوْفًا ‘‘ ’’عَكَفَ يَعْكُفُ‘‘} is a passive participle from (ن). {’’عَكَفَ‘‘} is also used intransitively, meaning "to make it obligatory to stay in one place," as He said: « وَ اَنْتُمْ عٰكِفُوْنَ فِي الْمَسٰجِدِ » [ البقرۃ : ۱۸۷ ] "when you are in retreat in the mosques." Here it is used transitively: {’’عَكَفَهُ أَيْ حَبَسَهُ۔‘‘ ’’ مَعْكُوْفًا ‘‘} that which has been detained in one place. {’’ الْهَدْيَ ‘‘} is in the accusative because it is conjoined to the pronoun in {’’ صَدُّوْكُمْ ‘‘} and is accusative due to being a circumstantial qualifier from {’’ مَعْكُوْفًا ‘‘ ’’ الْهَدْيَ ‘‘}, meaning these are the people who disbelieved and prevented you from Masjid al-Haram and also prevented the sacrificial animals, while they were detained from reaching their place of being lawful. That is, even the sacrificial animals were not allowed to enter Makkah, which is the original place for the sacrifices of Umrah and Hajj to become lawful. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had brought sacrificial camels with him, and when the disbelievers refused to allow entry into Makkah and the performance of Umrah that year and postponed it to the following year, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) sacrificed those animals at the place of Hudaybiyyah and shaved his head, thus exiting Ihram.

➌ {وَ لَوْ لَا رِجَالٌ مُّؤْمِنُوْنَ وَ نِسَآءٌ مُّؤْمِنٰتٌ …: ’’ تَطَـُٔوْهُمْ ‘‘ ’’وَطِئَ يَطَأُ وَطْأً‘‘} (س) to trample, to crush. This is the present tense, active voice, masculine plural, second person. {’’ مَعَرَّةٌ‘‘} disgrace, sin, loss. In this verse, Allah has mentioned two reasons for not allowing fighting at that time: one is that among the polytheists of Makkah, there were also many believing men and believing women, whom the Muslims did not know. Some of them had already become Muslim but had concealed their faith, and some had openly become Muslim but, due to helplessness, could not migrate to Madinah and were suffering from the oppression and tyranny of the disbelievers. If there had been an attack on Makkah, those believing men and women would also have been trampled along with the polytheists, which would have been a disgrace for the Muslims, that they killed their own brothers and sisters, even though such killing would have been due to ignorance. The disgrace refers to the blame from the disbelievers that the Muslims killed their own brothers, and also the grief and sorrow that would arise in the hearts of the Muslims from killing their own brothers, otherwise, during war, if a Muslim living among the disbelievers is killed, there is neither blood money nor expiation nor blame. Allah prevented the war so that such a situation would not arise and no accusation could be leveled against the Muslims. Note that from {’’ وَ لَوْ لَا رِجَالٌ مُّؤْمِنُوْنَ ‘‘} to {’’ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ ‘‘} is a conditional clause, its consequence is omitted because it is self-evident, i.e., if this hindrance had not existed, "then your hands would not have been restrained, rather an attack would have been made on the people of Makkah."

➍ { لِيُدْخِلَ اللّٰهُ فِيْ رَحْمَتِهٖ مَنْ يَّشَآءُ:} This is the second reason for restraining the Muslims from fighting at that time: that Allah wanted to grant many of the polytheists the ability to believe and admit them into His mercy, which was only possible through peace and mutual interaction between the disbelievers and the Muslims. If fighting had occurred, they would not have had the opportunity to think, understand, and accept Islam, and who knows how many would have been killed in a state of disbelief. Indeed, as a result of this peace, countless people entered Islam; the Muslims who came in the year 6 AH were only fourteen hundred, but in just two years, those who came to conquer Makkah numbered ten thousand, and upon the conquest of Makkah and the announcement of general amnesty for the polytheists, the entire city of Makkah became Muslim. (And all praise is due to Allah)

➎ {لَوْ تَزَيَّلُوْا لَعَذَّبْنَا الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوْا … : ’’ تَزَيَّلُوْا ‘‘ ’’ تَزَيَّلَ يَتَزَيَّلُ تَزَيُّلاً ‘‘} (Form V) to separate from one another. That is, if at that time there had been a complete distinction between the Muslims and disbelievers residing in Makkah, and those who had already become Muslim or were destined to become Muslim in the future had separated and become distinct from the disbelievers, then We would have inflicted such a painful punishment on the disbelievers of Makkah that they would either have been killed in battle or, being captured, would have been humiliated and disgraced.

➏ From this verse, it is evident that the existence of believers in the world is also a cause of mercy for the disbelievers, in that sometimes, due to their presence, even the disbelievers are saved from punishment. See also Surah Al-Anfal (33).

25. 1 Hady refers to the animal that a pilgrim or one performing ‘umrah would take with him to Makkah or purchase there to be sacrificed. "Mahil" refers to the place of sacrifice where these animals were taken and slaughtered. In the time of ignorance, this place for those performing ‘umrah was near the hill of Marwah, and for the pilgrims, it was Mina. In Islam, the place for slaughtering is Makkah, Mina, and the entire boundaries of the Haram. "Mu‘koofan" is a circumstantial qualifier, meaning these animals were held back waiting to enter Makkah so that they could be sacrificed. The meaning is that these disbelievers prevented you from the Sacred Mosque and also did not allow the animals with you to reach their place of sacrifice.

25. 2 That is, they were hiding their faith in Makkah.

25. 3 In the event of fighting with the disbelievers, it was possible that these (believers) would also be killed and you would suffer harm. The original meaning of "ma‘arrat" is defect; here it means expiation and the evil and shame you would have to bear from the disbelievers, i.e., firstly, you would have to pay blood money for accidental killing, and secondly, you would have to endure the taunt of the disbelievers that you even kill your Muslim companions.

25. 4 This is the omitted answer to "lawla," meaning if this matter had not been, you would have been permitted to enter Makkah and to fight the Quraysh of Makkah.

25. 5 Rather, the people of Makkah were given respite so that Allah may grant whomever He wills the ability to accept Islam.

25. 6 "Tazayyalu" means "tamayyazu" (to separate). The meaning is that if the Muslims residing in Makkah had been living separately from the disbelievers, We would have permitted you to fight the people of Makkah, and you would have killed them by your hands, thus giving them a painful punishment. Here, "painful punishment" refers to killing, taking prisoners, and subjugation and dominance.

They are the ones who disbelieved and prevented you from the Sacred Mosque and hindered the sacrificial animals [35] from reaching their place of sacrifice. And if it had not been for believing men and believing women whom you did not know (and the risk that) you might trample them [36], and thus incur guilt unknowingly, (He would not have restrained you, but He did so) so that Allah may admit into His mercy [37] whom He wills. If the believers had been separated from them, We would have certainly inflicted a painful punishment on those disbelievers among them (the people of Makkah) [38].

[35] These were a total of seventy camels that the Companions brought with them. When the Quraysh insisted that under no circumstances would they allow the Muslims to enter Makkah, after the peace treaty, these camels were slaughtered right there at the place of Hudaybiyyah.

[36]
A Very Important Aspect of Not Fighting at Hudaybiyyah:

There were some Muslims present in Makkah who, due to the oppression of the Quraysh of Makkah, kept their Islam hidden. And they did not have the means to migrate to Madinah. Such people were, in fact, excused in the sight of Allah Almighty. Thus, Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) says that he and his mother were among such people. In the event of war, these excused Muslims would have been compelled to join the ranks of the disbelievers, and in the case of an attack, they would certainly have been harmed, of which you would have had no knowledge. Then, upon finding out, you would have also felt regret, and the disbelievers would have taunted them that your Muslim brothers did not even care for you.

[37]
The Impact of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah on the People of Arabia:

The second benefit of stopping the war and making peace at all costs was that among the tribes of Arabia, the impression became widespread that Muslims are a peace-loving nation. Influenced by this, after the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, countless people, with full insight, recognized Islam as the truth and embraced Islam. Among them, two prominent personalities are especially noteworthy: one is Sayyiduna Khalid ibn al-Walid, the Sword of Allah, and the other is Sayyiduna Amr ibn al-As, who later conquered Egypt.

[38] However, if there had been no excused Muslims present in Makkah, or if there had been some way to separate them, then certainly, instead of peace, war would have been better. In that case, We would have made the disbelievers suffer a crushing defeat at your hands.