Surah Al-Fath (48) — Ayah 26

(Ayah 26) ➊ The word {اِذْ جَعَلَ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوْا فِيْ قُلُوْبِهِمُ الْحَمِيَّةَ:} in the end of the previous verse is the adverbial phrase of {’’ اِذْ ‘‘}, meaning, if those believing men and believing women had separated from the disbelievers, “then We would have inflicted a painful punishment on those who disbelieved, when those who disbelieved had stubbornness in their hearts…” And the omitted verb can also be the object of {’’اُذْكُرْ‘‘}, meaning, remember that time when… .
➋ By the stubbornness of ignorance in { حَمِيَّةَ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ:} is meant that they refused to accept even that which was accepted by all Arabs, that no one performing Tawaf, Umrah, or Hajj of Allah’s House could be prevented, and that fighting was not allowed in the sacred months. Rather, they were ready to fight and said, we cannot bear the disgrace that someone forcibly enters Makkah, so this year the Muslims should return, come next year to perform Umrah, and even then stay only three days and bring only swords in their sheaths as weapons. Besides this, their constant arguments with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and placing unreasonable conditions for the treaty were also stubbornness of ignorance, such as saying, write {’’بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ‘‘} instead of {’’بِاسْمِكَ اللّٰهُمَّ‘‘}, and write “Muhammad bin Abdullah” instead of “Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah,” and if anyone comes to you as a Muslim, return him, but if anyone becomes an apostate and comes to us, we will not return him. Similarly, Suhail bin Amr’s refusal to allow his son Abu Jandal, who had become Muslim, to go with the Muslims despite showing his miserable condition in the middle of the treaty, and even torturing him in front of everyone, was also stubbornness of ignorance.
➌ By { فَاَنْزَلَ اللّٰهُ سَكِيْنَتَهٗ عَلٰى رَسُوْلِهٖ وَ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ:} tranquility is meant that patience, forbearance, and dignity with which the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the Muslims faced the ignorant zeal of the disbelievers of Makkah, that they did not become agitated, did not utter any unjust words, nor did they give the disbelievers any opportunity to start a fight by their actions.
➍ If you reflect on the words of this verse, you can see the difference between the behavior of the disbelievers and the Muslims, and the way Allah dealt with them: (1) The disbelievers harbored zeal, that is, stubbornness in their hearts, without thinking, and they themselves were the ones holding this stubbornness. In contrast, tranquility was in the hearts of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and the believers, which Allah sent down from His own treasures. (2) The stubbornness in the hearts of the disbelievers was the stubbornness of ignorance, while the tranquility in the hearts of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and the believers was divine tranquility.
➎ {وَ اَلْزَمَهُمْ كَلِمَةَ التَّقْوٰى:} That word of piety was that the Muslims, in hardship, excitement, anger, and in all circumstances, kept themselves bound to the obedience of Allah and His Messenger. This was a special favor of Allah that He calmed the agitated emotions of His Messenger (peace be upon him) and the noble Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), kept them firm on His command, and thus brought the treaty to completion.
➏ { وَ كَانُوْۤا اَحَقَّ بِهَا وَ اَهْلَهَا:} And they were more deserving of it and worthy of it, because they believed in Allah and His Messenger, and they had the honor of the company and training of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).
➐ { وَ كَانَ اللّٰهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيْمًا:} And Allah has always been fully aware of everything. With this very knowledge, He chose these pure personalities, knowing them to be the most deserving and worthy of piety, for the company of His Messenger, granted them the ability to obey, and kept them firm on the word of piety.

2 6. 1. "اذ" is an adverb of time, either connected to "لعذبتا" or "واذکرو" is omitted, meaning "remember the time when those disbelievers..."
2 6. 2. By the arrogance of ignorance of the disbelievers is meant the people of Makkah preventing the Muslims from entering Makkah. They said, "They have killed our sons and fathers. By Lat and Uzza, we will never let them enter here." That is, they made it a matter of their honor and dignity. This is called the arrogance of ignorance because no one had the right to prevent anyone from coming to the Ka'bah for worship. In response to this hostile attitude of the Quraysh of Makkah, there was a danger that the emotions of the Muslims would also intensify, and they too would make it a matter of their own dignity and insist on going to Makkah, which could have led to a fight between the two, and this fight would have been extremely dangerous for the Muslims. Therefore, Allah sent tranquility into the hearts of the Muslims, meaning He granted them patience and endurance, and they remained at Hudaybiyyah according to the instruction of the Prophet ﷺ. They did not attempt to go to Makkah out of zeal and passion. Some say that by the arrogance of ignorance is meant the attitude of the Quraysh of Makkah which they adopted at the time of the treaty and agreement. This attitude and the agreement were both apparently unbearable for the Muslims, but in terms of outcome, since it contained the best interest of Islam and the Muslims, Allah granted the Muslims the courage to accept it despite extreme dislike and heaviness. Its brief detail is as follows: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ accepted the proposal of the representatives sent by the Quraysh of Makkah that this year the Muslims would not go to Makkah for Umrah and would return from there, then he ﷺ ordered Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) to write the agreement. At his command, he wrote "بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم". They objected to this, saying, "We do not know Rahman and Rahim. Write with the words we use, i.e., باسمک اللھم (O Allah, in Your name)." So he had it written as such. Then he dictated, "This is the document upon which Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, has made peace with the people of Makkah." The representatives of the Quraysh said, "The very basis of the dispute is your Prophethood. If we accept you as the Messenger of Allah, then what dispute remains? Then we would have no need to fight you or prevent you from entering the House of Allah. Write Muhammad bin Abdullah instead of Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah." So he ﷺ ordered Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) to write it as such. This was an extremely provocative situation for the Muslims. If Allah had not sent tranquility upon the Muslims, they would never have tolerated it. Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) refused to erase or cut out the words "Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah" with his own hand, so the Noble Prophet ﷺ said, "Where are these words?" After being shown, he himself erased them with his blessed hand and ordered to write "Muhammad bin Abdullah" in their place. After this, three things were written in this agreement or treaty:
1. Whoever from the people of Makkah becomes a Muslim and comes to you, he will be returned.
2. Whoever from the Muslims joins the people of Makkah, they will not be obliged to return him.
3. Muslims will come to Makkah next year and will be able to stay there for three days, but they will not be allowed to bring weapons with them. (Sahih Muslim, Book of Jihad)
And along with this, two more things were written:
1. Fighting will be suspended this year.
2. Any tribe may join either the Muslims or the Quraysh as they wish.
26. 3. By this is meant the testimony of the Oneness of Allah and the Prophethood: لَا اِلٰہَ اِلَّا اللّٰہُ مُحَمَّدُ رَّسُوْلُ اللّٰہِ, from which the polytheists prevented the Muslims on the day of Hudaybiyyah. The dream of the Prophet is also considered revelation. However, in this dream, it was not specified that it would happen that very year, but the Prophet ﷺ and the Muslims, considering it a great glad tiding, immediately prepared for Umrah and made a general announcement and set out. Eventually, the treaty at Hudaybiyyah took place, the details of which have just been mentioned, whereas in Allah's knowledge, the interpretation of this dream was for the following year, as the next year the Muslims performed this Umrah in complete peace, and Allah made the dream of His Prophet come true.

26. When the disbelievers of Makkah (on the occasion of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah) had resolved in their hearts the pride and zealotry of the Age of Ignorance [39], Allah sent down His tranquility upon His Messenger and upon the believers, and made them adhere to the word of righteousness. And they were more deserving of it [40] and worthy of it. And Allah is All-Knowing of everything.

[39]
The Ignorant Zealotry of the Quraysh:

There were two aspects to this fanaticism of the Quraysh: one was that those Muslims who killed our loved ones and relatives in the Battle of Badr—how can we allow them to enter Mecca and come among us? The second aspect was that if we let the Muslims enter Mecca, it will become famous throughout Arabia that the Quraysh of Mecca have been subdued by the Muslims. This was the ignorant zealotry due to which they violated a custom that was well-known among them, which was that no one performing Hajj, Umrah, or Tawaf could be prevented from these acts. In addition, they were also prepared to fight in the sacred month.

[40] The matter of piety was that the Muslims, in hardship and adversity, in excitement and anger—in every situation—would continue to bind themselves to obedience to Allah and His Messenger ﷺ. It was a special mercy of Allah that He calmed the agitated emotions of His Messenger ﷺ and the noble Companions ؓ and inclined them towards a peace agreement.