Surah Al-Maaida (5) — Ayah 11

(Ayah 11) ➊ {يٰۤاَيُّهَا الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوا اذْكُرُوْا نِعْمَتَ اللّٰهِ عَلَيْكُمْ:} After the general blessings, now the mention is of a special blessing. (Razi)
➋ {اِذْ هَمَّ قَوْمٌ اَنْ يَّبْسُطُوْۤا اِلَيْكُمْ اَيْدِيَهُمْ ……:} Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that he was with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in a battle towards Najd. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) returned, he also returned. The time for midday rest came in a valley where there were many thorny trees. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) dismounted, and the people scattered among the trees seeking shade. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) rested under an acacia tree and hung his sword on it. Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) says that we had only slept a little when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) called us. We came to him and there was a Bedouin sitting with him. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He drew my sword while I was sleeping. I woke up and the naked sword was in his hand. He said to me, 'Who will save you from me?' I said, 'Allah!' So look, here he is sitting." Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not say anything to him. [ بخاری، المغازی، باب غزوۃ ذات الرقاع : ۴۱۳۵]
Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) says that regarding a blood money case, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went to the Jewish tribe of Banu Nafir in Madinah. They seated him and his companions in the shade of a wall and plotted among themselves to drop a millstone on him. Allah Almighty informed him, and he got up from there. (Ibn Kathir) It is possible that the Quran, in this one verse, has alluded to these multiple incidents, and it also happens that a verse is revealed about one incident, then for reminder, it is alluded to in another incident. (Al-Manar, Qurtubi)

11. 1. In its context of revelation, the commentators have mentioned several incidents. For example, the incident of the Bedouin: when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was returning from a journey, he was resting under the shade of a tree, and his sword was hanging from the tree. The Bedouin took the sword and drew it upon you ﷺ and said, "O Muhammad ﷺ, who will save you from me?" You ﷺ replied without hesitation, "Allah (that is, Allah will save me)." As soon as this was said, the sword fell from his hand. Some say that Ka'b bin Ashraf and his companions, while you ﷺ were present there, had plotted to harm the Prophet ﷺ and his companions through deceit and treachery. Allah Almighty saved you ﷺ from this. Some say that when two 'Amiri men were killed by mistake at the hands of a Muslim, and for the payment of their blood money, as per the agreement, cooperation was to be sought from the Jewish tribe Banu Nafir, the Prophet ﷺ went there with his companions and sat leaning against a wall. They had plotted to drop a millstone on you ﷺ from above, but Allah Almighty informed you through revelation. It is possible that this verse was revealed after all these incidents, because a verse can have multiple reasons and factors for its revelation (Tafsir Ibn Kathir and Fath al-Qadeer).

11. O you who believe! Remember Allah’s favor upon you when a people intended to stretch their hands against you, but He withheld their hands from you. [32] And fear Allah, and upon Allah let the believers put their trust.

[32] The first favor that Allah Almighty bestowed upon the Muslims was that He granted them the ability to accept Islam, and through Islam, their tribal prejudices were eliminated, their conflicts ended, and they began to live together like brothers. The second great favor was that at the place of Hudaybiyyah, the disbelievers intended to attack you and wipe you off the face of the earth. But Allah created such circumstances that they could not fulfill their intention. As is made clear by the following hadiths:

1. On the day of Hudaybiyyah, the prevention of war was a favor from Allah. Sayyiduna Anas ؓ narrates that eighty (80) men from the people of Makkah, armed, came from the direction of the mountain of Tan‘eem to attack the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. They wanted to attack when you ﷺ and your companions were heedless. You ﷺ captured them and imprisoned them, then released them, so Allah the Mighty and Majestic revealed this verse:
[مسلم۔ کتاب الجہاد۔ باب ھوالذی کف ایدیکم عنھم]

2. Sayyiduna Salamah bin Akwa‘ ؓ says that my uncle ‘Amir surrounded and brought to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ a man named Makraz from the tribe of ‘Ablaat, who was riding a horse with a saddle and was a companion of seventy idolaters. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ looked towards those idolaters and then said: Let them go. (The violation of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah) the sin was initiated by them, and the repetition also came from them. In this context, Allah Almighty revealed this verse:
[مسلم۔ کتاب الجہاد۔ باب غزوہ ذی قرد]

Although from the above hadiths it appears that this verse was revealed regarding the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah or the circumstances surrounding it, however, during the Prophetic era, there were several occasions when sometimes the disbelievers of Makkah tried to eliminate Islam through war, and sometimes the Jews tried through conspiracies. Then sometimes Allah Almighty informed the Muslims of the enemies’ plots through revelation, and sometimes He created such circumstances that the disbelievers did not even dare to attack.