Surah Al-Mujaadila (58) — Ayah 5

(Ayah 5) ➊ Derived from { اِنَّ الَّذِيْنَ يُحَآدُّوْنَ اللّٰهَ وَ رَسُوْلَهٗ …: ’’ يُحَآدُّوْنَ ‘‘ ’’حَدٌّ‘‘}, which means "side." The form "mufa‘alah" generally conveys the meaning of opposition, that is, those who oppose Allah and His Messenger—Allah and His Messenger are on one side, and they are on the other side in opposition. {’’ كُبِتُوْا ‘‘ ’’كَبَتَ يَكْبِتُ كَبْتًا‘‘} (ض) means to humiliate, destroy, curse, or drive out with disgrace. From the beginning of the surah up to this point, Allah the Exalted has stated the prohibition of zihar and the rulings of its expiation, and has explained that these rulings have been prescribed so that people may refrain from zihar and similar evil customs to which they were accustomed in the time of ignorance, so that they may become habituated to following Allah and His Messenger and act upon their commands with sincerity. After this, it is stated that those who oppose Allah and His Messenger, disobey their commands, and stand in opposition to them, will be humiliated in this world, just as those nations were humiliated who previously opposed Allah and His Messengers. And these are the limits set by Allah, and for those who deny them, there is a humiliating punishment.

➋ { ’’ كُبِتُوْا ‘‘} is the passive past tense form, the literal meaning is "were humiliated." The intended meaning is "will be humiliated." The matter that will happen in the future is mentioned in the past tense to indicate that its occurrence is so certain that it is as if it has already happened. In this, there is a warning for the disbelievers and good news for the Muslims. And so it happened that in Badr and other battles, the disbelievers and their helpers—the Jews and hypocrites—were utterly humiliated, suffering defeat after defeat, and they faced killing, captivity, deprivation of wealth and children, slavery, and the disgrace of exile, until Makkah was conquered in the very lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). Then, with the complete dominance of Islam over the entire Arabian Peninsula, the seal of humiliation and disgrace was set upon the disbelievers and hypocrites, and after the passing of the Prophet (peace be upon him), through the hands of his caliphs, Islam prevailed from east to west, and the disbelievers and hypocrites were humiliated and disgraced.

5. 1 Kutibū, is the passive past tense form; by expressing a future event in the past tense, it has been clarified that its occurrence and realization are as certain as if it has already happened. Thus, it happened exactly so: these polytheists of Makkah were humiliated on the day of Badr—some were killed, some were taken captive, and the Muslims prevailed over them. The dominance of the Muslims was also a great humiliation for them.

5. 2 By this are meant the previous nations who were destroyed for the same opposition.

Indeed, those who oppose Allah and His Messenger [5] will be humiliated just as those before them were humiliated [6]. And We have sent down clear revelations, and for the disbelievers there is a humiliating punishment.

[5]
The Literal Meaning of ﴿حاد﴾:

﴿یُحَادُّوْنَ﴾ means to stare intently with sharp sight, and ﴿حادَّ﴾ refers to such opposition and enmity that a person, in anger, becomes determined to confront and take revenge. The initial form of opposition is that a person does not accept Allah’s command. The next step is that a person begins to mock Allah’s commands, and the third step is that, instead of Allah’s law, punishment, or penalty, he sets another punishment or penalty and ignores Allah’s commands. Or, coming in opposition to Him, tries to prove the Shariah rulings as harmful or uncivilized for society instead of being based on wisdom. All these forms fall under ﴿حادَ﴾.

[6] The meaning of ﴿كَبَتَ﴾ is to humiliate and disgrace someone in a state of anger, to throw them out with force, and to destroy them—all these meanings are included. The point is that the nations who had indulged in opposition to Allah’s commands were humiliated and disgraced by Allah. And if you do the same, your end will be the same. In this world, you will be humiliated and disgraced, and the punishment given in the Hereafter will also be one that humiliates and disgraces.