Surah Al-Fath (48) — Ayah 10

(Ayah 10) ➊ {اِنَّ الَّذِيْنَ يُبَايِعُوْنَكَ اِنَّمَا يُبَايِعُوْنَ اللّٰهَ:} In terms of context, this pledge refers to the Pledge of Ridwan, and the commentators have identified it as such, although the word {’’ يُبَايِعُوْنَكَ ‘‘} includes every pledge that was made to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), whether it was the Pledge of Ridwan or any pledge before or after it. It is called a pledge because, through this covenant, a Muslim sells his life and wealth in exchange for Paradise. The meaning of Islam is also this: whoever accepts Islam has sold his life and wealth to Allah Almighty, as He said: « اِنَّ اللّٰهَ اشْتَرٰى مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ اَنْفُسَهُمْ وَ اَمْوَالَهُمْ بِاَنَّ لَهُمُ الْجَنَّةَ يُقَاتِلُوْنَ فِيْ سَبِيْلِ اللّٰهِ فَيَقْتُلُوْنَ وَ يُقْتَلُوْنَ وَعْدًا عَلَيْهِ حَقًّا فِي التَّوْرٰىةِ وَ الْاِنْجِيْلِ وَ الْقُرْاٰنِ وَ مَنْ اَوْفٰى بِعَهْدِهٖ مِنَ اللّٰهِ فَاسْتَبْشِرُوْا بِبَيْعِكُمُ الَّذِيْ بَايَعْتُمْ بِهٖ وَ ذٰلِكَ هُوَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيْمُ » [ التوبۃ : ۱۱۱ ] “Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties [in exchange] for that they will have Paradise. They fight in the way of Allah, so they kill and are killed. [It is] a true promise [binding] upon Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur’an. And who is truer to his covenant than Allah? So rejoice in your transaction which you have contracted. And it is that which is the great attainment.”

In this verse, Allah Almighty, to express the honor and dignity of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), said: «اِنَّ الَّذِيْنَ يُبَايِعُوْنَكَ اِنَّمَا يُبَايِعُوْنَ اللّٰهَ » “Indeed, those who pledge allegiance to you, [O Muhammad], they are actually pledging allegiance to Allah.” This is similar to what He said: « مَنْ يُّطِعِ الرَّسُوْلَ فَقَدْ اَطَاعَ اللّٰهَ» [ النساء : ۸۰ ] “And whoever obeys the Messenger has certainly obeyed Allah.” Because the Messenger is appointed by Allah Almighty, his obedience is obedience to Allah Almighty, and the pledge on his hand is, through him, a pledge to Allah Almighty.

➋ The literal meaning of {يَدُ اللّٰهِ فَوْقَ اَيْدِيْهِمْ: ’’ يَدُ اللّٰهِ ‘‘} is “the hand of Allah,” and the reality of Allah’s hand is beyond the knowledge and comprehension of the creation, so one should suffice with the words as Allah Almighty has stated: “the hand of Allah is over their hands.” As for how it is, only Allah Almighty knows. The commentators have made various interpretations here, and the reason for all these interpretations is that they considered Allah’s hand to be like their own hands and His hand being above to be like their own hand being above, so they denied it or interpreted it. However, it is established from many verses and hadiths that Allah Almighty has a hand, and it is also established that there is nothing like unto Him. The noble Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) also heard these verses; none of them felt the need for interpretation, nor did anyone deny it. They accepted the words as they came. We should also not get involved in how Allah’s hand is and how it is above their hands.

➌ The Pledge of Ridwan is the pledge that the noble Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) made under a tree at Hudaybiyyah on the hand of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). According to most authentic narrations, their number was fourteen hundred, and some Companions have also mentioned fifteen hundred. From Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), both fourteen hundred and fifteen hundred are authentically narrated. Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) reconciled this by saying that their number was between fourteen hundred and fifteen hundred; sometimes the lesser number was mentioned by leaving out the extra, and sometimes the number was rounded up to fifteen hundred. In the hadiths, it is stated that all these Companions made this pledge, except for a person named Jad bin Qais who did not pledge.

The reason for this pledge was that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent Uthman bin Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) from Hudaybiyyah to the people of Makkah to negotiate so that they would not prevent the Muslims from performing Umrah at the House of Allah. When Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) was delayed in returning, a rumor spread that he had been killed. Upon this, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) firmly resolved to fight and invited the Companions to pledge allegiance. Salamah bin Akwa’ (may Allah be pleased with him) mentioned pledging allegiance twice under the tree at Hudaybiyyah to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so his student Yazid asked: “O Abu Muslim! What were you pledging for that day?” He replied: “For death.” [ بخاري، الجہاد والسیر، باب البیعۃ في الحرب علٰی أن لا یفروا:۲۹۶۰ ] Whereas Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: “We did not pledge to you (peace and blessings be upon him) for death, but rather we pledged that we would not flee.” [ مسلم، الإمارۃ، باب استحباب مبایعۃ الإمام الجیش… : ۶۸ /۱۸۵۶ ] From this, it is known that some Companions pledged for death and some pledged that they would not flee from the battlefield under any circumstances, and the reality of both is the same, because not fleeing under any circumstances means being ready for death. Since the news of Uthman’s (may Allah be pleased with him) martyrdom was not certain, and there was also a possibility of him being alive, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) included him in this pledge as well. Thus, Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: [ فَلَوْ كَانَ أَحَدٌ أَعَزَّ بِبَطْنِ مَكَّةَ مِنْ عُثْمَانَ لَبَعَثَهُ مَكَانَهُ، فَبَعَثَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عُثْمَانَ وَكَانَتْ بَيْعَةُ الرِّضْوَانِ بَعْدَ مَا ذَهَبَ عُثْمَانُ إِلٰی مَكَّةَ، فَقَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بِيَدِهِ الْيُمْنٰی هٰذِهِ يَدُ عُثْمَانَ فَضَرَبَ بِهَا عَلٰی يَدِهِ، فَقَالَ هٰذِهِ لِعُثْمَانَ ] [بخاري، فضائل أصحاب النبي صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم ، باب مناقب عثمان بن عفان أبي عمرو القرشي رضی اللہ عنہ : ۳۶۹۹ ] “If there had been anyone more honorable than Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) in the valley of Makkah, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would have sent him instead. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) to Makkah, and the Pledge of Ridwan took place after Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) had gone to Makkah. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) pointed to his right hand and said: ‘This is the hand of Uthman.’ Then he struck it on his other hand and said: ‘This is the pledge of Uthman.’” When the disbelievers learned about this pledge, they became afraid and sent Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) back and began efforts for reconciliation, which resulted in the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.

➍ {فَمَنْ نَّكَثَ فَاِنَّمَا يَنْكُثُ عَلٰى نَفْسِهٖ:} It is an established fact that none of these Companions broke the covenant made in this pledge, especially since this pledge was taken regarding fighting for the retribution of Uthman’s blood, and its duration was from the time of the pledge until the reconciliation. This was sufficient for them to earn the divine pleasure obtained from this pledge, even though later on, it is not proven that any of these Companions fled from the battlefield.

➎ { وَ مَنْ اَوْفٰى بِمَا عٰهَدَ عَلَيْهُ اللّٰهَ …:} For those who fulfill this covenant of Allah Almighty, there is a great reward, as will be mentioned ahead. After the glad tidings of Allah’s pleasure, what doubt can there be in the misfortune of those who harbor enmity or hatred towards these blessed personalities?

➏ {بِمَا عٰهَدَ عَلَيْهُ اللّٰهَ:} The majority of reciters have read the “ha” of {’’ عَلَيْهُ ‘‘} with a kasrah, and the reason is that this pronoun is originally {’’هُوَ‘‘}, and even after omitting the waw, it remains with a dammah, as is the case in {’’ لَهُ ‘‘} and {’’ ضَرَبَهُ ‘‘}, but if there is a ya before it, it is read with a kasrah, as in {’’فِيْهِ، إِلَيْهِ، عَلَيْهِ‘‘} and so on. Here, Hafs has read it with a dammah, and Alusi has mentioned two reasons for this; one of them is that at this place, the pledge and covenant with Allah Almighty is mentioned, which requires the word {’’ اللّٰهَ ‘‘} to be pronounced in such a way that it expresses its greatness and majesty, that such a great Being has been covenanted with, and it is known that if there is a kasrah before the word {’’ اَللّٰهُ ‘‘}, its lam is pronounced lightly, not with tafkhim (heavily). Therefore, instead of a kasrah on the “ha” of {’’ عَلَيْهُ ‘‘}, a dammah is brought, so that the pronunciation of {’’ اللّٰهَ ‘‘} is with full grandeur and majesty. The second reason is that in {’’ عَلَيْهُ ‘‘}, the “ha” is originally {’’هُوَ‘‘}, as mentioned earlier, so its original vowel is dammah, not kasrah, so retaining the original dammah is more fitting with maintaining and fulfilling the original covenant.