O you who believe!... And Allah^-SWT is Gracious to the believers.

The believers must always keep abreast the sayings of the Holy Prophet^-SW for if they pay heed to the non-believers, they will certainly drag them into the quagmire of disbelief, which would indeed be a great loss. This was practi­cally demonstrated at Uhad when the non-believers openly suggested that they should revert to their ancestral religion.

Uhad was not very far from Madinah and although the hypocrites had re­treated under the leadership of Ibn-e-Obayy, yet they were stealthily keeping an eye on the progress of the battle. When the retreating enemy troops wheeled around and attacked the Muslims from the pass in the rear, chaos did temporarily ensue. It was only natural as the Muslims were already outnum­bered. They had fought so fiercely that the enemy was forced to flee. In the heat of the battle some of the archers appointed at the pass had left their post with the intention of pursuing the fleeing enemy. While the Companions^-RAU were focusing on one direction, the enemy cavalry attacked from the rear through the pass. As the Muslims turned back to fight them the fleeing enemy recoiled and renewed their attack thereby sandwiching them from both sides. On top of this, the rumour spread by the Satan of the Holy Prophet^-SW’s Shahadah made matters worse. But Allah^-SWT did not deprive these noble souls of His^-SWT Support and made them victorious. They chased the enemy all the way to Hamr al-Asad and the hypocrites were thoroughly humiliated. When the Muslims were fighting surrounded by the enemy on both sides, with their ranks disarrayed and their wounded lying in the battlefield unattended, some of the defected hypocrites called out: “Come to Ibn-e Obayy. He will get you protection from Abu Sufyan; or revert back to your ancestral religion as nothing is left in this Din when its Prophet^-SW has been slain”.

Allah informed the Muslims of the malafide intentions of the enemy and warned them not to listen to these hypocrites, as they would try their best to drag them back in to the darkness of disbelief. And certainly Allah^-SWT is the helper of the believers.

Allah^-SWT ’s Wali

And this is what Wilayah is. The Aulia enjoy His^-SWT Protection. He^-SWT shields them from the environment of sins. The Ayah under comment declares that Allah^-SWT is your Protector and Friend as He^-SWT exposes the intention of the hypocrites and protects you; for He^-SWT is the best of helpers.

It is also clarified that a wrongdoer and the one averse to Sunnah cannot be a Wali. Following such people is nothing but ignorance. Besides, Satan does not spare even the most pious of men from his attack, as the very presence of the Holy Prophet^-SW in the battlefield, did not deter him from raising the slogan of his^-SW Shahadah. However, Allah^-SWT’s Mercy reaches out and holds those who are sincere. The pranks of Satan, affect only those who have isolated themselves from Allah^-SWT .

The hearts of the non-believers shall be overawed as they themselves have in­voked this state by opting for polytheism without any proof, as polytheism is a curse which makes a human being bow before unlimited symbols of power and in turn instils the fear of each and everything into his heart. On the con­trary, Unity is an invitation to hold Him^-SWT in awe, and a trust in Allah^-SWT relieves the believers of all other fears.

Whereas the aforesaid is the state of the non-believer in this world, his place in the Akhirah is Hell, which indeed is extremely morbid, yet it is commensu­rate with his conduct. Besides, the believers need not pay any heed to them as Allah^-SWT has fulfilled all His^-SWT Promises. It was with His^-SWT Help that the Muslims had inflicted casualties on the enemy in the battlefield and had forced them to flee inspite of being less in number and armament. Meanwhile a difference of opinion arose amongst the fifty archers, though unintentionally. Majority of them posted at the pass wanted to chase the fleeing army assuming that the victory was almost certain, while the others insisted on holding the pass. Both the groups were true to their stances and implemented their respective opinions. The majority left their position with the view that the Holy Prophet^-SW’s orders were only until the battle lasted which they thought was over. But in fact all the fifty archers should have guarded the pass until further orders. This unintentional violation became a cause of the turmoil and distress by a rever­sal of the battle situation. Those who abandoned the pass did so, to some extent, in the pursuit of worldly glory, while those who stood fast were the seek­ers of Akhirah alone.

It must be noted here that many scholars have interpreted the word Dunya as booty and impute that the pass was left in the pursuit of booty, whereas booty was never looted but always collected in one place to be formally distributed later. No matter how much one had recovered from the battlefield, he only re­ceived his predetermined share at the time of final distribution. In my humble opinion Dunya refers to the enthusiasm of the archers to join in the hot pursuit of the fleeing enemy, which had a tinge of pride not befitting to the status of the Companions^-RAU.

They were instantly put to trial and the entire scenario of the battle changed. Many of them fell martyrs while many others were wounded. Then the glad tidings of a Divine Pardon followed. Not only were they forgiven but it was also revealed that Allah^-SWT is extremely kind and relenting to the believers and has blessed them with His^-SWT Favour. This Ayah indeed is an inviolable proof of the perfection of the Companions^-RAU faith.

And recall when you were running... Allah^-SWT is Knower of what is in the breasts.

A sketch of the battle situation has been drawn next. The believers are being reminded of the time when they were in a state of utter confusion and had lost their formation. Each one was heading in different direction until the Holy Prophet^-SW had to call out to them.

Some scholars are of the opinion that some of the Muslims had deserted the battlefield. But this does not make sense that those who deserted the battle­field would be called back. Firstly, desertion is the worst of capital sins and secondly the battlefield was so close to the city that the deserters would have easily taken refuge in their own homes and could not have possibly heard the call of anyone. The actual fact was that the Companions^-RAU, being already few in number, could not maintain their formation when they were attacked from both ends and were scattered on the battlefield. Because of this many of them either fell martyr or were wounded. And above all, the rumour of the Shahadah of the Holy Prophet^-SW added fuel to the fire. It was then that the Holy Prophet^-SW called out to the Companions^-RAU to gather around him^-SW. All of them rallied round him^-SW and the disintegrated force reassembled. They not only forced the enemy to flee but also chased it in hot pursuit to a distance.

Allah^-SWT says here that the Companions^-RAU had to suffer grief after grief. The real objective was to train them to reach the level of perfect Fana-fi-Allah so that no matter what may happen they may never suffer a decrease in their spiritual states. And behind every event they can see the one Who^-SWT is the very Creator of all actions and indeed aware of their deeds. This is why after the entire event Allah^-SWT cast a slumber over the Muslims, which was extremely soothing for the sincere. It was a state of absorption, which is experienced at the de­scent of Divine Lights. A Sufi also experiences this state when overwhelmed by Divine Lights whereby inspite of being awake his body feels numb. Hadhrat Abu Talha^-RAU reports his experience: “It so happened at Uhad that I wanted to hold firmly onto my sword but it kept slipping out of my hands.”

As for the hypocrites, they cannot avail such Barakah. At that very moment when the believers were receiving it, the hypocrites were plunging deeper into their ignorance and superstitions and were being mistrustful of the Almighty. When Ibn-e-Obayy saw the people of Khazraj falling martyrs he observed: “Do we have any say in any matter or will our brothers continue to be killed because of the decisions taken by others?” Obviously, he referred to the decision of the Holy Prophet^-SW. So it was revealed to the Holy Prophet^-SW to declare that all matters lay within the control of Allah^-SWT and that his^-SW decision was indeed the decision of the Almighty. The hypocrites believed in their hearts that their people would not have been slain had their opinion prevailed, but they dared not express this notion in front of the Holy Prophet^-SW.

So Allah^-SWT commands the Holy Prophet^-SW to let the hypocrites know that even if they had hidden inside their homes, those to be killed would have certainly reached the spot where death awaited them. This battle turned out to be a trial exposing their inner selves and at the same time further purified the hearts of the believers. The foundation of the malicious whispers of the hypocrites was rocked for Allah^-SWT is Aware of the secrets concealed in the hearts, and it is He^-SWT Who instils the feelings within them. It must be remembered that all those who stumbled during the Battle of Uhad were misled by Satan as some had counselled against the wish of the Holy Prophet^-SW at Madinah while others had erred by vacating the pass. Even because of these involuntary violations Divine Lights in their hearts had diminished from the level required to render the whispers of Satan ineffective. But Allah^-SWT forgave them because at both occasions the errors were not wilful. However, the worldly hardships had to be undergone. Undoubtedly, Allah^-SWT is all-Forgiving and extremely Forbearing.

All those who wilfully overlook Sunnah must take this point. Do they expect any good out of this conduct while they do not match the Companions^-RAU in any way, in devotion, in intellect or in morals?