048- AL-FATH
VICTORY
Al-Fath
A Madinan sūrah, al-Fatḥ was revealed while the Prophet was returning to Madinah from the area of Hudaybiyah, just outside of Makkah, during the month of Dhu’l-Qaʿdah in the year 6/628. The Prophet had set out on a pilgrimage to Makkah with many pilgrims, fourteen hundred according to most accounts. They donned the pilgrim garb and were unarmed, save for sheathed swords used mostly for hunting. They stopped at Ḥudaybiyah, and the Quraysh refused them entry into the sacred precinct. There, the Muslims and the Quraysh agreed upon a treaty, known as the Treaty of Ḥudaybiyah, which stipulated the following: both parties would cease hostilities for ten years; neither would interfere with the free movement of the other; the Prophet and his followers would abandon the pilgrimage that year, but then be allowed to perform the pilgrimage every year for the following ten years; any man who left the Quraysh to join the Muslims would be returned to the Quraysh, but any man who left the Muslims for the Quraysh would not be returned to the Muslims; and any tribes that wished to enter into an alliance with the Muslims were free to do so, as were any that wished to enter into an alliance with the Quraysh.
Some of the Prophet’s Companions, however, considered the terms unfavorable for the Muslims and even tantamount to defeat. Nonetheless, the Prophet accepted the terms, and the treaty worked quickly and decisively to the advantage of the Muslim side. The freedom of any tribe to ally with either the Muslims or the Quraysh absolved the tribes of their former alliances, and some that had been allied with the Quraysh quickly switched to the Muslims. The concluding of a treaty with the Quraysh clearly demonstrated that the Muslims had acquired at least equal footing with the Quraysh, which was a feat in and of itself.
After the Prophet slaughtered his sacrificial animals in the area of Ḥudaybiyah, where the Muslim pilgrims had stopped, and they had begun the return trip to Madinah, this sūrah was revealed, declaring the Treaty of Ḥudaybiyah a manifest victory. Regarding this event, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb is reported to have said, “We were with the Messenger of God on a trip, and I asked him about a matter three times, but he did not answer me. So I said to myself, ‘May your mother be bereft of you, O Ibn al-Khaṭṭāb! You were stubborn in repeating your question three times to the Messenger of God; each time he did not respond to you.’ So I mounted my camel and went ahead for fear that a part of the Quran might be revealed regarding my case. Suddenly I heard someone calling, ‘O ʿUmar!’ So I went to the Messenger while fearing that part of the Quran had been revealed about me. The Prophet said, ‘Last night, a sūrah was revealed to me that is dearer to me than all over which the sun rises.’ Then he recited [the sūrah beginning with] Truly We have granted thee a manifest victory”. The Prophet is also reported to have recited this sūrah while riding his camel on the day of the conquest of Makkah.
Al-Fatḥ begins with a description of the manifest victory that God granted to the Prophet and his followers, which is described in spiritual terms (vv. 1–7). It then transitions into a discussion of the function of the Prophet and a reference to the pledge of allegiance made by those who traveled with him to Ḥudaybiyah (vv. 8–10), followed by a criticism of those who stayed behind making excuses for having rejected the Prophet’s invitation to join him on pilgrimage (vv. 11–17). Those who traveled with the Prophet and pledged allegiance are praised and promised extensive spoils in this life and reward in the next (vv. 18–21). The sūrah then discusses God’s reasons for having prevented fighting in this instance (vv. 22–25) and concludes with a contrast between the disbelievers, who remain consumed by the zealotry of the Age of Ignorance (v. 26), and the believers, who have been granted God’s Tranquility (v. 26) and who are likened to a plant that continues to grow firm (v. 29).
(source: “The Study Quran” a new translation and commentary by Seyyed Hossein Nasr)
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