What is Victory?
Take a look at the verse below.
What do you think was the reason for its revelation?
What event do you think caused the revelation?
Was it after the Prophet (S.A.W) won a battle? After the conquest of Makkah? Or when Islam started spreading across the whole of Arabia?
Well…
When I first read that verse, my thought was that it was revealed when the Prophet and the Muslims defeated the Quraysh and entered into Makkah after being forced out.
I’m guessing that’s also the thought you had, right?
We’re both wrong.
Allah didn’t tell His prophet (S.A.W.) that He has given him a clear victory after the Prophet won a war.
Rather, the verse was revealed at the signing of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.
Uhm???
Stay with me a little longer.
The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah was a peace pact between the Quraish and the Prophet (S.A.W). It was a deal between both parties, stating how they will relate with each other.
The Treaty had 7 important aspects:
- There would be peace between the Muslims and the Quraish for a period of 10 years.
- The Muslims will return to Madinah without performing Umrah this year.
- The Muslims should be able to perform Umrah the next year with a stay of three days in Makkah.
- The Muslims can only be armed with Swords and those swords will be hidden underneath sheaths.
- The Muslims living in Makkah can stay in Makkah but if any Muslim wishes to come to Madinah, should not be stopped.
- Anyone from Makkah who enters Madinah will be returned safely to the Quraish people, but the people of Madinah wandering inside Makkah will not be extended the same courtesy.
- Tribes of Arabia are free to take any side they want.
Big deal?
Taking a first glance at this, you may think: “what’s the big deal in this?”
That was my thought too.
These points don’t seem like much of a win, so why would Allah refer to it as fatĥan mubeenah (a clear victory)?
That confusion becomes even more pronounced when you consider the context surrounding the treaty and its content.
Let’s dig in just a little.
What happened? The context
Let’s begin from the Prophet’s (S.A.W) dream.
He saw himself doing tawaf around the Kaabah, wearing ihram, and shaving his head. He interpreted this to mean that Allah is telling him to go to Makkah & perform ‘Umrah.
So, the Prophet announced to the Muslims in Madeenah and he set out with 1400 of them on the 1st of Dhul Qa’adah.
Understand that at this point, it was already 6 years after the Prophet was forced to leave his home in Makkah and the enmity against Islam was already high. So, going into Makkah at that point didn’t seem to make sense.
This is why some Muslims held back.
However, the truth was that…
Nonetheless, the Prophet and the Muslims headed out to Makkah in their ihram (garment worn during Hajj & Umrah).
The Quraish got some intel that the Muslims were coming to Makkah, so they blocked the normal route.
When the prophet (SAW) heard this, he redirected the Muslims to another route that led to Hudaybiyyah. This new route wasn’t only much longer, it was also much tougher to thread.
To cut the story short, the Quraish sent another group (after multiple groups) to stop the Prophet at Hudaybiyyah and a pact was to be made.
What happened? The Content
The disbelievers agreed to come into a deal with the prophet.
On the surface, the deal was a clear fraud against the Muslims.
First, the Prophet asked the scribe (Ali, RA) to write “In the name of Allah, ar-Rahman (extremely merciful) ar-Raheem (extremely beneficent).”
The opposition rejected that and demanded that it should only contain “In the name of Allah.”
Then, the Prophet said “this is a treaty between Muhammad RasuluLlah and the people of Makkah.”
Again, the opposition said “RasuluLlah” should be crossed out as they do not believe he (S.A.W) is a messenger.
At this point, the Muslims were already fuming with anger and Ali (RA) even refused to write some parts of the treaty.
I mean, why won’t they be angry? The Quraish were making an obvious ridicule of their religion and the Prophet they love even more than their own selves.
To make matters worse, they told the Muslims that they would not be allowed to enter Makkah to perform Umrah and they have to come back the next year.
Imagine yourself as part of the Muslims that day.
You’ve left your safe home and travelled long, hard, and dangerous miles to Makkah to fulfil religious duties. You and your prophet have been put through what seemed like open ridicule.
And then after that, you’ve been told that you won’t be able to achieve your goal there.
How would you feel?
Somehow, Allah still called all these “a clear victory”?
Lol. There’s more!
As if it wasn’t enough that they won’t be performing Umrah, they still had to slaughter all their sacrificial animals there.
On all counts, this seems like loss upon loss upon loss.
It was so hard for the companions that even ‘Umar (RA) challenged the Prophet, asking “are we not on the right religion preferred by Allah? Are you not His messenger? Didn’t you say you saw a dream?”
The entire group returned to Madinah sad and depressed.
Yet, Allah revealed Suratul Fath and described that “dreadful” experience as a clear victory.
Not just a victory, but a clear & obvious one.
Something’s not adding up
Why would Allah describe what happened at Hudaybiyah as a victory?
Why would he describe the pain, the ridicule, and the sadness the Muslims went through as a clear victory for them?
It doesn’t add up. Does it?
Well, if you think about it in terms of our mindset as humans, it will never add up. ’Cause pain, ridicule, and apparent loss can never be a signal of victory.
But Allah has a different definition of victory.
We define victory as winning, He defines victory as striving.
We define victory as giving the prophet access to do umrah that year, He defines victory as the committment, grit, and faith of the Muslims to follow the prophet and go into the danger of Makkah.
We define victory as going for something you beneficial and getting it, He defines victory as just going for something beneficial. Getting it is secondary.
We only know victory as what is right in front of us. He knows what the true victory is, and it may not be what is right in front of us.
Turns out…
You see, what seemed like a big loss in Hudaybiyyah was actually a very big win for the Muslims.
The signing of the treaty indicated that the disbelievers now recognise Islam as a sovereign nation. It also gave the Muslims enough space to actively spread Islam across other parts of the world and a lot of people started seeing Islam in a new light.
At the end, the Quraish wished they had never signed the deal in the first place.
Lessons?
Draw your conclusions. But I do believe it’s necessary that we reconfigure our understanding of victory, winning, and, oh yeah…success.
Question should be: Am I doing what is pleasing to Allah?
