Surah Aal-i-Imraan: Verse 122 - إذ همت طائفتان منكم أن... - English

Remember two of your parties Meditated cowardice; but Allah was their protector, and in Allah should the faithful (Ever) put their trust. (122)

Next comes verses 122 beginning with the words إِذْ هَمَّت طَّائِفَتَانِ مِنكُمْ أَن تَفْشَلَا (When two of your groups tended to lose heart while Allah was their guardian). These 'two groups' refer to the Bani Harithah of the tribe of Aws and Bani Salamah of the tribe of Khazraj. These 'two groups lost the courage to fight when they saw the hypocrite, ` Abdullah ibn Ubayy and his men breaking away. But, Allah, in his grace, helped them come out of this state of apprehensiveness. Here, the fact was that their weakness was caused by the thought, and certainly not because of any weakness in faith. Ibn Hisham, the famous historian of Muslim battles has made this very clear. Then, the very Qur'anic statement, وَاللَّـهُ وَلِيُّهُمَا (while Allah was their guardian) is a testimony to their perfect faith. Therefore, some elders from these two tribes used to say: "No doubt, the verse contains a complaint against us, but at the same time it bears a good news for us in the words: وَاللَّـهُ وَلِيُّهُمَا ; (while Allah was their guardian).

3. Towards the end of the verse, it has been said: وَعَلَى اللَّـهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ "And it is in Allah alone that the believers must place their trust." Here, it has been made clear that Muslims should not rely on their superiority in men and materials. Not that they have to ignore material needs of the combat; of course, they should have whatever they can get together subject to their means, but the crucial thing is that they must place their total trust in Allah, and Allah alone. The apprehension of weakness that overtook Banu Harithah and Banu Salamah was caused by this material lack of strength. Therefore, توکل tawakkul or trust in Allah was suggested as the treatment of all sorts of apprehensions.

Tawakkul توکل is one of the superior human qualities. It does not mean that one should cut off all his connections with the effort to collect material support. On the contrary, one should collect what is obviously needed to the best of his ability, use it, and then, let Allah take care of the outcome. It is also necessary that one should not become proud of what has been collected as material assets, instead, "We trust in Allah" should be the sole concern. The good example of the Holy Prophet ﷺ is before us. That he himself organized the fighting strength of Muslims during this Jihad, assembled weapons and other war materials to the best of his ability, prepared battle plans appropriate to the time and place. Once on the war front, he set up entrenchments with combat-ready Companions placed therein. These were all part of the material-functional management of the battle. By making use of these with his own blessed hands, our beloved master, the last and foremost of prophets, demonstrated that material facilities are also a blessing of Allah Almighty. Ignoring them or turning away from them cannot be called what توکل tawakkul is. Here, the attitude of a Muslim slightly differs from that of a non-Muslim. A Muslim would, given his ability and means, collect all sorts of necessary material support, yet when it comes to trust and tawakkul that he would place in none but Allah. The non-Muslim is bereft of this spiritual dimension for he relies on his brute material strength. The manifestation of this difference has been common sight throughout all Islamic battles.

4. The focus now turns to a particular battle where Muslims had demonstrated perfect توکل tawakkul and Allah Almighty had blessed them with support and success. The reference to the battle of Badr, in the following words, has appeared in this very context.

(122)