RENAISSANCE DECEMBER 2020

20 Monthly Renaissance December 2020 Qur’ ā nic Exegesis S ū rah al-Fat ḥ Javed A ḥ mad Gh ā mid ī ٰ ﻟﺮﺣۡﻤٰﻦ ﻟﺮﺣﻴۡﻢ ﺑﺴۡﻢ ﷲ ﻧﺎﻓﺘﺤۡﻨﺎﻟﻚﻓﺘۡﺤًﺎﻣﺒﻴۡﻨًﺎ ۙ﴿ ١﴾ وﻳﺘﻢ B‘ ﺒﻚوﻣﺎﺗﺎ ¤ ٰ ﻣﺎ\ﻘﺪمﻣﻦۡ ذﻧ ﻟﻴﻐۡ! ﻟﻚ ﷲ In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Ever-Merciful. There is no doubt [O Prophet] that We have bestowed on you a clear victory 1 so that [you successfully fulfil your obligation and 1. It is evident from a study of the s ū rah that this refers to the treaty of Ḥ udaybiyah which was concluded in 6 AH between the Quraysh of Makkah and Mu ḥ ammad (sws). When in accordance with what he saw in a dream, he reached this place with fourteen to fifteen hundred of his companion along with sacrificial animals ( had ī ) with the purpose of doing ‘umrah , the Quraysh did not allow them to offer it. This treaty was made at God’s behest and its conditions were as follows (Ibn Hish ā m, Al-S ī rah al-nabawiyyah , vol. 3, 291): i. For ten years, there shall be no war between the two parties. During this time, no party will launch any open or hidden onslaught against one another. ii. During this time, if a person belonging to the Quraysh runs away to the Muslims, they will have to return him, while the Quraysh would not be bound to return any person of the Muslims who goes to them. iii. Any tribe of the Arabs can enter into this settlement by becoming an ally of either of the two parties. iv. The Muslims will go back this year and return the next to offer ‘umrah . They will be able to stay in Makkah for three days and each of them, if he wishes, can only bring one sword. In these three days, the people of Makkah will vacate the city so that any clash can be avoided. It is this treaty which the Qur’ ā n has called a clear victory. Many of its aspects are very evident. Im ā m Am ī n A ḥ san I ṣ l āḥī writes: Firstly, this is the first occasion on which the Quraysh openly accepted that Muslims too had a right on the Baytull ā h. This