Sūrat al-Naṣr and Its Requirements: After Victory and Conquest

Occasion: Transcription of an Isha khatira delivered on 24 April 2018 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

In previous khatiras we spoke while trying to understand the surahs that people repeat on their tongues in their prayers. That was at the request of some of the brothers when we began to explain Juz' ʿAmma, since they saw that explaining the short surahs is easier and closer to people's understanding. So we spoke about al-Fātiḥah, and about al-Nās, al-Falaq, al-Ikhlāṣ and al-Masad, and today we speak about Sūrat al-Naṣr:

﴿إِذَا جَاءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ ۝ وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا ۝ فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَاسْتَغْفِرْهُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ تَوَّابًا﴾ (When the help of Allah comes, and the conquest, and you see the people entering the religion of Allah in multitudes, then glorify your Lord with praise and seek His forgiveness; He is ever Accepting of repentance.)^[1]

Who carries the matter after the Prophet ﷺ?

Three verses in which we saw glad tidings for the Prophet ﷺ of the victory of Islam and the clear conquest. It is said that it was revealed to him ﷺ at Minā during the Farewell Pilgrimage,^[2] and that he lived after it only a short time, not a long one, and it is related from him ﷺ, in meaning, that his own death was announced to him; as though Allah the Exalted were informing him that he was moving from the life of this world to the Hereafter.

And here the questioner asks: to whom will the Prophet ﷺ leave the inheritance of his religion? When a father dies, you find the children saying to him, in the tongue of their condition: to whom are you leaving us, our father? And the answer we expect is: he leaves us to Allah, glorified and exalted be He. But we must understand what the role of the Prophet ﷺ was. When you read the words of the Exalted to His Messenger: ﴿إِنْ عَلَيْكَ إِلَّا الْبَلَاغُ﴾ (Upon you is only the conveying), and His words: ﴿إِنْ أَنْتَ إِلَّا نَذِيرٌ﴾ (You are only a warner)^[3], you realize that the mission of the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ is the conveying of the message. So if his own death was announced to him, that means the message was complete, the need for his personal presence had ended, and the community had become able to stand on its own feet and move by itself. He is like a father who says to his son: do not be afraid, my son, I will not travel until I am reassured about you and feel that you are able to depend on yourself. So the Prophet ﷺ remained among the Muslims as long as they needed his personal, human presence; and when the message ended, and he had done what was upon him and discharged the trust in the fullest way, his role in conveying ended, and the time came for people to depend on themselves; and in all of that they depend on Allah, the Mighty and Majestic.

But what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did was to place in people's hands the methodology on which they would work. It is as if he says: this is the manual; I have explained everything to you and left you with the new device you bought, together with its operating booklet; so if a problem comes up for you, look in the manual, compare, fix, and carry on with your work. As for my human presence, it has ended, and I have shown you how to treat your problems.

The methodologies that preceded the Qur'an were temporary, limited in place, time and peoples, sent down to particular people in a particular way to treat a particular problem. The Qur'an is different; it was sent down as a methodology that takes charge of the well-being of all humanity, in every field, with every generation until the Hour is established. And the role of the Prophet ﷺ was that he was a mirror, if the comparison is permissible, reflecting to us the commands of the Qur'an; his biography is the mirror that showed us the applications of Allah's commands: how we apply what He commanded and refrain from what He forbade, how we make lawful what is lawful and forbid what is forbidden, how we establish the rites and worship Allah in the way He willed. The Qur'an says ﴿أَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ﴾ (Establish the prayer), but that it is four rak'ahs at Zuhr, ʿAṣr and ʿIshā', and the number of rak'ahs, the times of the prayers and the rest of the details, Jibrīl came down to the Prophet ﷺ to teach them, and these are among the things in which his Sunnah ﷺ is unique. So the meaning of «إذا جاء نصر الله والفتح» (When the help of Allah comes, and the conquest) is, first: I am leaving you with the methodology, so apply it on the basis of the initial application I carried out in my life until the day of death.

Glorify: why the command to glorify here?

Then, to whom is the address directed? It is to the Prophet ﷺ: when the help of Allah comes, Muḥammad, and the conquest, and you see, Muḥammad, the people entering the religion of Allah in multitudes, then glorify, Muḥammad, with the praise of your Lord, and seek His forgiveness, Muḥammad, for He is ever Accepting of repentance. Is this the only address from Allah to the Prophet ﷺ to glorify? The word «فسبّح» seems new to us here. Someone might say: his Lord did not command him to glorify anywhere in the whole Qur'an except in this place! No; every Friday we recite ﴿سَبِّحِ اسْمَ رَبِّكَ الْأَعْلَى﴾ (Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High), and we also have ﴿فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ﴾ (so glorify with the praise of your Lord). If the command to glorify has been there from the beginning, what is new here? What is new is that this is the methodology: that you begin with tasbīḥ and end with tasbīḥ.

And tasbīḥ is not merely your saying «Glory to my Lord, the Most Great» over and over; rather it is sanctification, the sensing of His greatness, and the application of a methodology. Take, for example, our saying that Allah is Watchful. What is the meaning of sensing that Allah is Watchful? That you bring that out of the frame of theoretical talk to the ground of reality. So what is the indication? The indication is that I will not look at what is forbidden, nor commit a wrong, nor overstep a limit, nor transgress against anything prohibited; because I sense the watchfulness of Allah the Exalted over the atoms moving in my heart. And whenever my hand is raised in a forbidden act of violence or an overstepping, I picture the watchfulness of the Lord of the worlds and I hold back from the wrong. And at the same time, whenever I sit down and my soul grows idle, I sense Allah's watchfulness over me and that I should not be in this place but in another, because there is a call calling me: to establish the prayer, or a need of a Muslim who wants it fulfilled, or a cry for help, or work in some place, and I rise. So watchfulness, as an attribute, set my whole life in motion; everything in my life moved on the basis of my sensing one single name of the names of the Lord of Might, glorified be He. So the matter of tasbīḥ is a matter of methodology from the beginning.

The victory is not the victory of a person

And look at the kind of address here: an address of glad tidings. But it is not glad tidings to the Prophet ﷺ merely that you are victorious over your enemies; no, you are not the whole issue, rather the issue is the establishment of a religion. ﴿إِذَا جَاءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ﴾ (When the help of Allah comes), and not the victory of Muḥammad ﷺ. For you to be victorious as a person is a matter of a stage. At Badr the Prophet ﷺ was victorious over his enemies, and at Uḥud the Prophet ﷺ was wounded by his enemies; and it is the same group that fought at Badr whose helpers and followers came and harmed him a second time at Uḥud, and then gathered their forces to return once more on the day of the Trench. And the Lord of Might was dealing with the Prophet ﷺ as a servant, and the means were in his hands, moving by the command of the Lord of Might.

And this is the methodology of those who work in the field of da'wah: whoever senses that merely by claiming Islam he possesses the means of the heavens and the earth, this does not help. Otherwise why did Yūsuf, peace be upon him, spend his years in his prison, and why was Ibrāhīm, peace be upon him, thrown into the fire, and why did Mūsā, peace be upon him, go through all the trials he went through in his life? Allah the Exalted has, in His creation, laws that must run their course. So when our Lord explains something called patience, you understand that there is someone you will be tested with so that you may be patient with him; and when He, glorified be He, promises reward for that patience, you understand that you must strive against yourself to be patient and to cross these stages. Life is called dunyā, and the Hereafter is called Paradise, and here the hardships come to multiply your reward before the Lord of Might, and to make you always a place of testing in all the situations you pass through, glory be to Allah the All-Powerful. So the glad tidings come from the Lord of Might to His Prophet ﷺ in this blessed surah: ﴿إِذَا جَاءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ﴾ (When the help of Allah comes, and the conquest).

The limits of responsibility: conveying

In the ʿIshā' prayer we were reciting one of the proofs we can use here, and it is also an address to the Prophet ﷺ:

﴿قَدْ نَعْلَمُ إِنَّهُ لَيَحْزُنُكَ الَّذِي يَقُولُونَ فَإِنَّهُمْ لَا يُكَذِّبُونَكَ وَلَٰكِنَّ الظَّالِمِينَ بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ يَجْحَدُونَ ۝ وَلَقَدْ كُذِّبَتْ رُسُلٌ مِّن قَبْلِكَ فَصَبَرُوا عَلَىٰ مَا كُذِّبُوا وَأُوذُوا حَتَّىٰ أَتَاهُمْ نَصْرُنَا ۚ وَلَا مُبَدِّلَ لِكَلِمَاتِ اللَّهِ ۚ وَلَقَدْ جَاءَكَ مِن نَّبَإِ الْمُرْسَلِينَ ۝ وَإِن كَانَ كَبُرَ عَلَيْكَ إِعْرَاضُهُمْ فَإِنِ اسْتَطَعْتَ…﴾ (We know that what they say grieves you; yet it is not you that they deny, but the wrongdoers reject the signs of Allah. Messengers before you were denied, and they were patient over being denied and harmed until Our help came to them. None can change the words of Allah. And there has already come to you some of the news of the messengers. And if their turning away is hard on you, then if you are able…)^[4]

Magnificent words that console the Prophet ﷺ and calm his soul, together with firmness in setting out the limits of responsibility. Let us look at another verse: ﴿فَلَعَلَّكَ بَاخِعٌ نَفْسَكَ عَلَىٰ آثَارِهِمْ إِنْ لَمْ يُؤْمِنُوا بِهَٰذَا الْحَدِيثِ أَسَفًا﴾ (Perhaps you would consume yourself with grief over their footsteps, if they do not believe in this narration)^[5]. What do you think of this verse? And look also: ﴿وَذَرْنِي وَالْمُكَذِّبِينَ أُولِي النَّعْمَةِ وَمَهِّلْهُمْ قَلِيلًا ۝ إِنَّ لَدَيْنَا أَنكَالًا وَجَحِيمًا﴾ (Leave Me with the deniers, those of comfort and ease, and give them a little respite. Indeed, with Us are shackles and a blazing fire)^[6]. As if the meaning is: be at ease, for the reckoning and the case are between Allah and them, not between them and you; you are outside this system by virtue of your conveying. And read with me in Sūrat al-Jinn: ﴿قُلْ إِنِّي لَا أَمْلِكُ لَكُمْ ضَرًّا وَلَا رَشَدًا ۝ قُلْ إِنِّي لَن يُجِيرَنِي مِنَ اللَّهِ أَحَدٌ وَلَنْ أَجِدَ مِن دُونِهِ مُلْتَحَدًا ۝ إِلَّا بَلَاغًا مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرِسَالَاتِهِ﴾ (Say: I do not possess for you any harm or right guidance. Say: No one can protect me from Allah, and I will never find any refuge besides Him, except conveyance from Allah and His messages)^[7]; so the only thing that saves him is the conveying. And at the end of the same surah: ﴿لِيَعْلَمَ أَنْ قَدْ أَبْلَغُوا رِسَالَاتِ رَبِّهِمْ﴾ (that He may know that they have conveyed the messages of their Lord)^[8].

So our task, all of us, in this regard is to inherit the task of the Prophet ﷺ: to convey the call of the Lord of the worlds. If someone has an error from its very foundation, tell him: the right is such and the wrong is such, and what is beyond that you are not responsible for; you are responsible for your role.

Renewed glad tidings, on condition of tasbīḥ

Then we return to ﴿إِذَا جَاءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ ۝ وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا﴾ (When the help of Allah comes, and the conquest, and you see the people entering the religion of Allah in multitudes). If someone had told the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ, while they were in Makkah being persecuted with all that persecution, that there is something called America, and that in it a mosque is being built, and that in it there is one who sits and teaches people a lesson which the honored brothers attend, it would have been a great statement, very far off, and even if they had believed it with certainty in Allah, it is a picture that hardly anyone could picture: ﴿لَتَرْكَبُنَّ طَبَقًا عَن طَبَقٍ﴾ (you will surely embark upon stage after stage)^[12]. But Allah the Exalted gave glad tidings to His Messenger ﷺ.

And this glad tiding, my brothers, is renewed and not limited to a report for the Prophet ﷺ, and without doubt it is renewed; but on condition of tasbīḥ. And tasbīḥ is sanctification of Allah, and it is each person's respect for the decrees that are in his hands, and each one of us fulfilling the roles entrusted to him, and not falling short in the tasks assigned to him in his life. The tasbīḥ that means you shake off your bed to be in the rows of the worshippers at Fajr. The tasbīḥ that makes you hold your tongue when you are angry with your wife. The tasbīḥ that makes you struggle against yourself until you return rights to their owners. The tasbīḥ that makes you respect the rites of the Lord of the worlds. The tasbīḥ that does not let me be deceived by my self, nor by my strength, nor by my tongue, nor by my eloquence. The tasbīḥ that makes me humble myself to my Muslim brothers as I humble myself to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, in my prostration to Him. All of this belongs to that tasbīḥ which makes your life ordered according to what the Lord of the worlds commanded. I ask Allah, blessed and exalted be He, to grant us sincerity.

Do not be preoccupied with the results of spreading, but with your role

And listen to the words of our Lord as He addresses the Prophet ﷺ: ﴿وَالضُّحَىٰ ۝ وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَىٰ ۝ مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَىٰ﴾ (By the morning brightness, and the night when it grows still, your Lord has not forsaken you, nor has He become displeased) — look at this noble tenderness! And do not stop here but continue: ﴿أَلَمْ يَجِدْكَ يَتِيمًا فَآوَىٰ ۝ وَوَجَدَكَ ضَالًّا فَهَدَىٰ ۝ وَوَجَدَكَ عَائِلًا فَأَغْنَىٰ ۝ فَأَمَّا الْيَتِيمَ فَلَا تَقْهَرْ ۝ وَأَمَّا السَّائِلَ فَلَا تَنْهَرْ ۝ وَأَمَّا بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّثْ﴾ (Did He not find you an orphan and give you refuge? And find you lost and guide you? And find you in need and make you self-sufficient? So as for the orphan, do not oppress him; and as for the one who asks, do not repel him; and as for the favor of your Lord, speak of it)^[9]. Then: ﴿أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ لَكَ صَدْرَكَ ۝ وَوَضَعْنَا عَنكَ وِزْرَكَ ۝ الَّذِي أَنقَضَ ظَهْرَكَ ۝ وَرَفَعْنَا لَكَ ذِكْرَكَ ۝ فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا﴾ (Did We not expand for you your breast? And We removed from you your burden, which had weighed upon your back, and We raised high for you your remembrance. For indeed, with hardship comes ease)^[10]. Do not occupy your mind with the matters of the spread of Islam in themselves, but perform the role that is upon you: ﴿اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ ۝ خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ﴾ (Read in the name of your Lord who created; created man from a clinging clot)^[11]. Read that Qur'an which the Lord of the worlds sent down on the Night of Power, and do not be preoccupied with that in which people vie for increase, and continue in what is between you and your brothers. It is a continuous address to the Prophet ﷺ, and it is also a methodology for us that gives us insight into what is in our hands in the affairs of our lives, in our religion and our worldly life.

I ask Allah, blessed and exalted be He, to grant us good understanding of His purpose, glorified be He, and to whiten our pages when we stand before Him, and to grant us sincerity in what we say and in what we do. May Allah grant your night peace, and bless you, and reward you well. And peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Naṣr, verses 1–3. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: The transcript is automatic and garbled in places; what was clear has been retained. The speaker's statement that the surah was revealed at Minā during the Farewell Pilgrimage is reported as he said it, without attribution. As for the Prophet ﷺ being informed of the nearness of his death in this surah, it is established from Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with both of them) in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, in his exegesis of the surah; as for the phrase «نُعيت إليّ نفسي» ("my own death has been announced to me"), the editor has not verified its wording or its authenticity, and the speaker cited it in meaning. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Shūrā, verse 48; and Sūrat Fāṭir, verse 23. ^[4]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Anʿām, verses 33–35. The speaker stopped at «فإن استطعت» ("then if you are able"), so the verse is not completed in the body. ^[5]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Kahf, verse 6. ^[6]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Muzzammil, verses 11–12. ^[7]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Jinn, verses 21–23. The speaker said «قل لا أملك» ("Say: I do not possess"), quoting from memory; what is set down is the wording of the verse. ^[8]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Jinn, verse 28. The speaker said «رسالات ربنا» ("the messages of our Lord"); what is set down is the wording of the verse. ^[9]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Ḍuḥā, verses 1–3 and 6–11 (the speaker skipped verses 4–5). ^[10]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Sharḥ, verses 1–5. ^[11]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-ʿAlaq, verses 1–2. ^[12]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Inshiqāq, verse 19.