Translation
[Remember the day when] you [the Prophet with his followers] went out from your homes in the morning to station yourselves for battle preparation [Battle of Uhud]. God hears, and He knows when two groups among you were about to lose heart. But God is the guardian of these two, and on God should the faithful always rely. [Remember] how God helped you in the Battle of Badr when you were very weak. Therefore, keep your responsibilities toward God so that you will have reasons to give thanks.
Remember when you [the Prophet] told the faithful, “Is it not adequate that God will send down three thousand angels to aid you? Yes, indeed, if you all are steadfast in patience and mindful of your responsibilities to God [and to fellow humans], and your enemies were to appear all of a sudden, God will send five thousand angels to destroy them.” This type of announcement [through God’s messenger] is made as good news and to put your hearts at ease [in the face of enormous difficulties], but know that help comes from God alone, who is Mighty and Wise; God can destroy those who persistently deny the truth and abase others so that they are forced to withdraw in failure and despair.203
It is deemed not wise for you [Prophet Mohammad or his followers] to decide or opine if God should accept their repentance or chastise them—even if they are unjust. To God belongs all that is in Heaven and Earth, and He forgives whom He pleases, and He chastises whom He pleases. God is Ever Forgiving and Merciful!204
Interpretation
203. God’s help is always near to those who rely on Him, show patience in the face of adversity, and are ever conscious of their responsibilities to God and to fellow human beings. This help may come in different ways—be it angels coming down to aid; be it that God strengthens our resolve, increases our courage, and firms up our inner convictions; or be it in the form of allies who come to our aid from known or unknown groups. The key is to rely on God and continue to do the right things, even if others do wrong things and commit evil deeds.
204. People are reminded that one should not make hasty judgment regarding one’s adversaries and evildoers. God may help these people to turn back in repentance or chastise them as He sees appropriate. Patience, forgiveness, and focus on one’s own condition are more appropriate than desiring God’s punishment for others. One of the Prophet’s sayings is appropriate here, when he is reported to have said that those of us who consider ourselves close to God should be aware that we might one day do a single act of evil that will remove us from God, whereas those you consider to be far from God will do a single act of goodness that will bring them closer to God (closer than us).
REFLECTION
Two critical events in the early days of Islamic establishment by the Prophet of Islam and his followers are referred to here to take comfort in the fact that God is ever willing and able to aid those who worship Him truly and who stay true to the guidance of God by serving the peace and justice for all people. While the people of faith and goodwill should prepare their utmost to defend and prevail over those who deny God and do evil, they should not get overly consumed by their desire that God punishes those people, because it is God’s prerogative if He should punish or forgive as He sees fit in His infinite wisdom and mercy for the world that He has created.
ACTION
Too many people who claim to have faith (from all religious backgrounds—Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus) are busier asking for God’s punishment of others than concentrating on their own condition and on how to purify their faith in God and bring goodness to all people on earth.
Key Arabic Term
68. Badr: Battle of Badr