SURAH AN-NASR

Interpretation

In the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate,

1. When Allah’s help comes, and victory,
2. And you see people entering Allah’s Religion in throngs,
3. Then glorify your Lord with His praise, and ask Him for forgiveness; for He surely is One Who returns repentance with liberal forgiveness and additional reward.

Surah an-Nasr was revealed during the Medinan period and consists of three verses.

In a narration from Bukhari, Aisha reported that following the revelation of the Surah an-Nasr, the Prophet frequently recited “O Lord! I glorify You with praise. O Lord! Forgive me” during the Prayer.14

Although he was still only very young, Umar would call Ibn Abbas to gatherings, and the elders of the Companions found this strange. One day at one of these gatherings, Umar asked the Companions “What do you say regarding the statement of Allah “When Allah’s help comes and victory?” to which they gave various answers. Then Umar asked Ibn Abbas, he replied “That is the sign of the Prophet’s death about which he had been in- formed.” Umar replied “I do not know anything about it other than what you have said.”15

Alusi said: In many reports by Ibn Abbas and others, that following the revelation of this surah, the Prophet said “My death has been announced.”16 This is why this verse is also referred to as the “farewell” surah.

In a narration by Bayhaqi: “When this surah was revealed, the Prophet called Fatima and said “My death has been announced.” At first she wept, and then she smiled. When she was asked the reason for this, Fatima replied “When my father informed me of his death, I wept, then he told me that I would be the first of his household to meet him in Paradise, then I smiled.” There are reports that this surah was revealed during the Farewell Pilgrimage in Mecca.

According to some interpreters of the Qur’an, this was the last complete surah of the Qur’an to be revealed.

Commentary

1.“When Allah’s help comes, and victory”

“Nasrullah” means the help of Allah. The help pledged is that which would make the Prophet triumphant over the enemy, and victory. The meaning of this is the Prophet’s victory over the Quraysh and the Arabs, and the conquest of Mecca. It was also said to be the help of Allah, and the command of the conquest of the provinces of polytheists. The objective of the word conquest is not restricted to the conquest of towns or regions, but is intended more at the conquest of faith and Islam in the hearts. This is the conquests incumbent following the conquest of Mecca, the rapid spread of Islam, and the unsealing of the hearts that were sealed to the truth for twenty years due to the resistance of the Qurayshi disbelievers following the conquests of Mecca and Taif.

Bukhari reported that Amr ibn Salamah said: When Mecca was conquered, every tribe hastened to declare their acceptance of Islam the Messenger of Allah, all of the tribes were waiting for the conquest to accept Islam saying, if he prevails over them he will be a Prophet. The objective of the word “victory” in the surah is, as a majority agree, the conquest of Mecca, but also the victory of conquering the hearts, the hearts becoming unsealed to the religion of truth and the gates of Islam opening to the whole of humanity. The corporal and spiritual conquests of Islam that spread throughout Arabia and the universe initially began with the opening of the doors to the Ka’ba.

According to Mawdudi, “victory” here does not imply victory in any one particular campaign but the decisive victory after which there remained no power in the land to resist and oppose Islam, and it became evident that Islam alone would hold sway in Arabia. Some commentators have taken this to imply the Conquest of Mecca. But the conquest of Mecca took place in A.H. 8, and this surah was revealed towards the end of A.H.10. Besides, the statement of Abdullah ibn Abbas that this is the last surah of the Qur’an to be revealed, also goes against this commentary. For if the victory implied the conquest of Mecca, the whole of Surah at-Tawbah was revealed after it so this could not be the last surah. There is no doubt that the conquest of Mecca was decisive in that it broke the power of the Arabian pagans, yet even after this, they showed clear signs of resistance. The battles of Taif and Hunayn were fought after it, and it took Islam about two years to attain complete control over Arabia.

When the time for the people to enter Islam in one’s and two’s comes to an end, and when whole tribes and people belonging to large tracts start entering it in crowds, of their own free will, and without offering battle or resistance. This happened from the beginning of A.H. 9, and due to this that year has been described as “the year of deputations.” Deputations from every part of Arabia started coming before the Holy Messenger, entering Islam and taking the oath of allegiance to him, until when he went for the Farewell Pilgrimage to Mecca, in A.H. 10, the whole of Arabia had become Muslim, and not a single polytheist remained anywhere in the country.

2.“And you see people entering Allah’s Religion in throngs.”

The word “entering” rather than “entered” in the declaration and you see people entering signifies that not all have entered, but that they have begun to enter, and will do so gradually. “Nas” (people) includes nations other than Arabs, and those who will enter in the future. In other words, they are entering, will continue to enter the Islamic faith, and in such numbers.

“Afwaj”: in crowds, in groups. After the conquest of Mecca, in the two years following the Battle of Hunayn and the invasion of Taif until the death of the Prophet, groups from the entire Arabian Peninsula came and embraced Islam, and those who did not become Muslims accepted the Islamic Covenant and became nationals of the Islamic State. You see people entering Allah’s religion in throngs,

3.“Then glorify your Lord with

His praise, and ask Him for forgiveness; for He surely is One Who returns repentance with liberal forgiveness and additional reward.”

In this surah, Allah informs His Prophet that when Islam has reached victory, and the people begin to embrace Islam in groups, his mission has come to an end. Then He commands the Prophet to glorify his Lord with praise and ask forgiveness, because by the favor of Allah, he had completed this great mission with huge success.

In this surah, it commands the Prophet to glorify his Lord with praise and ask forgiveness when Allah’s help and victory comes, and he sees the people embracing Islam in groups. The addressee her is the Prophet, but his actions are an example for all believers, so in view of this, when a believer is granted the help and favor of Allah, it is his duty to glorify and praise Allah.

Another important point here is the difference between a Prophet and a temporal leader. If a temporal leader is successful in introducing reforms in this world, he will take pride and glory in his accomplishment by organizing ceremonies and celebrations. But here, although there is a Prophet who transformed the belief, perception, ethics, culture, civilization, social relations, concept of war and economy of a nation overwhelmed with ignorance, and exalted this nation to the position capable of ruling the entire world and worthy of leading all the nations of the world; rather than celebrating this great accomplishment, he was commanded to glorify and praise Allah, and ask His forgiveness.

Glorification is regarding Allah free from all deficiencies. As conveyed by interpreters of the Qur’an, when the Prophet was questioned regarding tasbih (glorification), he replied: “Allah the Almighty is free from all defects and deficiencies.”17 In which case, this defines the purity of Allah’s Attributes, His actions and Names. According to Abussu’ud, it is “Praising the Lord by saying Glory be to Allah.”

Here, the meaning of praise is: “It should not occur to you even for a moment that this major accomplishment is the result of your own capability. This success materialized by the favor of Allah alone. Therefore, praise Allah and acknowledge this in your speech and in your hearts, for the One who materialized such a great mission and created the foundation for this success is Allah alone, He is the only One worthy of praise.”

Another meaning of the word “glorification” is: “Allah is not in need of your efforts for the exaltation of His words. So acknowledge this. You must certainly believe that you only attain success in your efforts by the confirmation and help of Allah. Allah can grant accomplishment to any servant He wishes. Granting a duty of this kind to His servant is a gift, a favor. His favor upon you means granting you the honor of serving your religion.” In addition, there is the aspect of proclaiming “Glory be to Allah” at the time of surprise or astonishment. When an unimaginable event occurs, people say “Glory be to Allah” (Subhanallah). The meaning of this is that only Allah beholds the power to create such an astonishing act, no other force has the power to accomplish this.”

“…ask Him for forgiveness; for He surely is One Who returns repentance with liberal forgiveness and additional reward.”

Tawbah; is the repentance of sin and determination not to repeat that sin. Whereas istighfar; is seeking forgiveness from Allah. Nobody can repent for others, however, an individual can ask forgiveness for others. In the Qur’an, there are many excellent examples of this such as “Our Lord! Forgive me, and my parents, and all the believers, on the Day on which the Reckoning will be established” (Ibrahim 14:41). Therefore, the command here is not addressed at the Prophet alone, but also for his followers, in fact more so for his followers because Allah protected His Messenger from sin. In which case, the Prophet seeking forgiveness; was to teach the people the importance of asking forgiveness; for his followers to seek the forgiveness of Allah, and in respect of continual spiritual progress, considering the previous status that was insufficient in comparison with the present.

In a report by the Prophet’s dear wife Aisha, during the final stage of his life, the Prophet repeated the words “Subhanallahi wa bihamdih; astaghfirullah wa atubu ilayh” (Glory be to Allah and praise Him; I ask forgiveness from Allah, and turn to Him in repentance) frequently, and when she inquired about this, he said: “My Lord has informed me of a sign that I will see in my followers, and commanded me to glorify Him with praise and ask His forgiveness when I see it.”18

It was also prescribed to ask Allah’s forgiveness three times after the obligatory Prayers, after the Tahajjud Prayer (in the last third of the night), and for the pilgrims on completion of the hajj. It was also reported that asking forgiveness was prescribed after performing the ritual of purification and at the end of a gathering. Whenever the Prophet departed from any gathering he would say: “Subhanakallahumma wa bihamdik; astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayk.”19

It was narrated that when this surah was revealed, the Prophet delivered a sermon and said: “Allah gave one of His servants the choice between this world, and what He has with Him, and the servant chose what He has with Him.”20 Abu Bakr realized the meaning of this, and said we sacrifice our lives, wealth, families and children for you. In another report: When the Prophet recited this surah, the Companions rejoiced, but Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, wept. The Messenger of Allah asked him “Why are you weeping uncle?” he replied “This is giving the news of your death.” The Prophet answered “Yes, it is.”21

 

14   Sahih al-Bukhari, Tafsir as-Surah 110/1, 2; Sahih Muslim, Salah, 218–220

15   Sahih al-Bukhari, Tafsir as-Surah 110/3

16   Sahih al-Bukhari, Tafsir as-Surah 110/3; Alusi, Ruhu’l-Ma’ani, 30/326

17   Sunan ibn Majah, Iqama, 179; Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, 5/384; Alusi, Ruhu’l- Ma’ani, XV, 2/329

18   Sahih Muslim, Salah, 221; Sunan an-Nasa’i, Sarik, 3; Sunan ibn Majah, Hudud, 29; Da- rimi, Riqaq,                       15;             Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, 2/282, 341, 450; 6/35,77,184

19   Sahih Muslim, Salah, 218–220

20   Sahih al-Bukhari, Manakibu’l-Ansar, 45

21   Sahih al-Bukhari, Tafsir as-Surah 110/3

 

Akgul, Muhittin. Tafsir: An Introduction to Qur’anic Exegesis. Tughra Books Press, Inc. 2013