Al-Fath (The Victory)

6. And that He may chastise the hypocrites, men and women, and also the polytheist men and women who entertain evil thoughts about Allah [say that God will not support His Messenger (S)]. For them is a disgraceful torment, and the Wrath of Allah is upon them and He has cursed them and prepared Hell for them and worst indeed is that destination.

The Arabic phrase da’irat al-su’ connotes unfavorable and far-reaching incident.¹ Following the treatment of the four Divine Favors bestowed upon the Noble Prophet (S) and believers in the preceding Verses, the blessed Verse in question includes threats against hypocrites and polytheists.

The torment of hypocrites and polytheists may not connote the torment in the Hereafter but it may refer to the torments and afflictions bred by hypocrisy and polytheism with which they were entangled following the Treaty of Hudaybiyya and the conquest of Mecca.

It is narrated that God Almighty shall never afflict any servant with torment following his repentance and asking God for forgiving his sins unless he entertains suspicion against Him and loses his hope of His Favor. Then the noble Imam recited the Verse in question.²

“He may chastise the hypocrites, men and women, and also the polytheist men and women who entertain evil thoughts about Allah.”

Upon the departure of the Noble Prophet (S) and believers from Medina, hypocrites thought that they would never return safe and sound, as it is reflected in Verse 12 of the Chapter in question:

“Nay, but you thought that the Messenger (S) and the believers would never return to their families.” The word da’ira literally designates occurrences and incidents, good and evil, happening to man, but it ad hoc is accompanied with the word su’ (“bad, evil”) and connotes unfavorable incidents.

The other point is that:

“the Wrath of Allah is upon them and He has cursed them.”

The blessed Verse finally adds that God Almighty:

“prepared Hell for them and worst indeed is that destination.”

It is worthy of note that the majority of men were Muslim at Hudaybiyya and they were opposed by hypocrite and polytheist men, but the preceding Qur’anic Verses make mention of men and women in attainment to the great triumph and being afflicted with the excruciating torment.

reason is that the believing men appearing on the battleground may never succeed without being supported by believing women and likewise, hypocrite men may never attain to their goals without the support of hypocrite women.

Basically, the Islamic faith does not solely belong to men nor does it ignore women’s characters and contributions; as a consequence of which whenever failing to mention women leads to exclusion of women, they are explicitly mentioned such that it becomes evident that the Islam faith belongs to humanity.