At-Tawba (The Repentance)

25. “Certainly Allah has helped you on many fields, and on the day of Hunayn, when your multitude made you vain, but it availed you nothing and the earth, in spite of its breadth, became strait to you; then you turned back in retreat.”

In the previous holy verses, the words were upon the encouragement to Holy Struggle and some warnings due to dependences. Here, the verse recounts a few helps and graces of Allah in order to strengthen the motive of Holy Struggle in Muslims.

As Tafsir Marāqi, a commentary upon the Qur’ān, says, the total battles of the Prophet (S) were numbered 80.

“Certainly Allah has helped you on many fields…”

It has been narrated that once Mutuwakkil-i-‘Abbāsi became sick. He vowed he would remit many silver coins (derham) if he healed. After that, when he gained his health, it was discussed how many coins the amount of ‘many silver coins’ was. They asked the question from Imam Hādi (as) and, relying upon this verse, he said:

“He must remit eighty derhams (silver coins).”1

The Feature of the Battle of Hunayn

The Battle of Hunayn happened between the Muslims and a tribe named ‘Hawāzin’ in a land near Tā’if. That was why that this battle was also called ‘the Battle of Hawāzin’.

The people of that locality had planned to attack the Muslims, but to stand against that plot, the Prophet (S) set out the troops of Islam containing two thousand fresh Muslims added to those ten thousand strivers who had formerly conquered Mecca, towards them in 8 A.H.

It was after morning prayer when the Muslims were attacked unawares by the fighters of Hawāzin. Therefore, most of the Muslim strivers run away and the regularity of the army of Islam disturbed.

The verse says:

“…then you turned back in retreat.”

But a group of them resisted very hard and finally, by the Prophet’s call, the fugitives returned and, together with them, their attack began again. Then, by the help of Allah, one hundred pagans were killed and the rest of them surrendered. At last, the Battle of Hunayn ended in favour of the Muslims and they gained a great deal of booties.

“…on the day of Hunayn…”

Concerning to the Battle of Hunayn, there are many things to be said upon the number of captives, the quantity of booties and the quality of their division, the happenings that occurred there, and the consequences of this battle, which can be studied in the related history books and the books compiled about the Battles of Islam.

Thus, sometimes the abundance of persons and material possibilities cause proud and negligence in men, while in all conditions, whether in weakness or strength, the need to the helps of Allah exists. In the Battle of Badr, the Muslims were small in number but they enjoyed the help of Allah.

But, at the beginning of the Battle of Hunayn, where the Muslims were large in number, they defeated and it was after that event when the help of Allah came to them and they, finally, won the battle.

“Certainly Allah has helped you on many fields, and on the day of Hunayn, when your multitude made you vain but it availed you nothing and the earth, in spite of its breadth, became strait to you; then you turned back in retreat.” This fact should be noticed, too, that without the Will of Allah, the material means are ineffective, (“…it availed you nothing…”), and restructs them spiritually. “…then you turned back in retreat.” “Then Allah sent down His tranquility…”