Muhammad (Muhammad)

35. Therefore, be not weak and ask not for peace while you are having the upper hand. Allah is with you and He will never decrease the reward of your good deeds.

Believers are not supposed to be weak since steadfastness and endurance are the prerequisites of triumph. Thus Muslims are supposed to enhance their morale and remind themselves of their values. Pursuing the discussion on jihad, the Verse refers to a significant point - people of frail faith often raise the issue of making peace with the enemy in order to flee jihad and the hardships of the battlefield.

Making peace is indubitably appropriate in its proper season. Such peace leads Muslims to the attainment of Islamic sublime goals and may vouchsafe the dignity and greatness of Muslims rather than leading them to humiliation and contempt. The Verse encourages believers that having heard the previous injunctions they are not supposed to be weak nor do they ask the enemy to make peace with them while they have the upper hand.

In other words, now that their triumph and superiority is evident they are supposed to consider the peace treaty which implies withdrawal and defeat. Actually, it is not peace but surrender and complacency springing from frailty. Such vicious complacency will engender perilous and excruciating consequences.

To invigorate the Muslims’ morale, the Verse ends in

“Allah is with you and He will never decrease the reward of your good deeds.”

When God Almighty is with someone, he will have all the means of triumph. He may never feel abandoned. He never entertains frailty in his heart nor does he surrender to the enemy.

Such person feels the responsibility upon his shoulders to not render vain the martyrs’ blood shed in sensitive moments.

Wa lan yatrikum literally means “He will not abandon you,” but it figuratively indicates “He will never decrease [the reward of your good deeds]”). The root w-t-r denotes “to abandon” and watr is used in the senses of “single, separate, alone.” Those whose kith and kin fall in battle and leave them alone are termed as witr. The word also signifies defect and shortcoming. The Verse in question says that God will not abandon you but he will provide you with the rewards of your deeds.

Believers are aware of the fact that each step taken for jihad will be recorded and nothing shall be decreased of their rewards but God Almighty is so Bountiful that He will increase them.

The above bears testimony to the fact that the Verse in question is by no means inconsistent with:

“But if they incline to peace, you are also inclined toward it and trust Allah. Indeed, He is the All-Hearer, the Omniscient”1 .

None of the two abrogates the other, but each of the twain makes reference to a particular instance. One refers to the sensible peace and the other to the insensible one. The former meets all the demands of the Muslims and the latter is raised at the threshold of triumph by Muslims who are frail of faith.

That is why the last Verse¹ follows thus:

“And if they intend to deceive you, then verily, Allah is All-Sufficient for you”3 .

In his epistle to Malik Ashtar, the Commander of the Faithful, ‘Ali (as) makes reference to both types of peace saying:

“Whenever the enemy calls upon you to make peace with him in which lies God’s Satisfaction, do not decline the offer”4 .

The peace offered by the enemy and Divine Satisfaction indicate the division of the types of peace into the twain. Muslim leaders are supposed to use extra care in terms of distinguishing between types of peace and war which are among the most sophisticated and epoch making issues, since the slightest miscalculation will lead to fatal consequences.