(… الَّذِينَ يَتَرَبَّصُونَ بِكُمْ ) (Those who wait [and watch] you. …): This is the sign of the hypocrite.
(… فَإِن كَانَ لَكُمْ فَتْحٌ مِّنَ اللَّهِ …) (…Then if you gain a victory from Allah,…): If you had power and gifts from Allah (swt):
(… قَالُوا أَلَمْ نَكُن مَّعَكُمْ …) (…they say, “Were we not with you?” …).
(… وَإِن كَانَ لِلْكَافِرِينَ نَصِيبٌ …) (…But if the disbelievers have a success,…): Notice the difference between the word relating to believers and the word relating to unbelievers; it is (victory) with the believers and (success) with the disbelievers, because the disbelievers may gain but at last the winner is the righteous:
وَقُلْ جَاءَ الْحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ الْبَاطِلُ ۚ إِنَّ الْبَاطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقًا
(And say, “Truth has come, and falsehood has departed. Indeed is falsehood, [by nature], ever bound to depart.”) (Al-Israa: 81)
(… فَاللَّهُ يَحْكُمُ بَيْنَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ …) (…Allah will judge between [all of] you on the Day of Resurrection, …): Do not think that the hypocrite escapes the punishment of Allah (swt).
( وَلَن يَجْعَلَ اللَّهُ لِلْكَافِرِينَ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ سَبِيلً … ) (…and never will Allah give the disbelievers over the believers a way [to overcome them]): Some people say how Allah (swt) says that while we see the Zionists, for example, the Mongols, the Tartars, and the Foreigners, and what they did in Muslim countries over time, so they see that the reality is contrary to this verse. We tell them: The truth is not like that, and the reality is completely identical to the word of Allah (swt). The answer is that they did not notice that Allah (swt) says (over the believers) and did not say (over the Muslims), however, there is a very big difference:
قَالَتِ الْأَعْرَابُ آمَنَّا ۖ قُل لَّمْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَلَٰكِن قُولُوا أَسْلَمْنَا وَلَمَّا يَدْخُلِ الْإِيمَانُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ ۖ وَإِن تُطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ لَا يَلِتْكُم مِّنْ أَعْمَالِكُمْ شَيْئًا ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
(The bedouins say, “We have believed.” Say, “You have not [yet] believed; but say [instead], ‘We have submitted,’ for faith has not yet entered your hearts. And if you obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not deprive you from your deeds of anything. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.”) (Al-Hujurat: 14)
What is the difference between Iman faith and Islam?
There is indeed a very big difference, and this is the problem of this nation and the problem in which it falls. Allah (swt) says:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِن تَنصُرُوا اللَّهَ يَنصُرْكُمْ وَيُثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَكُمْ
(O you who have believed, if you support Allah, He will support you and plant firmly your feet.) (Muhammad: 7)
وَكَانَ حَقًّا عَلَيْنَا نَصْرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
(and incumbent upon Us was support of the believers) (Ar-Room: 47)
And did not say: Us was support the believers, because Islam is the acts of obedience through which a person worships, such as prayer, fasting, pilgrimage and zakat, but faith must have evidence and it is wider and more comprehensive; its deeds have an impact on the believer himself, his family, his society, his homeland, and all humanity. The Prophet (saws) described it as:
“Iman has over seventy branches – or over sixty branches – the uppermost of which is the declaration: ‘None has the right to be worshipped but Allah’; and the least of which is the removal of harmful object from the road”[1]
An He (saws) said as well:
“No one of you becomes a true believer until he likes for his brother what he likes for himself”.[2]
We need to see the reflection of Faith over behavior to know whether it really exists or not:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا يَسْخَرْ قَوْمٌ مِّن قَوْمٍ عَسَىٰ أَن يَكُونُوا خَيْرًا مِّنْهُمْ وَلَا نِسَاءٌ مِّن نِّسَاءٍ عَسَىٰ أَن يَكُنَّ خَيْرًا مِّنْهُنَّ ۖ وَلَا تَلْمِزُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ وَلَا تَنَابَزُوا بِالْأَلْقَابِ ۖ بِئْسَ الِاسْمُ الْفُسُوقُ بَعْدَ الْإِيمَانِ ۚ وَمَن لَّمْ يَتُبْ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الظَّالِمُونَ % يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِّنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ ۖ وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا وَلَا يَغْتَب بَّعْضُكُم بَعْضًا ۚ أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ ۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَوَّابٌ رَّحِيمٌ
(O you who have believed, let not a people ridicule [another] people; perhaps they may be better than them; nor let women ridicule [other] women; perhaps they may be better than them. And do not insult one another and do not call each other by [offensive] nicknames. Wretched is the name of disobedience after [one’s] faith. And whoever does not repent – then it is those who are the wrongdoers. % O you who have believed, avoid much [negative] assumption. Indeed, some assumption is sin. And do not spy or backbite each other. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his brother when dead? You would detest it. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is Accepting of repentance and Merciful.) (Al-Hujurat: 11-12)
The Prophet (saws) also said:
“The believers in their mutual kindness, compassion and sympathy are just like one body. When one of the limbs suffers, the whole body responds to it with wakefulness and fever”.[3]
Are all of these criteria applied? You may be a Muslim but you backbite and lie, and the believer is not a liar, so how can you lie and pray, backbite and fast, perform Hajj and disobey!!!
So, there are Faith, Islam and Ihsan (doing good) which is the top because it is to worship Allah (swt) as if you see Him (swt) and if you do not achieve this state of devotion, then take it for granted that Allah sees you.
Hence, the believer that is indicated in this verse of study is the one who is characterized by all the elements of faith, such as belief in Allah (swt), His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day, and he also does not lie, do not backbite, does not slander, does no harm his neighbors, honors his parents, loves people and his community, and he is the source of all good. Applying these standards of Faith, then never will Allah give the disbelievers over the believers a way to overcome them
[1] Sahih Muslim: Book of Faith, Chapter: Numerous ways of doing Good, Hadith No. 35.
[2] Sahih al-Bukhari: Book of Faith, Hadirh No. 13.
[3] Sahih Muslim: The Book of Virtue, Enjoining Good Manners, and Joining of the Ties of Kinship, Chapter of Being Dutiful To One’s Parents, And Which Of Them Is More Entitled To It, Hadith No. 2586.