(إِلَّا تَنصُرُوهُ فَقَدْ نَصَرَهُ اللَّهُ) (If you do not aid him – Allah has already aided him.): Allah (swt) says that if you do not mobilize and support the Prophet (saws) in the battle of Tabuk against the Romans, then He (swt) is surely his supporter.

Let us consider these verses for a moment because some orientalists and those who do not understand the spirit of the Arabic language or the rules of Arabic grammar have said that this phrase: “if you do not support him,” is a conditional clause. In this case, the response to a condition comes after the condition, thus, the phrase states: “If you do not support him, indeed Allah will support him.” However, in answer to this claim, we say that this sentence is not a response to the condition but rather an affirmation of the condition; meaning: “If you do not support him, Allah has already supported him before.”

Allah (swt) points out that if you do not support him now in the Battle of Tabuk, He has already supported him in times even more challenging than the Battle of Tabuk. But, what were these times? The answer is: They are three times, as the word “when” is mentioned three times, indicating an adverb of time, meaning at that time or in such a time:

• (… إذْ أَخْرَجَهُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا ثَانِيَ اثْنَيْنِ… ) (…when those who disbelieved had driven him out [of Makkah] as one of two).
• (… إِذْ هُمَا فِي الْغَار… ) (…when they were in the cave …).
• (… إِذْ يَقُولُ لِصَاحِبِهِ لَا تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَنَا ۖ… ) (…and he said to his companion, “Do not grieve; indeed Allah is with us …).

These three times when great victories were for the Prophet Muhammad, (saws).

 (إذْ أَخْرَجَهُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا ثَانِيَ اثْنَيْنِ) (when those who disbelieved had driven him out [of Makkah] as one of two,): This is the first victory, when those who disbelieved expelled him from Mekkah. A question may arise: We know that Allah (swt) commanded His Messenger (saws) to migrate, so, why Allah, in this context, say that the disbelievers had driven him (saws) out of Mekkah? Did the Prophet migrated as Allah (swt) ordered him to do or because of the polytheists? The answer is: Allah (swt) commanded him to migrate to grant him victory and to establish His religion throughout the universe. The polytheists, on the other hand, had the intention of killing him, subduing him, or overcoming him, So, these were two totally different things from two different angles. They gathered at Dar an-Nadwa and agreed to select the strongest man from each tribe, whom would surround the house of the Prophet (saws) and sit at his door, so that when he came out, they would attack him with a single strike, causing his blood to spill between the tribes. Indeed, they surrounded the house, but the Prophet (saws) opened the door, stepped out in front of their eyes, and threw handfuls of sand at them, while reciting:

  وَجَعَلْنَا مِن بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ سَدًّا وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ سَدًّا فَأَغْشَيْنَاهُمْ فَهُمْ لَا يُبْصِرُونَ 

(And We placed a barrier before them and a barrier behind them and covered them, so they do not see) (Yaseen: 9)

He exited from among them without being seen. This was a great and supportive victory for the Prophet (saws).

( إِذْ هُمَا فِي الْغَارِ  ) (when they were in the cave,): This is the second victory that took place in the cave. During the migration, the polytheists pursued the Prophet (saws) until they reached the entrance of the cave. At that moment, a spider came, spun its web, and a pair of doves laid eggs.

The spider wove threads stronger than steel, protecting the Prophet (saws). The dove laid eggs to create the illusion that no one had entered the cave. This was the second victory.

(إِذْ يَقُولُ لِصَاحِبِهِ لَا تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَنَا ۖ )  (and he said to his companion, “Do not grieve; indeed Allah is with us.): The Prophet (saws) said to his companion: “Do not grieve,” instead of, “Do not fear,” because there is a difference between fear and grief. Fearing is a feeling towards something that will happen, while grief is for something that has already occurred. Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was saddened by the situation of the Prophet (saws).  He said to him (swt): “Oh Messenger of Allah, if one of them had looked down at his feet, he would have seen us”. The Prophet (saws) then said:

“What do you think of two (persons) the third of whom is Allah?“[1]

We may wonder: Where is the victory in this situation? Verify, the victory lies in the fact that the Prophet (saws) has put himself and Abu Bakr into Allah’s (swt) presence, thereby, no one could see him. This was the greatest form of victory that could be achieved.أعلى النموذج

(فَأَنزَلَ اللَّهُ سَكِينَتَهُ عَلَيْهِ) (And Allah sent down his tranquility upon him): The pronoun ‘him’ refers to Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) because he was the one who was saddened.

(وَأَيَّدَهُ بِجُنُودٍ لَّمْ تَرَوْهَا) (and supported him with angels you did not see): Here, the pronoun ‘him’ refers to the Prophet Muhammad (saws).

وَجَعَلَ كَلِمَةَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا السُّفْلَىٰ ۗ وَكَلِمَةُ اللَّهِ هِيَ الْعُلْيَا ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ)) (And made the word of those who disbelieved the lowest, while the word of Allah – that is the highest. And Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.): The word (made) is used to describe the words of the disbelievers because their words can sometimes be elevated. Allah, however, made it the lowest. It is noticeable that Allah (swt) did not say, ‘And made the word of Allah the highest’, because the word of Allah (swt) is always the highest and is not subjected to being made high or low. This is why the two words of “word” have not the same diacritical mark at their ends although connected by tee conjunction (and). Grammatically, the second “word” is in the nominative case because it serves as the subject and is not the object of an action. Hence the conjunction (and) here is an article of showing the start of a new sentence.

(وَاللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ) (And Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.): There is no predominance but Allah (swt) and He is in need of none, self-sufficient from the worship of His creation, and He is The Wise, placing matters in their proper order.

[1] Sahih Bukhari: The Book of Tafseer, Chapter: Surah Bara’ah, Hadith no. 4386