Commentary
The triumph herein means the conquest of Makkah and the acquisition of control of
the Holy Ka‘bah. This conquest not only opened the hearts and minds of the Prophet’s
Makkan adversaries to Islam, it also opened the doors for all Arab tribes to enter
into Islam. Arab tribes were watching the struggle between the Prophet ŝall Allaahu
‘alayhi wa sallam and his Makkan adversaries with keen interest. To them, the Prophet’s
success over his own people and his own city would prove that he was the true prophet
of Allaah. It would also show the viability of his movement and mission. As soon
as they saw him succeed in this crucial test in 8 AH[3], they started entering into
Islam in droves. The year 9 AH was called the year of delegations because the delegations
from different tribes from all over Arabia were coming to visit the Prophet ŝall
Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and entering into Islam. So much so that by year 10 AH,
the whole of Arabia had become Muslim.
The Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam has been commanded to “glorify your Lord
with praise and gratitude and seek His forgiveness”. The first part of this command
is expressed by the word Sabbiĥ (Tasbeeĥ) which means glorifying Allaah Subhaanahu
wa Ta’aala to be above and beyond any weaknesses or imperfections that human beings
can think of. The second part is Ĥamd, which means praise that ensues from deep
gratitude. The third part is seeking forgiveness.
We know that the prophets are under direct and active supervision of Allaah Subhaanahu
wa Ta’aala, Who protects them from making mistakes or committing sins. This quality
differentiates them from other human leaders. Every human being makes mistakes.
So do the leaders. That is why we cannot follow the model of any human being other
than a prophet, because that is the only model which is free from mistakes, errors
and sins. So when the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, like other prophets,
was sin-free, why was he being asked to seek forgiveness from Allaah?
This forgiveness is not from sins or mistakes, but rather it is an expression of
humility in acknowledging and seeking forgiveness for any instance where any of
the prophetic responsibilities may not have been performed in its most excellent
form or way. These were the kind of matters that were already publicly mentioned
in the Qur-aan. Otherwise, his performance was so superb that there is no example
of that kind of performance even among all of the prophets and messengers, much
less any other human being. He accomplished the most profound revolution, in the
most peaceful manner (with the least amount of bloodshed), in the outlook of the
biggest number of people in the shortest time. Within 23 years, he made a scattered,
illiterate, ignorant, and warring faction of the Peninsula change their beliefs,
outlook, manners, morals, ethics, lifestyle, and their social, political and economic
systems, united them under law and order and made them the leaders of the civilized
world and champions of goodness.
It would have been natural to celebrate and feel pride for this achievement that
was and remains unparalleled in human history, but instead he was being exhorted
to praise the Lord and seek forgiveness with humility. By teaching the Prophet ŝall
Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam to praise the Lord, express his Gratitude to Him and seek
His forgiveness, the Muslims are being taught that:
§ We should never be proud of any of our achievements; because the success, results,
triumph and victory comes from Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala’s help and mercy. Only
He makes our humble attempts produce fruitful results;
§ Instead of being proud of what we have achieved, we must thank Allaah Subhaanahu
wa Ta’aala, glorify Him and appreciate His kindness for making our imperfect and
less than desirable efforts accomplish good results.
§ We should rather seek Allaah’s forgiveness for the weaknesses and shortcomings
that we may have shown while performing our duty to Allaah; we should also seek
His forgiveness for our shortcomings in glorifying and thanking Him.
This is the lofty ideal that Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala wants Muslims to pursue.
It frees a person from any kind of egoistic feelings and develops constructive humility
in him.
This attitude makes the people kind to those conquered and to those over whom victory
has been achieved. It is in contrast to the vicious behaviour adopted by those who
do not know or practice Islamic teachings and the world has observed the viciousness
of their behaviour when they gain victory over others.
It will be good to recall that when the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was
entering Makkah after gaining victory over those arrogant Makkans who had persecuted
him and his followers so viciously, the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam had
bowed his head so much in humility and gratitude to Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala
that his face was almost touching the camel’s back.
According to the exhortation given in this Soorah, he increased the frequency of
Allaah’s glorification to an unprecedented level. He frequently was heard saying
phrases such as:
Glorified are You O Allaah, for You is all praise and gratitude, I seek your forgiveness
and I turn to you in repentance.
Glorified are You O Allaah, for You is all praise and gratitude, O Allaah forgive
me.
Glorified is our Lord, for Him is all praise and gratitude, O Allaah forgive me,
You indeed are kindly accepting of repentance and forgiving.
(These and similar du‘aas have been reported by Bukhaari, Muslim, Musnad Aĥmad,
Aboo Dawood, Nasaai, Ibn Maajah, Ibn Jareer, Ibn Abee Ĥaatim, etc.)
Footnotes
[3] Counting from the year of Hijrah (Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam’s migration to Madeenah).
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