Victory comes from Allah to His messengers and the believer, a truth beyond doubt. This is a definite matter, as the Quranic ayahs and prophetic hadiths herald and affirm it.
Ayahs and Hadiths Confirming the Inevitable Victory for Believers
The Holy Quran, in numerous ayahs, expresses the inevitability of victory for the messengers and the believers. Allah says, “Allah has promised those who have believed among you and done righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession [to authority] upon the earth just as He granted it to those before them and that He will surely establish for them [therein] their religion which He has preferred for them and that He will surely substitute for them, after their fear, security, [for] they worship Me, not associating anything with Me. But whoever disbelieves after that - then those are the defiantly disobedient.” (An-Nur: 55) He also says, “And Allah will surely support those who support Him. Indeed, Allah is Powerful and Exalted in Might.” (Al-Hajj: 40), and “And We have already sent messengers before you to their peoples, and they came to them with clear evidences; then We took retribution from those who committed crimes, and incumbent upon Us was support of the believers.” (Ar-Rum: 47)
Moreover, He says, “And Our word has already preceded for Our servants, the messengers, [That] indeed, they would be those given victory. And [that] indeed, Our soldiers will be those who overcome.” (As-Saffat: 171-173), “Indeed, We will support Our messengers and those who believe during the life of this world and on the Day when the witnesses will stand.” (Ghafir: 51), and “O you who have believed, if you support Allah, He will support you and plant firmly your feet.” (Muhammad: 7)
In the Sunnah, there is also confirmation of Allah's victory for the believers. In Sahih Bukhari, Khabbab narrated his complaint to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and the Prophet replied, “By Allah! This religion (Islam) will be completed (and triumph) till a rider (traveler) goes from San`a' (the capital of Yemen) to Hadramout fearing nobody except Allah and the wolf lest it should trouble his sheep, but you are impatient.” This is evidence that the religion will prevail and be completed by Allah, no force will prevent its establishment, and Security and peace will spread through it.
In Sahih Bukhari, Abu Huraira reported that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “Allah may support this religion (i.e. Islam) even with a disobedient man.” Meaning that Allah will support this religion through anyone, even if a disbeliever or a tyrant.
In Sahih Muslim, Thauban reported that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “Allah drew the ends of the world near one another for my sake. And I have seen its eastern and western ends. And the dominion of my Ummah would reach those ends which have been drawn near me and I have been granted the red and the white treasure.”
In Sahih Muslim, Thauban also reported that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “A group of people from my Umma will always remain triumphant on the right path and continue to be triumphant (against their opponents). He who deserts them shall not be able to do them any harm. They will remain in this position until Allah's Command is executed (i.e. Qiyamah is established).”
Ahmad narrated in his Musnad that Tamim Ad-Dari reported the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “Indeed, this religion will reach everywhere the night and day can reach. Allah will not leave a dwelling in a city or a desert except that He will make this religion enter it, thus, honoring the honorable or humiliating the humiliated; an honor which Allah will bestow on Islam, and a humiliation which Allah will inflict on disbelief.”
Diverse Manifestations of Victory for the Believers
Allah's promise of victory for the believers is true. To affirm this, we highlight the various manifestations of victory, as follows: (1)
First: Victory may come through direct dominance and subjugation of enemies at the hands of the prophets and messengers, such as what happened with Prophet Dawud (peace be upon him): “And when they went forth to [face] Goliath and his soldiers, they said, 'Our Lord, pour upon us patience and plant firmly our feet and give us victory over the disbelieving people.' So they defeated them by permission of Allah, and David killed Goliath, and Allah gave him the kingship and prophethood and taught him from that which He willed. And if it were not for Allah checking [some] people by means of others, the earth would have been corrupted, but Allah is full of bounty to the worlds.” (Al-Baqarah: 250-251)
Similarly, Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) was granted victory over Pharaoh and his people: “And [recall] when We parted the sea for you and saved you and drowned the people of Pharaoh while you were looking on.” (Al-Baqarah: 50), and “And We caused the people who had been oppressed to inherit the eastern regions of the land and the western ones, which We had blessed. And the good word of your Lord was fulfilled for the Children of Israel because of what they had patiently endured. And We destroyed [all] that Pharaoh and his people were producing and what they had been building.” (Al-A'raf: 137)
Our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was also granted a decisive victory, and his enemies were destroyed at Badr and after, until the Islamic state was established, and he entered Mecca as a conqueror: “Indeed, We have given you, [O Muhammad], a clear conquest” (Al-Fath: 1), and “When the victory of Allah has come and the conquest, And you see the people entering into the religion of Allah in multitudes.” (An-Nasr: 1-2)
Second: Victory by the destruction of the deniers and the salvation of the prophets and messengers (peace be upon them), and those who believed in them, as was the case with the prophets Nuh, Hud, Salih, Lot, and Shu'ayb (peace be upon them), when their people denied them, Allah destroyed them according to their sins: “So each We seized for his sin; and among them were those upon whom We sent a storm of stones, and among them were those who were seized by the blast [from the sky], and among them were those whom We caused the earth to swallow, and among them were those whom We drowned. And Allah would not have wronged them, but it was they who were wronging themselves.” (Al-Ankabut: 40) The punishment of the criminals is an apparent great victory for the prophet or the preacher and a grave loss for the deniers and criminals.
Third: Victory by Allah's retribution upon the enemies and deniers after the death of these prophets and messengers, as happened with those who killed Prophet Yahya and Isaiah (peace be upon them), and the attempt to kill Prophet Isa (peace be upon him). Imam Al-Tabari commented on Allah's saying: “Indeed, We will support Our messengers and those who believe during the life of this world and on the Day when the witnesses will stand.” (Ghafir: 51), It is as if Allah says: Among the forms of victory is our retribution in the worldly life against the deniers of the messengers after the death of our messenger, like what we did by granting victory to Isaiah after his death by sending against his killers those who avenged his death. Similarly, with the killers of Yahya, we sent Nebuchadnezzar against them until we avenged his death. Likewise, we avenged Isa from those who wanted to kill him by sending the Romans to destroy them. (2)
Fourth: What people perceive as defeat, such as killing, imprisonment, harm, and expulsion, may actually be true victory. Isn’t the killing of a preacher a martyrdom for the sake of Allah? Allah says, “And never think of those who have been killed in the cause of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision. Rejoicing in what Allah has bestowed upon them of His bounty, and they receive good tidings about those [to be martyred] after them who have not yet joined them - that there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve.” (Aal-Imran: 169-170), and “It was said, 'Enter Paradise.' He said, 'I wish my people could know. Of how my Lord has forgiven me and placed me among the honored.'” (Ya-Sin: 26-27) Allah also says, “Say, 'Do you await for us except one of the two best things while we await for you that Allah will afflict you with punishment from Himself or at our hands? So wait; indeed we, along with you, are waiting.'” (At-Tawbah: 52) So the killing of a preacher, in light of these ayahs, is a victory for him in every sense. It is a triumph for his cause, as happened with the boy Abdullah when the king killed him, and his people said, “We believe in Allah, the Lord of the boy.”
Expulsion and displacement may also be a victory for the preacher, though many perceive it as a defeat. Thus, Allah told His messenger when the Quraysh expelled him from Mecca: “If you do not aid the Prophet - Allah has already aided him when those who disbelieved had driven him out [of Makkah] as one of two, when they were in the cave and he said to his companion, 'Do not grieve; indeed Allah is with us.' And Allah sent down his tranquillity upon him and supported him with angels you did not see 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.” (At-Tawbah: 40)
Imprisonment is also a victory. In Sahih Muslim, Suhaib Ar-Rumi reported that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, “Strange are the ways of a believer for there is good in every affair of his and this is not the case with anyone else except in the case of a believer for if he has an occasion to feel delight, he thanks (God), thus there is a good for him in it, and if he gets into trouble and shows resignation (and endures it patiently), there is a good for him in it.”
Ibn Taymiyyah expressed this reality, saying, “What can my enemies do to me? My paradise and my garden are in my heart; they are with me wherever I go. If they imprison me, it is seclusion; if they kill me, it is martyrdom; and if they expel me from my country, it is a journey.” (3)
Fifth: The steadfastness of the preacher on his path is a clear and overwhelming victory. By being steadfast, he rises above desires and doubts, and overcomes obstacles with courage. Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was in a state of victory when he was thrown into the fire, and Imam Ahmad was at the height of victory when he remained firm in the ordeal of the assumptions regarding creation of the Quran. Victory is the steadfastness in faith and principle, no matter the obstacles and challenges.
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- “Methods of Countering the Prophets' and Messengers' Call in the Quran,” by Dr. Abdulhamid Farhan Musleh, p. 211.
- “Tafsir al-Tabari” (20/345).
- “Al Mustadrik 'ala Majmu' Fatawa” (1/153).
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