The word ‘victory’ in Quran: Bigger and Smaller

By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan for New Age Islam

06 April, 2015

The word ‘victory’ appears in two chapters of the Quran: Surah An-Nasr and Surah Al-Fath. In Surah An-Nasr, the word victory is in the sense of political victory—that is, victory over Makkah. But in Surah Al-Fath, this word is not in the sense of political victory, because this chapter was revealed at the time of the Treaty of Hudaybiyah, and in this treaty the Prophet and his Companions did not gain any political victory.

The Prophet and his Companions had travelled to Hudaybiyah in order to go to Makkah and perform the Umrah or the ‘minor pilgrimage’. But at that time, Makkah was under the domination of the Quraish. They did not allow the Prophet and his Companions to go to Makkah. And so, the Prophet and his Companions had to go back to Madinah without performing the Umrah.

In Surah An-Nasr, just the word ‘victory’ appears while Surah Al-Fath mentions an ‘open victory’. This means that the victory mentioned in Surah Al-Fath was, in God’s eyes, an even bigger victory for the Prophet and his Companions.

What was this bigger victory? Certainly, it was something other than political victory. If you reflect on it deeply, you will realise that this ‘open victory’ was in the sense of the victory for dawah opportunities. If the victory over Makkah was a political victory, the victory that resulted through the peace treaty of Hudaybiyah can be said to have been a ‘peaceful victory’. Through this peace treaty, both parties agreed not to fight each other. Makkah was victory in terms of territory. Hudaybiyah was victory in terms of opportunity.

Through the Treaty of Hudaybiyah the Prophet and his Companions got the opportunity to openly engage in the work of inviting people to God without any obstruction. If some other victories bring about political victory, the Treaty of Hudaybiyah opened up opportunities to secure victory over people’s hearts through dawah. Thus, in God’s eyes victory over people’s minds is a bigger thing that victory over territories.

URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-ideology/the-word-‘victory’-quran-bigger/d/102328