Surah Ale-Imran (The Family Of Imran ) 3 : 140

Explanatory Note

The misfortune which is said to have befallen the Muslims and the fact that a similar one befell those who rejected the truth may be a reference to the Battle of Badr, in which the idolaters suffered a heavy defeat. On the other hand, it may be a reference to the Battle of Uĥud, in which the Muslims were initially close to victory, but were then defeated. What the Muslims suffered was fair reward for their disagreement and disobedience.  Moreover,  it  represents  an  aspect  of  how  the  rules  of  nature established by God never fail. The disagreement among the rearguard of the Muslim army was the result of their greed. In any campaign of jihād, God grants victory to those who strive for His cause, looking for nothing of the petty gains of this world. Another rule of nature which is seen in full operation is the dealing out of fortune and misfortune among people according to their actions and intentions. In this way, true believers are distinguished from hypocrites. Mistakes are identified and the way ahead becomes very clear.

“If misfortune befalls you, a similar misfortune has befallen other people as well. Such days [of fortune and misfortune] We deal out in turn among men. God wants to mark out those who truly believe.” When hardship is followed by prosperity and the latter is followed by another hardship, people’s true characters emerge. They reveal how clear their vision is, how much they panic and how patient in adversity they can be, as well as how great their trust in God is and how submissive to His will they are. Thus true believers are distinguished from those who are hypocrites. Their true hearts are apparent to all. The Muslim camp is strengthened by the fact that those who do not truly belong to it are identified and excluded.
 
God knows all secrets and He is aware of those who are true believers and those who are not. But the alternation of days of fortune and misfortune does not merely reveal secrets; it also translates faith into action and compels hypocrisy to express itself in practical measures. Hence, it is action that merits reward. God does not hold people to account for what He knows of their position, but He counts their actions for or against them. The cycle of hardship and prosperity is an accurate criterion. Prosperity is as good a test as hardship. Some people may withstand hardship but become complacent when they are tested with ease and prosperity. A true believer is one who remains steadfast in adversity and is not lured away by prosperity. He knows  that  whatever  befalls  him  of  good  or  evil  happens  only  with  God’s permission.
 
In the process of moulding the first Muslim community and preparing it for the role of leadership of mankind, God has tested it with hardship after prosperity, and with a bitter defeat after a spectacular victory. Both have happened according to the laws of nature which never fail. That is because God wants the Muslim community to learn what brings it victory and what causes it defeat. Thus, it becomes more obedient to God and reliant on Him. It becomes better aware of the true nature of its Islamic constitution and way of life and what their implementation requires of it.
 
The sūrah goes on to reveal to the Muslim community certain aspects of Divine wisdom behind which the events of the Battle of Uĥud took place, and why defeat was suffered by the Muslims after their spectacular victory at Badr. The principle of testing the believers and proving their mettle is strongly emphasised. At the same time God states that He wants to choose from among the believers people who “with their lives bear witness to the truth.” The Arabic original states that God wants to choose from among the believers “martyrs”. It should be remembered that in Arabic the word “shahīd” which denotes “martyr” also means “witness”.
 
The way this point is expressed in the Qur’ān is particularly remarkable: “God wants ... to choose from among you such as [with their lives] bear witness to the truth.” God, then, takes martyrs from among those who strive for His cause. Therefore, it is neither a tragedy nor a loss that anyone is chosen to be a martyr. Indeed, it is a matter of honour because the choice is made by God and those martyrs are given, by God, a special position near Him. Moreover, they are selected to bear witness to the truth of God’s message to mankind. They give their testimony in a way which cannot be contested by anyone. That testimony is to struggle to establish the truth of the Divine Message in life until they die. They testify that what they have received from God is the truth in which they have believed and to which they have dedicated themselves, and that human life will not be set right unless this truth is implemented. They are so certain of this that they spare no effort in fighting falsehood and establishing the truth, moulding society on the basis of its tenets. Their testimony is their struggle until death. The truthfulness of that testimony is irrefutable.
 
Every Muslim declares that he “bears witness that there is no deity save God and that Muĥammad is His messenger.” However, he is not considered a witness unless he gives credence to his declaration that there is only one God in the universe. This means that he accepts no legislation other than that which comes from God. The most essential characteristic of Godhead is to legislate and the most essential characteristic of worship is to accept and implement God’s legislation. This declaration also means that a believer does not receive God’s legislation except through Muĥammad (pbuh), since he is God’s Messenger. Every person who makes this declaration is required to strive hard in order to make sure that God alone is acknowledged as the only God by all mankind. The practical effect of this is to make the constitution God devised for human life, and which was conveyed to us by Muĥammad (pbuh), the established constitution throughout the world. If the attainment of that goal means that a Muslim should die, he is then a martyr, or a witness, chosen by God to make this testimony and to win this noble position.
 
This  is  the  proper  understanding  of  the  remarkable  Qur’ānic  statement:  “God wants to ... choose from among you such as [with their lives) bear witness to the truth.” It is also the meaning of the declaration that there is no deity save God and that Muĥammad is God’s Messenger. It is vastly different from the narrow meaning associated with it in the minds of many people today.
 
“God does not love the wrongdoers.” Wrongdoing or injustice, as often mentioned in the Qur’ān, is synonymous with disbelief and polytheism, since the association of partners with God is the worst form of wrongdoing. In the Qur’ān we read: “To ascribe partners with God is indeed to do a great wrong.” (Luqmān, 31: 13) Al- Bukhārī and Muslim relate a ĥadīth on the authority of Abdullāh ibn Mas`ūd in which he states that he asked God’s Messenger: “Which is the greatest sin of all?” He answered: “To claim a partner to God when He has created you.”
 
The sūrah has already referred to the established pattern which determines the fate of those who describe the truth as lies. Now it states that God does not love the wrongdoers. This is indeed another way of making clear the fate that awaits those who reject the truth and who are not loved by God. The statement that God does not love such people generates in the believers’ hearts a feeling of hatred for wrongdoing and wrongdoers. It is also highly appropriate for it to be mentioned here in the context of striving hard for God’s cause. A believer undertakes such a struggle to combat everyone and everything that God hates. It is in such a combat that martyrs sacrifice themselves and make their testimony after they have been chosen for the task by none other than God Himself.