Surah Ale-Imran (The Family Of Imran ) 3 : 156

Explanatory Note

The sūrah follows this with a statement of God’s determination of life and death. It exposes the false concepts of the unbelievers and warns them against entertaining the same thoughts. It then speaks of values which encourage the believers to be ready and willing to make any sacrifices required of them.
 
The fact that these verses are included at this point in the sūrah’s account of the events  of  the  battle,  makes  it  clear  that  the  hypocrites  who  withdrew  from  the Muslim army before the battle and the idolaters living in Madinah who continued to maintain ties and relations with the Muslims were the ones who expressed sorrow at the loss of Muslim martyrs at Uĥud. Furthermore, they tried to make use of their deaths,  in  order  to  whip  up  feelings  of  despair  among  their  families  and  to exaggerate the sense of loss which they maintained was the direct result of their going forth to fight. There is no doubt that speaking in these terms when the sense of loss among the Muslims was still acute was bound to increase confusion among the Muslims. Hence, the Qur’ān dispels all confusion and provides the right criteria and the correct concepts and values.
 
The unbelievers said of those who were killed in the Battle of Uĥud: “Had they stayed with us they would not have died, nor would they have been killed.” Their statement, however, shows the great gulf between the concepts of those who have faith and those deprived of it and the laws governing human life, whether pleasant or unpleasant. A believer is aware of these laws and God’s will, and he accepts it with reassurance because he knows that he will only get what God has determined for him, and that what happens to him was bound to happen and what he may have missed, he could never have achieved anyway. Therefore, he neither panics in a calamity, nor is he overwhelmed with joy when good fortunes smiles on him. He does not regret not having done so and so in order to avoid something or to ensure another. Any alternatives should be considered before taking action. Once action is taken, after full consideration, and according to one’s best knowledge and within the framework of what God sanctions, the believer accepts any results with satisfaction and  reassurance.  In  other  words,
whatever  happens  must  take  place according to God’s will. There was no way it could have been avoided, although it was he himself who provided its causes. There is a perfect equilibrium between action and acceptance of the results, between positiveness and reliance on God. A person who does not have this type of straightforward faith in God will always remain worried and hesitant, and will always say: “If only ...”, “Had it not been for...”, “I wish that ...” and “How sorrowful it is that...”
 
As God cultivates the Muslim community and points to the lessons they must learn from the Battle of Uĥud and what the Muslims suffered in it, He warns the believers against doing the same thing as the unbelievers. Their sorrow borders on despair every time a relative of theirs dies at work away from home or fighting for God’s cause: “Believers, be not like those who disbelieve and say of their brethren, when they travel on earth or go forth to war, ‘Had they stayed with us, they would not have died, nor would they have been killed.’” They say this because they have a false concept of what takes place in the universe and of the power behind it. They only see superficial circumstances and reasons because they have removed themselves from God.
 
“So that God places a source of despair in their hearts.” They see their brethren travelling abroad in order to earn their living and they die, and they see them going forth to war and they are killed. They feel that in both cases, it was their setting out that had brought about their death or caused them to be killed. They experience a profound sense of sorrow that they did not prevent them from setting forth. They did not appreciate the real reason, namely, that the life span of those who die was over, their deathbeds beckoned them, and that everyone dies by God’s will. Had they realised this, they would not have felt such immense sorrow. They would have accepted what God has determined. “It is God alone Who grants life and causes death.” He grants life and takes it back at the time He has appointed, whether people are at their homes, with their families, or working to earn their living, or fighting for their faith. He rewards people according to what He knows of them: “God sees all that you do.”