Brethren
After this, an
historical evidence from the period in which the Qur’an was being revealed was
presented and the believers were addressed thus: “And remember with gratitude
Allah’s favor on you, for you were enemies and He joined your hearts in love,
so that by His grace you became brethren.”
Yathrib, and indeed
the whole of Arabia, was torn with civil and tribal feuds and contentions
before the Prophet of Islam set his sacred feet on its soil. After that, it became
the city of the Prophet (SAW), an unmatched brotherhood, and the pivot of
Islam. Before the advent of Islam, there were animosities among the tribes
which regularly broke out into fighting and devastation; every now and then
there was much bloodshed. Things had reached a point where the entire Arabian
nation seemed to be on the verge of destroying itself. It was due to the
blessings of Islam alone that it was saved from being consumed by the fire to
which this ayah alludes.
The people of Yathrib (which later came to be known as
Medinah) had embraced Islam some three or four years before this ayah was
revealed. They had witnessed the blessing of Islam as it unified into one
brotherhood the Aws and the Khazraj, two tribes which had long been sworn enemies.
Moreover, both tribes treated the migrants from Makkah in a spirit of sacrifice
and love seldom seen even among members of the same family. The ayah under
consideration ends with the words: “Thus Allah makes His signs clear to you
that you may be guided to the right way.” That is to say, if people had eyes to
see they could conclude for themselves whether their salvation lay in adhering
firmly to the teachings of the Qur’an or in abandoning them and reverting to
their former state. They could decide very easily whether their true
well-wishers were Allah (SWT) and His Messenger (SAW) or those Jews,
Polytheists, and hypocrites who strove to plunge them back into their former
despicable state.
to be continued....
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