The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 125
PT. 4 ĀL-E-‘IMRĀN CH. 3 وَلِيُمَحِّصَ اللهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَيَمْحَقَ And that Allah may purify. 142 الْكَفِرِينَ those who believe, and destroy the disbelievers. 425 the loss to Muslims and disbelievers has been spoken of in the present verse as similar. Or the verse might be taken to refer to the nature or quality of the misfortune, which was alike in both cases. In that case, verse 166 below might be taken to refer to quantity and the present verse to quality. The word "days" is used both for the "days of success" and the "days of misfortune". Here either of these may be taken, but preferably the latter. swerve from the path of faith, their sincerity becomes evident. Trials also serve to distinguish true believers from hypocrites. If there had been no trials, the hypocrisy of men like 'Abdullāh bin Ubayy and his associates would have remained undetected and unknown. The word us (witnesses) does not here mean martyrs, for a true Muslim is always a martyr if killed in the cause of God. Moreover, there is no sense in saying that the reverse at Uhud was meant to take martyrs from among Muslims. Here, therefore, the word means witnesses. The Faithful bear witness to the truth of Islam by their steadfastness and by the noble set in times of example they They are eloquent misfortune. witnesses to the truth of Islam. The words, And such days We cause to alternate, mean that even believers sometimes suffer reverses. If it were not so, then there would be little credit in being a believer. No effort is required to find or see the sun, and so one deserves no reward for it. In matters of faith, therefore, there is always present an element of secrecy, and only those who are seriously and earnestly desirous of knowing the truth discern and accept it. Hence, they become deserving of reward in the sight of God. The words also 425. Commentary: implied a prophecy that the reverse at Uhud was to be followed by victory for the Muslims; and so it actually came to pass. The words, Allah may distinguish those who believe, signify that misfortunes are also intended to make the faith of true believers evident to all. When believers endure trials with patience and steadfastness and do not 565 The word unjust at the end of the verse signifies that in view of the facts stated above, it is unjust to find fault with Islam on the basis of such reverses. The reverse suffered at Uhud cleansed Muslims of their sins. It served as a sort of atonement for their sins. Moreover, the Battle of Uḥud made some disbelievers realize that Islam was God's religion. The very Meccans who took a leading part against the Muslims in that battle ultimately converted to Islam. Their hearts were conquered and disbelief