Background
The following is the background of the Sura: (1) The Believers had met with all sorts of
trials and hardships about which they had been forewarned in Al- Baqarah. Though
they had come out victorious in the Battle of Badr
they were not out of danger yet. Their victory had aroused the enmity of all those
powers in Arabia which were opposed to the Islamic Movement. Signs of threatening
storms had begun to appear on all sides and the Muslims were in a perpetual state of
fear and anxiety. It looked as if the whole Arabian world around the tiny state of Al-
Madinah which was no more than a village state at that time-was bent upon blotting out
its very existence. This state of war was also adversely affecting its economy
which had already been badly disturbed by the influx of the Muslim refugees from
Makkah. (2) Then there was the disturbing problem of the Jewish clans who lived in the
suburbs of Al-Madinah. They were discarding the treaties of alliance they had made
with the Holy Prophet after his migration from Makkah. So much so that on the occasion
of the Battle of Badr
these people of the Book sympathized with the evil aims of the idolaters
in spite of the fact that their fundamental articles of the Faith-Oneness of Allah
Prophethood
Life-after- death-were the same as those of the Muslims. After the Battle of Badr
they openly began to incite the Quraish and other Arab clans to wreak their vengeance
on the Muslims. Thus those Jewish clans set aside their centuries-old friendly and
neighborly relations with the people of Al-Madinah. At last when their mischievous
actions and breaches of treaties became unbearable
the Holy Prophet attacked the Bani- Qainu-qa'a
the most mischievous of all the other Jewish clans who had conspired with the
hypocrites of Al-Madinah and the idolatrous Arab clans to encircle the Believers on all
sides. The magnitude of the peril might be judged from the fact that even the life of the
Holy Prophet himself was always in danger. Therefore his Companions slept in their
armors during that period and kept watch at night to guard against any sudden attack
and whenever the Holy Prophet happened to be out of sight even for a short while
they would at once set out in search of him. (3) This incitement by the Jews added fuel
to the fire which was burning in the hearts of the Quraish and they began to make
preparations to avenge the defeat they had suffered at Bad. A year after this an army of
3
000 strong marched out of Makkah to invade Al-Madinah and a battle took place at the
foot of Mount Uhd. The Holy Prophet came out of Al-Madinah with one thousand men
to meet the enemy. While they were marching to the battle-field
three hundred hypocrites deserted the army and returned to Al- Madinah
but there still remained a small band of hypocrites among the seven hundred who
accompanied the Holy Prophet. They played their part and did their worst to create
mischief and chaos in the ranks of the Believers during the Battle. This was the first
clear indication of the fact that within the fold of the Muslim Community there was quite
a large number of saboteurs who were always ready to conspire with the external
enemies to harm their own brethren. (4) Though the devices of the hypocrites had
played a great part in the set-back at Uhud
the weaknesses of the Muslims themselves contributed no less to it. And it was but
natural that the Muslims should show signs of moral weakness for they were a new
community which had only recently been formed on a new ideology and had not as yet
got a thorough moral training. Naturally in this second hard test of their physical and
moral strength
some weaknesses came to the surface. That is why a detailed review of the Battle of
Uhud was needed to warn the Muslims of their shortcomings and to issue instructions
for their reform. It should also be noted that this review of the Battle is quite different
from the reviews that are usually made by generals on similar occasions.
Subject: Guidance
This Sura is the sequel to
Al-Baqarah and the invitation therein is continued to the people of the Book. In Al-
Baqarah the Jews were pointedly invited to accept the Guidance and in this Sura the
Christians have particularly been admonished to give up their erroneous beliefs and
accept the Guidance of the Quran. At the same time
the Muslims have been instructed to nourish the virtues that may enable them to carry
out their obligations and spread the Divine Guidance.
