Answer to Question
Who is Addressed by this verse?

[يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنْ تَنْصُرُوا اللَّهَ يَنْصُرْكُمْ]

“O you who have believed, if you support Allah, He will support you and plant firmly your feet” [Muhammad: 7]
To: Mohamed Ali Bouazizi
(Translated)

Question:

Assalam Alaikum

May Allah grant everyone the success in what brings good for Islam and the Muslims.

Allah (swt) says:

[إِنْ تَنْصُرُوا اللَّهَ يَنْصُرْكُمْ وَيُثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَكُمْ]

“...if you support Allah, He will support you and plant firmly your feet” [Muhammad: 7]

Is this address directed towards the Ummah only, that is, will Allah (swt) help the Ummah when Islam is implemented in it? In other words, Is it only when the Nusra (material support) is given to the party bloc that works to resume the Islamic way of life and the Caliph begins to implement Islam, that Allah’s victory begins?

Or does the address in the verse also applies to the party bloc that works to resume the Islamic way of life, and that Allah’s victory for it is the response of the people of Nusra to the group, like what is mentioned in the Seerah that when Allah (swt) wanted to send victory (Nusra) to His servant (Muhammad (saw)), he led a group from the Aws and Khazraj to him (saw)?

Answer:

Wa Alaikum Assalam Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuh:

The noble verse is:

[يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنْ تَنْصُرُوا اللَّهَ يَنْصُرْكُمْ وَيُثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَكُمْ * وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فَتَعْساً لَهُمْ وَأَضَلَّ أَعْمَالَهُمْ * ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَرِهُوا مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ فَأَحْبَطَ أَعْمَالَهُمْ]

“O you who have believed, if you support Allah, He will support you and plant firmly your feet * But those who disbelieve - for them is misery, and He will waste their deeds * That is because they disliked what Allah revealed, so He rendered worthless their deeds” [Muhammad: 7-9].

The address is general (those who have believed) and it is for the believers and not for the fighters only, i.e., it includes fighting and non-fighting and it applies to the army in the battle. It also includes the party carrying the call. This address does not authorize fighting like the verses:

[وَقَاتِلُوهُمْ حَتَّى لَا تَكُونَ فِتْنَةٌ وَيَكُونَ الدِّينُ لِلَّهِ فَإِنِ انْتَهَوْا فَلَا عُدْوَانَ إِلَّا عَلَى الظَّالِمِينَ]

“Fight them until there is no [more] fitnah and [until] worship is [acknowledged to be] for Allah. But if they cease, then there is to be no aggression except against the oppressors” [Al-Baqara: 193]

[قَاتِلُوهُمْ يُعَذِّبْهُمُ اللَّهُ بِأَيْدِيكُمْ وَيُخْزِهِمْ وَيَنْصُرْكُمْ عَلَيْهِمْ وَيَشْفِ صُدُورَ قَوْمٍ مُؤْمِنِينَ]

“Fight them; Allah will punish them by your hands and will disgrace them and give you victory over them and satisfy the breasts of a believing people” [At-Tawba: 14]. The address in the noble verse is the subject of the question not a text regarding fighting only, rather it is like His (swt) saying:

[إِنَّا لَنَنْصُرُ رُسُلَنَا وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيَوْمَ يَقُومُ الْأَشْهَادُ]

“Indeed, We will support Our messengers and those who believe during the life of this world and on the Day when the witnesses will stand” [Ghafir: 51]. Allah (swt) does not only give victory to the Prophets, but also to those who have believed.

[وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا]

And victory is not only on the Day when witnesses will stand:

[وَيَوْمَ يَقُومُ الْأَشْهَادُ]

That is, in the Hereafter only, by attaining Allah’s pleasure and the Jannat al Firdous, but also in this life, by attaining glory and empowerment:

[فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا]

It may be said that the word support and planting the feet firmly indicates victory in the war, and this is true, but it also does not negate the victory of the carrier of the call by achieving his goal, i.e., winning in this world and the next, as we explained above for the generality of the address. So, all of this is support, i.e., it is victory. Also, the planting of the feet firmly can be by being steadfast on speaking the truth, as in the Allah’s saying (swt):

[يُثَبِّتُ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِالْقَوْلِ الثَّابِتِ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ]

“Allah keeps firm those who believe, with the firm word, in worldly life and in the Hereafter” [Ibrahim: 27].

- In the tafseer of this noble verse by Ibn Katheer:

[يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنْ تَنْصُرُوا اللَّهَ يَنْصُرْكُمْ وَيُثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَكُمْ (7) وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فَتَعْساً لَهُمْ وَأَضَلَّ أَعْمَالَهُمْ (8) ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَرِهُوا مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ فَأَحْبَطَ أَعْمَالَهُمْ]

“O you who have believed, if you support Allah, He will support you and plant firmly your feet * But those who disbelieve - for them is misery, and He will waste their deeds * That is because they disliked what Allah revealed, so He rendered worthless their deeds” [Muhammad: 7-9].

[Allah (swt) says:

[يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنْ تَنْصُرُوا اللَّهَ يَنْصُرْكُمْ وَيُثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَكُمْ]

“O you who have believed, if you support Allah, He will support you and plant firmly your feet” [Muhammad: 7].Like His saying:

[وَلَيَنْصُرَنَّ اللَّهُ مَنْ يَنْصُرُهُ]

“And Allah will surely support those who support Him” [Al-Hajj: 40]. So, the reward is equated to action, this is why He says:

[وَيُثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَكُمْ]

“you and plant firmly your feet”As in the Hadith: «مَنْ بَلَّغَ ذَا سُلْطَانٍ حَاجَةَ مَنْ لَا يَسْتَطِيعُ إِبْلَاغَهَا، ثَبَّتَ اللَّهُ قَدَمَهُ عَلَى الصِّرَاطِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ»... “Whoever conveys the need of a person who is unable to convey it to one of authority, Allah will make his feet firm upon the Sirat on the Day of Judgement”.]

[يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنْ تَنْصُرُوا اللَّهَ]

“O you who have believed, if you support Allah” i.e., the Deen of Allah and His Messenger, then Allah will support you against your enemy:

[يَنصُرْكُمْ]

And will plant firmly your feet

[وَيُثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَكُمْ]

And open for you in battlefields of war or the objectives of Islam] So, planting the feet firmly can be during the war and in carrying of the call to Islam.

- In the tafseer of Al-Qurtubi of this noble verse:

[يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنْ تَنْصُرُوا اللَّهَ يَنْصُرْكُمْ]

“O you who have believed, if you support Allah, He will support” [Muhammad: 7]. That is if you support Allah’s Deen, Allah will support you against the Kuffar. Like the verse:

[وَلَيَنْصُرَنَّ اللهُ مَنْ يَنْصُرُهُ]

“And Allah will surely support those who support Him” [Al-Hajj: 40].

Qatrib said: If you help the Prophet of Allah, Allah will help you, and the meaning is the same.

[وَيُثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَكُمْ]

“...and plant firmly your feet” [Muhammad: 7].

That is when fighting. It is said: upon Islam, it is said: upon the Sirat. It is said that the meaning is to make the hearts firm with security.

Planting of the feet firm: is a representation of certainty and lack of weakness like the one whose feet are fixed on the ground and did not slip, because slippage is weakness that make the person fall, and therefore slipping of the feet represents defeat, disappointment and error. Allah (swt) says:

[فَتَزِلَّ قَدَمٌ بَعْدَ ثُبُوتِهَا]

“…lest a foot slip after it was [once] firm” [An-Nahl: 94].

In conclusion: the noble verse, although it refers to victory in war and steadfastness of feet in war, yet it does not negate victory for the Allah’s Deen in carrying His call and steadfastness on the truth, so that the feet do not slip, and then the carrier of the call does not fear anyone but Allah.

I hope that this is sufficient, and Allah is All-Knowing and Most Wise.

Your Brother,
Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah

25 Rajab Al Khair 1443 AH
26/2/2022 CE

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