أَعُوذُ بِاللّٰهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ
الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ اْلعَالَمِينَ وَالصَّلاَةُ وَالسَّلاَمُ
عَلٰى رَسُولِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلٰى اٰلِهِ وَ اَصْحَابِه أَجْمَعِينَ
بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
وَاعْتَصِمُوا
بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعاً وَلا تَفَرَّقُوا وَاذْكُرُوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ
عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنْتُمْ أَعْدَاءً فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُمْ
بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْوَاناً وَكُنْتُمْ عَلَى شَفَا حُفْرَةٍ مِنْ النَّارِ
فَأَنْقَذَكُمْ مِنْهَا كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ آيَاتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ
تَهْتَدُونَ (103)
103. (And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah, and
be not divided among yourselves, and remember Allah's favor on you, for you
were enemies of one another but He joined your hearts together, so that, by His
grace, you became brethren, and you were on the brink of a pit of Fire, and He
saved you from it. Thus Allah makes His Ayat clear to you, that you may be
guided.)
Allah said next,
﴿ وَاعْتَصِمُواْ بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعاً
وَلاَ تَفَرَّقُواْ ﴾
(And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah, and be not
divided among yourselves.) It was said that,
﴿ بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ ﴾
(to the Rope of Allah) refers to Allah's covenant, just as Allah said in the
following Ayah,
﴿ ضُرِبَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ الذِّلَّةُ أَيْنَ مَا
ثُقِفُواْ إِلاَّ بِحَبْلٍ مِّنْ اللَّهِ وَحَبْلٍ مِّنَ النَّاسِ ﴾
(Indignity is put over them wherever they may be, except when under a
covenant (of protection) from Allah, and from men;) ﴿3:112 ﴾, in reference to
pledges and peace treaties.
Allah's statement
﴿ وَلاَ تَفَرَّقُواْ ﴾
(and be not divided among yourselves), orders sticking to the community of
the believers and forbids division. There are several Hadiths that require
adhering to the Jama`ah (congregation of believers) and prohibit division.
Muslim recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said,
« إِنَّ اللهَ يَرْضَى لَكُمْ ثَلَاثًا، وَيَسْخَطُ لَكُمْ ثَلَاثًا: يَرْضَى
لَكُمْ أَنْ تَعْبُدُوهُ وَلَا تُشْرِكُوا بِهِ شَيْئًا، وَأَنْ تَعْتَصِمُوا
بِحَبْلِ اللهِ جَمِيعًا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا،وَأَنْ تَنَاصَحُوا مَنْ وَلَّاهُ
اللهُ أَمْرَكُمْ. وَيَسْخَطُ لَكُمْ ثَلَاثًا: قِيلَ وَقَالَ، وَكَثْرَةَ
السُّؤَالِ، وَإِضَاعَةَ الْمَال »
(It pleases Allah for you to acquire three qualities and displeases Him
that you acquire three characteristics. It pleases Him that you worship Him
Alone and not associate anything or anyone with Him in worship, that you hold
on to the Rope of Allah altogether and do not divide, and that you advise whoever
Allah appoints as your Leader. The three that displease Him are that you say,
`It was said,' and, `So-and-so said,' asking many unnecessary questions and
wasting money.)
Allah said,
﴿ وَاذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ
إِذْ كُنتُم أَعْدَآءً
فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُم بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْوَاناً ﴾
(and
remember Allah's favor on you, for you were enemies one to another but He
joined your hearts together, so that, by His grace, you became brethren) ﴿3:103﴾.
This was revealed about the Aws and Khazraj. During the time of Jahiliyyah,
the Aws and Khazraj were at war and had great hatred, enmity and ill feelings
towards each other, causing long conflicts and battles to occur between them.
When Allah brought Islam, those among them who embraced it became brothers who
loved each other by Allah's grace, having good ties for Allah's sake and
helping each other in righteousness and piety. Allah said,
وَإِنْ
يُرِيدُوا أَنْ يَخْدَعُوكَ فَإِنَّ حَسْبَكَ اللَّهُ هُوَ الَّذِي أَيَّدَكَ
بِنَصْرِهِ وَبِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ (62)
وَأَلَّفَ
بَيْنَ قُلُوبِهِمْ لَوْ أَنفَقْتَ مَا فِي الأَرْضِ جَمِيعاً مَا أَلَّفْتَ
بَيْنَ قُلُوبِهِمْ وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ أَلَّفَ بَيْنَهُمْ إِنَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ
(63)
(He it is Who has supported you with
His Help and with the believers. And He has united their hearts. If you had
spent all that is in the earth, you could not have united their hearts, but
Allah has united them)﴿(Surah Al-Anfâl:62-63)﴾, until the end of the
Ayah.
Before Islam, their disbelief had them standing at the edge of a pit of the
Fire, but Allah saved them from it and delivered them to faith.
The Messenger of Allah reminded the Ansar ﴿from both Aws and
Khazraj﴾ of this bounty when he
was dividing the war booty of Hunayn. During that time, some Ansar did not like
the way the booty was divided, since they did not get what the others did,
although that was what Allah directed His Prophet to do. The Messenger of Allah
gave them a speech, in which he said,
«يَا مَعْشَرَ الْأَنْصَارِ أَلَمْ أَجِدْكُمْ
ضُلَّالًا فَهَدَاكُمُ اللهُ بِي،
وَكُنْتُمْ مُتَفَرِّقِينَ فَأَلَّفَكُمُ اللهُ
بِي، وَعَالَةً فَأَغْنَاكُمُ اللهُ بِي؟»
(O Ansar! Did I not find you misguided and Allah directed you to guidance
because of me Were you not divided beforehand and Allah united you around me
Were you not poor and Allah enriched you because of me)
Whenever the Prophet asked them a question, they would answer,
"Indeed, Allah and His Messenger have granted us bounty.''
