Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:166
And what struck you on the day the two armies met was by permission of Allah that He might make evident the [true] believers.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of His word: وَمَا أَصَابَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْتَقَى الْجَمْعَانِ فَبِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ وَلِيَعْلَمَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ (166) وَلِيَعْلَمَ الَّذِينَ نَافَقُوا ("And what struck you on the day the two hosts met was by Allah's permission, and that He might know the believers, and that He might know those who acted hypocritically").
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, means by this: and that which struck you يوم التقى الجمعان ("on the day the two hosts met"), and that is the day of Uḥud, when the host of the Muslims and the polytheists (mushrikīn) met one another. And by "that which struck them" He means: what befell them of slaying among those of them who were killed, and of wounds among those of them who were wounded — فبإذن الله ("then it was by Allah's permission"), He says: it came to pass by Allah's permission, that is: by His decree and His predetermination over you.
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And He answered "what (mā)" with the fāʾ, because "mā" is a conditional particle, and I have already expounded the like of that earlier.
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— وليعلم المؤمنين * وليعلم الذين نافقوا ("and that He might know the believers, and that He might know those who acted hypocritically"), in the meaning of: and that Allah might know the believers, and that He might know those who acted hypocritically. That which struck you struck you on the day the two hosts met at Uḥud, so that the people of faith in Allah and His Messenger might distinguish the believers among you from the hypocrites and recognize them, so that the affair of the two groups would not remain hidden from them.
And we have already expounded the explanation of His word وليعلم المؤمنين ("and that He might know the believers") earlier, and what its import is, in a manner that relieves us from repeating it in this place.
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And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, Ibn Isḥāq said.
8192 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: وما أصابكم يوم التقى الجمعان فبإذن الله وليعلم المؤمنين ("And what struck you on the day the two hosts met was by Allah's permission, and that He might know the believers"), that is: what struck you when you and your enemy met one another, that came to pass by My permission, when you did what you did, after My help had come to you and I had made good My promise to you, so that a distinction might be made between the hypocrites and the believers, and that He might know those among you who acted hypocritically, that is: so that they might reveal what was within them.
