Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:173
Those to whom hypocrites said, "Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them." But it [merely] increased them in faith, and they said, "Sufficient for us is Allah, and [He is] the best Disposer of affairs."
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 the saying of the Most High: الَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ النَّاسُ إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا لَكُمْ فَاخْشَوْهُمْ فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَقَالُوا حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ (3:173) (Those to whom the people said: "The people have gathered against you, so fear them" — but it only increased them in faith, and they said: "Allah is sufficient for us, and what an excellent Guardian is He.")
Abū Jaʿfar said: By this He means, exalted is His mention: وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ لا يُضِيعُ أَجْرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ (and that Allah does not let the reward of the believers go to waste), "those to whom the people said: 'The people have gathered against you'."
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And "those" (alladhīna) is in the genitive, referring back to "the believers" (al-muʾminīn). This description is a characteristic of those who responded to Allah and the Messenger.
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And "the people" — the first mention of them — are a group who, according to what has been transmitted to us, were requested by Abū Sufyān to discourage the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his companions, who had set out in search of him after his return from Uḥud to Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad.
And "the people" — the second mention — are Abū Sufyān and his companions of the Quraysh who had been with him at Uḥud.
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By His saying "they have gathered against you" He means: they have brought together the men to meet you and to return against you for battle. "So fear them" — He says: be on your guard against them and avoid meeting them, for you are no match for them. "But it only increased them in faith" — He says: that, namely the intimidation by the one who portrayed to them the affair of Abū Sufyān and his companions of the polytheists (mushrikīn) as terrifying, added to their conviction yet more conviction, and to their affirmation of Allah, of His promise, and of the promise of His Messenger, yet more affirmation. It did not hold them back from the direction the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had commanded them to take, but they marched onward until they attained the good pleasure of Allah by it. And they said — out of trust in Allah and out of submission to Him, when the one who frightened them made them fear Abū Sufyān and his companions of the polytheists — "Allah is sufficient for us, and what an excellent Guardian is He." By His saying "Allah is sufficient for us" He means: Allah is enough for us, that is to say: Allah is adequate for us. "And what an excellent Guardian is He" — He says: and what an excellent Protector for whomever He protects and for whoever entrusts himself to Him.
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The Most High described Himself with this attribute because "the wakīl" (the trustee, protector) in the language of the Arabs is the one to whom is entrusted the management of the affair of him who has entrusted to him the management of his affair. And since the people whom Allah described in these verses had committed their affair to Allah, relied upon Him, and entrusted it to Him, He described Himself with concerning Himself with them on that account, and with their entrusting of their affair to Him by way of delegation, and He said: and what an excellent Guardian is Allah, the Most High, for them.
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The scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differ over the time at which the one who said to the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ "The people have gathered against you" said that.
Some of them said: that was said to them on the expedition on which they set out with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from Uḥud to Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad, in search of Abū Sufyān and the polytheists who were with him.
Mention of who said that, and mention of the occasion on account of which that was said, and who said it:
8243 — Muḥammad ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn Abī Bakr ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr ibn Ḥazm, who said: Maʿbad al-Khuzāʿī passed by him — that is, by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — at Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad. Now Khuzāʿa, both their Muslims and their polytheists, were the confidants of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in the Tihāma; their covenant was with him, and they kept nothing hidden from him of what was happening there. Maʿbad that day was a polytheist. He said: "By Allah, O Muḥammad, by Allah, what has befallen you regarding your companions has weighed heavily upon us, and we would have wished that Allah had spared you regarding them!" Then he left the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad, until he met Abū Sufyān ibn Ḥarb and those with him at al-Rawḥāʾ. They had resolved to return against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his companions, and they said: "We have struck them! We have broken the keenness of his companions, their leaders and their nobles — and shall we then return before we have utterly exterminated them?! We shall surely return against whoever of them remains, and we shall make an end of them." When Abū Sufyān saw Maʿbad, he said: "What have you left behind you, O Maʿbad?" He said: "Muḥammad has set out with his companions to seek you in an army such as I have never seen; they burn with rage against you. With him has gathered whoever had stayed behind during your day, and they regret what they did; in them lives a bitterness against you such as I have never seen!" He said: "Woe to you! What are you saying?" He said: "By Allah, I do not think you will depart before you see the forelocks of the horses!" He said: "But by Allah, we had resolved to return against them to exterminate whoever of them remains!" He said: "Then I forbid you that, for by Allah, what I have seen has led me to compose some verses of poetry about him!" He said: "And what have you composed?" He said, I said:
My mount almost collapsed from the sounds, when the earth streamed with the short-haired horses in scattered throngs.
It trampled with noble lions, no men of short stature at the encounter, and no clumsy ones who shun battle without weapon.
Then I ran at full speed, supposing the earth was reeling, when they advanced with a leader who is not abandoned.
I said: woe to Ibn Ḥarb at your encounter, when the plain seethes with the cavalry.
Verily, I am an open warner to the people of the sacred precinct, to every one of them who possesses understanding and insight,
against the army of Aḥmad — no rabble are his hosts — and what I have warned of cannot be described with idle words.
He said: and that held back Abū Sufyān and those with him. And a troop of horsemen of ʿAbd al-Qays passed by him. He said: "Where do you intend to go?" They said: "We intend to go to Medina." He said: "For what?" They said: "We intend to lay in provisions." He said: "Could you then convey on my behalf a message to Muḥammad with which I send you, and then tomorrow I shall load your camels for you with raisins at ʿUkāẓ, when you arrive there?" They said: "Yes." He said: "When you come to him, inform him that we have resolved to march against him and his companions to exterminate whoever of them remains!" The troop then passed by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while he was at Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad, and they informed him of what Abū Sufyān had said. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his companions said: "Allah is sufficient for us, and what an excellent Guardian is He."
8244 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, who said: Allah said: "Those to whom the people said: 'The people have gathered against you, so fear them' — but it only increased them in faith, and they said: 'Allah is sufficient for us, and what an excellent Guardian is He'." And "the people" who said to them what they said were the group from ʿAbd al-Qays to whom Abū Sufyān had said what he said: that Abū Sufyān and those with him are returning against you! Allah, blessed and exalted is He, says: فَانْقَلَبُوا بِنِعْمَةٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَفَضْلٍ لَمْ يَمْسَسْهُمْ سُوءٌ (So they returned with a favor from Allah and a grace; no evil touched them), the verse.
8245 — Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: When they — that is, Abū Sufyān and his companions — regretted their return away from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his companions, and said: "Return and exterminate them," Allah cast terror into their hearts, so that they were defeated. Then they met a bedouin and held out to him a reward and said to him: "If you meet Muḥammad and his companions, inform them that we have gathered against them!" Allah, exalted is His praise, informed the Messenger of Allah ﷺ of this, and he went after them until he reached Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad. They met the bedouin on the way, and he conveyed to them the report. Then they said: "Allah is sufficient for us, and what an excellent Guardian is He!" After that they returned from Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad. And Allah, the Most High, revealed concerning them and concerning the bedouin who met them: "Those to whom the people said: 'The people have gathered against you, so fear them' — but it only increased them in faith, and they said: 'Allah is sufficient for us, and what an excellent Guardian is He'."
8246 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: Abū Sufyān, on his return from Uḥud, met a caravan that was on its way to Medina with merchandise of theirs, while between them and the Prophet ﷺ there was a covenant. He said: "Verily, you will earn from me my satisfaction if you keep Muḥammad and those with him away from me, if you find him while he is seeking me, and you inform him that I have gathered numerous multitudes against him." The caravan met the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and they said to him: "O Muḥammad, verily we inform you that Abū Sufyān has gathered numerous multitudes against you, and that he is advancing upon Medina; if you wish to return, then do so!" But that only increased him and those with him in conviction, and they said: "Allah is sufficient for us, and what an excellent Guardian is He." Then Allah, blessed and exalted is He, revealed: "Those to whom the people said: 'The people have gathered against you'," the verse.
8247 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ set out with a band of his companions, after Abū Sufyān and his companions had returned from Uḥud, in pursuit of them, until they were at Dhū al-Ḥulayfa. Then the bedouins and the people began to pass by them and to say to them: "This is Abū Sufyān, he is advancing against you with the people!" They said: "Allah is sufficient for us, and what an excellent Guardian is He." Then Allah, the Most High, revealed concerning them: "Those to whom the people said: 'The people have gathered against you, so fear them' — but it only increased them in faith, and they said: 'Allah is sufficient for us, and what an excellent Guardian is He'."
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And others said: rather, that was said to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his companions by the one who said it to him, at the time of the battle of Badr al-Ṣughrā (Lesser Badr); and that was during the expedition of the Prophet ﷺ in the year following the battle of Uḥud, to meet his enemy Abū Sufyān and his companions, at the appointment he had made with him to meet there.
* Mention of who said that:
8248 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: "Those to whom the people said: 'The people have gathered against you'," he said: this is Abū Sufyān; he said to Muḥammad: "Your appointment is Badr, where you killed our companions." Then Muḥammad ﷺ said: "Perhaps!" The Messenger of Allah ﷺ set out for his appointment until he arrived at Badr, and they found the market there and made purchases. That, then, is His saying, blessed and exalted is He: فَانْقَلَبُوا بِنِعْمَةٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَفَضْلٍ لَمْ يَمْسَسْهُمْ سُوءٌ (So they returned with a favor from Allah and a grace; no evil touched them). And that is the battle of Badr al-Ṣughrā.
8249 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, in similar wording — and he added: and that is Badr al-Ṣughrā. Ibn Jurayj said: when the Prophet ﷺ had drawn up his troops for the appointment with Abū Sufyān, they began to meet the polytheists and to ask them about the Quraysh, and those said: "They have gathered against you!" By this they devised a stratagem against them, wishing to strike fear into them, whereupon the believers said: "Allah is sufficient for us, and what an excellent Guardian is He," until they arrived at Badr and found its markets free of competition, with no one vying with them. He said: and a man of the polytheists arrived and informed the people of Mecca about the cavalry of Muḥammad, peace be upon him, and he said concerning it:
My young she-camel shied away from the horses of Muḥammad and from the scattered ʿajwa dates like the black raisin, and she has taken the water of Qudayd as my destination.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: Thus did al-Qāsim recite it to us, but that is incorrect; rather it is:
Already has my mare shied away from the company of Muḥammad, and from the ʿajwa dates of Yathrib like the black raisin; she races onward in the ancient manner of her sire; already has she made the water of Qudayd my destination, and the water of Ḍajnān in the forenoon of the following day.
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8250 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna informed us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of ʿIkrima, who said: Badr was a trading market in the time of ignorance (jāhiliyya). A number of the Muslims set out, on their way there, and a number of the polytheists met them and said to them: "Verily, the people have gathered against you, so fear them!" The coward then turned back, but the brave one took up the equipment for battle and the equipment for trade, and they said: "Allah is sufficient for us, and what an excellent Guardian is He!" They came to them, but found no one. Then Allah, mighty and exalted is He, revealed concerning them: "Verily, the people have gathered against you, so fear them." Ibn Yaḥyā said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq said: Ibn ʿUyayna said: and Zakariyyā informed me, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿAmr, who said: it is the word of Ibrāhīm (Abraham), peace be upon him, when he was cast into the fire; he said then: "Allah is sufficient for us, and what an excellent Guardian is He."
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Abū Jaʿfar said: And the most correct of the two opinions in this is the opinion of him who said: "That which was said to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his companions — that the people have gathered against you, so fear them — was at the time of the setting out of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and of those who set out with him, in the track of Abū Sufyān and the polytheists of the Quraysh who were with him, upon their return from Uḥud to Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad." For Allah, exalted is His mention, praised precisely those whom He described with their saying: "Allah is sufficient for us, and what an excellent Guardian is He," when it was said to them: "Verily, the people have gathered against you, so fear them," after the wounds and injuries that had befallen them, with His saying: الَّذِينَ اسْتَجَابُوا لِلَّهِ وَالرَّسُولِ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا أَصَابَهُمُ الْقَرْحُ (Those who responded to Allah and the Messenger after the wound had befallen them). And this description fits only those who followed the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, from among his companions wounded at Uḥud, to Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad.
As for those who set out with him to the battle of Badr al-Ṣughrā: among them there was no wounded man, except a wounded man whose wound had already long since healed and whose injury had been cured. For the Messenger of Allah ﷺ set out for Badr only on his second setting out there, for the appointment with Abū Sufyān that he had made with him to meet there, a year after the battle of Uḥud, in Shaʿbān of the year four of the hijra. That is because the battle of Uḥud took place in the middle of Shawwāl of the year three, and the setting out of the Prophet ﷺ for the battle of Badr al-Ṣughrā there in Shaʿbān of the year four; and between those two times there was for the Prophet ﷺ no encounter with the polytheists in which there was a battle between them in which his companions were wounded. There were indeed in the encounter of al-Rajīʿ a number of his companions killed, none of whom witnessed the battle of Badr al-Ṣughrā. And the encounter of al-Rajīʿ took place between the battle of Uḥud and the expedition of the Prophet ﷺ to Badr al-Ṣughrā.
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