سورة الفتح

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Imam Rida (peace be upon him): When the time of Imam Sajjad's (peace be upon him) death drew near, he lost consciousness, then he opened his eyes and recited the Surah: إِذا وَقَعَتِ الْواقِعَةُ [When the Event befalls] and إِنَّا فَتَحْنا [Indeed, We have granted you a manifest victory], and said: "They say: الْحَمْدُ لِلهِ الَّذِی صَدَقَنا وَعْدَهُ وَ أَوْرَثَنَا الْأَرْضَ نَتَبَوَّأُ مِنَ الْجَنَّةِ حَیْثُ نَشاءُ فَنِعْمَ أَجْرُ الْعامِلِینَ [Praise be to Allah who has been true to His promise to us and has made the earth (Paradise) our inheritance, so that we may dwell in the Garden wherever we wish. How excellent is the reward of those who work (righteousness)!]" (Zumar/74). And at that very hour his soul was taken and he said nothing more.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Whoever recites this Surah, it is as if he was present with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) at the conquest of Mecca.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Whoever recites Surah al-Fath, Allah will grant him a reward equal to the reward of those who pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) under the tree and remained faithful to their pledge, or those who were present with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) on the day of the conquest of Mecca.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Whoever recites this Surah, it is as if he was present at the conquest of Mecca with the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family). And in another narration it is stated that it is as if he was with those who pledged allegiance to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) under the tree at Hudaybiyyah.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Whoever makes the recitation of Surah إِنَّا فَتَحْنا [Indeed, We have granted you a manifest victory] his regular practice, on the Day of Judgement a caller will call out in such a way that all creatures will hear it: "You are among the sincere servants of Allah. Join him to the other righteous servants of Mine, settle him in the gardens of bliss, and give him to drink of the pure sealed wine mixed with camphor."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Whoever writes this surah and places it under his head will be safe from the evil of thieves, and whoever writes it and washes it off with Zamzam water will have popularity and influence in the eyes of the people, and whenever he hears something, he will retain it in his memory.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Whoever writes this surah and hangs it upon himself at the time of war or dispute will be completely safe, and the door of goodness will be opened for him. Whoever drinks the water blessed by it will be freed from fear and trembling. Whoever recites it when boarding a ship will, by the will of Allah, be safe from drowning in the sea.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Safeguard your wealth, your women and your slave-girls from destruction by reciting Surah al-Fath: إِنَّا فَتَحْنا لَکَ فَتْحاً مُبِیناً [Indeed We have granted you a manifest victory].

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Jabir al-Ju'fi narrates from Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) who said: "I was with Husayn ibn Ali (peace be upon him) when a man from Banu Umayya, from among our Shia, came to him and said: 'O son of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! Because of the pain in my feet, I do not have the strength to come to your presence.' The Imam (peace be upon him) said: 'Why do you not use the amulet of Husayn ibn Ali (peace be upon him)?' He asked: 'What is that amulet?' He said: 'The verses: إِنَّا فَتَحْنا لَکَ فَتْحاً مُبِیناً لِیَغْفِرَ لَکَ اللهُ ما تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِکَ وَ ما تَأَخَّرَ وَ یُتِمَّ نِعْمَتَهُ عَلَیْکَ وَ یَهْدِیَکَ صِراطاً مُسْتَقِیماً وَ یَنْصُرَکَ اللهُ نَصْراً عَزِیزاً هُوَ الَّذِی أَنْزَلَ السَّکِینَةَ فِی قُلُوبِ الْمؤْمِنِینَ لِیَزْدادُوا إِیماناً مَعَ إِیمانِهِمْ وَ لِلهِ جُنُودُ السَّماواتِ وَ الْأَرْضِ وَ کانَ اللهُ عَلِیماً حَکِیماً لِیُدْخِلَ المُؤْمِنِینَ وَ الْمؤْمِناتِ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِی مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهارُ خالِدِینَ فِیها وَ یُکَفِّرَ عَنْهُمْ سَیِّئاتِهِمْ وَ کانَ ذلِکَ عِنْدَ اللهِ فَوْزاً عَظِیماً وَ یُعَذِّبَ المُنافِقِینَ وَ الْمُنافِقاتِ وَ الْمشْرِکِینَ وَ الْمشْرِکاتِ الظَّانِّینَ بِاللهِ ظَنَّ السَّوْءِ عَلَیْهِمْ دائِرَةُ السَّوْءِ وَ غَضِبَ اللهُ عَلَیْهِمْ وَ لَعَنَهُمْ وَ أَعَدَّ لَهُمْ جَهَنَّمَ وَ ساءَتْ مَصِیراً وَ لِلهِ جُنُودُ السَّماواتِ وَ الْأَرْضِ وَ کانَ اللهُ عَزِیزاً حَکِیماً [Indeed We have granted you a manifest victory, that Allah may forgive you what preceded of your sin and what will follow, and complete His favour upon you and guide you to a straight path, and that Allah may help you with a mighty help. He is the One who sent down tranquillity into the hearts of the believers, that they might increase in faith along with their faith — and to Allah belong the hosts of the heavens and the earth, and Allah is Knowing, Wise — that He may admit the believing men and believing women into Gardens beneath which rivers flow, to abide therein forever, and remove from them their evil deeds — and that is, with Allah, a great triumph — and that He may punish the hypocrite men and hypocrite women, and the polytheist men and polytheist women, who think evil thoughts about Allah. Upon them is a turn of evil; Allah has become angry with them and has cursed them and prepared for them Hell, and evil it is as a destination. And to Allah belong the hosts of the heavens and the earth, and Allah is Mighty, Wise].' He said: 'I did what the Imam (peace be upon him) ordered me, and with the help of Allah, after that I felt no pain at all.'"

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The prayer of hardship and distress, from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): When a matter becomes difficult for you, at the time of noon perform two rak'ahs of prayer; in the first rak'ah recite al-Hamd, al-Tawhid, and إِنَّا فَتَحْنا لَکَ فَتْحاً مُبِیناً [Indeed We have granted you a manifest victory] up to وَ یَنْصُرَکَ اللهُ نَصْراً عَزِیزاً [and that Allah may help you with a mighty help], and in the second rak'ah al-Hamd, al-Tawhid, and أَ لَمْ نَشْرَحْ [Did We not expand for you your breast]; this has been thoroughly tried and proven.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): Whoever writes it and places it under his head will be safe from thieves. Whoever writes it on a sheet and washes it with Zamzam water and then drinks that water will have influence among people, and whenever he hears something, he will register it in his memory.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Until Surah al-Fath was revealed, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) would always say, "O Lord! I fear that I may disobey You and be afflicted with the punishment of the Day of Resurrection." But after that surah was revealed, he no longer said this statement.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ibn Sinan narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that he said: The occasion of the revelation of this Surah and this great victory was that Allah commanded the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) in a dream to enter Masjid al-Haram, perform tawaf of the Ka'bah, and along with the pilgrims at the end of the Hajj rites shave his head. The Messenger recounted his dream to his companions and ordered them to set out. When they reached Dhu al-Hulayfah, they entered ihram with the intention of performing umrah and brought along animals for sacrifice. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) designated sixty-six head of animals for sacrifice and, at the time of entering ihram, marked the camels. They entered ihram at Dhu al-Hulayfah with the intention of umrah. Each of them had marked their sacrificial animals and covered the backs of the camels. When this reached the ears of Quraysh, they sent Khalid ibn al-Walid with two hundred cavalrymen as an ambush to confront the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family). He intended to meet the Prophet in the mountains. Along the way, the time for the noon prayer arrived. Bilal gave the call to prayer, and the people performed their prayer behind the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family). Khalid ibn al-Walid said: "If we had attacked them while they were in prayer, we would have completely destroyed them. But another prayer time is now coming which is dearer to them than the light of their eyes. When they begin that prayer, we will attack them." At that moment Jibra'il descended and revealed to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) the prayer of fear, and conveyed from the Lord to the Prophet the following verse: "And when you are among them and lead them in prayer" (Nisa/102). On the second day, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) descended at Hudaybiyyah, which is close to the boundary of the Haram. Throughout his journey, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) had called upon the Bedouin Arabs to join him, but none of them followed, and they said: "Do Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and his companions imagine they can enter the Haram, when Quraysh fought against them inside their own city and defeated them? Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and his companions will never return to Madinah." When the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) descended at Hudaybiyyah, the Quraysh swore by al-Lat and al-Uzza that they would never allow him and his companions to reach Makkah alive. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) sent an envoy to them and said: "I have not come for war. I only wish to perform the Hajj, sacrifice the animals I have brought with me, and leave their meat for you." They sent Urwah ibn Mas'ud al-Thaqafi to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family). He was a wise and intelligent man about whom the following verse was revealed: "Why has this Quran not been sent down to a great man [and wealthy person] from these two towns (Makkah and Ta'if)?" (Zukhruf/31). When he came to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), he considered this decision of the Prophet dangerous and said: "O Muhammad! I left Makkah while Quraysh had drawn their swords and were preparing weapons of war, swearing by al-Lat and al-Uzza that they would not let you enter Makkah alive. For Makkah is their sanctuary and is considered by them a rare and precious jewel. Do you want to hand your family and your people over to death?" The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "I have not come for war. I only wish to perform the rites of Hajj, offer the sacrifice, and leave its meat for you." Urwah said: "By Allah, I have never seen a group like today decide to confront another group [in such a way]." He returned to Quraysh. The leaders of Quraysh said: "By Allah, if Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) enters Makkah and the Arabs hear of it, we shall be disgraced, and the Arabs will become bold against us." They sent Hafs ibn al-Ahnaf and Suhayl ibn Amr to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family). When the noble Messenger (peace be upon him and his family) saw them, he said: "Woe to Quraysh! War has worn them out. Why do they not clear the way for me so that I may face the Arabs? If I am truthful, I shall bring them kingship along with prophethood; and if I am false, I shall protect them from the wolves of the Arabs. Today, any man of Quraysh who asks me for something the doing of which does not incur the wrath of the Lord — I shall certainly grant it." Those two respectfully asked the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and said: "O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! Why do you not return to Madinah this year, so that we may see what becomes of your affair and the affair of the Arabs? The Arabs have heard the news of your march towards Makkah; if you enter our city, they will regard us as humiliated and disgraced and will become bold against us. Next year, during this same month, we will grant you permission to enter Makkah for three days to perform your worship and then leave the city." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) responded positively to this request. They also said: "You must return to us every person from among us who takes refuge with you, and in return we will hand over to you your fugitives who take refuge with us." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "We have no need of those from among us who take refuge with you. But do not torment those who accept Islam in Makkah, and do not harass them for practising the rulings of Islam." They accepted this proposal. When the noble Messenger (peace be upon him and his family) responded positively to their request and made peace with them, most of his companions opposed this. The opposition of Umar ibn al-Khattab was the most severe of all. He asked the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): "O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! Are we not upon the truth, and our enemies upon falsehood?" The Prophet said: "Yes indeed!" Umar asked: "Then must we accept humiliation and disgrace in our religion?" The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Allah has promised me victory. Allah's promise is always fulfilled." Umar said: "If forty men supported me, I would oppose the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)." Suhayl ibn Amr and Hafs ibn al-Ahnaf went to Quraysh and informed them of the matter of the peace. Umar said: "O Messenger of Allah! Did you not say: 'We will enter Masjid al-Haram, and after completing the rites of Hajj we will shave our heads'?" The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) asked him: "Did I promise you that we would do this in this very year? I told you that Allah has promised me that I shall enter Makkah and perform the rites of Hajj." When they persisted in their questioning, the Prophet said: "If you do not accept the peace, then fight them." They advanced towards the armies of Quraysh and suffered a shameful defeat, and returned to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family). The Prophet smiled and said: "O Ali (peace be upon him)! Take the sword and confront Quraysh." When they saw Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him), they took to flight and said: "O Ali (peace be upon him)! Has bada' occurred to Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) regarding the promise he made to us, and has he changed his mind?" Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: "No!" The companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) returned to him ashamed and began to apologise. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said to them: "Are you not the same companions of mine at the Battle of Badr, about whom Allah said: '[Remember] when you sought help from your Lord, and He answered your plea [and said]: I will aid you with a thousand angels descending one after another' (Anfal/9)? Are you not the same companions of mine at the Battle of Uhud, about whom this verse was revealed: '[Remember] when you were climbing the mountain and a group scattered in the middle of the wilderness, and [out of intense terror] you did not look at those left behind, and the Prophet was calling you from behind' (Al-i Imran/153)? Are you not my very companions on such and such a day and such and such a day?" They apologised before the Prophet and regretted their earlier notions and said: "Allah and His Messenger know best! O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! Do whatever you wish." Hafs ibn al-Ahnaf and Suhayl ibn Amr came again to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and said: "O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! Quraysh have responded positively to your demand of freedom to declare Islam and of not compelling anyone with regard to their religion." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) asked his companions to bring an inkwell and a pen and summoned Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) and said to him: "Write." Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) wrote: بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِیمِ [In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful]. Suhayl ibn Amr said: "We do not recognise al-Rahman. Write as your forefathers wrote: بِاسْمِکَ اللَّهُمَّ [In Your name, O Allah]." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "O Ali (peace be upon him)! Write: بِاسْمِکَ اللَّهُمَّ [In Your name, O Allah]; for it is one of the names of Allah." Then the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "This is the peace treaty between Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, and Quraysh." Suhayl ibn Amr said: "If we believed in your prophethood, we would not be fighting you. Write: 'This is the peace treaty between Muhammad ibn Abdullah and Quraysh.' O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! Do you disown your lineage?" The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Even if you do not acknowledge it, I am still the Messenger of Allah." Then he said: "O Ali (peace be upon him)! Erase what you have written and in its place write: Muhammad ibn Abdullah." Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) said: "I shall never erase your title of prophethood." For this reason, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) erased it with his own blessed hand. Then Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) wrote thus: "This is the peace treaty between Muhammad ibn Abdullah and Suhayl ibn Amr, the representative of Quraysh. Its terms are that for ten years they shall refrain from fighting one another and shall not attack one another, shall not draw the sword against one another, and shall not take one another's people captive. Whoever wishes to enter into an alliance with Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) or with Quraysh is free to do so. According to this treaty, any of the people of Quraysh who flees from among Quraysh to Madinah without the permission of his guardian, Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) must return him to Quraysh. But any of Muhammad's (peace be upon him and his family) people who takes refuge with Quraysh shall not be returned to Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family). Muslims in Makkah may openly declare their religion, and in that city no one shall be compelled to follow any particular religion, nor shall they be harmed or criticised for accepting a particular religion. This year, Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and his companions shall return to Madinah, and next year they shall come back to Makkah without any weapons of war except the weapons of a traveller, and shall remain there for three days. Scribe of this treaty: Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him). Witnesses to the writing of the treaty: the Muhajirun and the Ansar." The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "O Ali (peace be upon him)! You refused to erase my name (Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)). By the One who chose me for prophethood, in the future, while you are subjected to oppression and injustice, you will give a similar response to their sons." When the Battle of Siffin took place and both sides accepted arbitration, Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) wrote: "This is the peace treaty between Amir al-Mu'minin and Mu'awiyah son of Abu Sufyan." Amr ibn al-As said: "O Ali (peace be upon him)! If we believed that you are Amir al-Mu'minin, we would not be fighting you. Write: 'This is the peace treaty between Ali ibn Abi Talib and Mu'awiyah son of Abu Sufyan.'" Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him) said: "Allah and His Messenger have spoken the truth. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) had informed me of this matter." Then he wrote it. When the peace treaty of Hudaybiyyah was written, the tribe of Khuza'ah entered into alliance with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), and Banu Bakr with Quraysh. They wrote the peace of Hudaybiyyah in two copies and gave one copy to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and the other to Suhayl ibn Amr. Suhayl ibn Amr and Hafs ibn al-Ahnaf returned to Quraysh and recounted the events to them. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said to his companions: "Slaughter the animals you have brought for sacrifice and shave your heads." The companions of the Prophet refrained from doing so and said: "How can we do this while we have not yet performed the tawaf and the sa'y?" The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) became grieved by their response and complained of the matter to his wife Umm Salamah. Umm Salamah said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! You slaughter your sacrifice and shave your hair." The Prophet did so. His companions who saw this proceeded to do the same with hesitation. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), in order to honour the sacrificial offering, said: "May Allah have mercy on those who have shaved their heads!" A group who had not yet performed their sacrifice said: "Will you not pray for those who have trimmed their hair? For one who has not made the sacrifice is not obliged to shave." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "May Allah have mercy on those who have shaved their heads and have not performed the sacrifice!" They said: "Then will you not pray for those who have trimmed their hair?" The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "May Allah have mercy on those who have trimmed their hair!" The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) then set out towards Madinah and returned to Tan'im and camped beneath a tree. His companions who had opposed the peace treaty came to him, apologised, expressed regret, and asked the Prophet to seek forgiveness for them. For this reason the Verse of Ridwan was revealed: بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِیمِ إِنَّا فَتَحْنا لَکَ فَتْحاً مُبِیناً، لِیَغْفِرَ لَکَ اللهُ ما تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِکَ وَ ما تَأَخَّرَ [In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful. Indeed, We have granted you a clear victory, so that Allah may forgive your past sins and those yet to come].