Series of Answers by the Great Scholar Ata bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah, Ameer of Hizb ut-Tahrir, to the Questions of his Facebook Page Followers (Fiqhi)
To: Mohamed Ali Bouazizi
Question:
Assalamu Alaikum,
May Allah grant everyone success in what is good for Islam and the Muslims.
The Question: Allah Almighty says:
إِنْ تَنْصُرُوا اللَّهَ يَنْصُرْكُمْ وَيُثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَكُمْ
"If you support Allah, He will support you and plant your feet firmly." (Surah Muhammad 47:7)
Is this address directed to the Ummah only—meaning when Islam is implemented in the Ummah, Allah supports her? In other words, when support (Nusrah) is given to the group (Kutlah) that works to resume the Islamic way of life and the Khalifah begins applying Islam, does Allah's victory begin?
Or does the address in the Ayah also apply to the group working for the resumption of the Islamic way of life, and Allah's victory for it is through the response of the people of support (Ahl an-Nusrah), as mentioned in the Seerah that when Allah willed victory for His servant (Muhammad ﷺ), He led to him a group from the Aws and Khazraj?
Answer:
Wa Alaikum Assalam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh,
The noble Ayah 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 your feet firmly. And 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." (Surah Muhammad 47:7-9)
The address is general ("O you who believe"), so it is for the believers and not just for the fighters. That is, it includes fighting and other than fighting, and it applies to the army in battle as well as to the party (Hizb) carrying the Da'wah. This address does not explicitly specify fighting like the Ayat:
وَقَاتِلُوهُمْ حَتَّى لَا تَكُونَ فِتْنَةٌ وَيَكُونَ الدِّينُ لِلَّهِ فَإِنِ انْتَهَوْا فَلَا عُدْوَانَ إِلَّا عَلَى الظَّالِمِينَ
"Fight them until there is no fitnah and [until] the religion, all of it, is for Allah. But if they cease, then let there be no aggression except against the oppressors." (Surah al-Baqarah 2:193)
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." (Surah at-Tawbah 9:14)
The address in the noble Ayah in question is not a text restricted to fighting that excludes everything else; rather, it is like the saying of the Almighty:
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." (Surah Ghafir 40:51)
Allah does not only support His messengers, but also "those who believe." And the victory is not only "on the Day when the witnesses will stand"—meaning in the Hereafter through Allah's pleasure and the Paradise of Firdaws—but also "during the life of this world" through honor and empowerment (Tamkeen).
It may be said that the word "victory" (an-Nasr) and "firming the feet" implies winning in war, and this is true. However, it also does not negate the success of the Da'wah carrier in achieving their goal, meaning success in this world and the Hereafter as we explained above due to the generality of the address. All of this is victory, meaning it is success. Furthermore, the firming of feet can be through steadfastness upon the word of truth, as in the saying of the Almighty:
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." (Surah Ibrahim 14:27)
- It was stated in the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir regarding the noble Ayah:
[Allah Almighty says: "O you who have believed, if you support Allah, He will support you and plant your feet firmly," which is like His saying: "And Allah will surely support those who support Him" (Surah al-Hajj 22:40), for the reward is of the same nature as the deed. Therefore He said: "and plant your feet firmly," as mentioned in the Hadith:
مَنْ بَلَّغَ ذَا سُلْطَانٍ حَاجَةَ مَنْ لَا يَسْتَطِيعُ إِبْلَاغَهَا، ثَبَّتَ اللَّهُ قَدَمَهُ عَلَى الصِّرَاطِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ
"Whoever conveys to a ruler the need of one who is unable to convey it, Allah will make his feet firm on the Path (as-Sirat) on the Day of Resurrection."...
"O you who have believed, if you support Allah" meaning the Deen of Allah and His Messenger, "He will support you" over your enemy and grant you conquest, "and plant your feet firmly" in the places of war or upon the path of Islam]. Thus, firming can be in war and it can be in the Da'wah to Islam.
- It was stated in the Tafsir of al-Qurtubi regarding the explanation of the noble Ayah:
["O you who have believed, if you support Allah, He will support you" meaning if you support the Deen of Allah, He will support you against the disbelievers. Similar to it is: "And Allah will surely support those who support Him."
Qutrub said: If you support the Prophet of Allah, Allah will support you; the meaning is the same. "And plant your feet firmly" meaning during fighting. And it was said: upon Islam. And it was said: upon the Path (as-Sirat). And it was said: what is meant is the firming of hearts with security...
And the firming of feet: is a metaphor for certainty and the absence of weakness, like the state of one whose foot is firm in the earth and did not slip. For slipping is a weakness that causes its owner to fall; therefore, defeat, disappointment, and error are represented by the slipping of the foot. The Almighty said: "lest a foot should slip after having been firm" (Surah an-Nahl 16:94).]
The conclusion is that although the noble Ayah implies victory in war and the firming of feet in war, it does not negate victory for Allah's Deen in carrying its Da'wah and steadfastness upon the truth so that feet do not slip, and consequently, the Da'wah carrier does not fear for Allah's sake the blame of any critic.
I hope this is sufficient, and Allah is All-Knowing and All-Wise.
Your Brother, Ata bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah
25 Rajab al-Khayr 1443 AH Corresponding to 26/02/2022 CE
Link to the answer from the Ameer's page (may Allah protect him) on Facebook