Surah Al-Anfal, Ayah 26

Reminding Muslims of Their previous State of Weakness and Subjugation which changed into Might and Triumph

Allah, the Exalted, reminds His believing servants of His blessings and favors on them. They were few and He made them many, weak and fearful and He provided them with strength and victory. They were meek and poor, and He granted them sustenance and livelihood. He ordered them to be grateful to Him, and they obeyed Him and implemented what He commanded.

When the believers were still in Makkah they were few, practicing their religion in secret, oppressed, fearing that pagans, fire worshippers or Romans might kidnap them from the various parts of Allah's earth, for they were all enemies of the Muslims, especially since Muslims were few and weak. Later on, Allah permitted the believers to migrate to Al-Madinah, where He allowed them to settle in a safe resort. Allah made the people of Al-Madinah their allies, giving them refuge and support during Badr and other battles. They helped the Migrants with their wealth and gave up their lives in obedience of Allah and His Messenger . Qatadah bin Di`amah As-Sadusi commented,

وَاذْكُرُواْ إِذْ أَنتُمْ قَلِيلٌ مُّسْتَضْعَفُونَ فِى الاٌّرْضِ

(And remember when you were few and were reckoned weak in the land,)

"Arabs were the weakest of the weak, had the toughest life, the emptiest stomachs, the barest skin and the most obvious misguidance. Those who lived among them lived in misery; those who died went to the Fire. They were being eaten up, but unable to eat up others! By Allah! We do not know of a people on the face of the earth at that time who had a worse life than them. When Allah brought Islam, He made it dominant on the earth, thus bringing provisions and leadership for them over the necks of people. It is through Islam that Allah granted all what you see, so thank Him for His favors, for your Lord is One Who bestows favors and likes praise. Verily, those who thank Allah enjoy even more bounties from Him."

The second verse (26) also mentions several things which could make Divine injunctions easy on them. To pursuade them towards the option of obedience to Allah, Muslims have been reminded of their past weakness and of how Allah has blessed them with power and confidence by changing surrounding conditions through His grace and mercy. The text says:

وَاذْكُرُ‌وا إِذْ أَنتُمْ قَلِيلٌ مُّسْتَضْعَفُونَ فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ تَخَافُونَ أَن يَتَخَطَّفَكُمُ النَّاسُ فَآوَاكُمْ وَأَيَّدَكُم بِنَصْرِ‌هِ وَرَ‌زَقَكُم مِّنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُ‌ونَ ﴿26﴾

And remember when you were few in number, oppressed on the earth, fearing that the people would snatch you away. Then, He gave you shelter and fortified you with His support and provided you with good things, so that you may be grateful - 26.

In this verse, Muslims are being asked to remember the conditions they were facing in Makkah during the pre-Hijrah period following which they were given the finest sanctuary at Madinah. Not only that, they were also blessed with Divine support, power and victory over adversaries, as well as assets of great value. Then, towards the end of the verse, it was said: لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُ‌ونَ (so that you may be grateful). It means that the purpose behind this great transformation of conditions around them supported by the flow of Divine blessings was to give them an opportunity to show their gratefulness as obedient servants of Allah, for the finest demonstration of gratefulness, in the real sense, comes through nothing but obedience to what Allah commands them to do.

Here the ‘call of life’ means the call for the struggle to convey the Truth to others. Initially this struggle starts by preaching by word of mouth or by means of the pen. But the belligerent attitude of those to whom the call is given takes this struggle to various other stages, even to the extent of migration or war. Man formulates his religious life in accordance with his ideas, at the individual level. He makes his life so consistent with his circumstances that it appears to be an island of safety for him. He has the feeling that if he exerts himself to reform others, this well-established abode will be destroyed; his well organised life will be disturbed and the regulation of his time and the system devised by him to govern his property—keeping his personal requirements in view—will be upset. Such fears prevent him from making efforts to call upon others to the Truth and to sacrifice his life and property for that cause. But this is utter stupidity. The fact is that the abode of peace which he considers his ‘life’ is his graveyard, and hidden in the sacrifice in which he sees his death, lies the secret of his life. Giving the call to the people and their reformation are extremely important tasks, provided that they are aimed at the Hereafter and are not for worldly purposes. It makes a dead religion a living religion. It links man with God at the highest level. It introduces man to such religious experiences as he could never have if he remained in his individual shell. If, in spite of hearing such an important call on behalf of God, people are still unmindful of it, they incur the risk of creating a psychological barrier between themselves and the Truth; they risk losing their natural capacity to hear the voice of Truth, to rush towards it and discover their Lord. Man’s life is social in nature. Nobody can go on living on his own on an isolated island. If a man is content with his personal righteousness, he always incurs the risk that, as a result of perversion in society, he himself will also be affected, for he is also a part of the same society. His struggle to reform the people would serve as a practical demonstration that he was not involved directly or indirectly with evil people. Every evil starts in a small way and then gradually becomes greatly enlarged. If it happens that when an evil is in the initial stages, it is opposed by a number of people at that time, it will be easily crushed. But once the evil has spread, it becomes so deep-rooted that it becomes impossible to eliminate it.