Surah Al-Fath, Ayah 5

Allah sent down the Sakinah into the Hearts of the Believers

Allah the Exalted said,

هُوَ الَّذِى أَنزَلَ السَّكِينَةَ

(He it is Who sent down As-Sakinah), meaning, tranquility. Qatadah commented, "Grace into the hearts of the believers", that is, the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, on the Day of Al-Hudaybiyyah. The companions were they, who accepted the call of Allah and His Messenger and obeyed the decisions of Allah and His Messenger . When their hearts felt content with acceptance and were at peace, Allah increased their faith, joining it to the faith they already had. Al-Bukhari, and other Imams, relied on this Ayah as proof that faith increases and decreases in the hearts. Allah the Exalted said next that had He willed, He would have inflicted defeat on the disbelievers, Allah says;

Bounties of Allah upon the Participants of Hudaibiyah

In the first three verses of this Surah, reference was made to Allah's particular bounties bestowed upon the Holy Prophet ﷺ in the wake of the manifest victory. Some of the participants of Hudaibiyah congratulating the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، asked him that the favours are conferred exclusively upon him, but what is there in it for them? In response to this query, verses 4-7 were revealed. They distinctly refer to the good graces of Allah upon the participants of Hudaibiyah and the Pledge of Ridwan. These favours were generously bestowed upon them because of faith in, and obedience to, the Holy Prophet ﷺ . All believers whose faith and obedience are complete and perfect will receive similar good graces of Allah.

In the sixth year of the Hijrah, the Prophet Muhammad left Madinah for Makkah along with his companions, so that he could perform the rite of pilgrimage there. He had reached Hudaybiyyah when the pagans of Makkah came forward and barred his way, saying that they would not allow him to enter Makkah. Mutual negotiations followed, as a result of which a peace treaty was drawn up and signed by both sides. This treaty was executed apparently on the unilateral terms and conditions dictated by the polytheists. As a consequence, the companions of the Prophet Muhammad were very disheartened: they considered it a degrading treaty. But on the way back from Hudaybiyyah, this verse was revealed, ‘We have granted you a clear victory.’ The reason for this was that according to this Treaty it was agreed that for ten years there would be no war between the Muslims and polytheists. The end of fighting was in fact synonymous to the opening of the door of dawah. After the Hijrah (migration to Madinah), due to incessant fighting, dawah activity had stopped. Now the truce had created an open atmosphere in which there could be a free exchange of thought between the opponents. In this way, this treaty changed the sphere of combat. Formerly, the competition between the two sides had been held on the battlefield where the Muslims’ antagonists had the upper hand. Now rivalry shifted to the field of intellect and in this, the theory of the one God clearly triumphed over polytheism. Here now was the ‘straight path’, i.e. the way which made the victory of the flag-bearers of monotheism an absolute certainty.