Al-Fath · Madani · ayah 24 of 29

Al-Fath 48:24

وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِى كَفَّ أَيْدِيَهُمْ عَنكُمْ وَأَيْدِيَكُمْ عَنْهُم بِبَطْنِ مَكَّةَ مِنۢ بَعْدِ أَنْ أَظْفَرَكُمْ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرًا

“And it is He who withheld their hands from you and your hands from them within [the area of] Makkah after He caused you to overcome them. And ever is Allāh, of what you do, Seeing.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Allah held back two sets of hands at Hudaybiyah, the enemy's and the believers', and He saw what the restraint was for.

A reflection

Two pairs of hands, one Restrainer

Read the ayah slowly and count the hands. Their hands were held back from you. Your hands were held back from them. One subject governs both: He is the One who restrained.

That is a humbling sentence for both camps. The men of Makkah thought their caution was their own decision. The believers might have thought their mercy was their own virtue. The ayah quietly takes the credit away from both and returns it to its Owner. The ego likes to sign its name under every good outcome. Here the signature is already there, and it is not ours.

The verb is kaffa. The early lexicons say the root pictures a whole hand closing round a thing, so that nothing is left outside its grip. From there it comes to mean holding back and warding off. One commentator notes a gentleness in choosing this word rather than a plain verb of preventing. A hand that closes round another hand does not strike it. It stills it.

So the picture is not two armies frozen by fear. It is two pairs of hands, each about to move, each gently closed upon by a greater hand.

Does Allah need us to know this? He needs nothing from us. But we badly need to know it. A person who believes every good outcome came from his own hand grows proud in victory and shattered in defeat. A person who knows whose hand closed on the moment can be grateful without arrogance. He can also be patient without despair.

The ayah ends with Allah is ever Seeing of what you do. He was not a distant referee. He watched every hand on that hillside, and He decided which ones would stay still.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.