al-Aḥzāb

مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ رِجَالٌ صَدَقُوا مَا عَاهَدُوا اللَّهَ عَلَيْهِ فَمِنْهُم مَّن قَضَي نَحْبَهُ وَمِنْهُم مَّن يَنتَظِرُ وَمَا بَدَّلُوا تَبْدِيلا

23. “Among the believers are men who were true to their covenant with Allah; some of them have fulfilled their vow (by martyrdom), and some are still awaiting and they have not changed in the least,”

To defend from the truth mainly as far as the boundary of martyrdom, is the sign of truthfulness in faith. This verse points to two special groups of the believers who always were before others in following the Prophet (S), and were steadfast in their covenant with Allah, i.e., in self-sacrifice until their last breath and that their last drop of blood to be shed. Some of them kept their words and became martyr in the field of Holy Struggle, and some others are waiting, too.

The verse says:

In contrast to the hypocrites, or to the believers of weak faith, whom the tempest of the events causes to sway this side and that side and everyday create a new evil thought in their feeble mind, those true believers stood firmly, like a mountain, and proved that their covenant with Allah was never breakable. The Arabic word /nahb/ here means covenant, vow, and promise, and sometimes it has also been used in the sense of: death, or danger, or speed, or shedding tear with a loud voice.²

The commentators are divided in belief that about which persons this verse was revealed. Hakim Abul-Qasim Huskani, the famous scholar of the Sunnites, with document narrates from Ali (as) who said:

“The verse (saying:)

has been revealed about us, and by Allah I am the same one who is waiting for martyrdom, and I have never changed my style and I am still firm upon my covenant.” ³

Some other commentators have said that the Qur’anic sentence:

refers to the martyrs of Badr and ’Uhud; and the sentence:

refers to some other true Muslims who were waiting for victory or martyrdom. It has been narrated from ’Anas-ibn-Malik who said his uncle, Anas-ibn-Nadr, was absent on the day of the Battle of Badr. Later when he was informed of it, the Battle had been finished and he regretted why he could not take part in that Holy war. He made a covenant with Allah that if another battle happened he would participate in it and continue until the end. So, he participated in the Battle of ’Uhud and at the time when a group of strivers ran away he did not and resisted so much so that he was injured and finally he was martyred.⁴

It has also been narrated from Ibn-‘Abbas who said:

“The sentence:

points to Hamzat-ibn-‘Abd-ul-Mutallib and the rest of the martyrs of ’Uhud as well as Anas-ibn-Nadr and his companions.” ⁵

There is no contradiction between these commentaries, because the verse has such a vast concept that envelops the entire martyrs of Islam who had been martyred before the event of the Battle of ’Ahzab, and waiters were all those who were awaiting for the victory and martyrdom; and some persons such as Hamzah Sayyid-ush-Shuhada’ (as) and Ali (as) were at the top of these two groups. It is recorded in Tafsir-us-Safi as follows:

“Verily when every one of the companions of Imam Husayn in Karbala intended to go out (towards the battlefield) he went to Imam Husayn (as) for farewell said:

‘Peace be on you, O son of the Messenger of Allah!’

Then he (as) responded him (by saying):

‘And peace be on you, and we will come after you, too,’

and recited:

It is understood from ‘books of martyrdom’ that Imam Husayn (as) also recited this verse beside other martyrs, such as Muslim-ibn-‘Ausajah, and he recited it when the news of the martyrdom of ‘Abdillah-ibn-Yaqtar reached him.⁷ This shows that the verse has such a vast concept that it encompasses all true believers in any time, whether those who became martyr in the path of Allah, or those who remained unchanged upon their covenant with Allah and were ready for Holy war and martyrdom.