Al Tawbah

ثُمَّ أَنْزَلَ اللّهُ سَكِينَتَهُ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ وَعَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَأَنْزَلَ جُنُوداً لَمْ تَرَوْهَا وَعَذَّبَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَذَلِكَ جَزَآءُ الْكَافِرِينَ

ثُمَّ يَتُوبُ اللّهُ مِن بَعْدِ ذَلِكَ عَلَى مَن يَشَآءُ وَاللّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ

26 . “Then Allah sent down His tranquillity upon His Messenger and upon the believers, and sent down hosts which you did not see, and He punished those who disbelieved, and that is the reward of the infidels.”

27 . “Then, after that (escape), Allah turns towards whomever He pleases, and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.”

The Arabic word /sakinah/ (tranquallity) has been applied in six occurrences of the Qur’ān, five of which relate to battles. In the Battle of Hunayn, there came four kinds of Divine grace upon the believers from the side of Allah. They were: tranquality, unseen troops, divine violence against pagans, and accepting the repentance of the fugitives (which is mentioned in the following verse). Some of the pagan captives asked the Muslims: “Where are those white clothed troops who killed a number of us?”

This meaning points to the angels who appeared in white clothing, in the eyes of the pagans.² However, the unseen helps were the secret of the Muslims’ victory. And, in addition to that, generally, a good spirituality, and having the confidence which is emerged from Faith, are among the main factors of triumph in battles. Tranquillity and confidence are necessary both for the leader and for the followers. The verse says:

The belief in the presence of the angels and the Divine missions for helping the believers in that battle, is a Qur’ānic belief. And, no doubt, for the person who believes in ‘origin and end,’ being killed in the way of Allah (s.w.t.) is an honour, but for disbelievers it is a torment. The holy verse continues saying.

Upon the commentary of verse 27, it can be said that the gates of repentance are always open to all persons, even for fugitives and captives. In this course, those sinners will be involved in the forgiveness of Allah who truly feel sorry. It is in this case that Allah not only covers their sins but also loves them. The verse says:

By the way, it should be noticed that the acceptance of repentance is not obligatory for Allah, but it is an excellence which relates to His Own Wisdom.

Explanations

There are some probabilities expressed upon the meaning of the repentance which is mentioned in the verse. They are as follows: 1.Repenting from the sin of escaping from battle-field. 2.Repenting from idolatry. 3.Repenting from pride, and from reliance on the immensity of persons.