The triumph herein means the conquest of Makkah and the acquisition of control of the Holy Ka‘bah. This conquest not only opened the hearts and minds of the Prophet’s Makkan adversaries to Islam, it also opened the doors for all Arab tribes to enter into Islam. Arab tribes were watching the struggle between the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and his Makkan adversaries with keen interest. To them, the Prophet’s success over his own people and his own city would prove that he was the true prophet of Allaah. It would also show the viability of his movement and mission. As soon as they saw him succeed in this crucial test in 8 AH[3], they started entering into Islam in droves. The year 9 AH was called the year of delegations because the delegations from different tribes from all over Arabia were coming to visit the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and entering into Islam. So much so that by year 10 AH, the whole of Arabia had become Muslim.

The Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam has been commanded to “glorify your Lord with praise and gratitude and seek His forgiveness”. The first part of this command is expressed by the word Sabbiĥ (Tasbeeĥ) which means glorifying Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala to be above and beyond any weaknesses or imperfections that human beings can think of. The second part is Ĥamd, which means praise that ensues from deep gratitude. The third part is seeking forgiveness.

We know that the prophets are under direct and active supervision of Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala, Who protects them from making mistakes or committing sins. This quality differentiates them from other human leaders. Every human being makes mistakes. So do the leaders. That is why we cannot follow the model of any human being other than a prophet, because that is the only model which is free from mistakes, errors and sins. So when the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, like other prophets, was sin-free, why was he being asked to seek forgiveness from Allaah?

This forgiveness is not from sins or mistakes, but rather it is an expression of humility in acknowledging and seeking forgiveness for any instance where any of the prophetic responsibilities may not have been performed in its most excellent form or way. These were the kind of matters that were already publicly mentioned in the Qur-aan. Otherwise, his performance was so superb that there is no example of that kind of performance even among all of the prophets and messengers, much less any other human being. He accomplished the most profound revolution, in the most peaceful manner (with the least amount of bloodshed), in the outlook of the biggest number of people in the shortest time. Within 23 years, he made a scattered, illiterate, ignorant, and warring faction of the Peninsula change their beliefs, outlook, manners, morals, ethics, lifestyle, and their social, political and economic systems, united them under law and order and made them the leaders of the civilized world and champions of goodness.

It would have been natural to celebrate and feel pride for this achievement that was and remains unparalleled in human history, but instead he was being exhorted to praise the Lord and seek forgiveness with humility. By teaching the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam to praise the Lord, express his Gratitude to Him and seek His forgiveness, the Muslims are being taught that:

§ We should never be proud of any of our achievements; because the success, results, triumph and victory comes from Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala’s help and mercy. Only He makes our humble attempts produce fruitful results;

§ Instead of being proud of what we have achieved, we must thank Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala, glorify Him and appreciate His kindness for making our imperfect and less than desirable efforts accomplish good results.

§ We should rather seek Allaah’s forgiveness for the weaknesses and shortcomings that we may have shown while performing our duty to Allaah; we should also seek His forgiveness for our shortcomings in glorifying and thanking Him.

This is the lofty ideal that Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala wants Muslims to pursue. It frees a person from any kind of egoistic feelings and develops constructive humility in him.

This attitude makes the people kind to those conquered and to those over whom victory has been achieved. It is in contrast to the vicious behaviour adopted by those who do not know or practice Islamic teachings and the world has observed the viciousness of their behaviour when they gain victory over others.

It will be good to recall that when the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was entering Makkah after gaining victory over those arrogant Makkans who had persecuted him and his followers so viciously, the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam had bowed his head so much in humility and gratitude to Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala that his face was almost touching the camel’s back.

According to the exhortation given in this Soorah, he increased the frequency of Allaah’s glorification to an unprecedented level. He frequently was heard saying phrases such as:

Glorified are You O Allaah, for You is all praise and gratitude, I seek your forgiveness and I turn to you in repentance.

Glorified are You O Allaah, for You is all praise and gratitude, O Allaah forgive me.

Glorified is our Lord, for Him is all praise and gratitude, O Allaah forgive me, You indeed are kindly accepting of repentance and forgiving.

(These and similar du‘aas have been reported by Bukhaari, Muslim, Musnad Aĥmad, Aboo Dawood, Nasaai, Ibn Maajah, Ibn Jareer, Ibn Abee Ĥaatim, etc.)

Footnotes

[3] Counting from the year of Hijrah (Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam’s migration to Madeenah).