A Postscript
In connection with certain future events alluded to in the last verses of Surat al-Fath, similar predictions are found in the following verses:
And indeed We guided them to a straight path (in belief, thought, feeling and action). Whoever obeys God and the Messenger (as they must be obeyed), then those are (and in the Hereafter will be, in Paradise) in the company of those whom God has favored (with perfect guidance)—the Prophets, and the truthful ones (loyal to God’s cause and truthful in whatever they do and say), and the witnesses (those who see the hidden Divine truths and testify thereto with their lives), and the righteous ones (in all their deeds and sayings and dedicated to setting everything right). How excellent they are for companions! (4:68–69)
We will mention two of the numerous fine points to be found in these verses.
First point
As the Qur’an of miraculous exposition expresses truths through its explicit, clear meanings and concepts, so too does it contain many allusive meanings in its styles and composition. Each of its verses contains numerous levels of meanings. Since the Qur’an originates in the all-encompassing Knowledge of God, it is possible that all of these meanings are intended. The interpretation of the Qur’an cannot be restricted to one or two meanings like human speech, which is the product of limited minds and individual will.
It is for this reason that the scholarly interpreters of the Qur’an have explained innumerable truths contained in its verses. There are still many more truths which the interpreters have left unexplained. In addition to its explicit meanings, the Qur’an contains much significant knowledge, particularly in the letters used and in its allusions.
Second point
The verse, by stating,
the Prophets, and the truthful ones (loyal to God’s cause and truthful in whatever they do and say), and the witnesses (those who see the hidden Divine truths and testify thereto with their lives), and the righteous ones (in all their deeds and sayings and dedicated to setting everything right). How excellent they are for companions!
interprets the verse of Surat al-Fatiha, the Path of those whom You have favored, and explains who are those among humankind that have been specially favored with God’s guidance and whom we are ordered to follow. They are the Prophets, at the head of whom is Muhammad, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, the truthful ones loyal to God’s cause, the witnesses who see the hidden Divine truths and testify thereto with their lives, and those who are righteous in all their deeds and sayings and who are dedicated to setting everything right. These people are the leaders of those on the Straight Path, people who are favored with true Divine blessing. The verse also indicates these types of people as being especially among the first generation of Islam, and suggests that they will be followed by an excellent generation to be called the Tabiun—those who succeed the Companions and follow them in an excellent way. The verse also refers to the leaders or chiefs of these five groups with their best-known attributes and the most prominent aspects of their future life, thus displaying an aspect of the miraculous nature of the Qur’an, namely giving news of the future.
As the Prophets in the verse explicitly indicates God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, so does the truthful ones indicate, first of all, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (the Truthful One), may God be pleased with him. It informs us by allusion that he will succeed the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, occupy second position after him, and he will specifically be mentioned with the title of as-Siddiq by the Muslim Community as the most prominent of all truthful ones after the Prophet.
With the witnesses (those who see the hidden Divine truths and testify thereto with their lives), the verse alludes to ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, and ‘Ali, may God be pleased with them, together. It hints that they will be favored with the caliphate and that they will bear witness to the truth of Islam by being martyred, thus adding martyrdom to their other virtues.
With the phrase the righteous ones, the verse refers to the Peoples of the Suffa (the Companions living in a hall adjacent to the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina), Badr, and the Approved Allegiance (the Allegiance given to the Prophet at Hudaybiya); and by saying How excellent they are for companions, it explicitly encourages us to follow them, alluding to how excellently the generation that succeeded them acted. It also alludes to Hasan, may God be pleased with him, who as the fifth caliph affirmed the Prophetic Traditions which predicted, “After me, the caliphate will last thirty years,”27 and “This is my grandson Hasan, a noble master of people! God will reconcile two great groups (of Muslims) by means of him.”28 Thus, the verse draws attention to the great value of Hasan’s caliphate despite its brief duration.29
In short, in the same way that the last verse of Surat al-Fath contains references to the four Rightly-Guided Caliphs, so too does this verse, by confirming the former, allude to their future positions and conditions, thus giving some news of the future. The gleams of this miraculous nature, namely giving certain news of the future or a dimension of the Unseen, which is one of the aspects of the miraculous nature of the Qur’an, are so numerous in the Qur’an that they cannot be restricted to a few like those mentioned above. The reason those who only consider the literal meaning of the Qur’an’s verses restrict them to forty or fifty is that they approach the Qur’an superficially. Sometimes a single verse can contain allusions to four or five future events.
Our Lord, take us not to task if we forget or make mistakes!
All-Glorified are You. We have no knowledge save what You have taught us. Surely You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
Bediuzzaman Said Nursi
27 at-Tirmidhi, “Fitan” 48; Abu Dawud, “Sunna” 9. (Tr.)
28 al-Bukhari, “Sulh” 9; at-Tirmidhi, “Manaqib” 30.
29 As the verse alludes to the Prophet, Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, and ‘Ali with the words it uses, it also refers to Hasan, ‘Ali’s older son, with the word “hasuna,” the verb from which the word “hasan” (meaning beautiful, excellent) it contains. (Tr.)