From the first moment of human existence, God explained that life includes struggle between truth and falsehood. Following the path of prophets and messengers was explained as the path of truth, as Allah (ﷻ) said: {He has ordained for you of religion what He enjoined upon Noah and that which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what We enjoined upon Abraham and Moses and Jesus – to establish the religion and not be divided therein. Difficult for those who associate others with Allah is that to which you invite them. Allah chooses for Himself whom He wills and guides to Himself whoever turns back [to Him]} (42:13). Following the path of Satan has been explained as the path of falsehood. Allah (ﷻ) said: {Indeed, Satan is an enemy to you, so take him as an enemy} (35:6).
Man’s relationship with Satan is a relationship of struggle and challenge from ancient times. Satan threatened the children of Adam and swore by the might of God to mislead them: {He said as Allah (ﷻ) quoted: {Then by Your might I will mislead them all except Your sincere servants among them} (38:82).
Since the prophetic mission, the Prophet (ﷺ), was told that he would be fought for the truth he brought, but indeed the truth will always be victorious and in different forms.
When the prophet (ﷺ) came down from the mountain of Al-Noor and went to his wife Khadijah, she took him to her cousin Waraqah, who used to be a Christian, and the prophet (ﷺ) told him what he encountered. After Waraqah heard, he said: “This is the angel that God sent down to Moses. I wish I were alive during your time when your people will expel you.” The prophet (ﷺ) said: “Are they going to expel me?” He said: “Yes, no man has ever brought anything like what you have brought without being considered as an enemy. And if I live for such time, I will support you.”
One-time, Othman bin Maz’oun said: “I wish, O Prophet of God, to know which trade is most beloved to God, so that I may trade in it?” Allah (ﷻ) revealed: {O you who have believed, shall I guide you to a transaction that will save you from a painful punishment? [It is that] you believe in Allah and His Messenger and strive in the cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives. That is best for you, if you should know. He will forgive you your sins and admit you to gardens beneath which rivers flow and pleasant dwellings in gardens of perpetual residence. That is the great attainment. And [you will obtain] another [favor] that you love – victory from Allah and an imminent conquest; and give good tidings to the believers.} (61:10/12).
God did not specify the nature of victory. He said, {victory from God} and left it up to Him to decide what type of victory it is. He only promised the believers good, saying, {And give good news to the believers}.
That is why in Uhud he said: {And do not become weak, nor be sad, for you will be superior if you are believers} That is, you will remain at the top despite the loss of the battle and the huge price that was expended in terms of lives and wounded.
But is being victorious limited to winning a battle?
When trials and tests hit the Ummah and unites it, that is victory. When people are able to hold on practices of rituals and hold on to values and morals, that is victory. When the call for truth brings support to your cause and unites people even outside your faith because of the concepts of justice, equality and freedom, that is victory.
Persistence and steadfastness are victory. The prophet’s (ﷺ) reply to his uncle was victory. “By God, if they put the sun in my right and the moon in my left on condition that I abandon this matter, I will not abandon it until God makes it victorious or I perish with my family for such cause.”
If God is pleased with you, it is a victory. When the prophet (ﷺ) was forced out of Al-Ta’if and pelted with stones, he paused to rest at a garden and make this supplication. “If You are not angry with me, I do not care, for Your well-being and mercy are more expansive for me.”
The forms of victory are many, but the most important thing is that a person keeps taking the journey to please Allah (ﷻ). It is not important in the eyes of God to reach destinations in this life, rather what is important is to keep trying even if we die trying.
By Imam Kifah Mustapha