Surah An-Nasr is a Madini Surah having three verses. Nasr means The Help. The Surah takes its name from the word nasr occurring in the first verse.
Surah An-Nasr is the last Surah of the Quran to be revealed, i.e. no complete Surah was sent down to the Prophet pbuh after it. This Surah was sent down on the occasion of the Farewell Pilgrimage in the middle of the Tashriq Days at Mina, after which Prophet pbuh gave his well known Sermon. Though it came down in Makkah but it is termed as Madini Surah because it’s revealed after Hijrah. There was an interval of three months and some days between the revelation of Surah An-Nasr and the Prophet’s pbuh death, for historically the same was the interval between the Farewell Pilgrimage and the passing away of the Prophet pbuh. At the revelation of this Surah the Prophet pbuh understood that he had been informed of his departure from the world.
Allah in this Surah had informed His Messenger pbuh that when Islam attained complete victory in Arabia and the people started entering Allah’s religion in great numbers, it would mean that the mission for which he had been sent to the world, has been fulfilled. Then, he was enjoined to busy himself in praising and glorifying Allah by Whose bounty he had been able to accomplish such a great task.
The Messenger of Allah pbuh in a brief space of 23 years revolutionized an entire nation as regards its beliefs, thoughts, customs, morals, civilization, ways of living, economy, politics and fighting ability, and raising it from ignorance and barbarism enabled it to conquer the world and become leader of nations; yet when he had accomplished this unique task, he was not enjoined to celebrate it but to glorify and praise Allah and to pray for His forgiveness, and he busied himself humbly the implementation of that command.
In this verse the Promise of Allah that Islam will prevail and Prophet pbuh will gain victory is mentioned. And this victory is wholly and solely from Allah, as He is the one who directs all the plan and He favoured all the help in His Messenger’s pbuh side against the whole Arabian tribes and oppositions.
The conquest of Makkah introduced a new chapter in the history of Islam, because the main center of polytheism was disturbed; idols were destroyed; the hope of the idol worshippers changed into disappointment; and the barriers in the way of people’s faith in Islam were removed. After conquest of Makkah it took Islam about two years to attain complete control over Arabia.
“You see people entering Islam in crowds” means when the time for the people to enter Islam in one’s and two’s comes to an end, and when whole tribes and large groups of people started entering Islam, of their own free will, and without offering battle or resistance. This happened from the beginning of 9 A.H. because of which that year has been described as the year of deputations. Deputations from every part of Arabia started coming before the Prophet pbuh entering Islam and taking the oath of allegiance to him, until when he went for the Farewell Pilgrimage to Makkah, in 10 A.H., the whole of Arabia had become Muslim, and not a single polytheist remained anywhere in the country.
Here Allah commands the Prophet pbuh to enjoin praise of Allah (His hamd and tasbih) when he witnessed the manifestation of Allah’s power. With respect to his great success he should never entertain even a tinge of the idea that it was the result of any excellence of his own, but he should attribute it to Allah’s favor and mercy, thank Him alone for it, and acknowledge with the heart and tongue that praise and gratitude for the victory and success belonged to Him alone. Means only Allah could make things possible and successful for Prophet pbuh in his mission of Islam.
With praise Prophet pbuh was commanded to seek forgiveness also. A man might have performed the highest possible service to Allah’s Religion, might have offered countless sacrifices in its cause, and might have exerted himself extremely hard in carrying out the rights of His worship, yet he should never think that he has fulfilled the right of his Lord. Rather he should always think that he has not been able to fulfill what was required of him, and he should implore Allah, saying: “Lord, overlook and forgive whatever weakness I might have shown in rendering Your right, and accept the little service that I have been able to perform.”
With this we also have a lesson, that whenever we gain any victory any power, we should be thanking Allah by praising him and seeking forgiveness!
03*********
03*********
