when that covenant of obedience is broken—when faith is compromised by sin—the outcome follows accordingly, just as it did on the Day of Uhud.

Allah, Exalted is He, says:

“They swore by Allah with their most earnest oaths, ‘If a warner were to come to us, we would surely be better guided than any other community.’ Yet when a warner did come to them, it only increased them in aversion.” ⦗Fatir 35:42⦘ (42)

“Out of arrogance upon the earth and because of their evil plotting; but the evil plot engulfs none but its authors. Are they waiting for anything except the precedent of the former peoples? You will never find any change in Allah’s way, nor will you ever find any deviation in Allah’s way.” ⦗Fatir 35:43⦘

He has thus informed us that the disbelievers are awaiting nothing but the precedent meted out to those of old, and that no alteration can be found in Allah’s way—nothing can replace it or divert it. How, then, could victory be granted to the disbelievers over the believers who truly deserve that title? The same verdict applies to the hypocrites—who, inwardly, are disbelievers while outwardly they are not—and to anyone who possesses a branch of hypocrisy: