and was only just embracing faith and peaceful relations, while they themselves had turned away from many of the requirements of faith. In His wisdom and mercy toward the believers, Allah therefore subjected them to these trials so that He might purify those who believed, that they might turn back to their Lord, and that their enemy’s aggression, scheming, breach of pledges, and departure from the laws of Islam would be exposed. Thus, grounds would arise for granting them victory and for exacting retribution upon their enemy.

There was such grave evil within many of the Muslim fighters and their subjects that, had it been accompanied by victory over their enemy—whose condition was as described—it would have brought them indescribable corruption in both their religious and worldly affairs. Just as Allah’s granting the Muslims victory at Badr was a mercy and a blessing, their defeat at Uhud was also a blessing and a mercy for the believers. For the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Allah decrees nothing for the believer except what is good for him. This is true of no one but the believer: if prosperity comes to him and he thanks Allah, it is good for him; and if adversity befalls him and he remains patient, it is good for him.”

Since the ordeal that befell the Muslims last year resembled Uhud, and since the Muslims were tried in the year of the Trench more than a year after Uhud—or, according to another account, two years later—so too, this year, the believers were tried by their enemy much as the Muslims had been tried