During Ramadan, Post Fajr is my favorite time to read the Quran. It’s still dark and quiet, there’s the fresh zeal of energy after Suhoor. And so I end up paying more attention to the meaning of the verses. And while reading Surah Ali Imran part of this ayah caught my attention and I had to read up.
‘Then, after inflicting this grief, He sent down an inner peace upon you – a sleep which overtook some of you.’ (Part of Ayah 154)
The verses in this part described the happenings at the time of the battle of Uhud. It was the second conquest for the Muslim Ummah. They were defending the city of Madina from being attacked by the Makkans who had camped at the base of the Uhud mountain.There were challenges ahead. The first of the problems came when out of the mere 1000 that had set out to Uhud to defend Madina 300 of them changed their minds and turned back refusing to take part. There were now only 700 muslims against 3000 from the Quraysh. The first day of battle resulted in several deaths among the Muslims as well as an injured Prophet PBUH and other companions. But they kept going. The resilience showed by Muslims shocked the Quraysh and the strategic positioning chosen by the Prophet SAW near Uhud defended the Muslims in big way. The next big blow came when those appointed by the Prophet SAW to guard an entry into Uhud left their positions to join the general crowd thereby allowing the Quraysh led by Khalid bin Waleed to overcome them and defeat them.
It was such an emotional and physically intense moment for the entire Ummah. And the verse says that in the aftermath of all this Allah (SWT) causes them to sleep. Subhanallah. Like a parent comforting a child who disobeyed and was hurt. There is Mercy even in pain and grief. This mercy from Him is still open after having erred and disobeyed. And it is what prevails after the pain. The hope that there is good to come after all this. And understanding that our trials where a necessary part of the blessings that were to accompany it.
We all know that the shifa for our ailments come from Allah Ash Shafi. And in that shifa also lies the cure for our ailing minds and hearts, the small and big anxieties we go through everyday. There’s so much more good to expect from our Lord than we could ever expect in our limited imaginations. May Allah SWT make us yearn for the good and call out to him in this month.