“It is I and My messengers who must prevail” (al-Mujadala, 58/21). How can the martyrdom of the Prophet Zakariyya be explained according to the verse above?

- How should we understand the contradiction that some prophets were martyred?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Allah states the following clearly:

“…’It is I and My messengers who must prevail’: For Allah is One full of strength, able to enforce His Will.” (al-Mujadala, 58/21) 

- First of all, Allah’s names Qawi (Strong) and Aziz (Mighty) at the end of the verse guarantee that Allah and His messengers will prevail. The mind cannot think of the opposite of it. For, Allah’s being defeated by those who have very weak power -though He is a being with infinite power- means to reverse the facts. In that case, everybody who is sane will approve beforehand that some of the prophets of Allah being killed or being defeated in some other way will not change the reality of the prevailing declared in the verse. That we do not know the fact about the issue does not affect the issue.  

- It is possible to evaluate the issue in a few points by looking at the expressions in the verse:

a. That “messengers” is used in the plural form in the verse “It is I and My messengers who must prevail” indicates that the victory mentioned here is not individual victories of the prophets one by one, but the victory of the belief of oneness, “i’la al-kalimatullah (exalting the word of Allah)”, which is the cause they all serve. The prophets and their followers being protected from various heavenly and earthly misfortunes, and the destruction of the deniers who opposed them since the era of Hz. Adam – as a general principle -   is a document approving this divine decree. That some prophets were defeated does not refute the general rule. Every general rule has some exceptions; exceptions do not break the rule.

b. The reality of victory mentioned in the verse above is in question for their eternal cause, not for their ephemeral bodies. As a matter of fact, Qadi Baydavi states that what is meant by the victory in the verse is the victory of the cause and victory of the evidences showing that their cause is true. (see, the interpretation of the verse in question)

Indeed, the fact that Allah, who is eternal, says, “It is I and My messengers who must prevail” sounds like an indication of that truth. Yes, prophets are ephemeral as human beings but their cause is eternal and it has prevailed throughout history.

c. All victories and achievements are evaluated based on their results. Those who seem to be winning at first but who lose in the end are regarded as defeated, not as victorious. For instance, the Muslims were victorious at the beginning of the Battle of Uhud but they were in the position of being defeated at the end of the battle; therefore, they were regarded to have lost the battle. On the other hand, they were losing at the beginning of the Battle of Hunayn but they were victorious in the end; therefore, they won the battle.   

The greatest principle of all of the heavenly revelations is belief in Allah and in the hereafter. From this point of view, the real winner or loser of the struggle in the world is evaluated based on the result in the hereafter.

“…So persevere patiently: for the End is for those who are righteous.” (Hud, 11/49)

This fact is pointed out in the verse above and similar ones.

d. According to what the famous tafsir scholar Muqatil states, the reason for the revelation of the verse in question is as follows: The Muslims said, “We hope from Allah that He will make us victorious against the Byzantines and Iranians.” Thereupon, Abdullah b. Ubayy, who was regarded as the leader of the munafiqs, said, “You probably confuse those two states with the Arab villages that you beat. They are not like those villages.” Thereupon, the verse containing the sentence “It is I and My messengers who must prevail” was sent down. (see Razi, Qurtubi, the interpretation of the verse in question)

e. According to some scholars, Allah ordered some prophets to make jihad. Their victory is through material fight/war. The duty of some prophets is struggle through evidences and thought, which is spiritual fight/war. They prevailed in this respect. (Razi, Qurtubi, ibid) Thus, that the prophets who were not ordered to fight were killed by deniers is not contrary to the decree in the verse in question. The Prophet Zakariyya and his son Yahya were among the prophets who were not ordered to fight.

f. A subtlety can exist regarding the issue: The verse in question is related to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), not the prophets before him. Those who oppose the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) are mentioned in the previous verse: “Those who resist Allah and His Messenger will be among those most humiliated.” The word “messengers” is used in the verse in question but it seems more appropriate in terms of meaning that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is meant by it.

“Those who resist Allah and His Messenger will be among those most humiliated. Allah has decreed: ‘It is I and My messengers who must prevail’: For Allah is One full of strength, able to enforce His Will.” (al-Mujadala, 58/20-21)

It is a historical fact that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) beat his enemies in both material and spiritual wars. Since those two verses complement each other and since the word “Messenger” in the first verse clearly indicates the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), it is more appropriate in terms of context that the word “messengers” in the second verse also indicates him.

The wisdom behind the use of the word Rusul (messengers) instead of Rasul (messenger) in the verse is that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is the master and leader of all prophets, and the real inheritor – in terms of principles – of their religions and the real defender of their revelations. Just like the Quran represents all heavenly books so too is the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) the representative of all prophets. His victory is their victory and his supremacy is their supremacy.

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