Surah Al-Fath

Al-Fath (The Victory) is the 48th surah of the Quran. It is a Medinan surah of 29 verses and the 111th in the traditional order of revelation, after Al-Jumua. It was revealed in 6 AH (628 CE), as the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions returned from al-Hudaybiya, and opens by calling the truce concluded there with Quraysh "a clear victory".

Context of revelation

In 6 AH the Prophet set out for Mecca with some 1,400 Companions to perform the lesser pilgrimage. Barred by Quraysh at al-Hudaybiya, he received the Companions' pledge under a tree, then accepted a truce whose terms seemed harsh to many Muslims. The surah came down on the way back; Umar ibn al-Khattab reported, in al-Bukhari, that the Prophet said: "Tonight a surah has been revealed to me that is dearer to me than all that the sun rises upon." Many Companions saw the truce itself as the victory, since it opened the way to the conquest of Mecca two years later.

Themes

• The tranquillity sent down into the believers' hearts (48:4), and the pledge: "Those who pledge allegiance to you pledge allegiance to God" (48:10), with God's pleasure with those who swore under the tree (48:18). In a hadith of Muslim, the Prophet said that none of them would enter the Fire, God willing.
• The Bedouins who stayed behind with excuses (48:11–17).
• The zealotry of the pagan era set against the "word of God-consciousness" (48:26), and the Prophet's dream of entering the Sacred Mosque in safety, fulfilled the following year (48:27).
• The closing portrait of the Companions: firm against the disbelievers, merciful among themselves, bearing the mark of prostration, likened to a seed that puts forth its shoot and grows strong (48:29).

Recitation and related surahs

Abdullah ibn Mughaffal reported, in al-Bukhari and Muslim, that on the day Mecca was conquered the Prophet recited Al-Fath on his camel with a vibrating, melodious voice. See also Muhammad and An-Nasr.