Victory, compensation, upper hand—all work vastly differently in the heavens. It is better for us to buckle up and take it heavenwards. As we live in the physical realm of this dunya, it is easy, in spite of its flaws, to fall into moulding our goals and dreams to cater to vain demands: demands of polished appearances, immediate validation, and visible wins, overlooking the truth that true victory often looks like a setback.
For sometimes, we are too entrenched in the apparent and worldly—in what our eyes can see. The dunya dictates that we chase “the picture”. The picture needs to be sleek and pretty, smooth and uniform. So we invest, and we invest hard, in this short-term, immediate “victory”, while losing terribly in the realm of the forever life.
But the real deal is what happens in places we don’t see at the given moment: in the somewhat messy situations where our feelings, for a moment, are all over the place, the internal turbulence of uncertain moments. And iman leads us through with all certainty.
“Indeed, We have given you, [O Muhammad (ﷺ)], fathhan mubeena (a clear victory)” (48:1)
The Companions were prevented from their homeland that they longed for, prevented from the pilgrimage they were all prepared to do, and signed a deal with heavy hearts which on the surface seemed to give the Makkan disbelievers more of an advantage—yet the Hudaibiyyah agreement was called by the Almighty a victory. A victory for the Deen, for His Prophet (ﷺ), and for the believers. There is more—so much more—than just “seeing is believing”.
So yes, buckle up and embrace the Hudaibiyyahs of your life.
When the Fog Clears: The Long Delayering
In the case of a survivor of subtle, silent abuse, the Hudaibiyyahs can be moments of extreme confusion: a daze and a daze for a long time. Immense delayering, with questions filling up as truth reveals itself, and realisations occur—not in an orderly manner one below the other, but all at once, from every direction. Work through them slowly and realise: this is victory. To resist is victory. To lack appeal, to be cornered, and to be seen as undesirable to them in a hierarchy of abuse is absolute victory—your ultimate fath.
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