Qur'anic Balances and their Role in Building the State and the Nation: Surah al-Fath as a Model
Authors
Faculty of Contemporary Islamic Studies (FKI) University Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) (Malaysia)
Hussein Ali Abdullah Al-Thulaia
Faculty of Contemporary Islamic Studies (FKI) University Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) (Malaysia)
Faculty of Contemporary Islamic Studies (FKI) University Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) (Malaysia)
Mostafa Hassan Mohamed El Khayat
Faculty of Contemporary Islamic Studies (FKI) University Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) (Malaysia)
Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Al-Haddar
Faculty of Contemporary Islamic Studies (FKI) University Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) (Malaysia)
Article Information
DOI: 10.47772/IJRISS.2025.930000055
Subject Category: Religious Studies
Volume/Issue: 9/30 | Page No: 409-421
Publication Timeline
Submitted: 2025-12-10
Accepted: 2025-12-17
Published: 2025-12-27
Abstract
This research aims to analyze the Qur'anic balances (muwāzanāt) in Surah Al-Fath as a central model for building the state and the nation. It focuses on formulating the methodology of Prophetic leadership in managing conflict and political transformations. The study originated from one pivotal problem: How do the Qur'anic balances—as presented by Surah Al-Fath—contribute to forming a comprehensive leadership methodology, building a cohesive nation, and establishing the foundations of the state in light of revelation? To achieve this goal, the study adopted the descriptive analytical method, the thematic approach in Tafsīr (exegesis), and textual induction. It also utilized historical and comparative analysis of the context of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah and the subsequent Conquest (Fath).
The results showed that Surah Al-Fath presented an integrated model of balances between firmness and mercy, peace and power, and steadfastness and review. This formed a unique leadership framework based on a strategic vision that looks beyond immediate circumstances toward distant outcomes. The study also revealed that the building of the nation in the Surah relied on precise balances between psychological preparation (sending down Sakīnah [tranquility] and increasing Imān [faith]), social construction (the pledge of allegiance [Bay'ah], group screening), and military qualification. These factors contributed to the formation of a solid collective structure capable of resilience in the face of transformations. In the aspect of state-building, the Surah highlighted the concept of strategic peace as a conscious choice leading to the realization of a "near conquest" (fath qarīb). It redefined victory and political legitimacy through a careful balance between obedience, leadership, and divine pleasure.
The study concludes that the model of Qur'anic balances in Surah Al-Fath is a foundational framework for conflict management and state-building in Islam. It offers a new scholarly contribution to the fields of thematic exegesis and Qur'anic political jurisprudence (Fiqh Siyāsī) by integrating educational, psychological, and political elements into a single vision. The research also recommends the necessity of expanding investigation into other politically-oriented Surahs. Furthermore, it calls for developing applied methodologies that leverage this Qur'anic model in leadership and public policy programs.
Keywords
Qur'anic Balances, Surah Al-Fath, State-Building, Nation-Building, Prophetic Leadership
Downloads
References
1. Abū Rūmī, N. H. ‘A. (2025). Su’āl Ḥuqūq al-Insān wa-Ishkāliyyat Binā’ al-Dawlah al-Madaniyyah fī alʿĀlam al-Islāmī [The Question of Human Rights and the Problem of Building the Civil State in the Islamic World]. Al-Majallah al-Duwaliyyah lil-Ijtihād al-Qaḍā’ī [The International Journal of Judicial Ijtihad], 17, 74–90. https://democraticac.de [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
2. Usus al-Ḥaḍārah fī al-Qur’ān al-Karīm wa-Āthāruhā ‘alā al-Ḥaḍārah al-Insāniyyah. (2015). [Foundations of Civilization in the Holy Qur'an and its Effects on Human Civilization]. Qur'anica: Majallah 'Ālamiyyah li-Buḥūth al-Qur’ān [Qur'anica: International Journal of Qur'anic Research]. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
3. Al-Ḥarbī, ‘A. D. A. H. (2021). Al-Jānib al-Akhlāqī fī Sūrat al-Fatḥ: Dirāsah Taṭbīqiyyah [The Ethical Aspect in Surah Al-Fath: An Applied Study]. Qur'anica: Majallah ‘Ālamiyyah li-Buḥūth al-Qur’ān (QURANICA – International Journal of Quranic Research), 13(2), 34–53. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
4. https://doi.org/10.22452/quranica.vol13no2.13 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
5. Al-Ḥarbī, L. N. H. (2024). Fiqh al-Muwāzanāt wa-Taṭbīqātuhu al-Mu‘āṣirah ‘alā Waẓā’if al-Usrah [The Jurisprudence of Balances and its Contemporary Applications on Family Functions]. Majallat al-Dirāsāt al-Islāmiyyah wa-al-Buḥūth al-Akādimiyyah [Journal of Islamic Studies and Academic Research], 19(112), 53–91. https://doi.org/10.21608/mdak.2024.382722 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
6. Al-Ḥarbī, L. N. H. (2024). Fiqh al-Muwāzanāt wa-Taṭbīqātuhu al-Mu‘āṣirah [The Jurisprudence of Balances and its Contemporary Applications]. Majallat al-Dirāsāt al-Islāmiyyah wa-al-Buḥūth alAkādimiyyah [Journal of Islamic Studies and Academic Research]. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
7. Ḥasan, M. M. ‘A. (2024). Ṣulḥ al-Ḥudaybiyyah fī Ḍaw’ Sūratay al-Fatḥ wa-al-Mumtaḥanah: Dirāsah Mawḍū‘iyyah [The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah in Light of Surahs Al-Fath and Al-Mumtaḥanah: A Thematic Study]. Majallat Jāmi‘at al-Jazīrah (al-Yaman) [Journal of Al-Jazeera University (Yemen)]. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
8. Al-Dawsī, Ḥ. S. M. B. A. (n.d.). Manhaj Fiqh al-Muwāzanāt fī al-Shar‘ al-Islāmī: Dirāsah Uṣūliyyah [The Methodology of the Jurisprudence of Balances in Islamic Law: A Foundational Study]. Majallat alSharī‘ah wa-al-Dirāsāt al-Islāmiyyah [Journal of Sharia and Islamic Studies]. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
9. Al-Dīb, Y. M. ‘A. R. (2019). Fiqh al-Muwāzanah bayna al-Maṣāliḥ wa-al-Mafāsid [The Jurisprudence of Balancing between Interests and Harms]. Majallat al-Majma‘ [Al-Majma' Journal], 9(2), 145–180. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
10. Ṣāliḥ, L. M. J. (2017). Sūrat al-Fatḥ: Asrār Bayāniyyah, wa-Ishārāt Nafsiyyah Tarbawiyyah [Surah AlFath: Rhetorical Secrets, and Psychological Educational References]. Majallat Tibyān lil-Dirāsāt alQur’āniyyah [Tibyan Journal for Qur'anic Studies], 30, 161–194. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
11. Ṣāliḥ, L. M. J. (2019). Al-I‘jāz al-Nasaqī lil-Fāṣilah al-Qur’āniyyah fī Sūrat al-Fatḥ [The Systemic Inimitability of the Qur'anic Pause in Surah Al-Fath] (Master’s Thesis). Yarmouk University, College of Sharia and Islamic Studies. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
12. Ṣabrī, I. R. M. (2002). Fiqh al-Muwāzanāt wa-Taṭbīqātuhu al-Mu‘āṣirah [The Jurisprudence of Balances and its Contemporary Applications]. Majallat Kulliyat al-Ādāb [Journal of the Faculty of Arts], 25(2), 9– 55. https://doi.org/10.21608/bfa.2002.232161 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
13. Ṣaydam, I., & Abū Hilāl, Y. (2020). al-Qiyam al-Islāmiyyah wa-Āthāruhā al-Tarbawiyyah alMutaḍammanah fī Sūrat al-Fatḥ [Islamic Values and their Educational Effects Contained in Surah AlFath]. Majallat al-Jāmi‘ah al-Islāmiyyah lil-Dirāsāt al-Islāmiyyah [Islamic University Journal of Islamic Studies]. https://journals.iugaza.edu.ps/index.php/IUGJIS/article/download/10209/4226 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
14. Al-ʿUtaybī, (2022). Fiqh al-Muwāzanāt bayna al-Maṣāliḥ wa-al-Mafāsid fī Qiṣaṣ al-Qur’ān al-Karīm (Sūratay Yūsuf wa-al-Kahf Namūdhajan) [The Jurisprudence of Balances between Interests and Harms in the Stories of the Holy Qur'an (Surahs Yusuf and Al-Kahf as Models)]. Majallat al-Buḥūth al-Fiqhiyyah wa-al-Qānūniyyah [Journal of Jurisprudential and Legal Research], 34(39). [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
15. Al-ʿUqaylī, Y. B. ‘A. B. S. (2009). Manhaj al-Qur’ān al-Karīm fī Daf‘ al-Fasād: Dirāsah Mawḍū‘iyyah [The Methodology of the Holy Qur'an in Preventing Corruption: A Thematic Study]. Dirāsāt Qur’āniyyah [Qur'anic Studies]. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
16. Al-ʿUmrānī, M. B. J. (2023). Al-Qirā’āt wa-Atharuhā fī Fahm al-Ma‘nā ‘inda al-Qurṭubī min Khilāl Sūrat al-Fatḥ [Recitations and their Impact on Understanding Meaning according to Al-Qurṭubī through Surah Al-Fath]. Majallat Abḥāth [Abḥāth Journal], 7(2), 155–190. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
17. https://ojs.abhathye.com/index.php/OJSABAHATH-YE/article/download/460/385/492 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
18. Al-Qirā’āt wa-Atharuhā fī Fahm al-Ma‘nā ‘inda al-Qurṭubī (671h) min Khilāl Sūrat al-Fatḥ wa-Ba‘ḍ al-Istidrākāt ‘alayh fīhā. (2018). [Recitations and their Impact on Understanding Meaning according to AlQurṭubī (d. 671 AH) through Surah Al-Fath and Some Additions to it]. Majallat Abḥāth [Abḥāth Journal], 11. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
19. Mujāwir, ‘A. J. ‘A. (2021). Al-Muwāzanāt fī al-Qur’ān al-Karīm: Aqṣāmuhā, Asālībuhā, Ahdāfuhā: Dirāsah Mawḍū‘iyyah [Balances in the Holy Qur'an: Their Divisions, Methods, and Objectives: A Thematic Study]. Majallat Dirāsāt Qur’āniyyah [Journal of Qur'anic Studies]. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
20. Al-Muḥammadāwī, ‘A. Ṣ. R. (2024). Mafhūm al-Fatḥ min Manẓūr Qur’ānī: al-Āyah "1" min Sūrat alFatḥ Ikhtiyāran [The Concept of Conquest from a Qur'anic Perspective: Verse "1" of Surah Al-Fath as a Choice]. Majallat Dirāsāt Tārīkhiyyah [Journal of Historical Studies], 40, 136–191. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
21. Nāyt Sī, A. (2020). Fiqh al-Muwāzanāt ‘inda Abī al-Walīd al-Bājī [The Jurisprudence of Balances According to Abū al-Walīd al-Bājī]. Majallat al-ʿUlūm al-Insāniyyah wa-al-Ṭabī‘iyyah [Journal of Human and Natural Sciences], 1(4), 507–530. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
22. Nabī, N. Gh. (2012). Ṣulḥ al-Ḥudaybiyyah ‘alā Ḍaw’ Sūrat al-Fatḥ [The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah in Light of Surah Al-Fath]. Majallat al-Buḥūth al-Islāmiyyah [Journal of Islamic Research], 97. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
23. Haykal, M. ‘A. (n.d.). Fiqh al-Muwāzanāt fī al-Qur’ān al-Karīm [The Jurisprudence of Balances in the Holy Qur'an]. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
24. Abaydia, M., & Benachour, S. (2020). Fiqh al-muwāzanāt wa-atharuhu fī al-ijtihād al-mu‘āṣir bayna alnaẓariyyah wa-al-taṭbīq [The Jurisprudence of Balances and its Impact on Contemporary Ijtihad between Theory and Application]. Majallat al-Iḥyā’, 25, 221–[Pages unspecified]. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
25. Abdullah, A., & Mahraji, N. A. (2024). The use of cannabis for medical treatment in Malaysia: An analytical study from the fiqh al-muwāzanāt perspective. Al-Qanṭarah: Journal of Islamic Finance and Banking, 4(1), 36–53. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
26. Ahmed, L. B. (2022). Athar fiqh al-muwāzanāt fī taḥqīq al-silm al-ijtimā‘ī min manẓūr maqāṣidī [The Effect of the Jurisprudence of Balances in Achieving Social Peace from a Maqāṣid Perspective]. Qalaai Zanist Journal, 7(1), 287–310. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
27. Al-Hajeen, M. (2020). Fiqh al-muwāzanāt wa-atharuhu fī al-ta‘āmul bi-al-sanadāt al-māliyah: Dirāsah fiqhiyyah ta’ṣīliyyah muqāranah [The Jurisprudence of Balances and its Effect on Dealing with Financial Bonds: A Comparative Jurisprudential Foundational Study]. Majallat Buḥūth Kulliyat al-Ādāb, Jāmi‘at al-Minufiyyah, 31(120), Article 102. https://journals.ekb.eg/article_136442.html [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
28. Alharbi, E. D. (2021). Al-jānib al-akhlāqī fī Sūrat al-Fatḥ: Dirāsah taṭbīqiyyah [The Ethical Aspect in Surah Al-Fath: An Applied Study]. QurANICA: International Journal of Quranic Studies. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
29. Asfiana, A. (2025). The role of the Qur’an in the educational development and nation building. PIONIR: Journal of Education. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
30. Ayask, A. A., Rabbanikhah, A., & Dehghani, F. (2025). Recognition of interpretation of the verse “Yadullāhi fawqa aydīhim” in light of historical discourses and the assumptions of authors of commentaries of the Holy Qurʾan (mufassirūn). Āmūzeshā-ye Qurʾānī (Quranic Teachings), 21(39), 203– 230. https://doi.org/10.30513/qd.2024.5795.2300 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
31. Farhan, S. A. A. (2022). Iqāmat al-anẓimah al-fīdirāliyyah fī al-fiqh al-islāmī: Dirāsah fī ḍaw’ fiqh almuwāzanāt – al-fīdirāliyyah al-‘Irāqiyyah namūdhajan [Establishing Federal Systems in Islamic Jurisprudence: A Study in Light of the Jurisprudence of Balances – Iraqi Federalism as a Model]. Majallat Kulliyat al-‘Ulūm al-Islāmiyyah, Jāmi‘at al-‘Irāq [Journal of the College of Islamic Sciences, University of Iraq]. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
32. Hazri, T. A. (2016). Nation-building through constitutionalism. ICR Journal, 7(3), 419–421. https://doi.org/10.52282/icr.v7i3.254 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
33. Ishak, M. S. I., Ab Rahman, A., et al. (2025). Fiqh al-muwāzanah in dealing with interfaith marriage issues in European Muslim minority context. Judge: Jurnal Hukum dan Keadilan, 5(2), 123–142. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
34. Mahliatussikah, H., & Istiqomah, H. (2020). Repetition in Surah al-Fath: (Qur’anic stylistic studies). AJIS: Academic Journal of Islamic Studies, 5(2), 117–138. https://doi.org/10.29240/ajis.v5i2.1959 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
35. Mahmood, N. S., Ngah, M., & Muhamad, N. (2011). Fiqh al-muwāzanāt: Hubungan dan implikasinya terhadap fatwa [The Jurisprudence of Balances: Its Relationship and Implication for Fatwa]. Jurnal Penyelidikan Islam, 24, 53–76. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
36. Rashad, I. R. M., & Ahmed, A. (2002). Fiqh al-muwāzanāt wa-taṭbīqātuhu al-mu‘āṣirah [The Jurisprudence of Balances and its Contemporary Applications]. Majallat Kulliyat al-Ādāb, 25(2), 9–55. https://doi.org/10.21608/bfa.2002.232161 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
37. Salaudeen, A., & Dukawa, S. A. (2025). Roles of Nigerian ulama in politics and nation-building: The controversy, achievements and recommendations. Future Journal of Social Science, 4(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5288646 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
38. Shallal, E. G. (2020). Mā lā yadkhuluhu fiqh al-muwāzanāt [What the Jurisprudence of Balances does not include]. Nama Journal. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
39. Usman, A. I. (2023). The importance of transparency in sustainable development for nation building: An expository analysis from Islamic thought. Al-Risalah, 14(2), 365–382. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
40. Wali, A. M. M. (2015). Min ṣifāt al-qāʾid al-nājiḥ fī Sūrah al-Fatḥ [From the Qualities of a Successful Leader in Surah Al-Fath]. QURANICA – International Journal of Quranic Research, 7(Special Issue 7A), 213–228. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
41. Wibowo, Y. R., Salfadilah, F., Amanabella, M., Malahati, F., & Atin, S. (2024). The concept of humanist education: A Qur’anic perspective. Bestari: Journal of Islamic Education Studies, 21(1), 45–63. https://doi.org/10.36667/bestari.v21i1.1558 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
42. Yusuf, R., & Sonfada, A. (2024). The Islamic view on navigating changes with innovation and resilience for nation building and Islamic development. Kampar Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies (KJID), 3(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17471779 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]
Metrics
Views & Downloads
Similar Articles
- Sin Reconsidered: A Comparative Study of Classical Theology and Murphy-O’Connor’s Pauline Anthropology
- Spiritual Warfare as Intervention: An Ethnographic Analysis of Johane Masowe Chishanu Church in Combating Drug Abuse in Zimbabwe
- Conceptualizing Muslim and Non-Muslim Social Interaction in Malaysia Based on the Maqasid Shariah Framework
- Melchizedek and the Levitical Priesthood: A Comparative Theological Study
- Yoruba Concept of Omoluabi: An Ideaological Antidote against Corruption in Nigeria