Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “Not equal are those among you who spent [in Allah’s cause] and fought before the Conquest”

Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “Not equal are those among you who spent [in Allah’s cause] and fought before the Conquest”

Allah the Exalted said: [al-Hadid:10] meaning: they are not equal. Those who spent before the conquest—and by "conquest" here is meant the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah that took place between the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and Quraysh, in the month of Dhul-Qa'dah of the sixth year of the Hijrah—was called a conquest because it brought expansion for the Muslims and also for the polytheists; people mixed with one another and felt safe from one another, until Allah (Mighty and Majestic) made it easy for Quraysh to break the treaty. After that, the greatest conquest followed: the Conquest of Makkah in Ramadan of the eighth year of the Hijrah.