We request from your eminence an explanation of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And Muhammad is but a Messenger; there have passed before him many messengers. Then if he dies or is killed, will you turn back on your heels? And he who turns back on his heels will never harm Allah at all, but Allah will reward the grateful.”

The questioner : This is a listener asking about the saying of Allah the Exalted: I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan: ?

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
Allah the Exalted says in this noble verse, clarifying the state of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), that he, peace and blessings be upon him, is a Messenger, and that messengers have passed before him, meaning that messengers preceded him, conveyed the message, and then their end was annihilation, for , messengers have passed before him and proceeded in conveying their call to Allah the Mighty and Majestic, and then they died like the rest of mankind.
Then Allah the Mighty and Majestic rebukes those whose state would change if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) were to die or be killed, saying: , meaning that you would revert from Islam to disbelief, going backward after you had advanced in Islam. , he disbelieves after his apostasy, for he will never harm Allah at all, for Allah the Exalted is free of need of His servants, and He, Exalted is He, did not command them to worship Him except for their own benefit, not for His own benefit or profit. Indeed, they will not reach a point of harming Him to harm Him, nor a point of benefiting Him to benefit Him. Allah the Exalted said: . So whoever turns back on his heels after his Islam will never harm Allah at all, but rather he will harm himself.
, meaning those who stand in obedience to Him, who have stood in the reality of gratitude, for the reality of gratitude is standing in obedience to the Bestower, whether it pertains to the heart, the tongue, or the limbs. This verse was revealed when the Shaytan shouted to the Muslims during the Battle of Uhud that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had been killed. The souls of some of the Muslims weakened because of this false and erroneous rumor. So Allah the Exalted revealed this verse as an indication that it is obligatory for the Muslims, even if their Prophet dies or is killed, to defend His Shari'ah and His Sunnah in his lifetime and after his death.
And in this verse is evidence that disbelief is lagging behind, regression, and turning back on reason, whereas Islam is advancing and moving forward in what benefits a person in his religion and his worldly life. And witnessing to this is the saying of Allah the Exalted: .
And with this, the reason for the revelation of this noble verse is known, and what is intended by it is known, and that it is obligatory for the Muslims to be victorious for their religion, whether that is in the lifetime of their Prophet or after his death, may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him.