The Relationship between the Conquest of Mecca and the forgiveness of sins  

 Despite the importance of this conquest and although Allah described it as the manifest victory, we find that Allah, the Most Exalted, has made a strong relation between the conquest and the forgiveness of sins. He, the Almighty said: That Allah may forgive your past faults and those to follow.

In this respect, the following two questions are to be raised:

The first question is: What is the relation between the conquest and the forgiveness of sins?

The second question is: What is the meaning of forgiving the Prophet's (p) sins, knowing that he (p) is infallible in all his sayings and actions. Then, what is the meaning of the forgiveness of sins before they are committed?

There are many answers for these two questions. For example: it is said that the sins are not that of the Prophet (p) towards Allah, but towards the people of Mecca since they believed that the Prophet's (p) Daawa (Islamic call) that led to the military and the unmilitary struggle represented the big sin, considering this call as being the movement that caused the death of many of their men and made them lose their prestige. Thus, the conquest that started morally with the Hudaibiya treaty and ended as a matter of fact with the conquest of Mecca and after the Prophet (p) forgave the polytheists in the aftermath of the conquest, revealed that they have forgiven him (p) for the sins he had committed towards them. That was because the greatness of the Prophet's (p) forgiveness of their sins cancels all his (p) past and following sins. In this way, the word conquest is in agreement with the act of forgiveness.

On the other hand, another interpretation reveals that the sins are that of his (p) Umma (people) since the Prophet (p) represents the leadership of the people whom he morally shoulders the responsibility of their acts.  

It is also said that the sins are meant to be that of Adam and Eve, whose sins were forgiven by virtue of the blessings that were bestowed upon him (p).

Another interpretation shows that the issue lies in the natural supposition considering that he (p) is a human being who might commit a sin in the future or might have committed any in the past. Thus, this explanation tackles the issue from the point of view that if the Prophet has committed a mistake or might commit a sin in the future, Allah would forgive him or would have forgiven him. That is because such a manifest conquest represents the best deed that might cancel all sins. 

Others said that the sins are that of the Shiites of Ali (a.s.). 

In this sense, some narrators said on the authority of Imam As-Sadiq (a.s.) that: "He did not commit any sins and he was not going to commit any, but Allah has shouldered him the responsibility of the acts of his Shiite people and then he forgave him for their sins" – but we do not believe in the authenticity of these narrations because they do not agree with the Islamic intellectual principles and because they are meaningless –. They also said that: "Allah assured him to forgive all the past and the following sins of the Shiites of Imam Ali (a.s.)." We also do not agree with this saying because it is meaningless to say that the Prophet (p) was responsible for their sins. Besides, it is meaningless to consider the conquest as the basis of all that, at a time the Shiites did not really exist in the Muslim society. So, how could the Quran talk about a result of the conquest that has no relation with it?!

When we examine this issue and study the expression of the Ayah, we realize that all these explanations were trying to avoid the apparent interpretation, meaning that the Prophet has past and following sins and that Allah has made the conquest a reason to forgive. That is because this interpretation contradicts the infallibility, and the perfection of the Prophet (p) or his prophetic personality that represents the role model. Hence, his human nature might be subjected to points, but his message that came through revelation would grant his personality its strength. Besides, the merits, that he enjoyed throughout forty years before the message was revealed to him, should be studied in order to build a personality based on it, considering that the people who lived with him (his relatives and companions) could not score any black points on his past behavior. For that reason, the issue of forgiving his sins contradicts with his pure and luminous past that has become brighter and purer … 

In the light of that, we ought to go deep into this meaning for it   embodies many inspirations that agree with the spiritual pureness of his prophetic personality. Perhaps, it is better for us to inspire from forgiveness the meaning of satisfaction, love and mercy. That is because they represent the results of forgiveness, meaning that Allah has granted him His satisfaction and love and this has a positive meaning that cancels the negative meaning, considering that the Prophet (p) represents the starting point that opens for Islam the wide door of life that guides people to the righteous path. Moreover, the Prophet (p) tried hard to reach this result with the success Allah bestowed upon him (p) and which reveals Allah's love to him.

The revelation continues talking about the blessings that were bestowed upon the Prophet (p) and about guiding him to the right path as well as granting him victory and complete His favor to you that is through the Prophet's (p) arrival to the land (Mecca) that he lived in during his childhood and youthfulness and when he became an old man he started his (p) call in it. Then, he (p) left it due to the oppressions that he was exposed to. After his sufferings, he returned to it (Mecca), and opened it with his message that is open on the entire reality in which he started a new era full of prosperity so that the entire religion became to Allah only and the Prophet's victory became a natural end for his Jihad in which Allah completes His blessings upon him (p). And guide you to the right path that is the path which started with unifying Allah and continued with His Sharia that makes man responsible for his sayings, seeking to meet Allah on the Day of Judgment and that is the goal of the message and that is what Allah has guided the Prophet (p) to through revelation. In this way, Allah, the most Exalted, grants the Prophet (p) victory through giving him power And that Allah might help you with a mighty help and emphasizes the power that conquers all challenges in which Islam became the dominant and the only power (in the Arabian Peninsula).

In this way, we see that the moral conquest that lied in the Hudaibiya treaty and the actual conquest of Mecca represent the key to Allah's satisfaction and blessings and the key to guidance, and victory of Islam in the entire life.