Losing the Battle Doesn’t Mean You’ve Lost the War

After the Muslims suffered defeat at the Battle of Uhud, Allah revealed:

إِن يَمْسَسْكُمْ قَرْحٌ فَقَدْ مَسَّ الْقَوْمَ قَرْحٌ مِّثْلُهُ ۚ وَتِلْكَ الْأَيَّامُ نُدَاوِلُهَا بَيْنَ النَّاسِ وَلِيَعْلَمَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَيَتَّخِذَ مِنكُمْ شُهَدَاءَ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الظَّالِمِينَ

If a wound should touch you - there has already touched the [opposing] people a wound similar to it. And these days [of varying conditions] We alternate among the people so that Allah may make evident those who believe and [may] take to Himself from among you martyrs - and Allah does not like the wrongdoers – [Surah 3, Ayah 140]

Imam az-Zamakhshari in his commentary on this ayah said:

والمعنى: إن نالوا منكم يوم أحد فقد نلتم منهم قبله يوم بدر، ثم لم يضعف ذلك قلوبهم ولم يثبطهم عن معاودتكم بالقتال، فأنتم أولى أن لا تضعفوا،

“And the meaning is that if they defeated you on the day of Uhud, then (remember) you also defeated them before that on the day of Badr. Despite that, their hearts did not weaken and lose the morale to persist in their enmity toward you by fighting you. All the more so, should you not have your hearts weakened.”

We win some and lose some, that does not mean that we lose our resolve. If the kuffar have not lost their resolve, then how on earth could we, who are upon the truth, allow ourselves to?