5285 To Allah belongs the heritage of. . . : see n. 485 to
3:180; also n. 988 to
6:165; and n. 1964 to
15:23 . 5286 This is usually understood to refer to the Conquest of Makkah, after which the Muslims succeeded to the power and position which the Pagan Quraysh had so misused at Makkah. Thereafter the Muslims had the hegemony of Arabia , and in a few centuries, for a time, the hegemony of the world. But the words are perfectly general, and we must understand the general meaning also: that the people who fight and struggle in Allah's Cause and give of their best to it at any time are worthy of praise: but those are worthy of special distinction who do it when the Cause is being persecuted and in most need of assistance, before victory comes.