The Quran

لَقَد صَدَقَ اللَّهُ رَسولَهُ الرُّؤيا بِالحَقِّ ۖ لَتَدخُلُنَّ المَسجِدَ الحَرامَ إِن شاءَ اللَّهُ آمِنينَ مُحَلِّقينَ رُءوسَكُم وَمُقَصِّرينَ لا تَخافونَ ۖ فَعَلِمَ ما لَم تَعلَموا فَجَعَلَ مِن دونِ ذٰلِكَ فَتحًا قَريبًا

Ali Unal

God has assuredly confirmed the vision for His Messenger as true (and will certainly fulfill it) in reality:¹ you will certainly enter the Sacred Mosque, if God wills,² in full security, with your heads shaven or your hair cut short,³ and you will have nothing to fear. But He always knows what you do not know, and (therefore, without allowing you to enter the Mosque this year,) granted you a near victory before this.⁴

For this vision, see note 1 in this sūrah.
If God wills, has three meanings here:
- Your entering the Sacred Mosque, like all other events in the universe and in your lives, will take place by God’s Will, not by your will or that of the Makkan polytheists. So do not ask the Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, why you have not been able to enter this year.
- The verse teaches us that whatever we intend or have decided to do in the future, we must always refer it to God’s Will and say, “We will do or intend to do that if it is God’s will.” (See 18: 23.)
- Some may die before it is time for them to enter the Mosque or they will not be able to join the Muslims who will go to visit it.
During the Pilgrimage, men either have their heads totally shaven or their hair cut short as a mark of the completion of the Pilgrimage, whether it be major or minor. Having heads shaven is more rewarding. Women only have some of their hair cut short. So this statement means that the Muslims will complete their Minor Pilgrimage in full security and the Messenger’s vision will come true.
This victory must be the Treaty of Hudaybiyah, which eventually proved to be a manifest victory. (See above, verse 1, note 1.)