Tafsir of Al-Hajj 22:38

"Indeed, Allah defends..."

He specified the believers for His defense of them and His support for them, as He said: "Indeed, We will support Our messengers and those who have believed" (Ghafir: 51), and He said: "Indeed, it is they who will be the victors" (As-Saffat: 172). He also said: "And [you will obtain] another [favor] that you love – victory from Allah and an imminent conquest" (As-Saff: 13).

He made the reason for this that He does not love their opposites: the treacherous disbelievers who betray Allah and the Messenger, betray their trusts, and deny the blessings of Allah and belittle them.

As for the one who reads it as yudafi‘u (defends), its meaning is to exaggerate in defending them, just as one who struggles in it exaggerates; for the verb form of the one who struggles (mufā‘ala) comes across as stronger and more eloquent.

"Permission [to fight] has been given to those who are being fought, because they were wronged. And indeed, Allah is competent to give them victory. [They are] those who have been evicted from their homes without right - only because they say, 'Our Lord is Allah.' And were it not that Allah checks the people, some by means of others, there would have been demolished monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques in which the name of Allah is much mentioned. And Allah will surely support those who support Him. Indeed, Allah is Powerful and Exalted in Might. [And they are] those who, if We give them authority in the land, establish prayer and give zakah and enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong. And to Allah belongs the outcome of [all] matters."