One of these forces was visible and the other invisible...

One of these forces was visible and the other invisible; the invisible force could not be seen by either party in the battle, while the visible force was clearly felt by both sides. The invisible force, which the Qur’an mentions, was that of the angels, who aided the Muslims and strengthened their morale, and allowed them to remain steadfast against their enemy. The force whose presence was felt was that of a violent storm, whose devastating effects were clear to the Muslims and the enemy alike.

The storm which occurred in the battlefield and at the time of battle, was so unexpected and sudden that it brought disarray in the ranks of the enemy within a few moments, resulting in their defeat.

The Muslims clearly understood and realized with certainty that an invisible army of angels had come to their aid at a critical time when they were hopelessly outnumbered and facing a well-equipped enemy, because they knew that their victory was not an ordinary or foreseeable outcome; the polytheists had no such belief in angels. As for the visible assistance which was the devastating storm, its effects had been clearly perceived by both sides of the conflict.

The army of Islam as well as the forces of the enemy simultaneously witnessed the sudden storm with their own eyes. Here the Qur’an emphatically declares the storm as the cause of the enemies’ defeat and this event has been mentioned as an example of God’s special blessing and grace to the Muslim soldiers.

And if such an extraordinary storm, which the idolaters themselves experienced and which brought about their complete defeat had not occurred, they would have certainly reacted angrily to, and openly challenged, the Qur’anic version of events. They would have lost no opportunity to spread propaganda against Islam and the Qur’an and would have declared everywhere that there had been no storm, and this would have been a means to crush the beliefs of the Muslims and negate the claim of the Qur’an.

However, the fact is that after the revelation of the verses, the idolaters and hypocrites who were ever searching for ways to discredit Islam, and would question the verses of the Qur’an at the smallest pretext, remained quiet and gave no alternative explanation for their defeat.