8.

Sura Anfal (or The Spoils of War)

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

The spoils of war are at the disposal of your Lord and His Apostle.
Believers are those whose hearts feel tremor when God’s revelations are
rehearsed to them. They are the ones who put their trust in their Lord, establish
regular prayers and spend in the way of their Lord. They have grades of
dignity, forgiveness and a generous sustenance with their Lord. The true
believers believe in truth and do right in obedience to God’s command. So
God also, in asking them to fight against odds, is not asking them to rush to
destruction but is providing them with an opportunity of vindicating the truth
in scorn of worldly advantage. The Lord made good His promise by giving
them a splendid victory, and the standard of Truth was established, never to be
lowered again. All help comes ultimately from God when His mercy in
evoked. It came during the war (Badr) in the form of angels, to put heart into
the Believers, and to fit in with their feelings and psychology: And God is
Exalted, Wise.

Remember (battle of Uhud) when He made you calm and removed

excitement from you, caused rain to descend on you from heaven to satisfy
your physical needs. This He strengthened your hearts, planted your feet
firmly; and further inspired you through angels and put terror into the hearts of
the Unbelievers for you to achieve victory. This was because they contended
against God and His Apostle: for God punishes those who resist Him and His
Apostle. Oh the Believers! Never turn away from the battle ground facing the
Unbelievers. And if any one who does that will draw on himself the wrath of
God. It was not you who slew the enemy; but it was God. It was not you (O
Muhammad) who threw the handful of sand to enemy (symbolical of their
rushing blindly to their fate), but it was the Lord, – inorder that He might test
the Believers: for God is He Who hears and knows all things; makes feeble the
plans and tricks of the Unbelievers. (Oh Unbelievers) desist from wrong
doings as your forces will not be able to do any good to you: for God is with
those who believe!

Oh you who believe! Obey God and His Apostle; – and do not turn
away when he speaks to you, but listen attentively and do not be as deaf and
dumb but try to understand what the Prophet tells you. Now the believers are
told to give response to God and to His Apostle when He calls you to that
which gives you life (i.e., fighting in and for the Cause – Jihad): if human
heart refuses to obey the call of God, God has to be reckoned with. It is He to
Whom humankind shall all be gathered and be aware, those who do wrong,
God is strict in punishment. The Believers are reminded that they were a small
band (in Mecca), dispised, rejected persecuted and exiled. But then by the
grace of their Lord, they were provided a safe asylum (in Madinah) and found
friends, helpers and sustenance there. They then gathered strength to defeat the
forces of injustice and oppression. As such, do not betray the trust of God and
the Apostle or misappropriate knowingly things entrusted to you. Be aware
that your possessions and your progeny are a just a trial for you; but your
highest reward is with your Lord (in the Hereafter).

The Believers are further addressed to fear their Lord; and that He will
grant them the honour to judge between the right and the wrong; remove from
them all evil that might inflict them and will forgive them their sins. The
Belivers are reminded that how they were kept in bonds, driven out of their
homes, killed and plotted in different evil ways. But God is the best of the
planners. The Unbelievers said that what they were hearing are just the tales of
the ancients. If at all, what is rehearsed to them was the Truth, then let them be
subjected to the punishment! But, as you (O Muhammad) are among them and
that they could still ask for forgiveness, they would not be subjected to
Penalty. They have no right to keep out the Believers from the Sacred Mosque
(Ka’ba). No one can be its guardian except the righteous! They blaspheme it
by their whistling and clapping in the Mosque! To such a behavior penalty to
them is the only answer. To obstruct men from the path of their Lord, they
spend money; but there will be regrets and along with other disbelievers, they
will all be gathered into the blazing fire of Hell.

Say to the Unbelievers (O Muhammad) that if they desist from their

Unbelief, their past would be forgiven; but if not, the punishment as those of
ancients would be their destiny: Fight them till oppression remains no more
and there prevail justice and faith in God, altogether and everywhere. If they
refuse, be sure God is your Protector – the Best to protect and the Best to help.
Know then, the booty that you acquire in war, a fifth share is assigned to God,
– and to the Apostle, his near relatives, orphans, the needy, and the wayfarer; –
the rest divided among the forces. Remember, the Believers force (from
Madinah) went out to meet the big (Meccan) army. They met on the two sides
of the valley (at Badr). Both sides went in with full determination to decide the
issue once for all – whether the Pagans of Mecca were to continue their
arrogant oppression, or the religion of God was to be established in freedom
and honour.

Oh the Believers! Be firm, call your Lord in remembrance, when you

face an enemy force, so that you may prosper. Obey God and His Apostle and
do not fall into disputes. This may cause you weakness in your hearts; be
patient and persevering: for God is with those who patiently persevere.
Remember, Satan made their sinful acts alluring to them – who started from
their homes insolently to hinder men from the path of God. But when the two
forces came face-to-face, their leader turned back on his heels, leaving his
followers in a lurch to face the doom.

Lo! The Hypocrites, whose hearts are diseased, say that the religion of
the Believers has mislead them (the Believers). You (O Muhammad) could
only see when the angels smite their faces, take out their souls at death,
saying: ‘taste the Penalty of blazing Fire!’ It is because of their evil deeds: as
God is never unjust to them. It were the deeds of the People of Pharaoh and
some other before them, rejected the Signs of God and were punished for their
crimes: for God is Strong, and Strict in punishment. He bestows His grace
freely, but He never withdraws it arbitrarily. It is actual their rebellious souls
which brings about their inevitable punishment. In the sight of God, the people
who reject their Lord are the worst of beasts. Treachery is an evil deed. But in
war it is dubly wrong, for it endangers so many lives. Such treachery should
be punished in such a way that it gets no chance again. Not only the actual
perpetrators but those who follow their standard should be rendered powerless.
And the broken treaty God is sufficient for you (O Muhammad) and your
followers (to over-power them). He has put affection for you in the hearts of
the Believers. If you would have spent all that is in the earth, you could have
never produced such at all; – but God has done it: for He is Exalted, Mighty
and Wise.

O Apostle! Rouse the Believers to the fight. If there are only twenty,
patient and persevering souls; they will conquer a two hundred: if a hundred,
they will conquer a thousand of the Unbelievers: for these are the people
without understanding. An ordinary war may be for some temporal goods of
this world. Such a war should be denounced so that the innocent party can
atleast fight on equal terms.

Let not the Unbelievers think that they can outstrip God’s purpose; –
no they cannot escape (the punishment). In every fight, physical, moral, or
spiritual, arm yourself with the best weapons and the best arms against your
enemy, so as to instill wholesome respect into the enemy and the Cause the
believers stand for. But, if the enemy is inclined to peace you also incline
towards peace. Put your trust in God: for He is the One that hears and knows
all things. If they intend to deceive you, condemned. But Jihad is fought under
strict conditions under a righteous Imam, purely for the defence of faith and
God’s Law. All basely motives, therefore are strictly excluded. The greed of
gain in the shape of ransom from captives has no place in such warfare. Thus
God’s Plan works in a marvelous way, and evolves good out of seeming evil.
Had it not been for an ordinance of God which had gone before, an awful
doom had come upon you on account of what you (O Muhammd) took. But
now enjoy what you took in war, lawful and good: But fear God: for God is
Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Oh Apostle! Say to the prisoners of war (as consolation to them) that in

spite of their previous hostility, God will forgive them in His mercy if there
was any good in their hearts, and confer upon them a far higher gift than
anything they have ever lost. If the kindness shown to them is abused by the
prisoners of war when they are released, it is not a matter of discouragement to
those who showed the kindness. Such persons have in their treachery shown
already their treason to God, in that they took up arms against God’s Apostle,
and sought to blot out the pure worship of God. The punishment of defeat. But
God knows all, and in His wisdom will order all things for the best. The
Believers have done their duty in showing such clemency as they could in the
circumstances of war. For them “God sufficeth”. Lo! Those who believed and
left their homes and strove with their wealth and their lives for the cause of
God, and those who took them in and helped them: these are protecting friends
one of another, for them (both) is pardon, and a beautiful provision. And those
who believed but did not leave their homes, you have no duty to protect them
till they leave their homes; but if they seek help from you in the matter of
religion then it is your duty to help (them) except against a folk between
whom and you there is a treaty. God sees all what you do. The Unbelievers are
protectors of one another: Unless you (Oh Prophet!) protect each other, there
would be oppression on earth and great mischief. And those who afterwards
believed and left their homes and strove along with you, they are of you; and
those who are akin are nearer one to another in the ordinance of God. Lo! God
is Knower of all things.