Surah Al-Anfal

And it is called jihad (In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful), meaning: the one who has all the power, strength, and ability (the Most Merciful) who encompassed the circle of reason with the suns of evidence from every transmitted source (the Most Compassionate) who bestowed favor upon whom He willed from the followers. The purpose of this surah is to declare the servants' disavowal of power and strength, and to urge them to submit to the command of Allah, which leads to the unity of the word that results in the victory of the religion and the humiliation of the corruptors, producing every good. The gathering of all this is that when it was established in the previous surahs the obligation of following the command of the Divine and uniting upon it due to the established uniqueness and ability of Him, the purpose of this is to obligate following the one who calls to it with utmost submission, surrender, contentment, and disavowal of all power and strength to the one who bestowed it, even though He could have taken it away. The clearest evidence of this is the story of the spoils of war, concerning which they differed and disputed its division, so Allah prevented them from it and withheld from them the desires of their souls, and He compelled them to humility and submission. And He gave it to His Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) because he was the one who defeated them with what he threw from the pebbles, which Allah caused to penetrate their custom by casting it into the eyes of all of them, and with what He sent from His troops. It was as if the matter was solely for Him, granting it to whom He willed. Then when the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) became for them, He returned it to them as a favor from Him upon them and a kindness towards them. Its name is jihad as well; because the disbelievers are always stronger than the Muslims, and no group from the people of Islam ever struggled except that they were more than them. It is obligatory to endure weakness. If the view were directed to other than His strength, glorified and exalted is He, that would not be possible. For these purposes, it has been established to recite it in jihad to invigorate the believers for fighting, even if the enemy's numbers and groups are many, and the reinforcements from all the servants continue to come to them. As mentioned by the scholar Abu al-Rabi' Sulayman ibn Musa ibn Salim al-Kal'ayi al-Maghribi in his book: Al-Iktifa fi Sirat al-Mustafa and his three companions the caliphs, and likewise his teacher the preacher Abu al-Qasim Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Hubaysh in his book which he compiled on the conquests. They said regarding the Battle of Yarmouk from the conquests of the Levant, according to the narration of Saif ibn Umar, and this is the wording of Ibn Salim: He said: And the reader on that day was Miqdad. They said: And from the Sunnah that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) established after Badr is that we recite the Surah of jihad at the encounter, which is Surah al-Anfal. And the people have continued to do so after that. They said regarding the Battle of Qadisiyyah from the conquests of Persia, and the wording is also for Ibn Salim: They said: And when Sa'd - meaning ibn Abi Waqqas - may Allah be pleased with him - prayed the noon prayer, he commanded a boy whom Umar may Allah be pleased with him had made him adhere to, and he was one of the reciters, to recite the Surah of jihad. And all the Muslims at that time were learning it, so he recited it to the battalion that was behind him, and it was recited in every battalion. The hearts of the people were uplifted, and they recognized tranquility with its recitation. Mus'ab ibn Sa'id said: And its recitation was a Sunnah that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) would recite at the time of abundance and would seek its recitation, so the people acted upon that. End.

And its relevance to Al-A'raf is that when Allah, the Most High, mentioned - as has been previously stated - the stories of the prophets, peace be upon them, with their nations in that context, it was appropriate for him to mention the story of this noble prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, with his people. It has been mentioned that when He elaborated, glorified and exalted is He, on the story of Musa, peace be upon him, that perhaps implied his preference over all, He then brought the story of the one addressed by this Qur'an in two complete chapters: Al-Anfal at the beginning of his matter and during it, and Al-Bara'ah at the conclusion of his matter and its end. He distinguished between the two stories, as the people of Musa, peace be upon him, were in severe torment, and they knew from their ancestors that Allah would mention them and save them from the hands of the Egyptians. So when Musa, peace be upon him, came to them and clarified to them the signs that Allah commanded him with, they did not doubt that he was the one promised to them from the mercy of Allah, and his coming was a benefit to them immediately along with what it contained of future benefit. They were united in following him, and they were more than six hundred thousand fighters. Despite that, they would oppose him in every little matter, and they did not find hearts to confront the Egyptians in their refusal to comply with their commands. As for Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, he came to his people with no sense of prophethood among them nor knowledge of it, and they were not under the humiliation of anyone; rather, they were the kings of the Arabs. They thought that he came to strip them of their honor and make them his followers, so they opposed him with the utmost opposition and did not leave any scheme until they engaged in repelling him from what he brought. Despite that, Allah granted him victory over them and continued to support him until people, both from among them and others, entered the religion of Allah in waves. He made his religion prevail over all religions as He promised him, glorified and exalted is He. Then He supported his matter thereafter, and his followers continued to be victorious and will continue to be until the Day of Judgment. Between the two stories, there is a distinction for those with insight and precision. As for the relevance of the beginning of the first to the end of that, it has become clear that the end of Al-A'raf is the last story of Musa, peace be upon him, concluded with the story of Bil'am. What comes after that is merely completions of what has preceded, which are necessary and completions of the completions, until the last of that is the praise of the one who qualified them for His proximity, glorified is He, with submission and complete humility. When they were added to that high presence, it necessitated a question about the state of those who are addressed (blessings and peace be upon him), and it was answered.

'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' By His saying, the Most High: ﴾They ask you﴿, meaning: those who are with your Lord are the ones who truly defeated the disbelievers, as you have known this - and its explanation will come. They are the ones deserving of the spoils of war, and they have no concern for it. Their focus is on worship. Those who are with you, I have made them a visible tool, and yet they ask about ﴾the spoils of war﴿ that I entrusted to them with the hands of My soldiers, a question of contention from which one should seek refuge in Allah - as it was pointed out at the end of Al-A'raf - because that leads to division of the word and weakness in resisting the enemies. It is a collection of spoils - with the emphasis on the increase, which is what is given to the warrior as an addition to his share. What is meant here is the booty, which is the wealth taken from the people of war by force. It is called that here because its origin in language is increase. The Muslims have been favored with it over all other nations. When the question was about its ruling, it was as if it was said: So what should be done? He said (p-218) indicating that they asked about its distribution and ruling - so that the answer corresponds to the question: ﴾Say﴿, meaning: for them in response to their question: ﴾The spoils of war belong to Allah﴿, meaning: the victory is only from Him due to His attributes of perfection, ﴾and the Messenger﴿, meaning: the one who was decisive in the command of Allah, submitting to His decree, proceeding with what he was sent with, not fearing the mixing of destruction by engaging with the enemies. Abu Hayyan said: There is no disagreement that the verse was revealed on the day of Badr and its spoils. Ibn Zayd said: There is no abrogation; rather, it has been informed that the spoils belong to Allah because they are His property and provision, and to the Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, in that he clarifies the ruling of Allah and proclaims it by His command so that the people may submit. The ruling of the distribution will be revealed during that. It has ended. When He, glorified and exalted is He, informed that they have nothing in it except by the command of Allah and His Messenger, and that this necessitated their waiting for His command to be revealed on the tongue of His Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, and that piety necessitated standing in fear until the evidence comes that one can confidently follow, this caused His saying: ﴾So fear Allah﴿, meaning: fear greatly in all your conditions from that which has no greatness except for Him and no command except for Him. So do not seek anything without the command of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and do not dispute; for indeed, Allah, the Most High, who has mercy on you by sending a Messenger for your salvation and sending down a Book for your protection, does not neglect what will rectify you. He gives you what has been previously decreed in His knowledge to be (p-219) for you, and prevents you from what is not for you.

'And set right that which is between you.' This means: the situation that is associated with your separation and your coming together. Most of its evident matter is the severance, and it has approached corruption due to each group seeking preference over the other. So turn towards its care by submitting to the command of Allah and His Messenger, who command to turn away from the worldly life so that He may distribute it among you equally, the strong and the weak alike. For you are only provided for and aided by your weak ones, so that your word may unite and your matter may strengthen, and your support may become strong, allowing you to establish the religion and suppress the corruptors. 'And obey Allah,' meaning: the One who has all greatness, 'and His Messenger,' meaning: whose greatness is from His greatness in all that He commands you with, whether it is granting favors to those He sees, fulfilling conditions, or honoring a covenant with those who have made a covenant with Him. And when He commanded and forbade, He stirred and ignited, and He said, clarifying that faith necessitates obedience: 'If you are believers,' meaning: sincere in your claim of faith. Not everyone who claims something is truthful in his claim until he achieves clarification through testing. Therefore, he concluded his statement with the utmost emphasis that detaching from worldly distractions is difficult.