Surah “Al-Anfâl - The Spoils of
War”
Name:
This Sűrah has been named Al-Anfâl (the bounties) from the first verse.
Period of Revelation:
This Sűrah has been revealed in
2 A. H. after the
Historical Background:
Before going into discussion about this Sűrah, it is useful to view the Battle of Badr and its related events.
The invitation of Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam had proven its firmness and stability in the initial first decade or so, when he was in Makkah. Because on one side of it was a Great Messenger -- who possessed the highest qualities of character, foresight, nobility, and great wisdom –and who had invested entire wealth of his personality in it and it became very clear from his actions that he is very firm to carry this movement to a successful end and is ready to meet all kinds of dangers and obstacles that may come in the way of this cause. On the other hand, this Message was so charming that it was penetrating into the minds and hearts of the people irresistibly and the obstacles of ignorance, superstition and circles of unfairness were failing to stop its advancement. That is why the Arabs; supporters of the ways of ignorance -- who initially disregarded it, at the end of Makki period had begun to feel it as a serious threat and were bent on crushing it with all their forces. However, until that time the invitation in some ways needed quite a few improvements.
First, it had not yet been fully proven that it had assembled a sufficient number of such followers who are not only its believers, but also had true devotion to its principles, and are ready to burn all their energies and all the belongings in the struggle for its success and establishment, and for its sake are willing to sacrifice even their lives, to fight against the whole world, even though they are their own nearest relative. However, the followers of Islam had suffered the severest persecutions at the hands of the Quraish of Makkah and had given a good proof of the firmness of their faith and their strong relation with Islam, but still many further trials were required to prove that Islam had successfully acquired a group of such followers – who do not love anything but their cause.
Secondly, though the voice of Islam had reached in every part of the country, but its effects were scattered, its acquired strength was spread all over the country, it had not attained a group force that is essential to eradicate the old established order of ignorance.
Thirdly, Islam had not yet been established anywhere on the land, but it was still in the air. There was no part of the country where it could consolidate its power and make it a base for further action. Until that time the condition of Muslims, living among the unbelievers was as there is konaan in an empty stomach (pain in the neck) that stomach is forcing to vomit and does not find a place.
Fourthly, until that time this massage did not get an opportunity to take hold on the affairs of practically life. Neither it could establish its culture, nor it had put together its social, economic or political system; nor it had encountered the situation of war and peace with other forces. For the reason neither those morals could be presented on which they intended to build their entire system of life and nor it had been proven on the criterion of trial that how sincere is the holder of this message and his followers in proclamation of the Message towards which they are inviting other worlds. Allâh subhaana wa ta’aala had created opportunities for making up all these deficiencies.
The voice of Islam had been
continuously approaching in Yathrib (Madinah) during the last three, four years
of the Makki life of Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and
for various reasons the people had been accepting the message more readily than
other tribes of
The people of Yathrib were not
inviting Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam as a fugitive,
but as a Messenger of Allâh subhaana wa ta’aala and their leader. In addition, their invitation to the
followers of Islam was not only to give them shelter from persecution -- but
also to assemble them from all over the country for their integration with
themselves to form an organized community.
In this way Yathrib presented itself as the City of
The people of Yathrib
were fully aware of the meanings of this offer.
It was clear that a small town was presenting itself against the swords,
and social and economic boycott of the whole of
An other member of delegation, Abbas-bin-Ubadah-bin-Naalah also reiterated the same thing, asking, Do you know on what are you giving your oath of allegiances to this person?" (Voices came yes; we know it.), you are declaring war against the whole world by giving your oaths to him. Therefore if you think that when there will be serious danger to your lives and properties then you will hand over to the enemies then it is better to leave him alone right now -- because by Allâh subhaana wa ta’aala it is a shame and disgrace in this world as well as in the hereafter. And if you think that you will tolerate all kinds of consequences that will follow as a result of this invitation, then without any doubt firmly hold his hand – by Allâh subhaana wa ta’aala this is surely good for this world as well as in the next world.
At this all the members of the delegation unanimously said, "We are ready to risk all our wealth and our kinship for his sake”. After this the famous oath of allegiance, known as the "Second Oath of Allegiance at Aqabah", took place.
On the other side, the message
it had for the people of Makkah was not hidden from any one. In fact in this way the people of Quraish
became aware of the great personality and extraordinary abilities of Prophet
Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam-- was getting a strong
footing. In addition, under his
leadership the followers of Islam, whose constancy, determination, and
unwavering fidelity to the Messenger had been tried by Quraish -- were
gathering as a disciplined community. It
was a message of death for the old laws.
Moreover, the Quraish also realized the strategic importance of city of
The Quraish were well aware of the consequences. The night the oath of allegiance at Aqabah took place – the same night they got the news of this oath, and were greatly disturbed. At first, they tried to break people of Al-Madinah from Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. But when they saw that the Muslims were migrating to Al- Madinah in small groups, they realized that eventually Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam will also going to migrate there -- then they decided to adopt an extreme measure as a last resort to prevent this danger.
A few days before his migration, the Quraish held a meeting for their council to consider the matter --after a good deal of arguments -- they decided that one person should be taken from each of the families of Quraish other than that of Banu Hashim (the family of the Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), and they all together put an end to the life of the Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. So that in this way, it will become difficult for Banu Hashim to take revenge alone from all the other families of the Quraish and thus they will be forced to accept blood money for his murder, instead revenge. But by the Grace of Allâh subhaana wa ta’aala and the Trust of Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam in Allâh subhaana wa ta’aala, and his admirable foresight -- their all plans failed and Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam safely reached Al-Madinah. Therefore, when they could not prevent his emigration, they wrote a letter to Abdullah bin Ubai (whom the people of Al-Madinah had agreed to make their king-- but when the majority of Aus and Khazraj tribes became Muslims and acknowledged the Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam as their leader, guide and ruler, all his hopes of becoming a king came to an end) “As you have given shelter to our enemy, we tell you in plain words that you should either fight with him yourself or exile him from your city otherwise we swear by God that we will attack your city, kill your males and make your females our slave-girls." Abdullah bin Ubai was inclined to do some mischief, but the Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam took timely precautions.
Then Sa'ad bin Mu'az a chief of
Al-Madinah went to Makkah to perform Umrah (pilgrimage), there right in front
of the door of Ka’bah Abu Jahl stopped him and said, "Do you think we will
let you perform Umrah in peace while you give shelter and help the rebellion of
our religion? Had you not been a guest
of Ummayyah bin Khalf, you would not have gone alive from here." Sa'ad replied, "By Allâh subhaana wa
ta’aala, if you prevent me from this, I will put a stop to you from a thing
that is more important for you than this (block your route near
Al-Madinah)”. Though it was an
announcement from the people of Makkah that the visiting of Ka’bah on the
Muslims has been banned – the response of the people of Al-Madinah was that
they would block their trade route to
First, he started negotiations with the tribes who lived between the Red Sea and this route, so that they should make peace treaty with them or at least enter into a treaty to be neutral against Muslims. Consequently, he was very successful in it. First, he entered into a treaty of neutrality with Juhainah, a very important tribe of the hilly area near the seacoast. Then, at the end of the 1 A.H. he made a treaty of defensive alliance with Bani Damrah – whose area was adjacent to Yanb'u and Zawal Ushairah. In the middle of 2 A.H. Bani Mudlij also joined this alliance -- because they were the neighbors and allies of Bani Damrah. In addition, the invitation towards Islam also expended its circle among these tribes.
As a second strategy, he started sending small squads on this route to frighten the Quraish, and he himself accompanied some of them. In the first year four such squads went, in books which are named as the squad under Hamzah, the squad under Ubaidah bin Harith, the squad under Sa'ad bin Abe Waqqas and the Al-Abwa'. In the beginning months of the second year two more attacks were made on the same route which are known as mission of Buwat and mission of Zawal Ushairah, under the leadership of Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. Concerning all these missions, the two attributes are noteworthy. First, no blood was shed and no caravans were robbed. It proves that the real purpose of these missions was to show to the Quraish, which way the wind was blowing. Second, on these missions Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam did not take a single man from the people of Al-Madinah, all the groups were consisted of the immigrants from Makkah so that this conflict should remain only between the people of the Quraish and should not widespread by the involvement of other tribes. On the other side, the Quraish of Makkah have also been sending bands, therefore one of the bands under the leadership of Kurz bin Jabir al-Fihrl looted the cattle of the people of Al-Madinah. The Quraish has been trying to also involve other tribes in it. In addition, they did not just keep it as a warning, but extended it to the robbing.
The situation reached to the point that in Sha'aban, 2 A. H. (February or March, 623 A. D.) a big trade caravan of the Quraish was carrying gold worth 50,000 or so, with only thirty to forty guards, on its way back from Syria to Makkah, reached the territory from where it could be easily attacked from Al-Madinah. Because the goods worth thousands and was not enough guarded - on the basis of past experience there was obvious fear that some strong Muslim group should not attack it, therefore as soon as it entered the dangerous territory, Abu Suffian, the in charge, send off a person to Makkah to brining help. When the person reached Makkah, according to an old custom of Arabia, he cut the ears of his camel, incises the nose and overturned the saddle and ripped his shirt from front and behind, then he began to shout at the top of his voice, "O people of Quraish, protect your trade caravan, your wealth that is with Abu Suffian, Muhammad (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) with his followers is in search of it; I don't think you will ever get it, run, run for help." This caused great tension all over Makkah. All the big chiefs of the Quraish got ready for war. An army of 1000 strong men having 600 armored soldiers and 100 riders marched out for fight with great pomp and show. Their intention was not only to rescue the caravan, but also to put this thing to an end forever, and to crush the new rising Muslims power that just started gathering in Al-Madinah, and also to frighten the surrounding tribes so that this trade route should be secure for future.
Now the Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, who was always well informed of the situation, felt that the decisive hour has come and it is the right time to take a bold step; otherwise the Islamic Movement will become lifeless forever, and it is possible that there may not be any chance left for this movement to rise again. It has been less than two years for their stay in Al-Madinah. The immigrants (Muhâjirűn) are without provisions, local (the Ansâr) are un-experienced, the neighboring Jewish tribes are hostile, and there is a strong group of hypocrites and Mushriks in Al- Madinah itself, and the surrounding tribes are frightened by the Quraish and also have their religious sympathies with them. In such situation if Quraish attacked Al-Madinah, it was possible that a small group of Muslims could have crushed forever. However, if they don’t attack and with power only rescue their caravan safely and Muslims keep hiding, in that case, Muslims will be considered fearful and they will not have any survival place. All the surrounding tribes will obey the Quraish. The hypocrites and Mushriks in Al- Madinah will become an open opposition and it will be very difficult for Muslims to live in Al-Madinah. Muslims will not have any standing and no one will hesitate to harm them. For this reason Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam made a decision to go out with whatever little strength is available, and the field should decide that who has the right to live or is destined to perish.
After deciding about this final action Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam called all the immigrants (Muhâjirűn) and the locals (Ansâr) together and informed them about the situation, that there is a caravan in the north and an army of Quraish marching from the south, it is a promise of Allâh subhaana wa ta’aala that you will get one of the two. Now tell, which of the two you want to go after? In response a large majority of the people showed a desire to go after the caravan. However, the Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam had something else before him, so he repeated his question. At this Miqdad bin 'Umro, from among Muhâjirűn, stood up and said, "O Messenger of Allâh subhaana wa ta’aala, march to the direction to which your Râbb is commanding you - we are with you wherever you go. We are not like the people of Israel (Israelites), who said, “Go and let you and your Râbb fight we are sitting here”. On the contrary to them we say, “Let you and your Râbb fight and we will fight by your side to our last breath”. But the decision of fight could not be made without the opinion of Ansârs, because until that time no army help was gotten from them and it was the first occasion for their test that they were ready to fulfill their promise of fighting for the cause of Islam. For this reason Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam repeated his question without addressing them directly. At this, Sa'ad bin Mu'az, from among Ansâr, stood up and said, "it appears that Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is putting the question to us”. Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, "Yes". The Ansâr replied, "We have brought Faith in you and confirmed that what you have brought is the Truth, and have made a solemn pledge with you that we will listen to you and obey you. Therefore, O Messenger of Allâh subhaana wa ta’aala, whatever you have decided do so. We swear by the One (Allâh subhaana wa ta’aala) Who has sent you with the Truth that if you take us to the sea shore and you enter into it we will jump into it with you and none of us will remain behind, if tomorrow you lead us to the battlefield, we will not hesitate at all to go and fight. We will remain steadfast in the battle and sacrifice our lives in the fight. We hope that Allâh subhaana wa ta’aala may show our behavior to you that might delight your heart. Therefore, trusting in the blessing of Allâh subhaana wa ta’aala take us to the battlefield."
After these speeches, decision was made that instead of trade caravan they should march towards the army of the Quraish. However, this decision was not of an ordinary nature. At this crucial moment the number of people, who came forward to go to the battlefield, was only a little more than 300 (three) hundred (86 Muhâjirűn, 61 from Aus tribe, and 170 from Khazraj tribe) among them only two-three have the horses and the rest of the people did not have more than 70 camels, on them three-three, four- four people were riding and taking their turns. They have very few war equipment. Only 60 people have iron chests. This is why with the exception of those few who were prepared to sacrifice their lives, the majority of those people who had joined this dangerous mission - were so scared in their hearts and they were feeling as if they were knowingly going into the jaws of death. The people of convenience, though they had entered in the fold of Islam but they were not believers of such Islam that would demand the sacrifice of their lives and properties from them - they were relating this mission with a madness and their opinion was that the enthusiasm of religion has made them mad. But the Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and the true Believers had realized that this is the time to strive even at the risk of their lives – this is why they marched straight to the southwest, wherefrom the army of the Quraish was coming. On the other hand, if in the beginning, the intention was to loot the caravan then they should had headed to the northwest. (It is worth mentioning here that the writers of the history had taken those traditions which are present in the in the books of Magâzi and Hadiths, but the big portion of these traditions is against the Al-Qur'ân and is not trustworthy. Merely based on Faith we are not force to accept the narration of Al-Qur'ân about the Battle of Badr - but today if any authentic historical proof is available about the Battle of Badr – that is this Sűrah Al-Anfâl. Because it was revealed right after, the war and all the participants of Battle and the opponents had listen and read it. May Allah forgive, if it had narrated anything wrong that had not happened – thousands of people had contradicted it.)
On 17th of Ramadan, the two parties met in battle at Badr. When the two armies confronted each other and the Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam noticed that a Muslim not fully equipped is fighting against three Kafir, so in supplication he raised his hands before Allâh subhaana wa ta’aala and began to say with great deepness and humbleness: "O Allâh subhaana wa ta’aala! Here are the Quraish came in proud of their war material so that they can prove that YOUR Messenger is false. O Allâh subhaana wa ta’aala! Now send the help that YOU had promised. O Allâh subhaana wa ta’aala! Today, if this small army is destroyed -- then no one will serve YOU on the land”.
In this Battle, the hardest test was for the emigrants from Makkah – who had to fight against their own relatives. They had to put to the sword their fathers, their sons, their paternal and maternal uncles and their brothers. Only those people could have come out successful from the hardest test who had embraced the Truth with all sincerity and had disconnected all relations with falsehood. However, Ansârs' test was not an easy one also. Until now, they had only taken the animosity of the powerful Quraish and their allies by giving shelter to the Muslims against their wishes. Now they were also going to give fight against them for Islam – it meant that a small town with a population of a few thousands inhabitants was going to wage a war with the whole of Arabia world. Only those people could take such bold step who had brought Faith in such Truth -- that they were ready to sacrifice every personal interest for its sake. Finally, the Truth of their Faith had succeeded to earn the blessing of victory from Allâh subhaana wa ta’aala and the Quraish proud of their power were defeated by these badly equipped devotees of Islam. Their 70 (seventy) men were killed, 70 (seventy) were captured as prisoners of war, and their arms and equipment came into the possession of the Muslims as spoils of war. The big chiefs of Quraish, who were their best soldiers and the core of the opposition to Islam, were killed in this Battle. In addition, this decisive victory made Islam a recognized power in the Arab world. As one western researcher has written, “Before the Battle of Badr, Islam was merely a religion and a state but after the Badr it became the state religion even the state itself.
Topics of Discussion:
This great Battle has been discussed by Al-Qur'ân in this Sűrah. However, the style of this discussion is very different from all other reviews that are usually made by the worldly kings after a great victory.
In it first of all those moral weaknesses which were still present in Muslims have been pointed out, so that in future they should try their best to reform themselves.
Then it has been told to them that in this victory how big contribution was for the help of Allâh subhaana wa ta’aala, so that they should not become proud on their own courage and bravery but should learn to obey Allâh subhaana wa ta’aala and HIS Messenger alone.
Then the purpose of moral has been pointed out for which Muslims have to voice the conflict between the Truth and falsehood, and attributes of those morals have been explained which lead them to success in this Battle.
Then the Surah addresses the Mushriks, the Hypocrites, the Jews, and the prisoners of this war in a very impressive manner that teaches them a lesson.
Muslims have been given instructions in the affairs of the spoils of war, that they should not consider it as their own properties, but regard as the property of Allâh subhaana wa ta’aala, and they should accept with gratitude the share that is prescribed for them and happily agree to the share which Allâh subhaana wa ta’aala sets apart for HIS cause and for the help of the needy.
Then the moral instructions have been given about the laws of peace and war, which had urgent need for explanation after the Islamic Movement had entered into this phase. So that the Muslims should give up the ways of ignorance in their own peace and war affairs, and their moral superiority should be established in the world. In addition, the world should come to know that from the very beginning Islam has been inviting to establish the practical life on the morality, in reality it has done so.
Then it has stated some articles of the Islamic Constitution, which differentiate the legal status of the Muslims living within the boundaries of Dar-ul-Islam (the House of Islam) from those Muslims who are living away from the boundaries of Dar-ul-Islam.
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