Surah Al-Anfal

Surah Al-Anfal is the 8th surah of the Quran. Most of it deals with the battle of Badr, the help Allah sent to the Muslims and the guidance given to them after the battle. This is why it is also called Surah Badr.

Why is it called Al-Anfal?

The first ayah says: they ask you about «الأنفال». The word «انفال» is the plural of «نفل», which means something extra or a reward, and here it means the spoils of war. Since the surah begins with the question about the spoils after Badr and its answer (8:1), it was named Al-Anfal.

Background

In 2 AH a large Quraish caravan led by Abu Sufyan was returning from Syria. The Prophet (ﷺ) set out with about 313 Muslims to intercept it, but Abu Sufyan changed his route and saved the caravan.

Meanwhile the Quraish sent an army of about 1,000 under Abu Jahl from Makkah. The two sides met at Badr on 17 Ramadan 2 AH. Although the Muslims were few, Allah helped them and gave them victory. The Quran calls that day «يوم الفرقان», the day that separated truth from falsehood (8:41). After the battle questions arose about the spoils and the prisoners, and this surah answered them. The details are in the section on the battle of Badr.

Central themes

• Faith, taqwa and the qualities of true believers (8:2 to 4)
• The ruling on the spoils of war and the khums (8:1, 8:41)
• The events of Badr and the help of Allah: angels, drowsiness and rain (8:9 to 12)
• Steadfastness, unity and obedience to the Messenger (ﷺ) (8:45 to 46)
• The plots of the disbelievers and Allah's better plan (8:30)
• Preparing strength against the enemy and accepting peace (8:60 to 61)
• Rulings on prisoners and preferring the Hereafter to worldly wealth (8:67 to 69)
• Hijrah and nusrah, and the bond between the believers (8:72 to 75)

Main theme and the guarantee of success

The main theme of Al-Anfal is how a believing community should conduct itself in war and in peace: the surah trains the Muslims, after their first battle, to obey Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ), to keep taqwa, to be steadfast, united and trustful in Allah, and to keep their intentions clean from love of spoils.

According to the surah the guarantee of a human being's success is:

1. Obedience to Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ) (8:1, 8:20, 8:24)
2. Taqwa, which Allah rewards with «فرقان», the forgiveness of sins and pardon (8:29)
3. Steadfastness and remembering Allah much, so that you may succeed (8:45)
4. Unity and avoiding disputes, otherwise courage is lost (8:46)
5. Trust in Allah (8:2, 8:49, 8:61)

Points for the exam

• The name comes from the word «الأنفال» in the first ayah, meaning the spoils of war.
• Most of the surah is about Badr, so it is also called Surah Badr.
• Madani, 75 ayat, 10 rukus, 8th surah, paras 9 and 10.
• Badr: 17 Ramadan 2 AH, about 313 Muslims against about 1,000, called Yaum al-Furqan (8:41).
• The khums (one fifth) is in 8:41; the thousand angels in 8:9; drowsiness and rain in 8:11.

Before Islam

• Among the Arabs the property taken from the enemy was treated as belonging wholly to whoever seized it.
• The chief of the tribe took a large share for himself, a quarter of it, called «مرباع».
• Prisoners were enslaved or released for ransom.
• Among earlier nations the spoils were not lawful: they were gathered and a fire from the sky came down and burnt them (as mentioned in the hadith of Bukhari and Muslim about an earlier prophet's campaign).

In Islam

Surah Al-Anfal begins by saying that the spoils belong to Allah and the Messenger (ﷺ), so that no one takes them by greed and quarrelling, and told the believers to fear Allah, to put things right between themselves and to obey (8:1). The Prophet (ﷺ) said that among five things given to him and not to any before him was that the spoils were made lawful for him (Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim).

Islam fixed the rule in 8:41: one fifth («خمس») of the spoils is for Allah, the Messenger (ﷺ), the near relatives, the orphans, the needy and the traveller; the remaining four fifths are for the fighters.

After the dispute about the ransom of the prisoners, the surah declared what the Muslims had taken lawful and good, and told them to fear Allah (8:69).

Facts

The help of Allah in the surah

• The Muslims asked Allah for help and He promised a thousand angels, coming one after another; this was good news and comfort for the hearts, and victory is only from Allah (8:9 to 10).
• Allah covered them with drowsiness, a security from Him, and sent rain to purify them, to remove Satan's whisper, to strengthen their hearts and make their feet firm (8:11).
• The angels were told to strengthen the believers, and terror was cast into the hearts of the disbelievers (8:12).
• The handful of dust: the Prophet (ﷺ) threw a handful of earth towards the enemy and Allah says it was Allah who threw (8:17). The real doer of the victory is Allah.

Yaum al-Furqan

Badr is called «يوم الفرقان» (8:41) because on that day Allah clearly separated truth from falsehood: the small, poorly equipped Muslim band defeated an army about three times its size, and the power of the Quraish leaders was broken. «فرقان» means that which separates.

Results

• About 70 Quraish leaders were killed, among them Abu Jahl.
• About 70 were taken prisoner.
• 14 Muslims were martyred.
• Islam became a recognised power in Arabia, and the Muslims gained confidence.

The prisoners

The Prophet (ﷺ) consulted the Companions; Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA) advised taking ransom and Hazrat Umar (RA) advised executing them. The Prophet (ﷺ) took ransom, and the surah then warned that a prophet should not hold prisoners until he has established his strength in the land and that they should not choose the goods of this world (8:67 to 68); it then allowed the spoils as lawful (8:69) and promised the prisoners better if Allah finds good in their hearts (8:70). Seerah books also say that some literate prisoners were freed on teaching reading and writing to Muslim children.

After the Prophet (ﷺ) and the Muhajirun settled in Madinah, the Quraish of Makkah wrote a letter to Abdullah bin Ubayy and to the idol-worshippers of the Aws and Khazraj in Madinah (recorded in Sunan Abu Dawud).

The message

• You have given shelter to our man (the Prophet (ﷺ)).
• Either fight him or expel him from Madinah.
• Otherwise we will come against you with all our strength, kill your fighters and take your women.

How the Prophet (ﷺ) answered

When the letter reached them, Abdullah bin Ubayy and his companions gathered to fight. The Prophet (ﷺ) met them and told them that the threat of the Quraish was a danger to them, but they were planning to fight their own sons and brothers, and the Quraish could not harm them as much as they would harm themselves. When they heard this they dispersed.

This shows the plots against the Prophet (ﷺ) that 8:30 speaks of, and his wisdom in keeping Madinah united.

1. Their hearts tremble with awe when Allah is mentioned (8:2).
2. Their faith increases when His ayat are recited to them (8:2).
3. They put their trust in their Lord (8:2).
4. They establish prayer (8:3).
5. They spend from what Allah has given them (8:3).

Allah calls them the true believers and promises them high ranks with their Lord, forgiveness and a noble provision (8:4).

The surah gives the Muslims rules for the battlefield and for peace. They show that fighting in Islam is for removing oppression and for defence, not for loot.

1. Do not turn your backs when you meet the army of the disbelievers, except as a battle tactic or to join another group (8:15 to 16).
2. Fight until the persecution (fitnah) ends and the religion is wholly for Allah (8:39).
3. Be firm, remember Allah much, obey Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ), do not dispute or you will lose courage, and be patient (8:45 to 46).
4. Do not be like those who came out boasting and showing off to people (8:47).
5. Those who break treaties repeatedly are the worst of creatures; if you fear treachery from a people, throw back their treaty openly and equally (8:55 to 58).
6. Prepare as much strength and cavalry as you can, so that the enemy is awed, and what you spend in Allah's way will be repaid (8:60).
7. If the enemy inclines to peace, incline to it and trust Allah (8:61).
8. The ratio: twenty steadfast believers overcome two hundred (1 to 10); then, in view of weakness, a hundred overcome two hundred (1 to 2), and Allah is with the steadfast (8:65 to 66).

The surah ends with the bond between the believers. «Hijrah» is leaving one's home for the sake of Allah; «nusrah» is helping the migrants, as the Ansar of Madinah did.

1. Those who believed, migrated and strove with their wealth and lives, and those who sheltered and helped them, are friends and protectors of one another (8:72).
2. Believers who did not migrate have no such bond until they migrate; if they ask for help in religion you must help them, except against a people with whom you have a treaty (8:72).
3. The disbelievers are protectors of one another; if the believers do not act likewise there will be disorder (8:73).
4. The migrants and helpers are the true believers, with forgiveness and noble provision (8:74).
5. Those who believed and migrated later and strove with them are also of you; and blood relatives have a greater claim on one another in Allah's book (8:75).

Ruku 1: Spoils, the believers and the angels (8:1 to 10)

The surah opens with the question about the spoils and answers that they belong to Allah and the Messenger (ﷺ); the Muslims are told to fear Allah, make peace among themselves and obey. Then the qualities of true believers are given and the help of a thousand angels at Badr is announced.

Ruku 2: Drowsiness, rain and punishment of the disbelievers (8:11 to 19)

Allah gave the Muslims drowsiness and rain at Badr, told the angels to keep the believers firm, announced a severe punishment for those who opposed Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ), and forbade turning the back in battle. Ayah 17 says that Allah was the real doer in throwing the dust and killing the enemy. The details are in the section on the battle of Badr.

Ruku 3: Obedience to the Messenger (ﷺ) and trusts (8:20 to 28)

The believers are told to obey Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ) and not to be like those who hear but do not understand. The Muslims are reminded of their weakness in Makkah and the later help of Allah. Ayah 27 forbids betraying trusts and ayah 28 says wealth and children are a trial.

Ruku 4: Reward of taqwa and the plot of the disbelievers (8:29 to 37)

Those who keep taqwa are promised «فرقان» (a criterion to tell right from wrong), the removal of their sins and forgiveness. Ayah 30 recalls the plot of the Quraish to imprison, kill or expel the Prophet (ﷺ) while Allah planned better. The objections of the disbelievers and the fate of their spending are also described.

Ruku 5: Purpose of fighting, khums and the field of Badr (8:38 to 44)

The disbelievers are invited to repent; if they persist, the fate of earlier nations awaits them. The Muslims are ordered to fight until persecution ends. Ayah 41 gives the distribution of the khums and mentions Yaum al-Furqan. Ayat 42 to 44 describe the positions at Badr and Allah's wisdom in bringing the two armies together. The ruling is explained in the section on the spoils of war.

Ruku 6: Steadfastness, unity and Satan's deception (8:45 to 48)

The Muslims are taught the rules of meeting the enemy: be firm, remember Allah much, obey Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ), avoid disputes and be patient; do not come out proudly and to show off as the Quraish did. Ayah 48 says Satan made the deeds of the disbelievers look fair and then left them.

Ruku 7: The hypocrites, Pharaoh and keeping treaties (8:49 to 58)

The hypocrites and sick-hearted said that the Muslims were deluded by their religion; the answer is that whoever trusts Allah finds Him Mighty and Wise. The death of the disbelievers at the hands of the angels is described, and the example of Pharaoh's people is given. Allah does not change a favour on a people until they change what is in themselves (8:53). The ruling on treaty-breakers is given.

Ruku 8: Preparation against the enemy and readiness for peace (8:59 to 64)

The disbelievers must not think they can escape Allah. The Muslims are ordered to prepare military power and horses as far as they can, to keep the enemy in awe. If the enemy inclines to peace, they should too and trust Allah. Allah united the hearts of the believers; if you had spent all that is on earth you could not have united them (8:63). See the section on rules of war and peace.

Ruku 9: Encouragement to fight, the ratio and prisoners (8:65 to 69)

The Prophet (ﷺ) is told to urge the believers to fight. At first twenty steadfast believers were promised victory over two hundred, then the burden was lightened to a hundred over two hundred and a thousand over two thousand. Ayat 67 to 69 correct the taking of ransom from the prisoners and then declare the spoils lawful and good.

Ruku 10: Address to the prisoners, hijrah, nusrah and relatives (8:70 to 75)

The prisoners are told that if Allah sees good in their hearts He will give them better than what was taken; if they intend treachery, Allah has already dealt with their like. The excellence of the Muhajirun, the Ansar and those who followed them is described, and the law of the rights of relatives on each other is given. See the section on hijrah and nusrah.