8. Al-Anfaal

In ancient times it was the custom that after a battle whatever enemy property (ghanimah) the victors could lay their hands on was treated as their property. However, Islam laid down the rule that whatever one got from the battlefield should be brought back and deposited with the chief. After gathering all the spoils of war in this way, one-fifth part of it was kept aside in the name of God. This was received by the Prophet, who acted on God’s behalf, and was spent in this way: one part was spent on himself, then on his relatives who supported him in his religious mission in difficult times, then on the destitute, orphans, the needy and travellers. The remaining four-fifths were distributed among the soldiers. Islam wants man to develop the outlook of considering whatever he gets as God-given. In the battle of Badr a weak group overcoming an extremely powerful group was extraordinary proof of the fact that whatever happened was at the behest of God. Keeping a share of booty for other deserving brethren teaches the lesson that the bases for entitlement to a share in property are not merely effort and inheritance; there are other bases which do not fall within these spheres. The acknowledgement of others’ entitlement amounts to one’s admitting that everything belongs to God and not to oneself. The third important lesson taught by this law of ghanimah is that the basis of ownership is not possession but principle. Nobody will become the owner of a thing merely on the basis of it having accidentally come into his possession. In spite of being in possession of something, the individual must hand over the item to the responsible persons and should be content with receiving whatever is due to him as a matter of principle and as per the law.

It is the intention of Almighty God that the Truth being true and falsehood being false should be absolutely clear to the people. Initially, this work is done through the call given in the language of argument. The missionary, by using powerful but easily understood arguments, proves the Truth being true and falsehood being false. The completion of this work is finally effected by extraordinary happenings. Such events take either the shape of a heavenly miracle or domination on earth. The latter event took place at the battle of Badr. The Quraysh set out from Makkah to lend their assistance to their trading caravan coming in from Syria. The Muslims set out from Madinah to attack this caravan, but it deviated from the usual path, going along the seacoast, and thus escaped being attacked. The two parties then reached Badr and confronted each other. This happened at the behest of God. Both the parties were made to clash with each other and the victory was awarded to the people of the Faith. In this way, the veracity of the Prophet and that of his mission became abundantly clear to the people. It was finally clear to those who were true seekers of the truth that this was the real Truth while those who remained disaffected because of psychological complications persisted in their stand and thus proved that they deserved to be eliminated.

At Badr the Quraysh had a large army. Had the Muslims seen their real numbers, some of them would have said that they should fight, while others would have asked not to fight. In this way differences would have cropped up and the real task would have remained unfinished. So, God showed their numbers to Muslims as fewer while he showed the number of Muslims to the Quraysh as more. In this way it was possible for the Muslims to fight fearlessly. When God wants a task to be performed, He sends help and arranges for its completion. The events that occur during the course of action occur at God’s behest, so that He may judge the reaction of the person concerned to the conditions set by Him.

At Badr the Quraysh had a large army. Had the Muslims seen their real numbers, some of them would have said that they should fight, while others would have asked not to fight. In this way differences would have cropped up and the real task would have remained unfinished. So, God showed their numbers to Muslims as fewer while he showed the number of Muslims to the Quraysh as more. In this way it was possible for the Muslims to fight fearlessly. When God wants a task to be performed, He sends help and arranges for its completion. The events that occur during the course of action occur at God’s behest, so that He may judge the reaction of the person concerned to the conditions set by Him.

Success ensues with the help of God. But God’s help always arrives in this world in the garb of the cause and effect process, and not otherwise. If Muslims prepare themselves as far as possible, fulfilling all the conditions laid down by God for success, then God grants them success after compensating for any shortcomings that they might have. But if they do not exert themselves to the full as commanded by God, He never sends His help in such circumstances. What are these factors which will lead to success? Firstly Muslims should not initiate aggression. Then they should set about strengthening their roots until the enemy comes to attack them. When things reach the stage of a clash, they should prove to be staunch and unflinching, keeping in mind the remembrance of God—in other words, the real goal,—so that their morale may remain intact; they should keep themselves fully organised under the command of their chief, ignoring mutual differences instead of enlarging upon them and becoming divided; they should impress the enemy with their unity; they should exercise patience, i.e., they should adopt a sensible approach instead of being emotional; they should not take any immature step in the hope of quick success; their eyes should be on the final goal and not on immediate gain. Receiving God’s succour is thus a matter of cause and effect. If we are willing to surrender our will wholeheartedly to the will of God, then alone are we held deserving to receive divine succour. The present world is one of trial. Here, God achieves His will from behind the veil of the ‘unseen.’ That is why when He helps the believers, it is done from behind the screen of ‘cause and effect.’ If the Muslims go on taking steps without making preliminary preparations and suffer from differences and dissension, they should never hope that God will appear all of a sudden and solve all their problems on the spot. Even if the Muslims find themselves in better conditions than those of their opponents, it should not happen that, like those who deny the truth they become boastful of their power; fall a prey to haughtiness and ostentation and, in claiming superiority, go to the extent of opposing the call of Truth because it does not suit their whims and fancies.

Success ensues with the help of God. But God’s help always arrives in this world in the garb of the cause and effect process, and not otherwise. If Muslims prepare themselves as far as possible, fulfilling all the conditions laid down by God for success, then God grants them success after compensating for any shortcomings that they might have. But if they do not exert themselves to the full as commanded by God, He never sends His help in such circumstances. What are these factors which will lead to success? Firstly Muslims should not initiate aggression. Then they should set about strengthening their roots until the enemy comes to attack them. When things reach the stage of a clash, they should prove to be staunch and unflinching, keeping in mind the remembrance of God—in other words, the real goal,—so that their morale may remain intact; they should keep themselves fully organised under the command of their chief, ignoring mutual differences instead of enlarging upon them and becoming divided; they should impress the enemy with their unity; they should exercise patience, i.e., they should adopt a sensible approach instead of being emotional; they should not take any immature step in the hope of quick success; their eyes should be on the final goal and not on immediate gain. Receiving God’s succour is thus a matter of cause and effect. If we are willing to surrender our will wholeheartedly to the will of God, then alone are we held deserving to receive divine succour. The present world is one of trial. Here, God achieves His will from behind the veil of the ‘unseen.’ That is why when He helps the believers, it is done from behind the screen of ‘cause and effect.’ If the Muslims go on taking steps without making preliminary preparations and suffer from differences and dissension, they should never hope that God will appear all of a sudden and solve all their problems on the spot. Even if the Muslims find themselves in better conditions than those of their opponents, it should not happen that, like those who deny the truth they become boastful of their power; fall a prey to haughtiness and ostentation and, in claiming superiority, go to the extent of opposing the call of Truth because it does not suit their whims and fancies.

The Quraysh of Makkah considered themselves adherents of the Truth and the companions of the Prophet adherents of falsehood. They were so certain about this, that they prayed standing before the Kabah, ‘O God! Give success to the one of these two parties which is in the right and destroy the party which is in the wrong.’ However this faith of theirs was false. This type of faith always develops due to glorification (taz’in) of wrong action. Satan taught the people of Makkah that they were the followers of the recognised, well-known prophets, Abraham and Ishmael, while the Muslims were the followers of a person whose very claim to being a prophet was controversial; they were the inheritors of the Ka‘bah, while the Muslims had been banished from the land of the Ka‘bah. Satan having created such ideas in the hearts of the Makkans, infused false faith in them. They thought that whatever they were doing was done rightly and that, at all events, God would come to their assistance. On the one hand, the Makkan opponents considered their false conviction to be true on the basis of the above-mentioned factors. On the other hand, when they saw that the Prophet’s companions had engaged themselves on the Islamic front with stronger conviction and the will to self-sacrifice, they set about trying to show that their true faith was unreliable by saying that it was merely religious fanaticism; that they were going mad under the influence of the eloquent utterances of the Prophet. But, when there was a clash between the two groups and God’s succour came down in favour of the Muslims, Satan fled, abandoning the opponents of Islam. By the Grace of God, the Muslims’ hearts became strengthened. God certainly helps those who rely on Him. But, God’s help appears only when believers prove their faith in God to such a great extent that those who deny the truth feel justified in saying that they (the Faithful) have gone mad.

The Quraysh of Makkah considered themselves adherents of the Truth and the companions of the Prophet adherents of falsehood. They were so certain about this, that they prayed standing before the Kabah, ‘O God! Give success to the one of these two parties which is in the right and destroy the party which is in the wrong.’ However this faith of theirs was false. This type of faith always develops due to glorification (taz’in) of wrong action. Satan taught the people of Makkah that they were the followers of the recognised, well-known prophets, Abraham and Ishmael, while the Muslims were the followers of a person whose very claim to being a prophet was controversial; they were the inheritors of the Ka‘bah, while the Muslims had been banished from the land of the Ka‘bah. Satan having created such ideas in the hearts of the Makkans, infused false faith in them. They thought that whatever they were doing was done rightly and that, at all events, God would come to their assistance. On the one hand, the Makkan opponents considered their false conviction to be true on the basis of the above-mentioned factors. On the other hand, when they saw that the Prophet’s companions had engaged themselves on the Islamic front with stronger conviction and the will to self-sacrifice, they set about trying to show that their true faith was unreliable by saying that it was merely religious fanaticism; that they were going mad under the influence of the eloquent utterances of the Prophet. But, when there was a clash between the two groups and God’s succour came down in favour of the Muslims, Satan fled, abandoning the opponents of Islam. By the Grace of God, the Muslims’ hearts became strengthened. God certainly helps those who rely on Him. But, God’s help appears only when believers prove their faith in God to such a great extent that those who deny the truth feel justified in saying that they (the Faithful) have gone mad.

The granting of God’s bounty depends upon eligibility for entitlement to such bounty. At the national or community level, bounty is commensurate with the worth of the individuals making up the larger entity. Collective bounty or blessings are given according to the status of a community assessed at the level of its individuals. This means that if a group wants to have God’s collective grace, it should bend its entire energies to the improvement of the inner selves of its individuals. Similarly, if a community finds that collective bounties are taken away from it, instead of running after the bounties themselves, it should pursue its individuals, because of the fact that it is due to deterioration in individuals that it is deprived of bounties, and only on the reformation of individuals can it have God’s grace restored. When a community adopts the way of tyranny instead of justice and the way of arrogance instead of modesty, then a pronouncement of Truth is made before it so that it is given a warning. This declaration, in view of its perfect clarity, is a sign from God. Accepting it amounts to accepting God, just as its rejection amounts to rejection of God. When the call of God reveals itself to the extent of a sign (ayah), and appears before people, and still they reject it, they necessarily become liable for punishment. Though the beginning of this punishment starts in this world, the punishment of the world is far more lenient than the punishment that man is going to face after death. The beatings of the angels, humiliation before all the creatures, burning in the fire of hell—all these stages are so terrible that one cannot even imagine them in the present conditions. When a man adopts the ways of tyranny and arrogance, he receives at first a warning. When he does not learn a lesson from it, he is finally struck down by the severe punishment of God.