8. Al-Anfaal

Islam relies not on the use of force but on the demonstration of force to inspire awe in the enemy. That is why the believers were commanded to equip themselves with power so that the enemy might be demoralized and refrain from aggression. Those who spend their resources in strengthening Islam intellectually and materially will be rewarded many times over by their Lord. The secret of success in Islam does not lie in military confrontation but in the preaching of its principles—hence the command that whenever there is an offer of peace by the other party, it should be accepted, setting aside every doubt or suspicion, because doubt or suspicion is in any case an uncertain thing, but the benefit of a cease-fire is certain: it permits the dawah work of Islam to start in a peaceful atmosphere. The stoppage of war thus facilitates the ideological expansion of Islam. Islam in itself is the greatest power. If the belief in God and the Hereafter is engendered in a group, then all those psychological drawbacks which cause differences and clashes are driven out of them. Thereafter, it necessarily happens that all of them join together and become one, and it is a fact that the greatest strength lies in unity. A united group, though small, will overcome a group larger than itself. Mutual integration is the most difficult task. The sign of a divinely—aided group is that its members are united; nothing succeeds in disuniting them.

See note to 2:191.

See note to 2:191.

See note to 2:191.

The reason for a lesser number of believers overcoming a large number of those who deny the truth has been explained by saying that the believers possessed fiqh, while those who deny the truth were devoid of it. The literal meaning of fiqh is understanding. This means the insight and wisdom which a man acquires as a result of faith. Faith in God is like the lighting of a lamp in a dark room. The lamp lights up the room in a such way that everything in it is seen clearly. Similarly, faith blesses man with a divine consciousness, after which he starts seeing all realities in their original shape. As a result of faith, man understands the reality of life and death. He comes to know that the most important thing is not the life of this world but the life of the Hereafter. This makes him fearless. He looks at death as if it is a door through which he may enter Paradise. A believer is God-fearing and he is anxious about the Hereafter. Such a temperament purifies him of all types of negative feelings. He rises above obstinacy, hatred, prejudice, revenge and haughtiness. The case of those who deny the truth is just the opposite. One who denies the truth acts emotionally, while the believer acts realistically. One who denies the truth carries out his dealings with narrow-mindedness, while the believer displays broad-mindedness.

At the battle of Badr, the Muslims killed seventy of the Quraysh’s greatest men and captured another seventy. Many of these captives were chiefs. After the battle, a consultation was held to decide the fate of these prisoners. The majority of the companions were for ransoming them. These enemies were continuously hostile. But the Muslims lacked the resources to defend themselves. So, it was thought that the ransom could be utilised to purchase armaments. ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab and Sa‘d ibn Ma‘az were against this opinion. ‘Umar said: ‘O, Prophet of God, these prisoners are the leaders of those who deny the truth. The real strength of our enemies has fallen into our hands. They should be killed so that the problem is solved once and for all.’ However, the Prophet Muhammad acted on the first opinion. Later on, those verses were revealed in which there were comments on the battle. While the ransom was declared legitimate by God, displeasure was expressed on that transaction. Releasing the war prisoners on a ransom was apparently a matter of mercy and grace, but it was not in accordance with the long term plan of God. God planned to root out paganism and polytheism and had caused all the leaders of the Quraysh (except Abu Lahab and Abu Sufyan) to gather on the field of Badr, arranging matters in such a way that they came entirely under the control of the Muslims. Had these leaders been killed at that time, the resistance of paganism and polytheism to montheism would have been completely buried in Badr itself. The result of releasing these leaders was that they were able to re-organise themselves and continue the resistance movement. This decision was against the Muslims’ war strategy, and could have become the cause of the most serious difficulties for them. These leaders, along with their followers, could have completely finished the entire mission of Islam. But God had ordained that the Last Prophet and his companions should necessarily overcome everything. That is the reason why, in spite of this shortcoming in strategy, the Quraysh were not able to overcome the Faithful.

At the battle of Badr, the Muslims killed seventy of the Quraysh’s greatest men and captured another seventy. Many of these captives were chiefs. After the battle, a consultation was held to decide the fate of these prisoners. The majority of the companions were for ransoming them. These enemies were continuously hostile. But the Muslims lacked the resources to defend themselves. So, it was thought that the ransom could be utilised to purchase armaments. ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab and Sa‘d ibn Ma‘az were against this opinion. ‘Umar said: ‘O, Prophet of God, these prisoners are the leaders of those who deny the truth. The real strength of our enemies has fallen into our hands. They should be killed so that the problem is solved once and for all.’ However, the Prophet Muhammad acted on the first opinion. Later on, those verses were revealed in which there were comments on the battle. While the ransom was declared legitimate by God, displeasure was expressed on that transaction. Releasing the war prisoners on a ransom was apparently a matter of mercy and grace, but it was not in accordance with the long term plan of God. God planned to root out paganism and polytheism and had caused all the leaders of the Quraysh (except Abu Lahab and Abu Sufyan) to gather on the field of Badr, arranging matters in such a way that they came entirely under the control of the Muslims. Had these leaders been killed at that time, the resistance of paganism and polytheism to montheism would have been completely buried in Badr itself. The result of releasing these leaders was that they were able to re-organise themselves and continue the resistance movement. This decision was against the Muslims’ war strategy, and could have become the cause of the most serious difficulties for them. These leaders, along with their followers, could have completely finished the entire mission of Islam. But God had ordained that the Last Prophet and his companions should necessarily overcome everything. That is the reason why, in spite of this shortcoming in strategy, the Quraysh were not able to overcome the Faithful.

At the battle of Badr, the Muslims killed seventy of the Quraysh’s greatest men and captured another seventy. Many of these captives were chiefs. After the battle, a consultation was held to decide the fate of these prisoners. The majority of the companions were for ransoming them. These enemies were continuously hostile. But the Muslims lacked the resources to defend themselves. So, it was thought that the ransom could be utilised to purchase armaments. ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab and Sa‘d ibn Ma‘az were against this opinion. ‘Umar said: ‘O, Prophet of God, these prisoners are the leaders of those who deny the truth. The real strength of our enemies has fallen into our hands. They should be killed so that the problem is solved once and for all.’ However, the Prophet Muhammad acted on the first opinion. Later on, those verses were revealed in which there were comments on the battle. While the ransom was declared legitimate by God, displeasure was expressed on that transaction. Releasing the war prisoners on a ransom was apparently a matter of mercy and grace, but it was not in accordance with the long term plan of God. God planned to root out paganism and polytheism and had caused all the leaders of the Quraysh (except Abu Lahab and Abu Sufyan) to gather on the field of Badr, arranging matters in such a way that they came entirely under the control of the Muslims. Had these leaders been killed at that time, the resistance of paganism and polytheism to montheism would have been completely buried in Badr itself. The result of releasing these leaders was that they were able to re-organise themselves and continue the resistance movement. This decision was against the Muslims’ war strategy, and could have become the cause of the most serious difficulties for them. These leaders, along with their followers, could have completely finished the entire mission of Islam. But God had ordained that the Last Prophet and his companions should necessarily overcome everything. That is the reason why, in spite of this shortcoming in strategy, the Quraysh were not able to overcome the Faithful.

Releasing the prisoners at the battle of Badr was a strategic error. But, for the prisoners themselves, this amounted to giving them a new lease of life. This meant that the people who had become liable to be killed due to their opposition of the Truth, were given a further opportunity to re-think the Islamic call and their improper behaviour towards it. This respite opened up for them the door of self-rectification.Now one consequence of this event could have been that the flames of revenge flared up in the hearts of the prisoners due to the defeat they had suffered; they could have become eager to avenge the ignominy and loss they had suffered on the payment of ransom. In this case, they would have repeated the same wrong action as a result of which they had become liable to be seized upon by God. They would have expended their energy in opposing Islam, the result of which action would have been destruction in the world and punishment in the Hereafter. The second possibility was that they could have thought over the extraordinary happenings on the battlefield of Badr, i.e. why did it happen that, in spite of having inferior and fewer armaments, the Muslims were clearly victorious? This clearly indicated that God was in favour of the religion of the Muslims and disfavoured that of the Quraysh. If this second line of thinking developed, it would make them change their previous behaviour and adopt the religion which they had not earlier been able to adopt and in this way become eligible for God’s reward in this world and also in the Hereafter.History shows that there were a number of individuals among the Quraysh in whose hearts this question had arisen and sooner or later they joined Islam. ‘Abbas ibn ‘Abdul Muttalib had embraced Islam when he was a prisoner. Some others also joined the Islamic circle later. These people lowered themselves in the eyes of their own prejudiced group, but they honoured themselves in the eyes of God. They suffered worldly harm, but became possessors of the benefit of the Hereafter. On the release of the prisoners, the Muslims had the suspicion that the latter, instead of being grateful for the Muslims’ magnamity, would engage in conspiracies, adopt destructive ways and create impediments in the way of Islam. But the Quran did not give importance to these suspicions, because a movement launched for the cause of pure Truth is not an ordinary movement. It is a Divine affair. God Himself is behind it; and nobody has the power to fight God.