8. Al-Anfaal

And remember O believers when Allah made you fall asleep on that occasion, giving you a feeling of safety and peace from the fear you had of your enemy. He sent down rain from the sky on you, to purify you, and to remove the evil suggestions of Satan from you and to make your hearts strong, so you would be patient when you met the enemy in battle. It also made your feet firm, by making the sandy ground hard so that your feet would not sink and slip on it.

Remember O Prophet when Allah inspired the angels, who He reinforced the believers with in the Battle of Badr, telling the angels: I am with you. aiding you with help and support, so strengthen the determination of the believers in fighting their enemy. I will cast great fear into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Strike then the necks of the disbelievers to kill them and hit their joints and limbs to hinder them from fighting.

What happened to the disbelievers, when they were killed and their limbs were struck, was because they went against Allah and His Messenger. They did not follow what they were instructed to do, and did not stop doing what they were told not to do. Those who oppose Allah and His Messenger, Allah is firm with the punishment for them in this world, with death and capture, and in the Afterlife, with the fire of Hell.

That is the punishment for you, O you who oppose Allah and His Messenger, so taste it, for it has been hastened to you in the life of this world. In the Afterlife, you will have the punishment of the fire of Hell if you die stubbornly denying the truth.

O you who believe in Allah and who follow His Messenger, if you meet the idolaters approaching them in battle, then do not turn your backs to them and run away; but be patient when facing them, and firm when you meet, because Allah is with you with His help and support.

And whoever turns their back running away- unless they are withdrawing as a strategy with the intention of turning back to fight, or doing it to join a group of Muslims in order to help them-then certainly, he will earn the anger of Allah, and his place in the Hereafter will be Hell; what a miserable destination and final destiny!

For you did not O believers, kill the idolaters on the day of Badr because of your power and might, but rather Allah supported you in that. And you O Prophet did not throw sand at the idolaters, rather it was Allah, Who made what you throw reach them. Allah tested the believers by blessing them with victory over their enemies, despite their small numbers of fighters and weapons, so that they might be thankful to Him. Indeed Allah listens to your prayers and what you say, and He knows what you do, and what is best for you.

The killing of the idolaters, your throwing, so that they were defeated, as well as Allah’s kindness to the believers giving them victory over their enemy, was all from Allah. Allah makes weak the plans of those who disbelieve and who plot against Islam.

If you ask O idolaters, for the punishment and might of Allah to fall upon the wrongdoers who overstep the limits, then Allah has already made what you asked afflict you, sending down on you what was a lesson for you and for the mindful. If you stop asking for this it would be better for you, so that He might give you time, not giving you what you deserve immediately. But if you return to asking for a judgement and fighting the believers, Allah would also return by afflicting you with punishment and helping the believers. Your people and helpers would not be of any good to you, even if they are many and well prepared and the believers were few in number. Allah is with the believers, helping and supporting them, and whomever Allah assists, then no one will be able to defeat them.

O you who believe in Allah and follow His Messenger, obey Allah and His Messenger, following what He instructs and staying away from what He has prohibited, not turning away from Him or going against His laws, and doing what He has forbidden especially whilst you are listening to the verses of Allah being recited to you.