In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
A summary of the Tafsir of al-Tabari.
Abridged by Dr. ‘Aqil ibn Salim al-Shammari.
Surah al-Anfal.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
“Lo! the worst of beasts in Allah's sight are the deaf, the dumb, who have no sense.” (8:22)
“Lo! the worst of beasts in Allah's sight are the deaf, the dumb, who have no sense.” (8:22)
Indeed, the worst of all living creatures in the sight of Allah are those who crawl upon the earth:
Those who turn a deaf ear to the truth,
So that they do not hear it and take heed from it.
And they turn away from it if they happen to hear it.
They are those who do not comprehend the commands and prohibitions of Allah.
“Had Allah known of any good in them He would have made them hear, but had He made them hear they would have turned away, averse.” (8:23)
“Had Allah known of any good in them He would have made them hear, but had He made them hear they would have turned away, averse.” (8:23)
Had Allah known any good in these people who speak,
He would have made them hear the exhortations and lessons of the Qur’an.
But He already knew that there was no good in them.
And even if He had made them understand that so they could know and grasp it,
They would have turned away from Allah and His Messenger, persisting in their rejection of faith,
Stubbornly opposing the truth even after knowing it.
O you who have believed,
Respond to Allah and to the Messenger.
“O ye who believe! Obey Allah, and the messenger when He calleth you to that which quickeneth you, and know that Allah cometh in between the man and his own heart, and that He it is unto Whom ye will be gathered.” (8:24)
And know that Allah intervenes between a man and his heart,
And that to Him you shall be gathered.
O you who have believed,
Respond to Allah and to the Messenger with obedience,
When the Messenger calls you to that which gives you life—the truth.
As for this world, it is the preservation of a good reputation.
And as for the Hereafter,
It is eternal life in the Gardens and abiding therein forever.
And know that Allah has more power over the hearts of His servants than they do themselves,
And that He intervenes between them and their hearts if He wills,
To the point that no one with a heart is able
To grasp anything of faith or disbelief through it,
Or to perceive anything,
Or to understand, except by His permission and His will.
And know, O believers, also,
That to Allah is your destination and your return on the Day of Resurrection.
And fear, O believers, a trial from Allah that tests you;
Let not this affliction, which I have warned you of, befall only those who have done wrong among you,
For they have done what they were not permitted to do.
And know that your Lord is severe in punishment for those who are tempted by their own wrongdoing.
And remember when you were few and oppressed in the land, fearing that people might abduct you, so He sheltered you,
And supported you with His victory, and provided you with good things, that you might be grateful.
Obey Allah and His Messenger, O believers,
Even if He commands you to do that which involves hardship and difficulty.
And remember what He did for you when you believed in Him and followed Him while you were few, and the disbelievers were weakening you and trying to turn you away from your religion, and you feared they would abduct you and kill you.
So He provided you with a refuge to which you could retreat, strengthened you with His victory over them, and fed you from their spoils as a lawful and good provision, so that you might thank Him for what He has provided you and bestowed upon you, along with His other blessings.
You are aware of this.
“And know that your possessions and your children are a test, and that with Allah is immense reward.” (8:28)
And know, O believers, that your wealth and your children, which Allah has gifted to you, are a trial and a test, so that He may test you through them and see how you act in fulfilling the rights of Allah regarding them; and know that with Allah is a great reward.
“O ye who believe! If ye keep your duty to Allah, He will give you discrimination (between right and wrong) and will rid you of your evil thoughts and deeds, and will forgive you. Allah is of Infinite Bounty.” (8:29)
O you who have been truthful to Allah and His Messenger, if you fear Allah by obeying Him and refraining from betraying Him and His Messenger, He will grant you a criterion to distinguish between your truth and the falsehood of those who seek to harm you, by granting you His victory.
And He will erase your past sins between you and Him, and He will cover them and shield you; and Allah, who does this for you, possesses great bounty for you and others.
“And when those who disbelieve plot against thee (O Muhammad) to wound thee fatally, or to kill thee or to drive thee forth; they plot, but Allah (also) plotteth; and Allah is the best of plotters.” (8:30)
Remember, O Muhammad, My favor upon you regarding My plotting against those of your people who conspired to bind you, kill you, or expel you from your homeland, until I rescued you from them and destroyed them; so proceed with My command, for your Lord is the best of plotters against those who disbelieve in Him.
And when Our verses are recited to them, they say, "We have heard; if we wished, we could say something like this; this is nothing but the legends of the ancients."
And when the verses of the Book of Allah are recited to those who disbelieve, they say, "We have heard; if we wished, we could say something like this which is recited to us; this Qur’an that you recite to us, O Muhammad, is nothing but what the ancients have inscribed and written down from the stories of nations."
“And when they said: O Allah! If this be indeed the truth from Thee, then rain down stones on us or bring on us some painful doom!” (8:32)
And remember, O Muhammad, also what befell the one who said, "O Allah, if this is the truth from You, then rain down upon us stones from the sky or bring us a painful punishment."
When I plotted against them, I brought upon them a painful punishment, and that punishment was their killing by the sword on the day of Badr.
“But Allah would not punish them while thou wast with them, nor will He punish them while they seek forgiveness.” (8:33)
And Allah would not punish them while you, O Muhammad, are among them, residing in their midst; nor would Allah punish them while they are seeking forgiveness for their sins and their disbelief.
But they do not seek forgiveness for that; rather, they persist in it, so they are deserving of the punishment.
“What (plea) have they that Allah should not punish them, when they debar (His servants) from the Inviolable Place of Worship, though they are not its fitting guardians. Its fitting guardians are those only who keep their duty to Allah. But most of them know not.” (8:34)
And what is the matter with these polytheists that Allah should not punish them, while they obstruct access to the Sacred Mosque, and they were not the allies of Allah?
The allies of Allah are only those who fear Allah by performing His obligatory acts and avoiding His prohibitions, but most of the polytheists do not know that the allies of Allah are the righteous; rather, they think they are the allies of Allah.
“And their worship at the (holy) House is naught but whistling and hand-clapping. Therefore (it is said unto them): Taste of the doom because ye disbelieve.” (8:35)
And their prayer at the Sacred House was nothing but whistling and clapping.
So taste the punishment because you used to deny that Allah would punish you for your rejection of the oneness of your Lord and the message of His Prophet, peace be upon him.
And the punishment He promised them was on the day of Badr.
“Lo! those who disbelieve spend their wealth in order that they may debar (men) from the way of Allah. They will spend it, then it will become an anguish for them, then they will be conquered. And those who disbelieve will be gathered unto hell,” (8:36)
“Lo! those who disbelieve spend their wealth in order that they may debar (men) from the way of Allah. They will spend it, then it will become an anguish for them, then they will be conquered. And those who disbelieve will be gathered unto hell,” (8:36)
Indeed, those who disbelieve in Allah and His Messenger spend their wealth to give it to their likes, so that they may gain strength through it to fight the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and those who believe in him.
To obstruct people from faith in Allah and His Messenger; they will spend their wealth in that, then that spending will become a source of regret for them, then the believers will overcome them.
And Allah will gather those who disbelieve in Him and His Messenger to Hell, where they will be punished.
“That Allah may separate the wicked from the good, The wicked will He place piece upon piece, and heap them all together, and consign them unto hell. Such verily are the losers.” (8:37)
Allah will gather those who disbelieve in their Lord to separate them from the believers, by settling the people of faith in His Gardens and casting the people of disbelief into His Fire.
So the disbelievers will be piled one on top of another, and He will make them into a heap, and He will gather all the wicked together in Hell; and these are the losers whose bargain was a loss and whose trade was a failure.
“Tell those who disbelieve that if they cease (from persecution of believers) that which is past will be forgiven them; but if they return (thereto) then the example of the men of old hath already gone (before them, for a warning).” (8:38)
Say, O Muhammad, to those who disbelieve, if they desist from their disbelief in Allah and His Messenger and turn to faith, Allah will forgive them what has passed of their sins.
And if they return to fighting you, then the precedent of the ancients has already passed—those at Badr and others from the generations of old—regarding the hastening of punishment upon them.
“And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is all for Allah. But if they cease, then lo! Allah is Seer of what they do.” (8:39)
So fight them until there is no more shirk and worship is for Allah alone, and all obedience and worship are for Allah, sincere and exclusive of any other; if they desist from shirk, then Allah is not unaware of what they do, for He sees you and sees your deeds, and all things are manifest to Him and never hidden from Him.
“And if they turn away, then know that Allah is your Befriender - a Transcendent Patron, a Transcendent Helper!” (8:40)
And if these polytheists turn away from what you have called them to, O believers—faith in Allah and His Messenger—then fight them and be certain that Allah is your helper against them; He is the best of helpers and the best of protectors.
A summary of the Tafsir of al-Tabari.