Surah Al-Anfal 8:49-58 - Quran Translation Commentary

49. When the hypocrites and those in whose hearts was a disease were saying:⁷⁴ “Their religion has deceived them.”⁷⁵ And whoever puts his trust in Allah (will find that), verily Allah is Mighty, Wise.

50. And if you could only see when the angels take the souls of the disbelievers, smiting their faces and their backs,⁷⁶ and (saying): “Taste the punishment of burning!”

51. This is in return for what you had done, for Allah is not a tyrant to His slaves.

52. Like Firaun’s people and those that have gone before them,⁷⁷ they disbelieved Allah’s revelations, so Allah seized them on account of their sins. Verily Allah is strong, severe in punishment.

53. That is⁷⁸ because Allah never changes the grace He has bestowed on any people until they change their own condition,⁷⁹ and that is also because Allah hears all, knows all.⁸⁰

54. Like Firaun’s people and those that have gone before them,⁸¹ they belied the revelations of their Lord, so We destroyed them because of their sins, they were all wrongdoers.

55. Verily the worst of beasts in the sight of Allah are those that denied (the truth) and do not believe;⁸²

56. Those with whom you made a covenant, then they break their covenant every time, and they do not fear Allah.⁸³

57. So if you come on such people in war, punish them in such a way that those who follow them are discouraged and they may remember.⁸⁴

58. And if you fear treachery from any (allied) nation, then throw back to them ⁸⁵ (their treaty) in a fair way. Allah does not like the treacherous.

Commentary

74. It refers to the time when Muslims were about to set out of Madina to fight against the infidels. In whose hearts there is a disease is the description of the Jews; they claimed to believe in Allah but in their hearts was the disease of disbelief.

75. That is: Muslims have become so dedicated that they do not care even for their own lives, as they have set out to fight against the Quraish inspite of their poor condition.

76. This is the description of the condition when a man breathes his last, therefore, it pertains to soul, and the real man is that who is found inside the human body. It is not correct to consider mere body as man, and the reality of death is nothing else but that the soul separates from the body. If this soul is that of a disbeliever, then it is smitten by the angels, who tell him to be prepared to taste the agony of burning in the Hellfire.

77. That is: The punishment that the idolaters received at Badr is like the punishment that was meted out to Firaun’s (Pharaoh’s) people and other rebel nations, because they also followed the same line of action which the nations referred to had followed.

78. That is: They received this punishment because...

79. It is the law of the rise and fall of the nations, that has been mentioned in the verse. If Allah bestows His favours on any nation, He withdraws it from that nation when it fails to appreciate those favours, thus proving itself to be incapable of enjoying them. Peace and security, well-being, honour and power are Allah’s favours and grace. When Allah snatches away these favours from any nation because of its rebellion, He causes it to be frightened and terrorstricken. Sometimes it becomes a victim of civil war among its own people, and sometimes war clouds hang over its head. In the same way its prosperity turns into poverty. As for the honour and power enjoyed by it, those also receive a severe setback. All this punishment from Allah results in disgrace, defeat, slavery and dependence on other nations.

The peace and security enjoyed by the Quraish in Makkah was converted into a state of war because of their waywardness, and the Battle of Badr put them to great shame, to such an extent that many of their dignified and awesome leaders were either killed or were brought to the prophet’s presence as captives. The verse refers to this disgraceful condition of theirs.

80. That is: when Allah can hear all and know all, then how is it possible that He would not know what the nations are saying and doing? And when He knows what they are doing, why would He not give them what they deserve?

81. This is a warning for future for the Quraish, that is what they got from Badr was an instalment of their punishment, and that if they continued to follow the path of the wayward nations, then the whole nation would be subjected to a severe punishment in the same manner in which the earlier nations were subjected.

82. That is: Their state of disbelief is so severe that they are not prepared to believe at all.

A person who takes to disbelief does not use his intelligence, but becomes blind and lowers himself down to the level of beasts, or even worse than the beasts.

83. The Prophet (S.A.W.) has made a covenant with the Jews after he migrated to Madina. One clause of the covenant debarred the Jews from supporting the Quraish. But the Jews contravened the treaty on every occasion. They were also prompting the Quraish of Makkah against the Muslims of Madina, as well as supporting them. The Verse specifically refers to them.

84. That is: If any person or group of persons from the breakers of the covenant is found by you. with your enemies fighting against you, then kill them unhesitatingly and give them punishment which might be a lesson for others.

85. That is: If the nation with whom you have a treaty does not respect the terms of that treaty, and from its behaviour it appears that it might act against you, then you should throw back that treaty to their face, for the treacherous people deserve only this type of treatment. When in this way your intention of cancelling the treaty is known, you can take necessary steps against the treacherous nation. It is not proper to act against a nation with which you have signed a treaty of peace and friendship.

This command applies to a situation where there is a fear that an allied nation is not respecting the terms of the treaty. But when the allied nation contravenes the treaty openly, as the idolaters of Makkah had done after the treaty of Hudaibiyah, then the treaty would be automatically dissolved, and there would be no necessity of any formal declaration of dissolving the treaty.

It should be noted that here the treaty or the covenant refers to a no-war agreement or a peace treaty. As for the trade and cultural etc., agreements, they should be respected in their spheres till their term is over. In case of war with a nation, all such agreements and treaties automatically dissolve.