Surah Al-Anfal 8:45-48 - Quran Translation Commentary

(8:46) And obey Allah and His Messenger. Do not dispute, or you will lose heart and your strength will depart.⁸⁷ And observe patience. Surely, Allah is with the patient.

(8:47) Be not like those who came forth from their homes boastful and showing off⁸⁸ to the people,⁸⁹ and obstructing the path of Allah.⁹⁰ And Allah encompasses what they do.

(8:48) When Satan decked out fair to them their deeds and said, ‘No one of the people can overcome you today. Indeed, I am by your side.' (But) When the two forces encountered each other, he turned on his heels saying, ‘I am quit of you. I see what you do not see. I fear Allah;⁹¹ and (surely) Allah is severe of chastisement.'

Commentary

86. We have a hadith of the Sahihayn in explanation. `Abdullah ibn Abi Awfa said: "During one of his campaigns the Prophet waited until the sun started going down. Then he got up and said,

لاَ تَتَمَنَّوْا لِقَاءَ الْعَدُوِّ وَسَلُوا اللَّهَ الْعَافِيَةَ فَإِذَا لَقِيتُمُوهُمْ فَاصْبِرُوا وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ الْجَنَّةَ تَحْتَ ظِلاَلِ السُّيُوفِ

‘People, do not wish to meet the enemy. Instead, seek Allah's protection. But if you meet them, then be patient and know that Paradise is in the shade of the swords.'

Then he rose again after a while and began to supplicate in words,

اللَّهُمَّ مُنْزِلَ الْكِتَابِ ، وَمُجْرِيَ السَّحَابِ ، وَهَازِمَ الأَحْزَابِ اهْزِمْهُمْ ، وَانْصُرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ

‘O our Lord. Sender of the Book, Mover of the clouds, Annihilator of the forces: inflict defeat on them and help us against them.'"

According to another report, he added the words,

فإن صخبوا وصاحوا فعليكم بالصمت

‘If they shout and make noise (let them, but) you stay quiet.'

(Hakim also has a Sahih report about not being noisy at the time of a battle: Shawkani).

Differences in attitudes can be observed even today. In real-time films made in the battle-fields right when fighting is going on, one can see the Americans laughing, shouting, and cursing using foul language, while the Afghans are calm and gracious (Au.).

According to another report, the Prophet said:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يُحِبُّ الصُّمْتَ عِنْدَ ثَلاثَ : عِنْدَ تِلاوَةِ الْقُرْآنِ وَعِنْدَ الزَّحْفِ وَعِنْدَ الْجِنَازَةِ .

"Allah approves of silence on three occasions: when the Qur'an is recited, when the battle is on and when the coffin is carried."

Yet another report (in Tirmidhi: S. Ibrahim) reports Allah’s words:

إن عبدي كل عبدي الذي يذكرني وهو مناجز قرنه

"Verily, that servant is My complete servant who remembers Me on the horse-back." That is, he remembers Allah in every situation.

Ata' has said however, that during the battle Muslims could raise their voice slightly in remembrance of Allah (Ibn Kathir).

87. As it happened, says Mujahid, at Uhud. They disputed with the Prophet's instructions and, in consequence, met with defeat (Ibn Jarir, Shawkani).

88. The textual word for "showing off" is riya'. The difference between nifaq and riya' is as follows. Nifaq is to show off faith while concealing unfaith, and riya' is to show off obedience while concealing disobedience (Razi).

That is, one is the act of the heart, the other of the body (Au.).

89. Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Suddi, Dahhak and others have said that when Abu Sufyan reached safe territory, he sent word to the Makkan army to return. But they said they would not. (Except for Banu Zuhra and Banu `Adiyy, who returned seeing no point in a fight: Ibn Kathir). The Quraysh said they would rather go up to Badr, camp there for three days, drink wine, listen to songs and music, and demonstrate to the people their heroism, so that the stories of their pomp and show would be long remembered in Hejaz towns (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir, Shawkani).

Zamakhshari and Razi add that earlier too, when one of the pagan chiefs sent his sons to Abu Jahl with the message that if he wished he would send his warriors to fight alongside him, Abu Jahl thanked him but turned down his offer saying, "Tell your father, ‘If we are fighting Allah, as Muhammad claims, then there is no way we will win. But if we are fighting men, then, we have enough man-power.'" Then he added, "Rather, we shall go up to Badr, stay there for three days ..."

90. They did that by discouraging those who wished to embrace Islam and torturing and fighting those of them who had already embraced this religion (Ibn Jarir).

91. Ibn `Abbas, Suddi, Ibn Is-haq and others have said that when they started for Badr, Iblis appeared before the Quraysh in the form of a man called Suraqah b. Malik al-Ju`tham al-Kinani, the poet. (The Quraysh were in fact at war with this tribe and feared an attack in their absence because of old enmity: Razi). He joined their ranks and egged them on to fight the Muslims with such encouraging words as, "I am with you." He assured them that in their absence his tribe will not strike at Makkah. And, pointing to the Satans he had brought with him in men's guise he said, "These Kinanians will fight alongside you." But when the angels descended and Jibril advanced toward him while he was strolling in the field with his hand in the hand of a pagan, he disengaged himself and began to back off quick. The pagan cried out, ‘Suraqah! You were supposed to be with us?!" Iblis replied, "I am quit of you. I see what you do not see and I fear Allah. And Allah is severe of chastisement" (Zamakhshari, Ibn Jarir, Shawkani).

Reports in Waqidi and Tabarani say that when Harith tried to prevent Iblis' retreat, under the impression that he was Suraqah, Iblis gave him a big push on the chest. Harith fell down and Iblis began to run until he reached the sea, exclaiming, "O Lord. Your promise, that you will give me respite until the Day of Judgment!" Some other reports say that after Suraqa's retreat Abu Jahl told his people not to lose heart at the trick Muhammad had played on them in co-operation with Suraqah (Ibn Kathir).

It is reported that later the Quraysh questioned Suraqah b. Malik about his behavior. He flatly denied that he ever said those things (or that he had accompanied them to Badr: Au.) - Shawkani.

Thanwi quotes a point from Ruh: The ineffectiveness of Satan's fear which he stated in words, "I fear Allah," proves that it is not the natural fear of Allah that is required of a believer. It is the fear which grows out of one's faith in Him which is demanded of him.