Verse:70 Commentary Commentary

The prisoners taken in the battle of Badr were released against ransom. These were sworn enemies of Islam and Muslims who had left nothing undone when it came to harassing, torturing, beating and killing them, anytime, anywhere. The slightest opportunity on hand would make them inflict their savagery on them. Now that they were prisoners in the hands of Muslims, granting them a lease of life was no mean feat. In fact, it was much more than adequate for them, virtually touching the outside limits of kindness under given circumstances. Then, the amount of ransom taken from them was far too ordinary.

Certainly great is the kindness of Allah Ta'ala. Imagine the consideration shown for the discomfort caused to them in paying that paltry sum for freedom and see how it is removed. It has been said in verse 70: If Allah shall find any good in your hearts, then, He shall give you what is better than what has been taken from you - and in addition to that, He shall forgive your past sins. The word: خَیر (khayr: good) used here means 'Iman (faith) and Ikhlas (sincerity). The sense of the statement is that prisoners، who once they are free, were to take to 'Iman and Islam with sincerity, then they shall be receiving more and better than what they have given in ransom. Thus, made free and independent, the prisoners have been invited to consider their profit and loss as free individuals. In consequence, events prove that those from among them who embraced Islam were so heavily rewarded by Allah Ta` ala right here in this mortal world with wealth and property which was way higher than what they had paid as ransom - not to mention the forgiveness they were blessed with and the high ranks of Paradise they received in the Hereafter.

Most commentators have said that this verse was revealed about Sayyidna ` Abbas ؓ the uncle of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم because he too was one of the prisoners of Badr and ransom was taken from him too. His case was special in that he had left Makkah to participate in the battle of Badr with almost seven hundred guineas of gold on his person which was meant to be spent on the army of the disbelievers. However, before this could be spent, he was taken a prisoner with the gold.

When came the time to pay ransom, he said to the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم that the gold he had with him should be applied to cover the amount of his ransom. The Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: The wealth you brought to support disbelief became war spoils for Muslims. Ransom has to be in addition to that. Alongwith it, he also said: You should also pay the ransom for your two nephews, ` Agil ibn Abi Talib and Nawfil ibn Harith. Thereupon, Sayyidna ` Abbas ؓ said: If so much financial burden was placed on me, I shall have to beg before the Quraysh like a pauper. The Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: Why? What about the wealth you had entrusted with your wife, Umm al-Fadl while leaving Makkah? Sayyidna ` Abbas ؓ asked: How did you know this when I had entrusted it with my wife in the darkness of night, personally and in private. There is no third person who knows about it. He said: My Rabb رَبّ has told me everything about it. When Sayyidna ` Abbas ؓ heard these words, his heart became certain that the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was a true messenger of Allah. In fact, Sayyidna ` Abbas ؓ had held the Holy Prophet in esteem even before this happened, but there were some doubts as well - which Allah Ta` ala removed at this moment. So, in reality, he had become a Muslim right then. But, he had a lot of money he had loaned out to the Quraysh of Makkah. If he were to declare his conversion to Islam immediately at that time, all that money would have gone waste. Therefore, he did not make a public announcement of it and the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم too said nothing about it to anyone. Before the Conquest of Makkah, he requested the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم for his permission to migrate from Makkah to Madinah. But, the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم advised him not to do that yet.

Following this conversation with Sayyidna ` Abbas ؓ ، the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم also told him about the promise appearing in the present verse which says that should he embrace Islam and become a Muslim with unalloyed sincerity of heart, then, the money he has spent in ransom shall be returned to him by Allah Ta` ala making it much more and much better for him. Hence, it was after his adherence to Islam had become public knowledge, he used to say: As for me, I am seeing the manifestation of this promise with my own eyes - because the amount of gold taken from me in ransom at that time was seven hundred guineas (20 Uqiyah). Now, at present, twenty of my slaves are running businesses at several places and no business venture being run by them is worth any less than twenty thousand dirhams each. And on top of all this, I have been blessed with the opportunity to serve Hujjaj, the visiting pilgrims, by providing to them drinking water from the sacred well of Zamzam - a service I consider to be so valuable as would pale out the possession of the entire wealth of the people of Makkah. Verse:71 Commentary About some prisoners of the battle of Badr who had become Muslims, there remained a doubt that they, once back in Makkah, may turn away from Islam and start hurting them thereafter. In the next verse (71), Allah Ta` ala has removed this apprehension by saying: وَإِن يُرِ‌يدُوا خِيَانَتَكَ فَقَدْ خَانُوا اللَّـهَ مِن قَبْلُ فَأَمْكَنَ مِنْهُمْ ۗ وَاللَّـهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ ﴿71﴾ (And if they intend to commit treachery against you, then, they have already committed treachery against Allah, so Allah has given [ you ] power over them. And Allah is All-Knowing, Wise). It means that should these people decide to commit a breach of trust with you, it will not bring any hurt or loss to you. They were the same people who had already committed a breach of trust with Allah. They had admitted of Allah being the Lord of all the worlds at the time of the original Covenant, then they became hostile to it. But, this breach of trust turned out to be fatal for none but them when, finally, they were disgraced and detained. As for Allah Ta` ala, He is the knower of secrets hidden in hearts, and He is the possessor of great wisdom. If these people start opposing you even now, there is nowhere they can go, certainly not anywhere outside the range of the power and control of Allah Ta` ala. Inevitably, He shall seize them as before. To sum up, it can be said that, in verse 70, the da'wah of Islam was given to the released prisoners in the mode of persuasion - while in verse 71, it was in the mode of warning that they were told that success in their worldly life and in their life to come depends on Islam and 'Iman.

Upto this point, the text was dealing with injunctions relating to fighting and killing disbelievers, taking them prisoners, setting them free and carrying on peace negotiations with them. In verses which follow right upto the end of the Surah itself, a particular related chapter has been taken up alongwith some details of its injunctions. They are the injunctions of Hijrah (Emigration) - because, situations can arise during a confrontation with disbelievers wherein neither the Muslims have the power to launch an attack against them and kill them off, nor are they willing to go for peace. In such a state of weakness, the only course through which Islam and Muslims can be salvaged is Hijrah (Emigration) which means that Muslims should leave that city or country and go to stay in some other land where acting freely in accordance with Islamic injunctions is possible. Verse:72 Commentary Commentary

These are the last four verses of Surah Al-Anfal. The real objective therein is to describe the injunctions of Hijrah (Emigration) which relate to the inheritance of Muhajir (Emigrant) Muslims. In contrast, also mentioned there is the inheritance of non-Muhajir Muslims and non-Muslims.

The gist of these injunctions is that people who fall under Islamic legal authority are, in the first instance, of two kinds: (1) Muslim (2) Kafir (disbeliever). Then, in terms of that period of time, Muslims were of two kinds: (1) Muhajir, those who after hijrah becoming obligatory, had left Makkah and had settled in Madinah. (2) Non-Muhajir, those who had, for a valid reason or for some other reason, stayed behind in Makkah itself.

Mutual relationship was a common factor among individuals from all these kinds because, during the early period of Islam, it was quite common that a son would be Muslim while the father would be a Kafir, or a father would be Muslim while his son would be a Kafir. The same was true about other relationships, such as, brothers, nephews, maternal grandfathers and maternal uncles etc. And that there were mutual relationships among Muhajir and non-Muhajir Muslims is fairly obvious.

Allah Ta` ala has, in His perfect mercy and profound wisdom, declared that the wealth and property left by the deceased person belongs to his or her own relatives as its deserving recipients. Although, the initial reality was that whoever received anything during this mor-tal life was entirely owned and possessed by Allah Ta` ala in the real sense. It was a simple arrangement from Him that everyone was made, on His behalf, a temporary owner of what was given to man to use for a lifetime and drive benefit from it. Therefore, by all cannons of logic, reason and justice the inheritance of every deceased person should have ricocheted back into His ownership - the practical implementation of which was to have it placed in the Public Treasury of the Islamic State which serves the great masses of people created by Allah by fulfilling their multi-faceted developmental needs. But, in doing so, first of all everyone would have been naturally hurt to find out that, after death, one's wealth and property will not reach one's own children, nor to parents, nor to wife or husband. Then, its logical consequence was also somewhat equally natural - that no one would have cared to work for more and take steps to keep it preserved. In other words, no one would have been burning his feet to work for more than what was needed to collect just about enough to take care of the basic needs of his or her life. And it is obvious that this attitude to life would have meant disaster for all human beings and their cities.

Therefore, Allah Jalla thana'uh, made inheritance the right of relatives among human beings, specially relatives for whose benefit one has been working hard and putting financial assets together during the course of one's life.

Along with it, while instituting the distribution of inheritance, Is1am has also kept in sight the important objective for which human beings were created, that is, the obedience to and worship of Allah Ta` ala - and it was in terms of this objective that the entire human species was declared to be two separate peoples or nations: Believers and Disbelievers. The verse of the Qur'an: خَلَقَكُمْ فَمِنكُمْ كَافِرٌ‌ وَمِنكُم مُّؤْمِنٌ (It is He who created you, then, among you there is a disbeliever and among you there is a believer - AI-Taghabun, 64:2) means exactly this.

This two-nation theory severed relationships based on lineage and kinship as far as it concerned inheritance stipulating that neither shall a Muslim receive a share from the inheritance of a related disbeliever, nor shall a Kafir have any right in the inheritance of a Muslim relative. This is the subject stated in the first two verses (72, 73) and the injunction given therein is forever, was never abrogated and has continued to be Islam's basic principle of inheritance since its very beginning and shall remain operative right through the day of Qiyamah.

Allied with it, there is another injunction which concerns mutual inheritance between Muhajir and non-Muhajir Muslims about which it has been stated in the first verse that the relationship of a Muslim - until he emigrates from Makkah - shall also remain severed with Muslims who have emigrated, as far as inheritance is concerned. In this case, no Muhajir Muslim shall inherit his or her non-Muhajir relative, nor shall a non-Muhajir receive any share from the inheritance of a Muhajir Muslim. As obvious, this injunction was valid upto the time Makkah al-Mukarramah was still unconquered. After the Conquest of Makkah, the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم had himself declared: لَا ھِجرَۃَ بعد اَلفَتح (la hijrata ba` d al-fath : There is no hijrah after the Conquest). It means that after the Conquest of Makkah the obligation of Hijrah does not remain operative any more, and when the obligation of Hijrah itself ceases to be operative any more, the question of severance of relationships with those who did not migrate stands automatically terminated.

Therefore, most commentators have said that this injunction stands abrogated by virtue of the Conquest of Makkah while, according to investigative scholars of the field, this injunction too is everlasting and un-abrogated - but that it has changed under specific conditions. If conditions in which this injunction was sent at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an were to reappear at some period of time or in some country, then, the same injunction will come into force once again.

To explain it further, it can be said that, before the Conquest of Makkah, every Muslim man and woman was obligated to migrate from Makkah as an absolute duty. In obedience to this injunction, most Muslims - with the exception of only a few - had migrated from Makkah to Madinah. At that time, not migrating from Makkah had become a sign of not being a Muslim. Therefore, at that time, Islam as professed by a non-Muhajir was also taken to be doubtful and it was for this reason that mutual inheritance between Muhajir and non-Muhajir was severed.

Now, if the same conditions were to re-emerge in some country once again - that it becomes totally impossible to fulfill Islamic obligations while living there - then, emigrating from that country will become obligatory once again, so much so that not emigrating under such conditions without a strong excuse, becomes a doubtless sign of disbelief, then, the same injunction shall still apply, that is, mutual inheritance between Muhajir and non-Muhajir shall not remain operative any more. This presentation, it is hoped, makes it clear that the injunction relating to the severance of mutual inheritance between Muhajir and non-Muhajir is really no separate injunction. In fact, it is the very same first injunction which describes the severance of inheritance between Muslim and non-Muslim. The only difference is that a non-muhajir in such a case was though deprived from the inheritance because of this sign of disbelief, yet he was not classed as a disbeliever just on the basis of this much sign of disbelief - unless, of course, one was to betray open, clear and decisive proof of one's Kufr or disbelief.

And perhaps, it is in view of this expedient consideration that yet another injunction relating to non-Muhajir Muslims has been mentioned at this place. This injunction specifies that, should they ask for help from Muhajir Muslims, then, it is necessary for Muhajir Muslims to help them - so that it becomes clear that they have not placed non-Muhajir Muslims in the category of outright disbelievers, in fact, retained was their Islamic right that they be helped when in need.

And since the background of the revelation of this verse is a particular Hijrah - that from Makkah to Madinah - while non-Muhajir Muslims were only those who had stayed back in Makkah threateningly surrounded by the disbelievers of Makkah, it is obvious that the help they sought could only be against the same disbelievers of Makkah. However, when the Holy Qur'an ordered Muhajir Muslims to help them out, then, given a surface view of things, it could be deduced from here that helping them has been made necessary for Muslims against all peoples and under all conditions - even if, the people against whom help is sought already have a no-war pact with Muslims - although, doing justice and upholding pledges is a serious duty in Is-lam. Therefore, in this verse, an exempting rule was mentioned according to which, should non-Muhajir Muslims seek help from Muhajir Muslims against a people with whom Muslims already have a no-war pact, then, helping even brother Muslims against treaty-covered disbelievers is not permissible.

This was the essential meaning of the first two sentences. Now let us look at it in synchronization with the words. It is being said:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَهَاجَرُ‌وا وَجَاهَدُوا بِأَمْوَالِهِمْ وَأَنفُسِهِمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّـهِ وَالَّذِينَ آوَوا وَّنَصَرُ‌وا أُولَـٰئِكَ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ ۚ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَلَمْ يُهَاجِرُ‌وا مَا لَكُم مِّن وَلَايَتِهِم مِّن شَيْءٍ حَتَّىٰ يُهَاجِرُ‌وا

that is: "Those who believed and those who emigrated (for the sake of Allah, leaving their homeland and relatives behind) and carried out Jihad in the way of Allah with their wealth and lives (by buying weapons and other war materials with their wealth and by staking their lives in the line of duty on the battlefield - which refers to the original Emigrants, the first among Muhajirs) and those who gave refuge and help (which refers to the Ansar of Madinah, the supporting residents of Madinah, where-after it was said about the two parties) --- those are friends to each other. (Then, it was said:) And those who did believe but did not emigrate, with them you have no friendship at all unless they emigrate.

At this place, the Holy Qur'an has used the words: Waliyy and Wilayah which mean friendship and close relations in the real sense. Early Tafsir authorities, Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas, Hasan, Qatadah, Mujahid and others have said that Wilayah at this place means Wirathah or inheritance while Waliyy means Warith or inheritor. Nevertheless, some others have taken Wilayah in the usual lexical sense, that is, friendship, help and support.

According to the first Tafsir, the verse would mean that Muslim Muhajir and Ansar shall be inheritors to each other. Their bond of inheritance shall not remain operative either with non-Muslims or with particular Muslims who did not emigrate. The first injunction, that is, severance of inheritance on the basis of difference in religion, was forever and remained as such. But, as for the second injunction, the position was that after the Conquest of Makkah, when Hijrah was no more needed, the injunction of severance of inheritance between the categories of Muhajir and non-Muhajir also did not remain operative any more. From here, some Muslim jurists have deduced that the way difference in religion is a cause of severance of inheritance, similarly, the difference in homelands is also the cause of severance of inheritance. A detailed discussion on this subject appears in books of Islamic Fiqh.

After that, it was said: وَإِنِ اسْتَنصَرُ‌وكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ فَعَلَيْكُمُ النَّصْرُ‌ إِلَّا عَلَىٰ قَوْمٍ بَيْنَكُمْ وَبَيْنَهُم مِّيثَاقٌ ۗ وَاللَّـهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ‌

(And if they seek your help in the matter of faith, then, you are bound to help except against a people who have a treaty between you and them. And Allah is watchful over what you do - 72). The sense of the statement is that people who have not migrated, relationship with them has though been terminated as far as inheritance is concerned, yet they are Muslims after all. If they seek help from Muhajir Muslims to safeguard their faith, then, to help them is obligatory on them. But, when doing so, Muhajir Muslims should not surren-der rules of justice and their own fidelity to an existing treaty when a situation comes in which non-emigrating Muslims were to seek the help of Muhajir Muslims against a people with whom they already have a no-war pact. If so, even helping these Muslims against the peace pact party is not permissible.

A similar incident came to pass at the time of the Peace Treaty of Hudaibiyah. When the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم arrived at a peace arrangement with the disbelievers of Makkah and included in the terms of peace was the condition that the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would repatriate anyone who went to Madinah thereafter. Just at the time the peace treaty was being concluded, somehow there appeared Sayyidna Abu Jandal ؓ whom the disbelievers of Makkah had put in detention where he was being tortured in all sorts of ways. He presented himself in person before the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم told him how oppressed he had been and sought his help. Imagine this plaint was being made before none but him who had come to this world as the universal mercy. What this plaint from an oppressed Muslim would have done to his blessed heart is something everyone cannot realize easily. But, despite this empathy, he excused himself from helping him as bound by the injunction in the said verse, and let him go back.

His return in this manner was heart-rending for all Muslims present on the occasion. But, the blessed Prophet of Islam, guided by Divine words, was as if witnessing the welcome spectacle that the years of oppression were not going to last any longer and the reward of a few more days of patience was to be added to the destiny of Sayyidna Abu Jandal ؓ . Then Makkah will soon be conquered. Then all these problems were going to be all over. Still, at that time, the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم acted in accordance with the command of the Qur'an and preferred treaty obligations over the personal misfortune of Sayyidna Abu Jandal ؓ . This is the distinctive feature of the Shari'ah of Islam which has made its adherents deserving recipients of victory, honour, and success which awaits them in the Hereafter. Otherwise, as observed commonly, world powers play games with treaties and pacts. They use them as weights and levers to make the weak cringe and the strong walk in trap. The game plan always stays in their hands. With the slightest expediency in sight, they would unleash a hundred interpretations and kill the treaty and begin looking for scapegoats to put the blame on. Verse:73 Commentary Said in the second verse (73) وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُ‌وا بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ (And those who disbelieve are friends to each other). The word: وَلِی (waliyy) used here, as stated earlier, carries a general sense included wherein is inheritance as well as the guardianship and patronage of affairs. Therefore, from this verse, we learn that disbelievers shall be considered inheritors to each other and the very law of the distribution of inheritance which is in force in their own religion shall be implemented as far as matters of their inheritance are concerned. In addition to that, the guardian وَلِی (waliyy) responsible for the upbringing of their orphaned children and for the marriage of their girls shall be from among them. In a nutshell, it means that, in family matters, the religious law of non-Muslims themselves shall stand duly protected in an Islamic state.

At the end of the verse, it was said إِلَّا تَفْعَلُوهُ تَكُن فِتْنَةٌ فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ وَفَسَادٌ كَبِيرٌ‌ (And if you will not do so, there shall be disorder on the earth, and a great corruption - 73).

This sentence is connected with all those injunctions mentioned a little earlier, for instance, (1) the Muhajir and the Ansar should be friends to each other, which includes mutual help and support, as well as inheritance; (2) the Muhajir and non-Muhajir Muslims of that period of time should not consider themselves related to each other in terms of inheritance, but the doors of help and support should remain open subject to relevant conditions; (3) the disbelievers were caretakers (waliyy) of each other, therefore, Muslims should not interfere with their law of guardianship and inheritance in any way.

Thereafter the text says if things were not done according to these injunctions, there shall be disorder and corruption on the earth. Perhaps, this warning has been given in view of the importance of the injunctions described here for they were based on major principles of equity, justice and public peace. The related verses make it amply clear that the way mutual help, support and inheritance depend on lineal bond - in the same manner, religious bond has its own importance in this matter. In fact, religious bond has precedence over lineal bond. This is the reason why a Kafir (disbeliever) cannot inherit from a Muslim and a Muslim cannot inherit from a Kafir - even though, they be fathers or sons or brothers by lineage. Along with it, in order to block religious prejudice and pagan partisanship, instructions were given that, no doubt, the religious bond is so formidable, yet standing by the terms of a treaty comes first and is more preferable. Contravention of the terms of a treaty is not permissible under the heat of religious partisanship. Similarly, also given was the instruction that the disbelievers are responsible for each other as guardians and inheritors, therefore, no interference should be made in their personal law of guardianship and inheritance. On the surface, these look like a few subsidiary injunctions, but they are, in reality, comprehensive basic principles of equity and justice for all which guarantee world peace. This is the reason why, at this place, following the description of these injunctions, warning has been given in words which have not been generally used in the case of other injunctions: 'If you will not do so, there shall be disorder and corruption on the earth.' Also given within these words is a hint that these injunctions have an effectiveness of their own in checking disorder and corruption. Verse:74 Commentary Mentioned in the third verse (74) are words of praise for the Sahabah who emigrated from Makkah and for the Ansar of Madinah who helped them, as well as the attestation to their being true Muslims and the promise of forgiveness and respectable provision made to them. When it was said: أُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ حَقًّا (those are the believers in truth), the hint given was in the direction that those who did not migrate were though Muslims, but their Islam was neither perfect, nor certain - because there existed the probability that they may really be hypocrites professing Islam only outwardly. After that, it was said: لَّهُم مَّغْفِرَ‌ةٌ (For them there is forgiveness) - as it has been explained in sound (Sahih) Ahadith: اَلاِسلَامُ یَھدِمُ مَا کَانَ قَبلَہ (Islam demolishes what was before it) and: والھِجرَۃُ تَھدِمُ مَا کَانَ قَبلَھَا (Hijrah razes what was before it). In short, this means that the act of becoming a Muslim goes on to demolish the entire edifice of past sins. Similarly, the making of Hijrah razes all past sins. Verse:75 Commentary Described in the fourth verse (75) is the injunction concerning different categories of Muhajirin (مُھَاجِرین ، emigrants). It says: Though, some of them are the very first among Muhajirin - those who migrated earlier than the Peace Treaty of Hudaibiyah. Then, there is a second category of Muhajirin - those who migrated after the Peace Treaty of Hudaibiyah and, because of this, there will be difference in the ranks they are to have in the Hereafter, but regarding injunctions of this mortal world, they too shall be covered by the injunction governing the first category of Muhajirin in that they are inheritors to each other. Therefore, addressing the first among the Muhajirin, it was said: فَأُولَـٰئِكَ مِنكُمْ (then, they are one of you - 75). It means that these Muhajirin of the second category are also a part of your group. Hence, under injunctions governing inheritance, they are governed by rules which apply to Muhajirin in general.

This is the very last verse of Surah Al-Anfal. Given at the end of it is a comprehensive regulation of the law of inheritance through which stood abrogated what was an interim injunction promulgated during the early period of Hijrah mentioned in the preceding verses about having the Muhajirin and Ansar become inheritors to each other through an arrangement of brotherhood between them. The words of the last verse which abrogated this temporary law of inheritance are: وَأُولُو الْأَرْ‌حَامِ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلَىٰ بِبَعْضٍ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّـهِ (As for the womb-relatives, some of them are closer to some as in the Book of Allah -75). Let us study them in a greater detail.

In Arabic, the word: أُولُو (ulu) is used to carry the sense of being the possessor, owner, person or people of certain entitlement. In absence of an exact counterpart in English, it is usually translated as 'men of or 'people of ', as in: 'people of wisdom' for: اولو العقل (ulu 'l-'aql) and 'people of authority' for اولوالامر (ulu 'l-amr). Therefore, the word: اولوالارحام (ulu '1--arham) means the people of arham (wombs). Arham is the plural of rahim which is basically the name of the part of the body where the creative process of the human child takes place and since the bond of relationship is established via the association of rah' m (رحم), therefore, اولوالارحام (ulu 'l-arham : translated literally as womb-relatives) is used in the sense of relatives.

The meaning of the verse is that, though a universal bond of brotherhood binds all Muslims to each other, because of which, if needed, helping and supporting each other becomes obligatory, and that they also inherit from each other. But, Muslims who are bound by mutual relationship have precedence over other Muslims. The phrase: فِی کِتَابِ اللہِ (fi Kitabillah: translated literally 'as in the Book of Allah - 75' ) at this place has been used in the sense of: فِی حُکمِ اللہِ (fi hukmi 'l-la.h) which means that Allah Ta` ala has made this law through His special command.

The rule of procedure given by this verse is that the distribution of inheritance should be on the criterion of relationship and the word: اولوالارحام (ulu 'l-arham) is applied to relatives in an absolute sense. Out of these, the shares of particular relatives have already been determined by the Holy Qur'an in Surah al-Nisa'. These are called Ashab al-Furud or Dhawi al-Furud in the terminology of the Law of Inheritance. Popularly referred to as "Qur'anic heirs," they mean those who are entitled to a statutory share in the inheritance of a deceased person. Any property which remains, after the determined shares have been given, should be distributed over other relatives as provided in this verse. Then, it is also evident that it is not possible for anyone to distribute any property over all relatives because some kind of a distant relationship definitely exists among human beings of the whole world - for all of them owe their fact of birth to but one father and mother, Sayyidna Adam and Sayyidah Hawwa (علیہا السلام) (Adam and Eve). Therefore, the only practical way of distributing inheritance over relatives can be that, by giving close relatives precedence over those distant, the benchmark of the near should be used to exclude the distant. A detailed description of this is present in the Ahadith of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم which stipulate that, after having given the shares of Dhawi al-Furud (Qur'anic heirs), whatever remains should be given to the 'Asbat (agnates or paternal relatives) of the deceased person, degree-wise, that is, by giving precedence to the near agnate (` asbah) over the distant one, the benchmark of the near should be used to exclude the distant.

And in case, there is no one alive from among the agnates ( 'asbat), then, distribution has to be made over rest of the relatives.

In addition to ` asbat or agnates, there are a host of other relatives. It is for them that the word: ذَوِی الارحام Dhawi al-Arham has been particularized in the technical terminology of the science of inheritance and distribution. But, this terminology has found currency in a later period. In the Holy Qur'an, the word: اولوالارحام (ulu 'l-arham : womb-relatives), according to its lexical connotation, covers all relatives included wherein are Dhawi al-Furud ذَوِی فُرُوض (Qur'anic heirs), ` Asbat (agnates) and Dhawi al-Arham (womb-relatives) in a general sense.

Then, some details about the subject have been covered in Surah al-Nis-a' where Allah Ta` ala has Himself determined the shares of particular relatives and which are known as Dhawi al-Furud in the terminology of Inheritance. As for the rest, the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has said:

الحقوا الفرایٔض باھلھا فما بقی فھولاولی رجل ذکر۔ (البخاری)

It means: After giving shares to those identified in the Qur'an, that which remains is to be given to males nearer to the deceased. (al-Bukhari)

They are known as Asbat (agnates) in the terminology of inheritance. If there be no one from among the ` asbat (agnates) of the deceased person, then, according to the saying of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم ، other relatives get it. These relatives are technically known as Dhawi 'l-Arham (womb-relatives) such as, maternal uncle or maternal aunt and others.

The last sentence of this last verse of Surah Al-Anfal has abrogated the law of Islamic inheritance mentioned in verses earlier to this. According to that law, mutual inheritance used to be in force among the Muhajirin and Ansar, even though there be no lineal kinship between them. It was abrogated because it was an emergency-oriented injunction given during the initial period of Hijrah.

Surah Al-Anfal ends here. May Allah Ta` ala give us all the Taufiq (تَوفِیق)of understanding it and acting in accordance with it.

Praised is Allah with whose help " Surah al-'Anfal" comes to its conclusion the night of Thursday, 22nd of Jumada II, Hijrah Year 1381. I seek from Allah Ta` ala His Taufiq and help in the Tafsir of Surah at-Taubah and for Allah is all praise from its beginning to its end --- Muhammad Shafi, may he be forgiven.

A review of it was completed on the day of Jumu'ah, 19th of Jumada I, Hijrah Year 1390 and praised be Allah for that.