Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 8 Al-Anfal, Ayat 5-8

كَمَاۤ اَخۡرَجَكَ رَبُّكَ مِنۡۢ بَيۡتِكَ بِالۡحَـقِّ وَاِنَّ فَرِيۡقًا مِّنَ الۡمُؤۡمِنِيۡنَ لَـكٰرِهُوۡنَۙ‏ ﴿8:5﴾ يُجَادِلُوۡنَكَ فِى الۡحَـقِّ بَعۡدَ مَا تَبَيَّنَ كَاَنَّمَا يُسَاقُوۡنَ اِلَى الۡمَوۡتِ وَهُمۡ يَنۡظُرُوۡنَؕ‏ ﴿8:6﴾ وَاِذۡ يَعِدُكُمُ اللّٰهُ اِحۡدَى الطَّآئِفَتَيۡنِ اَنَّهَا لَـكُمۡ وَتَوَدُّوۡنَ اَنَّ غَيۡرَ ذَاتِ الشَّوۡكَةِ تَكُوۡنُ لَـكُمۡ وَيُرِيۡدُ اللّٰهُ اَنۡ يُّحِقَّ الۡحَـقَّ بِكَلِمٰتِهٖ وَيَقۡطَعَ دَابِرَ الۡـكٰفِرِيۡنَۙ‏ ﴿8:7﴾ لِيُحِقَّ الۡحَـقَّ وَيُبۡطِلَ الۡبَاطِلَ وَلَوۡ كَرِهَ الۡمُجۡرِمُوۡنَ​ۚ‏  ﴿8:8﴾

(8:5) (Now with regard to the spoils the same situation exists as when) your Lord brought you forth from your home in a righteous cause while a party among the believers were much averse to it. (8:6) They disputed with you about the truth after that had become evident, as if they were being driven to death with their eyes wide open.4 (8:7) And recall when Allah promised you that one of the two hosts would fall to you,5 and you wished that the one without arms should fall into your hands.6 But Allah sought to prove by His words the truth to be true and to annihilate the unbelievers to the last remnant (8:8) that He might prove the truth to be true and the false to be false, however averse the evil-doers might be to it.7

Notes

4. When the people in question were required to fight, they were disinclined to do so for they felt that they were being driven to death and destruction. Their condition is somewhat similar for they are now required not to contend about spoils of war and wait for God's command as to how the spoils of war should be distributed.

This verse could also mean that if Muslims obeyed God and followed the Prophet (peace be on him) rather than their own desires, they would witness as good a result as they witnessed on the occasion of the Battle of Badr. On this occasion too many were reluctant to take on the Quraysh and considered it nothing short of suicide see( verse 6). But when they obeyed the command of God and His Prophet (peace be on him), it proved to be a source of life and survival.

Incidentally, this statement in the Qur'in implicitly negates reports usually mentioned in the works of Sirah and Maghazi and which suggest that the Prophet (peace be on him) and his Companions had initially set out from Madina in order to raid the trading caravan of the Quraysh, and that it was only when they came to know that the Quraysh army was advancing to provide protection to the trading caravan that the Muslims were faced with the option of either attacking the caravan or the Quraysh army. The Qur'anic version is quite contrary. Accordingly, from the moment when the Prophet (peace be on him) set out from his house, he was intent upon a decisive battlewith the Quraysh. In addition, the decision as to whether the Muslims should confront the trading caravan or the army was taken at the very beginning rather than later on. It is also evident that even though it was quite clear that it was essential to confront the Quraysh army, a group of Muslims tried to avoid it and kept pleading for their viewpoint. Even when a firm decision had been taken that the Muslims would attack the Quraysh army rather than the caravan, this group set out for the encounter with the view that they were being driven to death and destruction.See (verses 5-8). Cf. al-Waqidi. vol. 1, pp. 19-21; Ibn Sa'd, vol. 2. pp. 11-14 - Ed.)

5. God's promise was that the Muslims would be able to overcome whichever of the two parties they wished to attack - the trading caravan or the Quraysh army.

6. This refers to the trading caravan which had some 30 to 40 armed guards for protection.

7. This gives some idea of the prevalent situation at the time. As we have said earlier (see above, p. 128), the march of the Quraysh towards Madina meant that only one of the two would survive in Arabia - either Islam or the entrenched system of Jahiliyah (Ignorance). Had the Muslims not taken up the challenge, the very survival of Islam would have been imperilled. But since the Muslims took the initiative and dealt a severe blow to the military strength of the Quraysh it became possible for Islam to consolidate itself and subsequently the forces of Ignorance suffered a succession of humiliating reverses.