QN 08
Al Anfal
(8:24) Believers! Respond to Allah, and respond to the Messenger when he
calls you to that which gives you life. Know well that Allah stands between a
man and his heart, and it is to Him that all of you shall be mustered.19
19. The most effective means of preventing man from
failing prey to hypocrisy is to implant two ideas in his mind
. First, that he will have to face the reckoning and
judgement of God Who knows what is in the deep recesses of his heart. Even
man's intentions and desires, the purposes which he seeks to achieve, the ideas
that he seeks to keep hidden in his heart, are all well known to God. Second,
that ultimately every man will be mustered to God; that He is so powerful that
none can escape His judgement. The deeper the roots of these convictions. the
further is man removed from hypocrisy. Hence, while admonishing Muslims against
hypocrisy, the Qur'an frequently resorts to emphasizing these two articles oi
belief.
(8:25) And guard against the mischief that will not only bring punishment
to the wrong-doers among you.20 Know well that Allah is severe in punishment.
20. This refers to those widespread social evils whose
baneful effects are not confined only to those addicted to them, but which
affect even those who, although they might not be addicted to those sins, are a
part of that society. For example, if filth is found at just a few places in a
locality it will possibly affect only those who have not kept themselves or
their houses clean. However, if it becomes widespread and no one is concerned
with removing uncleanliness and maintaining sanitary conditions, then
everything including water and soil will become contaminated. As a result, if
epidemics break out, they will not only afflict those who were responsible for
spreading filth and themselves lived in unsanitary conditions, but virtually
all the residents of that locality.
What is true of unsanitary conditions in a physical sense, also holds true for
filth and uncleanliness in a moral sense. If immoral practices remain confined
to a few people here and there but the overall moral concern of the society
prevents those practices from becoming widespread and public, their harmful
effects remain limited. But when the collective conscience of the society is
weakened to a point whereby immoral practices are not suppressed, when people
indulge in evils without any sense of shame and even go around vaunting their
immoral deeds, when good people adopt a passive attitude and are content with
being righteous merely in their own lives and are unconcerned with or silent
about collective evils, then the entire society invites its doom. Such a
society then becomes the victim of a scourge that does not distinguish between
the grain and the chaff.
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(8:29) Believers! If you fear Allah He will grant you a criterion24 and will cleanse
you of your sins and forgive you. Allah is Lord of abounding bounty.
24. 'Criterion' signifies that which enables one to
distinguish between true and false; between real and fake. This is the shade of
meaning conveyed by the Qur'anic term 'furqan'. If a man is God-fearing and
tries his best to refrain from acts which displease God, God will create in him
the ability to discern for himself at every step which actions are proper and
which are not; which attitude conduces to God's good pleasure and which is
likely to incur His wrath. This inner light will serve as a pointer at every
turn and crossing, at every up and down in life, guiding him as to when he
should proceed and when he should refrain, telling him which is the path of
truth and leads to God, and which is false and leads to Satan.
(8:30) And recall how those who disbelieved schemed against you to take you
captive, or kill you, or drive you away.25 They schemed
and Allah did also scheme. Allah is the best of those who scheme.
25. Apprehending the Prophet's migration to Madina,
SEE EN BLOG
10122020
49-52 Victory of the believers and the painful death of the
unbelievers
53-54 Allah does not change His blessings unless people change
themselves
55-58 Treaties must be honored unless broken with proper notification
Hudaybiyah Treaty BLOG
13122020
(8:63) and joined their hearts. Had you given away all the riches of the
earth you could not have joined their hearts,
but it is Allah Who joined their hearts.46 Indeed He
is All-Mighty. All-Wise.
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46. Here the allusion is to that strong bond of love and
brotherhood that developed among the Arabs who embraced Islam and whose
conversion brought them solidarity. This strong solidarity existed
despite the fact that they came from a variety of tribes which had
long-standing traditions of mutual enmity. This was a special favour of God on
the Muslims, especially evident in the case of the Aws and Khazraj. It was barely a
couple of years before their acceptance of Islam that the two clans virtually
thirsted for each other's blood. During the battle of Bu'ath both seemed set to
exterminate each other. (Ibn Hisham, vol. 1. pp. 427-8-Ed.) To turn such severe
enmity into deep cordiality and brotherhood within a span of two or three years
and to join together mutually repellent elements into a unity as firm as that
of a solid wall as was witnessed in regards to the Muslim community during the
life of Prophet (peace be upon him) was doubtlessly beyond the power of any
mortal. Were anyone to depend on worldly factors alone, it would have been
impossible to bring about such an achievement. God's support was the deciding
factor in this development and this only serves to emphasize that Muslims
should always seek and depend on God's support and favour rather than on
worldly factors.
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(8:72) Surely those who believed and migrated and strove hard in the way of
Allah with their possessions and their lives, and those that sheltered and
helped them - they alone are the true allies of one another. And those who
believed but did not migrate (to Dar-al-Islam), you are under no obligation of
alliance unless they migrate.50 And should they seek help from you in the matter of
religion, it is incumbent on you to provide help unless it be against a people
with whom you have a pact.51 Allah is cognizant of all that you do.
50. The above verse is an important provision in Islamic
constitutional law. For it prescribes that any agreement on guardianship
would be applicable exclusively to Muslims who are either the original
inhabitants of the territory which has become Dar al-Islam (the Domain of
Islam) or Muslims who have migrated to the Dar al-Islam. As to Muslims living
outside the jurisdiction of the Islamic state, the bond of religious
brotherhood would doubtlessly exist between them and Muslim residents of the
Islamic state. The two groups, however, would not have the relationship of
walayah (mutual alliance). Likewise, a walayah relationship would not exist
between Muslims who do not migrate to Dar al-Islam but come to it as Muslim
subjects of a non-Muslim state.
The Arabic word walayah denotes the relationship of kinship, support, succour,
protection, friendship, and guardianship. In the context of the present verse the
word signifies the relationship of mutual support between the Islamic state and
its citizens, and between the citizens themselves. Thus, this verse lays down
that in a political and constitutional sense, only those Muslims who live
within the territorial boundaries of the Islamic state will enjoy the
privileges of walayah (guardianship) of the Islamic state. As for Muslims who
are settled in a non-Islamic state, they are excluded from its political and
constitutional guardianship.
It is difficult to spell out in detail the implications of this rule. Just to
give some idea of it. it should be pointed out that because they lack
guardianship the Muslims of Dar al-Kufr (the Domain of Unbelief) cannot inherit
the property of a deceased Muslim in the Islamic state. Nor may they act as
guardians of Muslim citizens of an Islamic state. Nor is it lawful for a
matrimonial contract to be made between Muslims, one of whom is living in an
Islamic state and the other outside of it. Likewise, the Islamic state may not
appoint to an office of authority those who have not surrendered their
citizenship of the non-Islamic state. Above all, these provisions of Islamic
law determine the foreign policy of the Islamic state. (Cf. Ibn Qudimah,
al-Mughni, vol. 8, pp. 456-8 - Ed.) Since this clause restricts the role and
control of the Islamic state over Muslims living within that state, the Islamic
state is not obliged to look after the Muslims outside its domain. The
following tradition embodies this point: 'I am acquit of every Muslim living
among the polytheists.' (Abu Da'ud. 'Jihad', 'Bab al-Nahy'an, 'katl man
i'tasama bi al-Sujud - Ed.) Islamic law, therefore, strikes at the root cause
of the conflict which bedevils the relationship between different nations. For,
whenever a state tries to champion the cause of the minority living outside its
territory, it gives rise to intricate problems which cannot be resolved even by
a succession of wars.
51. The above verse makes it
clear that the Muslims living outside the Islamic state have no political bond
with the Islamic state. This verse, however, does emphasize that those Muslims
are not free of the bond of religious brotherhood. If Muslims living in a
non-Islamic state are persecuted and seek help from the Islamic state or its
citizens, it is incumbent upon the latter to help the persecuted Muslims.
While helping one's brethren-in-faith the Muslims are expected to act
scrupulously. This help should be rendered without iritermitional oblioations
and with due regard to the requirements of rnoral propriety.
If the Islamic state happens to be bound in a treaty relationship with a nation
which inflicts wrong on Muslims, the oppressed Muslims will not be helped in a
manner which is inconsistent with the moral obligations incumbent on the Islamic
state as a result of that treaty .
The Qur'an uses the word mithaq for treaty. This expression is a derivative of
an Arahic word which stands for trust and confidence. The expression,
therefore, implies that the two parties trust each other, that there is no
difference between-them irrespective of whether a no-war agreement has been
formally, concluded or not.
The actual words of the verse "bainakum wa bainahum mithaq" ('[unless
there be] a pact between you and them') make it plain that the treaty concluded
by the Islamic state with a non-Muslim state does not merely bind the two
governments. The moral obligations arising from that treaty are binding upon
the Muslim nation as a whole including its individuals not to violate the
obligations of the treaty into which an Islamic state has entered with some
other state. However, it is only the Muslims of the Islamic state who are bound
by the agreement signed by the Islamic state. Muslims living outside the
Islamic state have no such obligations. This accounts for the fact that Abu
Basir and Abu Jandal were not bound by the Hudaybiyah treaty concluded between
the Prophet (peace he on him) and the Makkan unbelievers.
(8:73) And those who disbelieve. they are allies of one another; and unless
you act likewise. there will be oppression in the world and great corruption.52
52. If the words 'unless you also help one another' in the verse
are regarded as a continuation of the preceding verse, they would mean that if
Muslims do not support each other in the way, unbelielers do, this would give
rise to much mischief and disorder in the world. However, if these words are
considered to be connected with the directives embodied in (verse 72) onwards, their
purpose would be to emphasize that the world would become full of mischief and
disorder if the Muslims of Dar al-Islam (a) failed to help one another; (b)
failed to provide political support and protection to the Muslims who have
settled down in non-Islamic states and have not migrated to Dar al-lslam; (c)
failed to help the Muslims living under oppression in territories outside Dar
al-Islam when they ask for it, and (d) failed to sever their friendly ties with
the unbelievers.
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