Tafsir of Surah Al-Anfal - Verse 71

Pagan Prisoners at Badr were promised better than what They lost, if They become Righteous in the Future

Muhammad bin Ishaq reported that `Abdullah bin `Abbas said that before the battle of Badr, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«إِنِّي قَدْ عَرَفْتُ أَنَّ أُنَاسًا مِنْ بَنِي هَاشِمٍ وَغَيْرِهِمْ قَدْ أُخْرِجُوا كَرْهًا لَا حَاجَةَ لَهُمْ بِقِتَالِنَا فَمَنْ لَقِيَ مِنْكُمْ أَحَدًا مِنْهُمْ أَيْ مِنْ بَنِي هَاشِمٍ فَلَا يَقْتُلْهُ، وَمَنْ لَقِيَ أَبَا الْبُخْتَرِي بْنَ هِشَامٍ مُسْتَكرِهًا»

(I have come to know that some people from Bani Hashim and others were forced to accompany the pagans, although they had no desire to fight us. Therefore, whoever meets any of them (Bani Hashim), do not kill him. Whoever meets Abu Al-Bukhtari bin Hisham, should not kill him. Whoever meets Al-`Abbas bin `Abdul-Muttalib, let him not kill him, for he was forced to come (with the pagan army).) Abu Hudhayfah bin `Utbah said, "Shall we kill our fathers, children, brothers and tribesmen (from Quraysh), and leave Al-`Abbas By Allah! If I meet him, I will kill him with the sword." When this reached the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he said to `Umar bin Al-Khattab,

«يَا أَبَا حَفْص»

(O Abu Hafs!), and `Umar said, "By Allah that was the first time that the Messenger of Allah called me Abu Hafs."

«أَيُضْرَبُ وَجْهُ عَمِّ رَسُولِ اللهِ بِالسَّيْف»

(Will the face of the Messenger of Allahs's uncle be struck with the sword) `Umar said, "O Allah's Messenger! Give me permission to cut off his neck (meaning Abu Hudhayfah) for he has fallen into hypocrisy, by Allah!" Ever since that happened, Abu Hudhayfah used to say, "By Allah! I do not feel safe from this statement coming back to haunt me, and I will continue to fear its repercussions, unless Allah, the Exalted, forgives me for it through martyrdom." Abu Hudhayfah was martyred during the battle of Al-Yamamah, may Allah be pleased with him.

Ibn `Abbas said, "On the eve after Badr, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ spent the first part of the night awake, while the prisoners were bound. His Companions said to him, `O Allah's Messenger! Why do you not sleep' Al-`Abbas had been captured by a man from Al-Ansar, and the Messenger of Allah said to them,

«سَمِعْتُ أَنِينَ عَمِّي الْعَبَّاسِ فِي وِثَاقِهِ فَأَطْلِقُوه»

(I heard the cries of pain from my uncle Al-`Abbas, because of his shackles, so untie him.) When his uncle stopped crying from pain, Allah's Messenger went to sleep." In his Sahih, Al-Bukhari recorded a Hadith from Musa bin `Uqbah who said that Ibn Shihab said that Anas bin Malik said that some men from Al-Ansar said to the Messenger of Allah , "O Allah's Messenger! Give us permission and we will set free our maternal cousin Al-`Abbas without taking ransom from him." He said,

«لَا وَاللهِ لَا تَذَرُونَ مِنْهُ دِرْهَمًا»

(No, by Allah! Do not leave any Dirham of it.) And from Yunus Bikkir, from Muhammad bin Ishaq, from Yazid bin Ruwman, from `Urwah, from Az-Zuhri that several people said to him, "The Quraysh sent to the Messenger of Allah concerning ransoming their prisoners, and each tribe paid what was required for their prisoners. Al-`Abbas said, `O Allah's Messenger! I became a Muslims before.' The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«اللهُ أَعْلَمُ بِإِسْلَامِكَ فَإِنْ يَكُنْ كَمَا تَقُولُ فَإِنَّ اللهُ يُجْزِيكَ وَأَمَّا ظَاهِرُكَ فَقَدْ كَانَ عَلَيْنَا فَافْتَدِ نَفْسَكَ وَابْنَي أَخِيكَ نَوْفَلَ بْنَ الْحَارِثِ بْنِ عَبْدِالْمُطَّلِبِ وَعَقِيلَ بْنَ أَبِي طَالِبِ بْنِ عَبْدِالْمُطَّلِبِ ، وَحَلِيفَكَ عُتْبَةَ بْنَ عَمْرٍو أَخِي بَنِي الْحَارِثِ بْنِ فِهْر»

(Allah knows if you are Muslim! If what you are claiming is true, then Allah will compensate you. As for your outward appearance, it was against us. Therefore, ransom yourself, as well as, your nephews Nawfal bin Al-Harith bin `Abdul-Muttalib and `Aqil bin Abu Talib bin `Abdul-Muttalib, and also your ally `Utbah bin `Amr, from Bani Al-Harith bin Fihr.) Al-`Abbas said, `I do not have that (money), O Allah's Messenger!' The Messenger ﷺ said,

«فَأَيْنَ الْمَالُ الَّذِي دَفَنْتَهُ أَنْتَ وَأُمُّ الْفَضْلِ فَقُلْتَ لَهَا: إِنْ أَصَبْتُ فِي سَفَرِي هَذَا، فَهَذَا الْمَالُ الَّذِي دَفَنْتُهُ لِبَنِي الْفَضْلِ وَعَبْدِاللهِ وَقُثَمٍ؟»

(What about the wealth that you and Umm Al-Fadl buried, and you said to her, `If I am killed in this battle, then this money that I buried is for my children Al-Fadl, `Abdullah and Quthm) Al-`Abbas said, `By Allah, O Allah's Messenger! I know that you are Allah's Messenger, for this is a thing that none except Umm Al-Fadl and I knew. However, O Allah's Messenger! Could you count towards my ransom the twenty Uwqiyah (pertaining to a weight) that you took from me (in the battle)' The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«لَا ذَاكَ شَيْءٌ أَعْطَانَا اللهُ تَعَالَى مِنْك»

(No, for that was money that Allah made as war spoils for us from you).

So Al-`Abbas ransomed himself, his two nephews and an ally, and Allah revealed this verse,

يَـأَيُّهَا النَّبِىُّ قُل لِّمَن فِى أَيْدِيكُم مِّنَ الاٌّسْرَى إِن يَعْلَمِ اللَّهُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ خَيْراً يُؤْتِكُمْ خَيْراً مِّمَّآ أُخِذَ مِنكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

(O Prophet! Say to the captives that are in your hands: "If Allah knows any good in your hearts, He will give you something better than what has been taken from you, and He will forgive you, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.") 8:70 Al-`Abbas commented, `After I became Muslim, Allah gave me twenty servants in place of the twenty Uwqiyah I lost. And I hope for Allah's forgiveness."

Al-Hafiz Abu Bakr Al-Bayhaqi recorded, that Anas bin Malik said, "The Prophet was brought some wealth from Bahrain and said;

«انْثُرُوهُ فِي مَسجِدِي»

(Distribute it in my Masjid) and it was the biggest amount of goods Allah's Messenger ﷺ had ever received. He left for prayer and did not even look at the goods. After finishing the prayer, he sat by those goods and gave some of it to everybody he saw. Al-`Abbas came to him and said, `O Allah's Messenger! give me (something) too, because I gave ransom for myself and `Aqil. ' Allah's Messenger ﷺ told him to take. So he stuffed his garment with it and tried to carry it away but he failed to do so. He said, `Order someone to help me in lifting it.' The Prophet refused. He then said to the Prophet , `Will you please help me to lift it' Allah's Messenger ﷺ refused. Then Al-`Abbas dropped some of it and lifted it on his shoulders and went away. Allah's Messenger ﷺ kept on watching him till he disappeared from his sight and was astonished at his greediness. Allah's Messenger ﷺ did not get up until the last coin was distributed." Al-Bukhari also collected this Hadith in several places of his Sahih with an abridged chain, in a manner indicating his approral of it.

Allah said,

وَإِن يُرِيدُواْ خِيَانَتَكَ فَقَدْ خَانُواْ اللَّهَ مِن قَبْلُ

(But if they intend to betray you, they indeed betrayed Allah before) meaning,

وَإِن يُرِيدُواْ خِيَانَتَكَ

(But if they intend to betray you) in contradiction to what they declare to you by words.

فَقَدْ خَانُواْ اللَّهَ مِن قَبْلُ

(they indeed betrayed Allah before), the battle of Badr by committing disbelief in Him,

فَأَمْكَنَ مِنْهُمْ

(So He gave (you) power over them), causing them to be captured in Badr,

وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ

(And Allah is All-Knower, All-Wise.)

He is Ever Aware of his actions and All-Wise in what He decides.

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.

Releasing the prisoners at the battle of Badr was a strategic error. But, for the prisoners themselves, this amounted to giving them a new lease of life. This meant that the people who had become liable to be killed due to their opposition of the Truth, were given a further opportunity to re-think the Islamic call and their improper behaviour towards it. This respite opened up for them the door of self-rectification.Now one consequence of this event could have been that the flames of revenge flared up in the hearts of the prisoners due to the defeat they had suffered; they could have become eager to avenge the ignominy and loss they had suffered on the payment of ransom. In this case, they would have repeated the same wrong action as a result of which they had become liable to be seized upon by God. They would have expended their energy in opposing Islam, the result of which action would have been destruction in the world and punishment in the Hereafter. The second possibility was that they could have thought over the extraordinary happenings on the battlefield of Badr, i.e. why did it happen that, in spite of having inferior and fewer armaments, the Muslims were clearly victorious? This clearly indicated that God was in favour of the religion of the Muslims and disfavoured that of the Quraysh. If this second line of thinking developed, it would make them change their previous behaviour and adopt the religion which they had not earlier been able to adopt and in this way become eligible for God’s reward in this world and also in the Hereafter.History shows that there were a number of individuals among the Quraysh in whose hearts this question had arisen and sooner or later they joined Islam. ‘Abbas ibn ‘Abdul Muttalib had embraced Islam when he was a prisoner. Some others also joined the Islamic circle later. These people lowered themselves in the eyes of their own prejudiced group, but they honoured themselves in the eyes of God. They suffered worldly harm, but became possessors of the benefit of the Hereafter. On the release of the prisoners, the Muslims had the suspicion that the latter, instead of being grateful for the Muslims’ magnamity, would engage in conspiracies, adopt destructive ways and create impediments in the way of Islam. But the Quran did not give importance to these suspicions, because a movement launched for the cause of pure Truth is not an ordinary movement. It is a Divine affair. God Himself is behind it; and nobody has the power to fight God.