سورة Al-Anfal ( The Spoils of War )

They ask you concerning the spoils of war? Tell them: 'The spoils of war belong to Allah and the Messenger. So fear Allah, and set things right between you, and obey Allah and His Messenger if you are true believers.

The true believers are those who, when Allah's name is mentioned, their hearts quake, and when His verses are recited to them their faith grows, and who put their trust in their Lord;

who establish Prayer and spend out of what We have provided them.

Such people are indeed true believers. They have high ranks with their Lord, and forgiveness for their sins and an honourable sustenance.

(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.

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.

And recall when Allah promised you that one of the two hosts would fall to you, and you wished that the one without arms should fall into your hands. But Allah sought to prove by His words the truth to be true and to annihilate the unbelievers to the last remnant

that He might prove the truth to be true and the false to be false, however averse the evil-doers might be to it.

And recall when you implored your Lord for help and He responded to you: 'I will indeed reinforce you with a thousand angels, coming host after host.'

Allah meant this as glad tidings and that your hearts may be set at rest. For every help comes from Allah alone. Surely Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.

And recall when Allah brought on you drowsiness, giving you a feeling of peace and security from Him, and He sent down rain upon you from the sky that He might cleanse you through it and take away from you the pollution of Satan and strengthen your hearts, and steady your feet through it.

And recall when your Lord inspired the angels: 'I am certainly with you. So make firm the feet of those who believe. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. So strike at their necks and strike at every pore and tip.

This is because they defied Allah and His Messenger. Whoever defies Allah and His Messenger must know that Allah is severe in punishment.

That is your punishment (from Allah). So taste this punishment, and know that for the unbelievers is the punishment of the Fire.

Believers, whenever you encounter a hostile force of unbelievers, do not turn your backs to them in flight.

For he who turns his back on them on such ar occasion - except that it be for tactical reasons, or turning to join another company - he shall incur the wrath of Allah and Hell shall be his abode. It is an evil destination.

So the fact is that it was not you, but it was Allah Who killed them; and it was not you when you threw [sand at them], but it was Allah Who threw it, (and the believers were employed for the task) that He might cause the believers to successfully pass through this test. Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.

This is His manner of dealing with you. As for the unbelievers, Allah will surely undermine their designs.

(Tell the unbelievers:) 'If you have sought a judgement, then surely a judgement has come to you. And if you desist from disobedience, it is all the better for you. But if you revert to your mischief, We will again chastise you; and your host, howsoever numerous, will never be of any avail to you. Know well, Allah is with the believers.'

Believers! Obey Allah and His Messenger and do not turn away from him after you hear his command.

And do not be like those who say: 'We hear', though they do not hearken.

Indeed the worst kind of all beasts in the sight of Allah are the people that are deaf and dumb, and do not understand.

And had Allah known in them any good He would surely, have made them hear; but (being as they, are) even if He made them hear, they would have surely turned away in aversion.

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.

And guard against the mischief that will not only bring punishment to the wrong-doers among you. Know well that Allah is severe in punishment.

And recall when you were few in numbers and deemed weak in the land, fearful lest people do away with you. Then He provided you refuge, strengthened you with His help, and provided you sustenance with good things that you may be grateful.

Believers! Do not be unfaithful to Allah and the Messenger, nor be knowingly unfaithful to your trusts.

Know well that your belongings and your children are but a trial, and that with Allah there is a mighty reward.

Believers! If you fear Allah He will grant you a criterion and will cleanse you of your sins and forgive you. Allah is Lord of abounding bounty.

And recall how those who disbelieved schemed against you to take you captive, or kill you, or drive you away. They schemed and Allah did also scheme. Allah is the best of those who scheme.

And when Our verses are recited to them, they say: 'We have heard. We could, if we willed, compose the like of it. They, are nothing but fables of the ancient times.'

And also recall when they said: 'O Allah! If this indeed be the truth from You, then rain down stones upon us from heaven, or bring upon us a painful chastisement.'

But Allah was not to chastise them while you are in their midst; nor was Allah going to chastise them while they sought His forgiveness.

But what prevents Allah from chastising them now when they are hindering people from the Holy Mosque, even though they are not even its true guardians. For its true guardians are none but the God-fearing, though most of them do not know that.

Their Prayer at the House is nothing but whistling and handclapping. Taste, then, this chastisement for your denying the truth.

Surely those who deny the truth spend their wealth to hinder people from the way of Allah, and will continue to so spend until their efforts become a source of intense regret for them, and then they will be vanquished, and then these deniers of the truth will be driven to Hell,

so that Allah may separate the bad from the good, and join together all those who are bad into a pile one upon another, and cast them into Hell. They, it is they who are the losers.

[O Prophet!] Tell the unbelievers that if they desist from evil, their past shall be forgiven and if they revert to their past ways, then it is well known what happened with the people of the past.

And fight against them until the mischief ends and the way prescribed by Allah - the whole of it -prevail Then, if they give up mischief, surely Allah sees what they do.

But if they turn away, then know well that Allah is your Protector - an excellent Protector and an excellent Helper.

Know that one fifth of the spoils that you obtain belongs to Allah, to the Messenger, to the near of kin, to the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer. This you must observe if you truly believe In Allah and in what We sent down on Our servant on the day when the true was distinguished from the false, the day on which the two armies met in battle. Allah has power over all things.

And recall when you were encamped at the nearer end of the valley (of Badr) and they were at the farther end and the caravan below you (along the seaside). Had you made a mutual appointment to meet in encounter, you would have declined. But encounter was brought about so that Allah might accomplish what He had decreed, and that he who was to perish should perish through a clear proof, and who was to survive might survive through a clear proof. Surely Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.

And recall when Allah showed them to you in your dream to be few in number. And had He showed them to you to be numerous, you would have flagged and disagreed with one another about fighting them. But Allah saved you. Surely Allah knows what is hidden in the breasts.

And recall when He made them appear as few in your eyes when you met them in the battle just as He lessened you in their eyes so that Allah might accomplish what had been decreed. To Allah are all matters referred for decision.

Believers! When you encounter a host in battle, stand firm and remember Allah much that you may triumph.

And obey Allah and His Messenger, and do not quarrel with one another lest you should lose courage and your power depart. Be steadfast, surely Allah is with those who remain steadfast.

And be not like those who came forth from their homes exulting, with a desire to be seen of men, and hindering others from the way of Allah. Allah encompasses all that they do.

And recall when Satan made their works seem fair to them and said: 'None shall overcome you today. and I am your supporter.' But when the two armies faced each other, he turned on his heels, and said: 'Surely I am quit of you for I behold that which you do not. Indeed I fear Allah, and Allah is stern in punishment.'

And recall when the hypocrites and those whose hearts were diseased said: 'Their faith has deluded these (believers). But he who puts his trust in Allah shall find Allah All-Mighty. All-Wise.'

And if you could only see when the angels took away the souls of the unbelievers, striking them on their faces and backs, saying: 'Taste the torment of burning.

This is your punishment for what your hands wrought. Allah is not unjust in the least to His creatures.'

Their case is like that of the people of Pharaoh and those before them. They denied the signs of Allah and so Allah seized them for their sins. Surely Allah is All-Powerful, Stern in retribution.

This happened because Allah is not one to change the favour which He has bestowed upon a people until they have changed their attitude., Surely Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.

Their case is like that of the people of Pharaoh and those before them: they rejected the signs of their Lord as false and so We destroyed them for their sins, and caused the people of Pharaoh to drown. For they were wrong-doers all.

Surely the worst moving creatures in the sight of Allah are those who definitively denied the truth and are therefore in no way prepared to accept it;

(especially) those with whom you entered into a covenant and then they broke their covenant time after time, and who do not fear Allah.

So if you meet them in war, make of them a fearsome example for those who follow them that they may he admonished.

And if you fear treachery from any people (with whom you have a covenant) then publicly throw their covenant at them. Allah does not love the treacherous.

Let not the deniers of the truth be deluded that they will gain any advantage. Surely, they, can never overcome Us!

Make ready for an encounter against them all the forces and well-readied horses you can muster that you may overawe the enemies of Allah and your own enemies and others besides them of whom you are unaware but of whom Allah is aware. Whatever you may spend in the cause of Allah shall be fully repaid to you, and you shall not be wronged.

If they incline to peace, incline you as well to it, and trust in Allah. Surely He is All-Hearing. All-Knowing.

And should they seek to deceive you, Allah is sufficient for you. He it is Who strengthened you with His succour and the believers

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. Indeed He is All-Mighty. All-Wise.

O Prophet! Allah is sufficient for you and the believers who follow you.

O Prophet! Rouse the believers to fighting. If they be twenty of you who persevere they shall vanquish two hundred; and if there be of you a hundred, they shall vanquish a thousand of those who disbelieve, for they are a people who lack understanding.

Allah has now lightened your burden for He found weakness in you. So if there be hundred of you who persevere, they shall vanquish two hundred; and if there be a thousand of you they shall, by the leave of Allah, vanquish two thousand. Allah is with those who persevere.

It behoves not a Prophet to take captives until he has sufficiently suppressed the enemies in the land. You merely seek the gains of the world whereas Allah desires (for you the good) of the Hereafter. Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.

Had there not been a previous decree from Allah, a stern punishment would have afflicted you for what you have taken.

So eat that which you have obtained - for it is lawful and clean--and fear Allah. Surely Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

O Prophet! Say to the captives in your hands: 'If Allah finds any goodness in your hearts He will give you that which is better than what has been taken away from you, and He will forgive you. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.'

But if they seek to betray you, know that they had already betrayed Allah. Therefore He made you prevail over them. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.

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. 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. Allah is cognizant of all that you do.

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.

Those who believe and have migrated and strove in the way of Allah, and those who gave them refuge and help - it is they who are the true believers. Theirs shall be forgiveness and honourable sustenance.

And those who believed afterwards and migrated and strove along with you: they belong to you. But those related by blood are nearer to one another according to the Book of Allah. Allah has knowledge of everything.