The Spoils of War

The way your Lord caused you, O dear Prophet to come forth from your home with the truth; and indeed a group of Muslims were unhappy about it.

They ask you O dear Prophet (Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him) concerning the war booty; say, “Allah and the Noble Messenger are the owners of the war booty; so fear Allah and maintain friendship among yourselves; and obey Allah and His Noble Messenger, if you have faith."

Only they are the believers whose hearts fear when Allah is remembered, and their faith advances when His verses are recited to them, and who trust only in their Lord.

Those who keep the prayer established and spend in Our cause from what We have bestowed upon them.

These are the true Muslims; for them are ranks before their Lord, and forgiveness and an honourable sustenance.

Disputing with you regarding the truth after it had been made clear, as if they were being herded towards a visible death.

And remember when Allah promised you that one of the two groups (of enemies) is for you, and you wished to get the one that posed no danger, and Allah willed to prove the truth with His Words, and to cut the origins of the disbelievers.

In order that He may prove the truth and disprove falsehood, even if the criminals get annoyed.

When you (Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him) were seeking the help of your Lord, so He answered your prayers that, “I will help you with a row of thousands of angels.”

And Allah did this just for your happiness and for your hearts to gain contentment; and help does not come except from Allah; indeed Allah is Almighty, Wise.

When He made the slumber overcome you, so it was as a peacefulness from Him, and sent down water from the sky upon you to purify you with it, and to remove the impurity of Satan from you, and to give your hearts fortitude and firmly establish your feet with it.

And when O dear Prophet, your Lord was inspiring the angels that, “I am with you – so make the believers stand firm; I will soon instil fear into the hearts of the disbelievers, so strike above the disbelievers’ necks and hit their each and every bone joint.”

This is because they opposed Allah and His Noble Messenger; and whoever opposes Allah and His Noble Messenger – then indeed Allah’s punishment is severe.

Therefore taste this for now, and along with it for the disbelievers is the punishment of fire.

O People who Believe! When you confront a large army of disbelievers in battle, do not turn your backs to them.

And on that day whoever turns his back to them, except for a battle strategy or to join one’s own company, has then turned towards Allah’s wrath, and his destination is hell; and what an evil place of return!

So you did not slay them, but in fact Allah slew them; and O dear Prophet (Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him) you did not throw (the sand) when you did throw, but in fact Allah threw; and in order to bestow an excellent reward upon the Muslims; indeed Allah is the All Hearing, the All Knowing.

Therefore take this, and (know that) Allah will weaken the scheme of the disbelievers.

O disbelievers! If you seek a judgement, then this judgement has come to you; and if you desist, it is better for you; and if you return to mischief, We will punish you again; and your populace will not benefit you, however large it may be – and besides this, Allah is with the Muslims.

O People who Believe! Obey Allah and His Noble Messenger, and do not turn away from him after you have heard him speak.

And do not be like those who said, “We have heard”, whereas they do not hear.

Indeed the worst beasts in the sight of Allah are those (people) who are deaf, dumb – who do not have any sense.

And had Allah found any goodness in them, He would have made them hear; and had He made them hear they would, in the end, have turned away and gone back.

O People who Believe! Present yourselves upon the command of Allah and His Noble Messenger, when the Noble Messenger calls you towards the matter that will bestow you life; and know that the command of Allah becomes a barrier between a man and his heart’s intentions, and that you will all be raised towards Him.

And fear the turmoil which will certainly not fall only upon a few selected unjust people among you; and know that Allah’s punishment is severe.

And remember when you were only a few and meek in the land, and feared that men may snatch you away – He therefore gave you refuge and strengthened you with His help, and gave you good things as sustenance, so that you may be thankful.

O People who Believe! Do not betray Allah and His Noble Messenger, nor purposely defraud your trusts.

And know that your wealth and your children are a test, and that with Allah is an immense reward.

O People who Believe! If you fear Allah, He will bestow upon you (the criterion) that with which you will separate the truth from falsehood, and He will unburden your misdeeds and forgive you; and Allah is the Extremely Munificent.

And remember O dear Prophet when the disbelievers were scheming against you to either imprison you, or to kill you or to banish you; and they were scheming, and Allah was making His secret plan; and Allah’s secret plan is the best.

And when Our verses are recited to them they say, “Yes, we have heard – if we wanted we could also say something like this – these are nothing but stories of former people!”

And when they said, “O Allah! If this (the Qur’an) is really the truth from You, then shower upon us a rain of stones from the sky, or bring upon us some painful punishment.”

And it is not for Allah to punish them while you O dear Prophet (Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him) are amongst them; and Allah will not punish them as long as they are seeking forgiveness. (Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him – is a mercy unto mankind.)

And what is with them that Allah should not punish them, whereas in fact they prevent from the Sacred Mosque and they are not worthy (of being the custodians) of it; only the pious are its befitting custodians, but most of them do not have knowledge.

And their prayer near the Kaa’bah is nothing except whistling and clapping; “So now taste the punishment – the result of your disbelief.”

Indeed the disbelievers spend their wealth in order to prevent people from the way of Allah; so they will spend it now, and then regret over it, then they will be defeated; and the disbelievers will be gathered towards hell.

In order that Allah may separate the filthy from the pure, and placing the filthy atop one another, make a heap and throw them into hell; it is they who are the losers.

Say to the disbelievers that if they desist, what has passed will be forgiven to them; and if they do the same, the tradition of former people has already passed.

And fight them until no mischief remains and the entire religion is only for Allah; then if they desist, Allah sees all what they do.

And if they turn away, then know that Allah is your Master; so what an Excellent Master and what an Excellent Supporter!

And know that whatever you take as war booty, a fifth of that belongs to Allah and His Noble Messenger, and to relatives, and orphans, and the needy, and the traveller – if you have accepted faith in Allah and what We sent down to Our bondman on the decisive day – the day when two armies had met; and Allah is Able to do all things.

When you were on the near bank and the disbelievers on the far bank, and the caravan below you; and had you made an agreement between one another, you would have failed to reach on the appointed time – but this is in order that Allah may complete a thing that must be done – that he who dies may die by a clear proof and he who lives may live by a clear proof; and indeed Allah is surely, All Hearing, All Knowing.

When O dear Prophet, Allah used to show the disbelievers in your dream as only a few*; and O Muslims, had He shown them to you as many, you would have certainly lost courage and disputed over the affair, but Allah rescued (you); indeed He knows what lies within the hearts. (* They numbered more but their actual strength was equal to only a few.)

And when at the time of fighting He made the disbelievers seem few to you, and you as few in their sight, in order for Allah to conclude the matter that must be done; and towards Allah is the return of all matters.

O People who Believe! When you meet an army, hold firm and remember Allah profusely, in order that you succeed.

And obey Allah and His Noble Messenger, and do not dispute with one another for you will lose courage again and your strength will be lost, and patiently endure; indeed Allah is with those who patiently endure.

And do not be like those who came out from their houses proudly, and to be seen by men, and they prevent people from Allah’s way; and all their actions are within Allah’s control.

And when Satan made their deeds seem good in their sight and said, “This day no one can overpower you, and you are under my protection”; so when the two armies came face to face, he scrambled back and said, “I am unconcerned with you – I can see what is not visible to you – I fear Allah”; and Allah’s punishment is severe.

When the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease were saying, “These Muslims are proud of their religion”; and whoever trusts Allah, then indeed Allah is Almighty, Wise.

And if you see the angels when they are removing the souls of the disbelievers, hitting them on their faces and their backs; “Taste more of the punishment of the fire!” (Punishment in the grave is proven by this verse.)

“This is the recompense of what your own hands have sent ahead, and Allah does not oppress His bondmen.”

Like the ways of Firaun’s people, and those before them; they disbelieved in the signs of Allah – therefore Allah seized them on account of their sins; indeed Allah is Most Powerful, Severe in Punishing.

This is because Allah does not change the favour He has bestowed upon any people until they first change themselves, and indeed Allah is All Hearing, All Knowing.

Like the ways of Firaun’s people and those before them; they denied the signs of Allah – We therefore destroyed them on account of their sins and We drowned the people of Firaun; and they all were unjust.

Indeed the worst beasts in the sight of Allah are the people who disbelieve and do not accept faith.

Those with whom you made a treaty, then they break their agreement each time and do not fear.

So if you find them in battle, kill them in a manner which makes those behind them scamper back, in the hope that they may learn a lesson.

And if you apprehend treachery from a nation, then throw back their treaty towards them in reciprocity; indeed Allah does not like the treacherous.

And never may the disbelievers pride that they have escaped; indeed they can never defeat.

And keep ready for them the maximum of forces you can and the maximum number of horses you can keep tethered, in order to instil awe in the hearts of those who are the enemies of Allah and who are your enemies, and in the hearts of some others whom you do not know; Allah knows them; and whatever you spend in Allah's cause will be repaid to you in full and you will never be in a loss.

And if they incline towards peace, you too lean towards it, and trust Allah; indeed He only is the All Hearing, the All Knowing.

And if they wish to deceive you, then indeed Allah is Sufficient for you; it is He Who has given you strength, with His help and with the Muslims.

And has created harmony among their hearts; if you had spent all that is in the earth you could not have created harmony among their hearts, but Allah has created harmony among them; indeed He only is Almighty, Wise.

O Herald of the Hidden! Allah is Sufficient for you and for all these Muslims who follow you.

O Herald of the Hidden! Urge the believers to fight; if there are twenty persevering men among you, they shall overcome two hundred; and if there are a hundred among you, they shall overcome a thousand disbelievers because the disbelievers are a people who do not have sense.

So now Allah has made an ease upon you and He knows that you are weak; so if there are a hundred persevering men among you, they shall overcome two hundred; and if there are a thousand among you, they shall overcome two thousand by the command of Allah; and Allah is with those who patiently endure.

It does not befit any Prophet to capture the disbelievers alive until he has profusely shed their blood in the land; you people desire the wealth of this world; and Allah wills the Hereafter, and Allah is Almighty, Wise.

Had Allah not pre-destined a matter then, O Muslims, a terrible punishment would have come upon you due to the ransom you took from the disbelievers.

Therefore benefit from the booty you have received, lawful and good; and keep fearing Allah; indeed Allah is Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful.

O Herald of the Hidden! Say to the captives whom you possess, “If Allah finds any goodness in your hearts, He will give you better than what has been taken from you, and will forgive you; and Allah is Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

And if they wish to deceive you, they have already been disloyal to Allah, because of which He has given these disbelievers in your control; and Allah is All Knowing, Wise.

Indeed those who accepted faith and left their homes and belongings for Allah, and fought with their wealth and their lives in Allah's cause, and those who gave shelter and provided help, are the heirs of one another; and those who believed but did not leave their homes – you have no right in their estates until they migrate; and if they seek help from you in the matter of religion then it is your duty to provide help, except against the people between whom and you is a treaty; and Allah sees your deeds.

And the disbelievers are the heirs of one another – if you do not do so, there will be turmoil in the land and a great chaos.

And those who believed and migrated and fought in Allah's cause, and those who gave shelter and provided help – it is they who are the true believers; for them is pardon, and an honourable sustenance.

And those who afterwards believed and migrated and fought along with you – they too are from among you; and family members (blood relations) are nearer to one another in the Book of Allah; indeed Allah knows everything.