Surah Al Anfal , 8

The non-muslim Arabs  were so blindly misguided that they challenged God: "..... O Allah! If this be indeed the truth from Thee, then rain down stones on us or bring on us some painful doom!" (32). 

Disbelief can certainly be manifested and expressed in many ways. Without doubt, the most vile type of disbelief is atheism or total denial of God, followed by polytheism where other gods are recognized and worshiped beside God or when God is claimed to have offspring that share His divinity. There are those, of course, who claim divine attributes for themselves. However, the vast majority of unbelievers are ordinary people who follow blindly and think what they are doing is right and pleasing to God. Among pagan Arabs of Makkah there were some who genuinely believed that idols could harm and benefit them and that they were the key and the way to the 'Greater God.'

The task of the prophets and messengers was to reinstate and reestablish the creed of  pure monotheism, a task which required a great deal of time and effort. God says to to the Prophet: " But Allah would not punish them while thou wast with them, nor will He punish them while they seek forgiveness. "(33) .  Yet, would this absolve them from punishment altogether? No, as they were still guilty of transgression and oppression:

What (plea) have they that Allah should not punish them, when they debar (His servants) from the Inviolable Place of Worship, though they are not its fitting guardians. Its fitting guardians are those only who keep their duty to Allah. But most of them know not. (34)

Their claim to the Sacred Ka'abah and their worship around it were false and of no merit whatsoever. The true guardians who can claim the right of worship at the Ka'abah are believers in the one God who submit to Him alone. Not only did the unbelievers deny Islam but tyhey also spent their wealth on the persecution and oppression of its followers. God says: 

"Lo! those who disbelieve spend their wealth in order that they may debar (men) from the way of Allah. They will spend it, then it will become an anguish for them, then they will be conquered. And those who disbelieve will be gathered unto hell," (36) . 

That was what happened to them in Badr. Even so, would that be the end of the road for them?

God directs the Prophet to offer them a chance to abandon their false ways and join the Muslims: 
"Tell those who disbelieve that if they cease (from persecution of believers) that which is past will be forgiven them; but if they return (thereto) then the example of the men of old hath already gone (before them, for a warning). "(38). They  should know then that those who persist in sin and oppression shall end in sorrow and grief. far better for them to have learnt from the history of other nations and mended their ways, or else force shall continue to be used against  to subdue them and eradicate their false beliefs; " And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is all for Allah. But if they cease, then lo! Allah is Seer of what they do." (39)

Now the surah lashes out at those Muslims who had their eyes on the spoils at Badr, urging them to not fight over them and to preserve their faith and dignity, as dictated by the occasion and the noble task they had come out to undertake in the first place. We read that the spoils of war were to be divided into five portions, one of which would be spent on public causes an the rest would go to the fighters.

"And know that whatever ye take as spoils of war, lo! a fifth thereof is for Allah, and for the messenger and for the kinsman (who hath need) and orphans and the needy and the wayfarer, if ye believe in Allah and that which We revealed unto Our slave on the Day of Discrimination, the day when the two armies met. And Allah is Able to do all things. "(41). 

We learn from the Prophet's own practise, and that from his predecessor that this arrangement was temporary and that other scenes were adopted in the allotment and distribution of the spoils of war under Islamic law, as happened during the reign of  the second Caliph, 'Umar ibnu al-Khattab. However, this subject requires some explanation. Muslims during the early days of Islam used to volunteer for fighting and received no wages in return for their efforts. Each fighter had to acquire his own weapons and make provision for his wife and children during his absence at war. They receive no financial support or compensation from the state whatsoever. This made it quite fair and sensible that volunteers should receive some compensation from the spoils they took from the battle. When the state was able to organize its own regular army, pay the soldiers, provide weapons and equipment, treat the wounded, and look after the families of those who died, the spoils would then go directly to the state which allocate them as it saw fit.

Note that the spoils issue is sandwiched in the surah between two other topics. One is the belligerence of the unbelievers who divert their wealth to oppose Islam, persecute the Muslims, and thwart their effort to spread the faith; and the other is the divinely aided victory the Muslims had achieved at Badr. On the second subject, the surah says: 

When ye were on the near bank (of the valley) and they were on the yonder bank, and the caravan was below you (on the coast plain). And had ye trysted to meet one another ye surely would have failed to keep the tryst, but (it happened, as it did, without the forethought of either of you) that Allah might conclude a thing that must be done; that he who perished (on that day) might perish by a clear proof (of His Sovereignty) and he who survived might survive by a clear proof (of His Sovereignty). Lo! Allah in truth is Hearer, Knower. (42) 




Recitation by Shaykh Ibrahim al-Jibreen:-
Part 1 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N8P788Rbdg&feature=related
Part 2 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClVuPvdov_I&feature=related
Part 3 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evbcYw1JRFQ&feature=relmfu





Reflection and commentary by Shaykh Younus Kathrada:-
Part 2 : [ ayat 30 - ayat 40 ]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8lR1sSgSVo&feature=relmfu








khiai muhammad bhakiet, on asmaul husna, " al malik ",
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbYjGb3Q0_U










........................................................................................

The non-muslim Arabs  were so blindly misguided that they challenged God: "..... O Allah! If this be indeed the truth from Thee, then rain down stones on us or bring on us some painful doom!" (32). Disbelief can certainly be manifested and expressed in many ways. Without doubt, the most vile type of disbelief is atheism or total denial of God, followed by polytheism where other gods are recognized and worshiped beside God or when God is claimed to have offspring that share His divinity. There are those, of course, who claim divine attributes for themselves. However, the vast majority of unbelievers are ordinary people who follow blindly and think what they are doing is right and pleasing to God. Among pagan Arabs of Makkah there were some who genuinely believed that idols could harm and benefit them and that they were the key and the way to the 'Greater God.'

The task of the prophets and messengers was to reinstate and reestablish the creed of  pure monotheism, a task which required a great deal of time and effort. God says to to the Prophet: " But Allah would not punish them while thou wast with them, nor will He punish them while they seek forgiveness. "(33) .  Yet, would this absolve them from punishment altogether? No, as they were still guilty of transgression and oppression:

What (plea) have they that Allah should not punish them, when they debar (His servants) from the Inviolable Place of Worship, though they are not its fitting guardians. Its fitting guardians are those only who keep their duty to Allah. But most of them know not. (34)

Their claim to the Sacred Ka'abah and their worship around it were false and of no merit whatsoever. The true guardians who can claim the right of worship at the Ka'abah are believers in the one God who submit to Him alone. Not only did the unbelievers deny Islam but tyhey also spent their wealth on the persecution and oppression of its followers. God says: "Lo! those who disbelieve spend their wealth in order that they may debar (men) from the way of Allah. They will spend it, then it will become an anguish for them, then they will be conquered. And those who disbelieve will be gathered unto hell," (36) . That was what happened to them in Badr. Even so, would that be the end of the road for them?

God directs the Prophet to offer them a chance to abandon their false ways and join the Muslims: "Tell those who disbelieve that if they cease (from persecution of believers) that which is past will be forgiven them; but if they return (thereto) then the example of the men of old hath already gone (before them, for a warning). "(38). They  should know then that those who persist in sin and oppression shall end in sorrow and grief. far better for them to have learnt from the history of other nations and mended their ways, or else force shall continue to be used against  to subdue them and eradicate their false beliefs; " And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is all for Allah. But if they cease, then lo! Allah is Seer of what they do." (39)

Now the surah lashes out at those Muslims who had their eyes on the spoils at Badr, urging them to not fight over them and to preserve their faith and dignity, as dictated by the occasion and the noble task they had come out to undertake in the first place. We read that the spoils of war were to be divided into five portions, one of which would be spent on public causes an the rest would go to the fighters.
"And know that whatever ye take as spoils of war, lo! a fifth thereof is for Allah, and for the messenger and for the kinsman (who hath need) and orphans and the needy and the wayfarer, if ye believe in Allah and that which We revealed unto Our slave on the Day of Discrimination, the day when the two armies met. And Allah is Able to do all things. "(41). We learn from the Prophet's own practise, and that from his predecessor that this arrangement was temporary and that other scenes were adopted in the allotment and distribution of the spoils of war under Islamic law, as happened during the reign of  the second Caliph, 'Umar ibnu al-Khattab. However, this subject requires some explanation. Muslims during the early days of Islam used to volunteer for fighting and received no wages in return for their efforts. Each fighter had to acquire his own weapons and make provision for his wife and children during his absence at war. They receive no financial support or compensation from the state whatsoever. This made it quite fair and sensible that volunteers should receive some compensation from the spoils they took from the battle. When the state was able to organize its own regular army, pay the soldiers, provide weapons and equipment, treat the wounded, and look after the families of those who died, the spoils would then go directly to the state which allocate them as it saw fit.

Note that the spoils issue is sandwiched in the surah between two other topics. One is the belligerence of the unbelievers who divert their wealth to oppose Islam, persecute the Muslims, and thwart their effort to spread the faith; and the other is the divinely aided victory the Muslims had achieved at Badr. On the second subject, the surah says: 

When ye were on the near bank (of the valley) and they were on the yonder bank, and the caravan was below you (on the coast plain). And had ye trysted to meet one another ye surely would have failed to keep the tryst, but (it happened, as it did, without the forethought of either of you) that Allah might conclude a thing that must be done; that he who perished (on that day) might perish by a clear proof (of His Sovereignty) and he who survived might survive by a clear proof (of His Sovereignty). Lo! Allah in truth is Hearer, Knower. (42) 




Recitation by Shaykh Ibrahim al-Jibreen:-
Part 1 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N8P788Rbdg&feature=related
Part 2 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClVuPvdov_I&feature=related
Part 3 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evbcYw1JRFQ&feature=relmfu





Reflection and commentary by Shaykh Younus Kathrada:-

Part 1 : [ ayat25 - ayat 29 ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o-JSnDgj3o&feature=relmfu


interestingly the good shaykh is alluding to 'collective responsibility and 'bala' in this 1st part.
he surprisingly is  to alluding to the problems of  present day 'amenu' as well !

...they  are incapable of differentiating gross wrong from right....and after coming to term with the fact , still cannot abort the wrong apples from their midst!!
at the end of the day they will dissappear into ignominy


Part 2 : [ ayat 30 - ayat 40 ]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8lR1sSgSVo&feature=relmfu












Reflection and commentary by Prof Quraish Shihab : 
[ ayat 19 - ayat 26 ]

Part 1   :   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM7gfna8IZU

Part 2  :    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uavDMbRwy8I

Part 3  :    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XhOhkJWwiI

Part 4  :    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdXQs-A-L2g

Part 5  :    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeyt66VDbOM

Part 6  :    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr-X0nMuVJ4

Part 7 :     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNHkxoAT2Lc

Part 8 :     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7yfTZofEQQ

Part 9 :     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRdQ36RQDkw