Tafseer of The Spoils of War · Al-Anfaal · 8:12
[Remember] when your Lord inspired to the angels, "I am with you, so strengthen those who have believed. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieved, so strike [them] upon the necks and strike from them every fingertip."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
As for His word: إذ يوحي ربك إلى الملائكة أني معكم ("When your Lord revealed to the angels: I am with you") — that is to say: I help you (anṣurukum) = فثبتوا الذين آمنوا ("So make firm those who believe") — he says: strengthen their resolve and make their intentions sincere in the battle against their enemy among the polytheists (mushrikīn).
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It has been said: the strengthening which the angels gave to the believers consisted of their presence at their battle, together with them.
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And it has been said: that was their support to them in fighting their enemies.
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And it has been said: that happened in that the angel came to a man from among the companions of the Prophet ﷺ and said: "I have heard these people — that is to say the polytheists — saying: by Allah, if they attack us, we will surely take to flight!" Then the Muslims would relate this to one another, and their souls were strengthened. They said: and that was the revelation of Allah to His angels.
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And as for Ibn Isḥāq, he said the following:
15783 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: فثبتوا الذين آمنوا ("So make firm those who believe") — that is to say: support those who believe.
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The explanation of His word: سَأُلْقِي فِي قُلُوبِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا الرُّعْبَ فَاضْرِبُوا فَوْقَ الأَعْنَاقِ وَاضْرِبُوا مِنْهُمْ كُلَّ بَنَانٍ ("I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve; so strike above the necks and strike from them every fingertip") (8:12)
Abū Jaʿfar (Ṭabarī) said: The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: I will fill the hearts of those who disbelieve in Me, O believers, with terror toward you, and I will fill those hearts with fear until they take to flight before you = "so strike above the necks".
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The people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed over the meaning of His word: فوق الأعناق ("above the necks").
Some of them said: its meaning is: strike the necks (that is to say: behead them).
* Mention of who said that:
15784 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya: فاضربوا فوق الأعناق ("so strike above the necks") — he said: strike the necks.
15785 — ... he said: my father related to us, on the authority of al-Masʿūdī, on the authority of al-Qāsim, he said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "I was not sent to punish with the punishment of Allah; I was only sent to strike the necks and to bind the fetters firmly."
15786 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying concerning His word فاضربوا فوق الأعناق ("so strike above the necks"): he says: strike the necks (al-riqāb).
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Those who proclaimed this statement argued that the Arabs say: "I saw the nafs (soul/person) of so-and-so", in the meaning of: I saw him. They said: likewise is His word فاضربوا فوق الأعناق ("so strike above the necks"); its meaning is only: strike the necks.
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And others said: no, the meaning of that is: strike the heads.
* Mention of who said that:
15787 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, on the authority of Yazīd, on the authority of ʿIkrima: فاضربوا فوق الأعناق ("so strike above the necks") — he said: the heads.
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Those who proclaimed this statement relied on the argument that what is "above the necks" is the heads. They said: and it is not permissible that you say "above the necks" and that its meaning would then be "the necks". They said: for if that were permissible, then it would be permissible to say "below the necks" with the meaning "the necks". They said: and that contradicts what is reasonably understood from the statement, and is an inversion of the meanings of the language.
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And others said: its meaning is: strike upon the necks. And they said: "ʿalā" (upon) and "fawqa" (above) are close to one another in meaning, so it is permissible to put the one in place of the other.
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Abū Jaʿfar (Ṭabarī) said: And the correct of the statements concerning this is that one says: Allah commanded the believers, while teaching them how they were to kill the polytheists and strike them with the sword, that they should strike above the necks, and the hands and the feet of them. And His word فوق الأعناق ("above the necks") may mean that the heads are intended thereby, and may also mean that what is intended thereby is: from above the skin of the necks, so that the meaning is then: upon the necks. And when it can mean this, the statement is correct of him who said that the meaning is "the necks". And when the matter can bear the interpretation that we have mentioned, then it is not for us to direct it to one part of its meanings to the exclusion of another, except on the basis of a proof to which one must submit. And there is no proof indicating a specific meaning. The obligatory thing is therefore to say: Allah commanded the striking of the heads of the polytheists, and their necks, and their hands, and their feet — He commanded this to the companions of His Prophet ﷺ who were present with him at Badr.
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And as for His word واضربوا منهم كل بنان ("and strike from them every fingertip") — its meaning is: and strike, O believers, from your enemy every extremity and every joint of the extremities of their hands and their feet.
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And "al-banān" is the plural of "banāna", and these are the tips of the fingers of the hands and the feet. To this belongs the word of the poet:
Ah, would that I had lost a fingertip (banāna) of myself, and had met him in the house while he was awake and on his guard.
He means by "al-banāna" the singular of "al-banān".
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And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the interpreters spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
15788 — Abū al-Sāʾib related to us, he said: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya: واضربوا منهم كل بنان ("and strike from them every fingertip") — he said: every joint.
15789 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya: واضربوا منهم كل بنان ("and strike from them every fingertip") — he said: the joints.
15790 — ... he said: al-Muḥāribī related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: واضربوا منهم كل بنان ("and strike from them every fingertip") — he said: every joint.
15791 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, on the authority of Yazīd, on the authority of ʿIkrima: واضربوا منهم كل بنان ("and strike from them every fingertip") — he said: the extremities. And it is said: every joint.
15792 — al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: واضربوا منهم كل بنان ("and strike from them every fingertip") — he means by al-banān: the extremities.
15793 — al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning His word: واضربوا منهم كل بنان ("and strike from them every fingertip") — he said: the extremities.
15794 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying concerning His word واضربوا منهم كل بنان ("and strike from them every fingertip"): he means: the extremities.
