Tafseer of The Spoils of War · Al-Anfaal · 8:2
The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, their hearts become fearful, and when His verses are recited to them, it increases them in faith; and upon their Lord they rely -
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.
The discourse on the explanation of His statement: إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِرَ اللَّهُ وَجِلَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَإِذَا تُلِيَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُهُ زَادَتْهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَعَلَى رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ (2)
(The believers are only those whose hearts tremble when Allah is mentioned, and when His signs are recited to them they increase them in faith, and who place their trust in their Lord.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, praised be His mention, says: The believer (muʾmin) is not he who opposes Allah and His Messenger ﷺ and neglects to follow what He has sent down to him in His Book of His ordinances (ḥudūd) and obligations, and who neglects submission to His judgment. No, rather the believer is he whose heart trembles when Allah is mentioned, and who submits to His command, and humbly bows down at His mention, out of fear of Him and out of dread of His punishment (ʿiqāb). And when the signs of His Book are recited to him, he believes in them as truth, and is certain that they are from Allah, so that by his acceptance of them as truth he adds yet more faith to his acceptance as truth of that which had already reached him from Him before that. And that is the increase in faith (īmān) through the signs of Allah which were recited to them. = "وعلى ربهم يتوكلون" ("and who place their trust in their Lord"), He says: and upon Allah they place their sure trust, in the sense that His decree concerning them is carried out; they then expect from none other than Him, and they fear none besides Him.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of those who said that:
15684 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: "إنما المؤمنون الذين إذا ذكر الله وجلت قلوبهم" ("The believers are only those whose hearts tremble when Allah is mentioned"), he said: The hypocrites (munāfiqūn) — nothing of the mention of Allah penetrates their hearts when performing His obligations, and they believe in nothing of the signs of Allah, and they do not place their trust in Allah, and they do not perform the ritual prayer (ṣalāh) when they withdraw from sight, and they do not pay the obligatory alms (zakāh) on their wealth. Thus Allah, praised be He, has informed that they are not believers. Then He described the believers and said: "إنما المؤمنون الذين إذا ذكر الله وجلت قلوبهم" ("The believers are only those whose hearts tremble when Allah is mentioned"), and so they performed His obligations = "وإذا تليت عليهم آياته زادتهم إيمانًا" ("and when His signs are recited to them they increase them in faith"), He says: acceptance as truth = "وعلى ربهم يتوكلون" ("and who place their trust in their Lord"), He says: they expect from none other than Him.
15685 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kathīr, on the authority of Mujāhid: "الذين إذا ذكر الله وجلت قلوبهم" ("those whose hearts tremble when Allah is mentioned"), he said: were fearful.
15686 — … he said: My father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Suddī: "الذين إذا ذكر الله وجلت قلوبهم" ("those whose hearts tremble when Allah is mentioned"), he said: when Allah is mentioned in connection with something, his heart trembles.
15687 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "إنما المؤمنون الذين إذا ذكر الله وجلت قلوبهم" ("The believers are only those whose hearts tremble when Allah is mentioned"), He says: when Allah is mentioned, his heart trembles.
15688 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the statement of Allah: "وجلت قلوبهم" ("their hearts trembled"), he said: were fearful.
15689 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "وجلت قلوبهم" ("their hearts trembled"), were fearful.
15690 — … he said: Suwayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Sufyān, he said: I heard al-Suddī say concerning His statement: "إنما المؤمنون الذين إذا ذكر الله وجلت قلوبهم" ("The believers are only those whose hearts tremble when Allah is mentioned"), he said: that is the man who is about to commit a wrong — or he said: who resolves to commit a sin — I think he said: and who then turns away from it.
15691 — Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Sufyān al-Thawrī related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUthmān ibn Khuthaym, on the authority of Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, on the authority of Abū al-Dardāʾ, concerning His statement: "إنما المؤمنون الذين إذا ذكر الله وجلت قلوبهم" ("The believers are only those whose hearts tremble when Allah is mentioned"), he said: The trembling in the heart is like the scorching of the palm leaf (saʿafa). Do you not perceive a shiver thereat? He said: Indeed! He said: When you perceive that in the heart, then call upon Allah, for supplication makes that disappear.
15692 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: "إنما المؤمنون الذين إذا ذكر الله وجلت قلوبهم" ("The believers are only those whose hearts tremble when Allah is mentioned"), he said: out of fear of Allah, blessed and exalted is He, and out of trembling before Allah, and out of dread of Allah, blessed and exalted is He.
* * *
And as for His statement: "زادتهم إيمانًا" ("they increase them in faith"), concerning this I have already mentioned the statement of Ibn ʿAbbās.
* * *
And another has said concerning this, namely what follows here:
15693 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: "وإذا تليت عليهم آياته زادتهم إيمانًا" ("and when His signs are recited to them they increase them in faith"), he said: awe.
15694 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "وإذا تليت عليهم آياته زادتهم إيمانًا وعلى ربهم يتوكلون" ("and when His signs are recited to them they increase them in faith, and they place their trust in their Lord"), he said: This is the characterization of the people of faith; thus He established their characterization, and described them and so established their attribute.
