Tafseer of The Spoils of War · Al-Anfaal · 8:23
Had Allah known any good in them, He would have made them hear. And if He had made them hear, they would [still] have turned away, while they were refusing.
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 explanation of His word: وَلَوْ عَلِمَ اللَّهُ فِيهِمْ خَيْرًا لأَسْمَعَهُمْ وَلَوْ أَسْمَعَهُمْ لَتَوَلَّوْا وَهُمْ مُعْرِضُونَ (And had Allah known any good in them, He would have made them hear; and even had He made them hear, they would still have turned away, showing aversion) (8:23).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning who was intended by this verse and concerning its meaning.
Some of them said: by this the polytheists (mushrikīn) were intended. And it was said: its meaning is that, even had Allah granted them the understanding of what He sent down to His Prophet ﷺ, they still would not have believed in it, because Allah had already decreed concerning them that they would not believe.
* Mention of who said that:
15863 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said concerning His word: And had Allah known any good in them, He would have made them hear; and even had He made them hear, that they would have said: Bring a Qurʾān other than this [Surah Yūnus: 15], and they would have said: If only you had composed it yourself [Surah al-Aʿrāf: 203], and even had a Qurʾān other than this come to them — they would have turned away, showing aversion.
15864 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: and even had He made them hear, they would still have turned away, showing aversion, he said: even had He made them hear — after He knew that there was no good in them — that would not have profited them, and they would have turned away, showing aversion.
15865 — And he related it to me once more and said: Had Allah known any good in them, He would have made them hear; and even had He made them hear — after He knew that there was no good in them — it would not have profited them, after His knowledge had been fulfilled that they would derive no benefit from it.
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And others said: rather the hypocrites (munāfiqūn) were intended. They said: and its meaning is what:
15866 — Ibn Ḥumayd related this to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, concerning And had Allah known any good in them, He would have made them hear, that is: then He would have confirmed for them the word that they uttered with their tongues, but the hearts ran contrary to it in them, and even had they marched out with you, they would have turned away, showing aversion; they would have fulfilled nothing for you of that for which they marched out.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct interpretation of this, in my view, is what Ibn Jurayj and Ibn Zayd said, for the reason that we have mentioned earlier, and because this does not belong to the characteristic of the hypocrites.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The interpretation of the verse is then: and had Allah known any good in these speakers, He would have made them hear the admonitions of the Qurʾān and its lessons, until they grasped His proofs from Allah, the Exalted and Mighty; but He already knew that there was no good in them, and that they were among those for whom misery was foreordained, so that they do not believe. And even had He made them understand that, until they knew and grasped it, they would have turned away from Allah and from His messenger, showing aversion to believing in that whose truth the admonitions of Allah, His lessons, and His proofs had made clear to them, obstinately disputing the truth after they had known it.
