Tafseer of The Spoils of War · Al-Anfaal · 8:24
O you who have believed, respond to Allah and to the Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life. And know that Allah intervenes between a man and his heart and that to Him you will be gathered.
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 statement concerning the interpretation of His word: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَجِيبُوا لِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ إِذَا دَعَاكُمْ لِمَا يُحْيِيكُمْ (O you who believe, respond to Allah and to the Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The scholars of interpretation differed concerning the interpretation of His word "when he calls you to that which gives you life."
Some of them said: its meaning is: Respond to Allah and to the Messenger when he calls you to faith.
* Mention of those who said that:
15867 — Muhammad ibn al-Husayn related to me, saying: Ahmad ibn al-Mufaddal related to us, saying: Asbāt related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "O you who believe, respond to Allah and to the Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life," he said: As for "that which gives you life," that is Islam; He brought them to life after their death, after their unbelief.
* * *
And others said: to the truth.
* Mention of those who said that:
15868 — Muhammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀsim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīh, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning the word of Allah: "to that which gives you life," he said: the truth.
15869 — al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Hudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīh, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
15870 — al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ishāq related to us, saying: ʿAbdallāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīh, on the authority of Mujāhid, his word: "when he calls you to that which gives you life," he said: the truth.
15871 — Ibn Humayd related to us, saying: Hakkām related to us, saying: ʿAnbasa related to us, on the authority of Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Rahmān, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning his word: "respond to Allah and to the Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life," he said: to the truth.
* * *
And others said: its meaning is: when he calls you to that which is in the Qurʾān.
* Mention of those who said that:
15872 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda concerning his word: "O you who believe, respond to Allah and to the Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life," he said: that is this Qurʾān; in it is life, security, deliverance, and protection in the worldly life and in the Hereafter.
* * *
And others said: its meaning is: when he calls you to the fighting and the jihād against the enemy.
* Mention of those who said that:
15873 — Ibn Humayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Ishāq: "O you who believe, respond to Allah and to the Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life," that is to say: to the armed combat (qitāl) by which Allah granted you honor after humiliation, and gave you strength after weakness, and by which He protected you against your enemy after they had overwhelmed you.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the correct of these statements concerning this is the statement of the one who said: its meaning is: Respond to Allah and to the Messenger through obedience, when the Messenger calls you to that which gives you life of the truth. For when that is the meaning, there falls under it the command to respond to them in fighting the enemy and in jihād, and responding when he calls you to the judgment of the Qurʾān. And in responding to all of this is life for the one who responds: as for the worldly life, through the perpetuation of a beautiful remembrance — and in that there is life for him; and as for the Hereafter, through the eternal life in the gardens (al-jinān) and the everlasting abode therein.
* * *
And as for the statement of the one who said: its meaning is Islam, that is a statement without basis. For Allah has already described them as believers with His word: "O you who believe, respond to Allah and to the Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life." So there is no basis for saying to the believer: respond to Allah and to the Messenger when he calls to Islam and faith.
* * *
And furthermore, in the following:
15874 — Ahmad ibn al-Miqdām al-ʿIjlī related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Rawh ibn al-Qāsim related to us, on the authority of al-ʿAlāʾ ibn ʿAbd al-Rahmān, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to Ubayy while he was performing the prayer, and called him: O Ubayy! Ubayy turned toward him but did not answer him. Then Ubayy shortened the prayer, and afterward he went to the Prophet ﷺ and said: Peace be upon you, O Messenger of Allah! He said: And upon you. What prevented you from answering me when I called you? He said: O Messenger of Allah, I was praying! He said: Have you then not found in what has been revealed to me: "Respond to Allah and to the Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life"? He said: Yes indeed, O Messenger of Allah! I shall not do it again.
15875 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Khālid ibn Makhlad related to us, on the authority of Muhammad ibn Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-ʿAlāʾ, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed by Ubayy while he was standing performing the prayer, and he called to him [but he did not answer him, and afterward he came], and said: O Ubayy, what prevented you from answering me when I called you? Does Allah not say: "O you who believe, respond to Allah and to the Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life"? Ubayy said: Truly, O Messenger of Allah, you shall not call me again but that I will answer, even if I am praying!
* * *
— this indicates that by the āyah are meant those whom the Messenger of Allah ﷺ calls to that in which is their life, by their answering his call to the truth after their Islam. For there is no doubt that Ubayy was a Muslim at the time when the Prophet ﷺ said to him what we have mentioned in these two reports.
* * *
The statement concerning the interpretation of His word: وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَحُولُ بَيْنَ الْمَرْءِ وَقَلْبِهِ وَأَنَّهُ إِلَيْهِ تُحْشَرُونَ (24) (And know that Allah comes between the man and his heart, and that to Him you will be gathered.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The scholars of interpretation differed concerning the interpretation of it.
Some of them said: its meaning is: He comes between the unbeliever and faith, and between the believer and unbelief.
* Mention of those who said that:
15876 — Muhammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Rahmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿAbdallāh al-Rāzī, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: "He comes between the man and his heart," he said: between the unbeliever and that he believes, and between the believer and that he becomes an unbeliever.
15877 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us = and Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Ahmad related to us = both said: Sufyān related to us = and al-Hasan ibn Yahyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: al-Thawrī related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿAbdallāh al-Rāzī, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, in similar fashion.
15878 — Abū Zāʾida Zakariyyā ibn Abī Zāʾida related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀsim related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿAbdallāh, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, the same.
15879 — Abū al-Sāʾib and Ibn Wakīʿ related to me, both of them saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Minhāl, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: "He comes between the man and his heart," he said: He comes between the believer and unbelief, and between the unbeliever and faith.
15880 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Fudayl related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿAbdallāh al-Rāzī, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "He comes between the man and his heart," He comes between the unbeliever and faith and obedience to Allah.
15881 — ... he said: Hafs related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "He comes between the man and his heart," he said: He comes between the believer and unbelief, and between the unbeliever and faith.
15882 — Ibn Humayd related to us, saying: Yahyā ibn Wādih related to us, saying: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān and ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abī Rawwād related to us, on the authority of al-Dahhāk concerning his word: "He comes between the man and his heart," he said: He comes between the unbeliever and his obedience, and between the believer and his disobedience.
15883 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Abū Rawq, on the authority of al-Dahhāk ibn Muzāhim, in similar fashion.
15884 — ... he said: al-Muhāribī related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Dahhāk, he said: He comes between the man and that he becomes an unbeliever, and between the unbeliever and that he believes.
15885 — al-Hasan ibn Yahyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abī Rawwād related to us, on the authority of al-Dahhāk ibn Muzāhim: "He comes between the man and his heart," he said: He comes between the unbeliever and obedience to Allah, and between the believer and disobedience to Allah.
15886 — Ahmad ibn Ishāq related to us, saying: Abū Ahmad al-Zubayrī related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Rawwād related to us, on the authority of al-Dahhāk, in similar fashion.
15887 — And it was related to me on the authority of al-Husayn ibn al-Faraj, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard al-Dahhāk ibn Muzāhim saying, and he mentioned something similar.
15888 — al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Hajjāj ibn Minhāl related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abī Rawwād relate, on the authority of al-Dahhāk ibn Muzāhim concerning his word: "He comes between the man and his heart," he said: He comes between the believer and his disobedience.
15889 — al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Sālih related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "And know that Allah comes between the man and his heart," he says: He comes between the believer and unbelief, and He comes between the unbeliever and faith.
15890 — Muhammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "And know that Allah comes between the man and his heart," he says: He comes between the unbeliever and his obedience, and He comes between the believer and his disobedience.
15891 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: al-Muhāribī related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid: "He comes between the man and his heart," he said: He comes between the believer and unbelief, and between the unbeliever and faith.
15892 — ... he said: my father related to me, on the authority of Ibn Abī Rawwād, on the authority of al-Dahhāk: "He comes between the man and his heart," he says: He comes between the unbeliever and his obedience, and between the believer and his disobedience.
15893 — ... he said: Ishāq ibn Ismāʿīl related to us, on the authority of Yaʿqūb al-Qummī, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: "He comes between the man and his heart," He comes between the believer and sins, and between the unbeliever and faith.
15894 — ... he said: ʿUbayda related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of Abū Sālih: "He comes between the man and his heart," he said: He comes between him and sins.
* * *
And others said: rather its meaning is: He comes between the man and his reason, so that he does not know what he does.
* Mention of those who said that:
15895 — ʿUbaydallāh ibn Muhammad al-Firyābī related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Majīd related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning his word: "He comes between the man and his heart," he said: He comes between the man and his reason.
15896 — Muhammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀsim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīh, on the authority of Mujāhid: "He comes between the man and his heart," until He leaves him so that he does not understand.
15897 — al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Abū Hudhayfa related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīh, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
15898 — al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ishāq related to us, saying: ʿAbdallāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīh, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning his word: "He comes between the man and his heart," he said: it is like His word "he came between" (in the past tense), until He leaves him so that he does not understand.
15899 — Ahmad ibn Ishāq related to us, saying: Abū Ahmad related to us, saying: Maʿqil ibn ʿUbaydallāh related to us, on the authority of Humayd, on the authority of Mujāhid: "He comes between the man and his heart," he said: when He comes between you and your heart, how then would you act?
15900 — He said: Abū Ahmad related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Khusayf, on the authority of Mujāhid: "He comes between the man and his heart," he said: He comes between the heart of the unbeliever and that it does something good.
* * *
And others said: its meaning is: He comes between the man and his heart, [so that he is not] able to believe or disbelieve except with His permission.
* Mention of those who said that:
15901 — Muhammad ibn al-Husayn related to me, saying: Ahmad ibn Mufaddal related to us, saying: Asbāt related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "And know that Allah comes between the man and his heart," he said: He comes between the man and his heart, so that he cannot believe and cannot become an unbeliever except with His permission.
* * *
And others said: its meaning is: that He is near to his heart, nothing remains hidden from Him, whether the man makes it public or conceals it.
* Mention of those who said that:
15902 — Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Thawr related to us, saying: Maʿmar related to us, on the authority of Qatāda concerning his word: "He comes between the man and his heart," he said: it is like His word: أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِيدِ [Surah Qāf: 16] (nearer to him than the jugular vein).
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the correct of these statements concerning this is, in my view, that one says: that this is a report from Allah, Mighty and Exalted, that He has more power over the hearts of His servants than they themselves do, and that He comes between them and their hearts when He wills, so that no possessor of a heart is able to grasp with it anything of faith or unbelief, or to perceive anything with it, or to understand, except with His permission and His will. For "coming between one thing and another" is only the separating between those two. And when He, whose praise is exalted, makes a separation between a servant and his heart with respect to grasping or understanding something, then there is no way for the servant to grasp that which Allah has prevented his heart from grasping.
And when that is its meaning, then there falls under it the statement of the one who said: "He comes between the believer and unbelief, and between the unbeliever and faith," and the statement of the one who said: "He comes between him and his reason," and the statement of the one who said: "He comes between him and his heart so that he cannot believe and cannot become an unbeliever except with His permission." For when Allah, Mighty and Exalted, comes between a servant and his heart, then the servant does not understand with his heart — between which and him a separation has been brought — that which he has been prevented from grasping, in the manner that I have set forth.
Except that one ought to say: that Allah, with His word "And know that Allah comes between the man and his heart," has given the report in a general sense that He comes between the servant and his heart, and He has not singled out from the meanings that we have mentioned any one above another. The wording admits all these meanings, so the report remains valid in a general sense, until something to which one must submit specifies it.
* * *
And as for His word: "and that to Him you will be gathered," its meaning is: And know, O believers, also — besides the knowledge that Allah comes between the man and his heart — that Allah, who has power over your hearts and who has more power over them than you yourselves, to Him are your destination and your return on the Day of Resurrection, on which He will repay you in full for your deeds: the doer of good among you according to his good deeds, and the doer of evil according to his evil deeds. So fear Him and keep watch over Him with regard to that which He and His Messenger have commanded you and forbidden you, lest you neglect it, and lest you fail to answer His Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life — for that would bring about His wrath, and thereby you would deserve His painful punishment when you are gathered to Him.
