Tafseer of The Spoils of War · Al-Anfaal · 8:26
And remember when you were few and oppressed in the land, fearing that people might abduct you, but He sheltered you, supported you with His victory, and provided you with good things - that you might be grateful.
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: وَاذْكُرُوا إِذْ أَنْتُمْ قَلِيلٌ مُسْتَضْعَفُونَ فِي الأَرْضِ تَخَافُونَ أَنْ يَتَخَطَّفَكُمُ النَّاسُ فَآوَاكُمْ وَأَيَّدَكُمْ بِنَصْرِهِ وَرَزَقَكُمْ مِنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ (26)
(And remember when you were few, oppressed as weak ones in the land, fearing that the people would snatch you away; then He provided you a refuge and strengthened you with His help and provided you with good things, that you might be grateful.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: This is a reminder from Allah, Mighty and Exalted, to the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and a sincere admonition. He says: Obey Allah and His Messenger, O believers, and respond to Him when He calls you to that which gives you life, and do not oppose His command, even if He commands you something in which there is difficulty and hardship for you; for Allah makes it light for you through your obedience to Him, and He hastens for you that which you love, just as He did with you when you believed in Him and followed Him while you were few in number, and the unbelievers oppressed you as weak ones and thus sought to turn you away from your religion, and inflicted harm upon you in your persons and your honor, while you feared from them that they would snatch you away and kill you and exterminate you all.
فَآوَاكُمْ (then He provided you a refuge) — He says: He gave you a refuge to which you could withdraw against them.
وَأَيَّدَكُمْ بِنَصْرِهِ (and strengthened you with His help) — He says: and He strengthened you through His help against them, until you killed of them those whom you killed at Badr.
وَرَزَقَكُمْ مِنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ (and provided you with good things) — He says: and He gave you their spoils (ghanīmah) to eat as something lawful and good.
لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ (that you might be grateful) — He says: that you might thank Him for that with which He has provided you and the favor which He has shown you thereby and through His other favors upon you.
* * *
The exegetes differed concerning who was meant by "the people" in His word: أَنْ يَتَخَطَّفَكُمُ النَّاسُ (that the people would snatch you away).
Some of them said: the unbelievers of Quraysh.
* Mention of who said that:
15914 — Al-Qāsim related to me, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His word: وَاذْكُرُوا إِذْ أَنْتُمْ قَلِيلٌ مُسْتَضْعَفُونَ فِي الأَرْضِ تَخَافُونَ أَنْ يَتَخَطَّفَكُمُ النَّاسُ (And remember when you were few, oppressed as weak ones in the land, fearing that the people would snatch you away), he said: By this is meant at Mecca, together with the Prophet ﷺ and those of Quraysh, their allies, and their clients who followed him, before the hijra.
15915 — Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Kalbī — or Qatāda, or both — وَاذْكُرُوا إِذْ أَنْتُمْ قَلِيلٌ مُسْتَضْعَفُونَ (And remember when you were few, oppressed as weak ones): that this was revealed on the day of Badr; they feared on that day that the people would snatch them away, then Allah provided them a refuge and strengthened them with His help.
15916 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, with something similar.
* * *
And others said: it was in fact said concerning others than Quraysh.
* Mention of who said that:
15917 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, saying: my father informed me, saying: I heard Wahb ibn Munabbih say concerning His word, Mighty and Exalted: تَخَافُونَ أَنْ يَتَخَطَّفَكُمُ النَّاسُ (fearing that the people would snatch you away), he said: the Persians.
15918 — ... he said: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad related to me: that he heard Wahb ibn Munabbih say, while he was reciting: وَاذْكُرُوا إِذْ أَنْتُمْ قَلِيلٌ مُسْتَضْعَفُونَ فِي الأَرْضِ تَخَافُونَ أَنْ يَتَخَطَّفَكُمُ النَّاسُ (And remember when you were few, oppressed as weak ones in the land, fearing that the people would snatch you away), and "the people" at that time were the Persians and the Byzantines (Rūm).
15919 — ... he said: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: وَاذْكُرُوا إِذْ أَنْتُمْ قَلِيلٌ مُسْتَضْعَفُونَ فِي الأَرْضِ (And remember when you were few, oppressed as weak ones in the land), he said: This tribe of the Arabs was of all people the most humiliated in humiliation, the most wretched in livelihood, the hungriest of belly, the most naked of skin, and the most manifest in error — [muzzled, upon the top of a rock, between the two lions Persia and Byzantium; and by Allah, there was in those days in their land nothing for which they were envied]. Whoever of them lived, lived wretchedly, and whoever of them died was cast down into the Fire; they were devoured but they themselves did not eat. By Allah, we know in those days no tribe among the inhabitants of the earth that was in a worse condition than they — until Allah came with Islam, and by it established power in the lands, and by it broadened the livelihood, and by it made you kings over the necks of the people. Through Islam, then, Allah has given you what you have seen; so thank Allah for His favors, for your Lord is a Bestower of favors who loves gratitude, and the grateful receive an increase from Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct of the two statements concerning that, in my view, is the statement of him who said: "By this were meant the polytheists (mushrikīn) of Quraysh," because the Muslims before the hijra did not fear for themselves from anyone other than these, for they were of all the unbelievers the closest to them and in those days the harshest against them, with their great number and the small number of the Muslims.
* * *
As for His word: فَآوَاكُمْ (then He provided you a refuge), by it He means: He gave you Medina as a refuge.
And likewise His word: وَأَيَّدَكُمْ بِنَصْرِهِ (and strengthened you with His help), with the Anṣār (the helpers of Medina).
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said concerning that, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
15920 — 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: فَآوَاكُمْ (then He provided you a refuge), he said: to the Anṣār at Medina; وَأَيَّدَكُمْ بِنَصْرِهِ (and strengthened you with His help), and these are the Companions of Muḥammad ﷺ, He strengthened them with His help on the day of Badr.
15921 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿIkrima: فَآوَاكُمْ وَأَيَّدَكُمْ بِنَصْرِهِ وَرَزَقَكُمْ مِنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ (then He provided you a refuge and strengthened you with His help and provided you with good things), he means: at Medina.
