Tafseer of The Spoils of War · Al-Anfaal · 8:39
And fight them until there is no fitnah and [until] the religion, all of it, is for Allah. And if they cease - then indeed, Allah is Seeing of what they do.
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.
On the explanation of His word: وَقَاتِلُوهُمْ حَتَّى لا تَكُونَ فِتْنَةٌ وَيَكُونَ الدِّينُ كُلُّهُ لِلَّهِ فَإِنِ انْتَهَوْا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ ("And fight them until there is no more trial (fitna) and the religion belongs entirely to Allah. But if they cease, then indeed Allah is Seeing of what they do") (39).
Abū Jaʿfar said: the Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says to those who believe in Him and in His Messenger: and if these return to war against you, then you have already seen my way of dealing with those of them who fought you on the day of Badr, and I will return with the like of that against those of them who wage war against you. So fight them until there is no more assigning of partners to Allah (shirk), and none is worshipped except Allah alone, without partner, so that the trial of the servants of Allah on earth is lifted — and that is the "fitna" (54) — "wa-yakūna al-dīn kulluhu li-llāh" ("and the religion belongs entirely to Allah"), He says: until obedience and worship belong entirely to Allah, pure for Him alone and for no one else. (55)
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And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
16076 - 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, concerning his word: "wa-qātilūhum ḥattā lā takūna fitna" ("and fight them until there is no more trial") — that is to say: until there is no more shirk.
16077 - Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, he said: Hushaym informed us, on the authority of Yūnus, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning his word: "wa-qātilūhum ḥattā lā takūna fitna" ("and fight them until there is no more trial"), he said: "the fitna" is shirk.
16078 - Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his word: "wa-qātilūhum ḥattā lā takūna fitna" ("and fight them until there is no more trial"), he says: fight them until there is no more shirk — "wa-yakūna al-dīn kulluhu li-llāh" ("and the religion belongs entirely to Allah"), until it is said: "lā ilāha illā Allāh" ("there is no god but Allah"); for that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ fought, and to that he called.
16079 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, he said: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "wa-qātilūhum ḥattā lā takūna fitna" ("and fight them until there is no more trial"), he said: until there is no more shirk.
16080 - Al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, he said: Mubārak ibn Faḍāla related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning his word: "wa-qātilūhum ḥattā lā takūna fitna" ("and fight them until there is no more trial"), he said: until there is no more affliction (balāʾ).
16081 - Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, he said: Ibn Jurayj said: "wa-qātilūhum ḥattā lā takūna fitna wa-yakūna al-dīn kulluhu li-llāh" ("and fight them until there is no more trial and the religion belongs entirely to Allah") — that is to say: that no believer is tried in his religion, and that the oneness (tawḥīd) belongs purely to Allah, without shirk in it, and that all partners alongside Him are cast off. (56)
16082 - Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said, concerning his word: "wa-qātilūhum ḥattā lā takūna fitna" ("and fight them until there is no more trial"), he said: until there is no more unbelief (kufr) — "wa-yakūna al-dīn kulluhu li-llāh" ("and the religion belongs entirely to Allah"), that there is no more unbelief in your religion.
16083 - ʿAbd al-Wārith ibn ʿAbd al-Ṣamad related to me, he said: my father related to us, he said: Abān al-ʿAṭṭār related to us, he said: Hishām ibn ʿUrwa related to us, on the authority of his father: that ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān wrote to him and asked him about various matters, and ʿUrwa wrote back to him: "Peace be upon you. Verily, I praise to you Allah, besides whom there is no god. And then: you wrote to me and asked me about the departure of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from Mecca, and I will inform you of that; there is no power and no might except with Allah. As for the matter of the departure of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from Mecca: Allah granted him prophethood, and what an excellent prophet he was! And what an excellent lord! And what an excellent tribe! May Allah reward him for it with good, and may He let us know his face in paradise, and may He let us live upon his creed, and let us die upon it, and let us be raised upon it. When he called his people to the guidance and the light with which Allah had sent him and which had been sent down to him, they did not at first withdraw from him when he first called them to it, (57) and they were nearly ready to listen to him, (58) until he mentioned their idols. Then there came people from aṭ-Ṭāʾif, from the Quraysh, who possessed wealth, and some people rejected that and went hard against him, (59) and they detested what he said, and they incited against him whoever obeyed them. So most people turned away from him and abandoned him, (60) except whom Allah protected of them, and they were few. So he remained in that condition for as long as Allah had decreed that he should remain. Then their chieftains conspired to lure away from the religion of Allah, through trial, those among their sons, brothers, and tribesmen who had followed him. That was a trial of severe shaking; (61) whoever was tried was tried, and Allah protected of them whom He willed. When that was done to the Muslims, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded them to emigrate to the land of Abyssinia (al-Ḥabasha). And in Abyssinia there was a righteous king named an-Najāshī, with whom no one in his land was wronged, (62) and he was thereby praised for his [righteousness], (63) and the land of Abyssinia was a trading place for the Quraysh where they traded, and dwellings for their merchants, (64) where they found abundance of livelihood, security, and good trade. (65) The Prophet ﷺ commanded them to go there, and most of them departed there when they were overwhelmed in Mecca, and he feared the trials for them. (66) He himself remained and did not stir. So they remained for years, while they went hard against those of them who accepted Islam. (67) Then Islam spread there, and prominent and powerful men among them entered into it. (68) When they saw that, they relaxed in their stance toward the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his companions. (69) And the first trial was the one that caused those of the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ who emigrated to emigrate to the land of Abyssinia, out of fear of it and fleeing from the trials and shakings in which they were. When the persecution was lightened for them and whoever of them entered Islam entered it, that lightening of them was spoken about. (70) That reached those of the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ who were in the land of Abyssinia: that the persecution had been lightened for whoever of them was in Mecca, and that they were no longer tried. Therefore they returned to Mecca, and they were nearly safe there, (71) and they began to increase and become more numerous. And a great number of the Anṣār in Medina accepted Islam, and Islam spread in Medina, and the people of Medina began to come to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in Mecca. When the Quraysh saw that, they urged one another to try them and to go hard against them, (72) and they seized them and exerted themselves to try them, and severe persecution befell them. That was the last trial. So there were two trials: a trial that caused those of them who emigrated to emigrate to the land of Abyssinia, when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded them to do so and permitted them to depart there — and a trial when they returned and saw those who came to them from the people of Medina. Then there came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from Medina seventy chieftains (naqīb), (73) the leaders of those who had accepted Islam. They met him at the pilgrimage (ḥajj) and pledged allegiance to him at al-ʿAqaba, and gave him their pledges: that we are of you and you are of us, (74) and that whoever of your companions comes, or you come to us, we will truly protect you against that which we protect ourselves from. Thereupon the Quraysh went hard against them. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded his companions to emigrate to Medina; and that is the last trial, in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ caused his companions to emigrate, and in which he himself emigrated. And it is that concerning which Allah sent down: "wa-qātilūhum ḥattā lā takūna fitna wa-yakūna al-dīn kulluhu li-llāh" ("and fight them until there is no more trial and the religion belongs entirely to Allah")." (75)
16084 - Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī al-Zinād informed me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr: that he wrote to al-Walīd: "And then: verily, you wrote to me and asked me about the departure of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from Mecca, and I possess — praise be to Allah — knowledge of that concerning everything about which you wrote and asked me, and I will inform you of it, if Allah wills; and there is no power and no might except with Allah." Then he mentioned the like of it. (76)
16085 - Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, he said: Abū Aḥmad related to us, he said: Qays related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Mujāhid: "fight them until there is no more trial", he said: "Yasāf" and "Nāʾila" — two idols that were worshipped. (77)
* * *
As for His word: "fa-in intahaw" ("but if they cease"), the meaning of it is: if they cease from the trial — and that is shirk against Allah — and turn to the true religion, together with you, (78) — "fa-inna Allāha bi-mā yaʿmalūna baṣīr" ("then indeed Allah is Seeing of what they do"), He says: then nothing is hidden from Allah of what they do in abandoning unbelief and entering into the religion of Islam, (79) for He sees you and He sees your deeds, (80) and all things are disclosed to Him, nothing is hidden from Him, and there does not escape Him the weight of a mote in the heavens, nor on the earth, nor anything smaller than that, nor anything greater, but it is in a clear Book.
* * *
And some of them have said: the meaning of it is: if they cease from the fighting.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: and what we have said about it is closer to the correct view, because the polytheists — even if they cease from the fighting — fighting them remained an obligation for the believers until they accept Islam.
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Footnotes:
(54) See the explanation of "al-fitna" in what has preceded: 486, note 1, and the references there.
(55) And the explanation of "al-dīn" in what has preceded, 1:155, 156; 6:273-275, and elsewhere in the linguistic indexes (d-y-n).
(56) The narration 16081 - this is the text of Ibn Hishām in his Sīra, from his narration of Ibn Isḥāq, and I am almost certain that this narration is composed of two narrations:
The first of them is this first isnād, of which the text of the narration has fallen away.
And the second is the isnād of Abū Jaʿfar to Ibn Isḥāq, and it is this: Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq concerning his word: "…", and thereafter this text that stands here, and that is the text of what is in Ibn Hishām.
See the Sīra of Ibn Hishām 2:327, and it is a continuation of the preceding narration number 12074.
(57) In the printed edition: "lam yanfirū minhu" ("they did not shrink back from him"), differing from what is in the manuscript, and that agrees with what is in the Taʾrīkh (the History).
(58) In the printed edition: "wa-kānū yasmaʿūna" ("and they listened"), differing from what is in the manuscript, and that agrees with the Taʾrīkh.
(59) In the printed edition: "ankara dhālika ʿalayhi nās" ("some people rejected that of him"), with the addition of "ʿalayhi" ("of him"), and in the Taʾrīkh: "ankarū dhālika ʿalayhi" ("they rejected that of him"), without "nās" ("people") in it.
(60) In the printed edition: "fa-nʿaṭafa ʿanhu" ("so he turned away from him"), needlessly differing from what is in the manuscript, and that agrees with what is in the Taʾrīkh. And "inṣafaqa ʿanhu al-nās" ("the people turned away from him") means: they turned back and went away. And "inṣafaqū ʿalayhi" means: they joined together and gathered; its origin is from "al-ṣafqa", which is the joining together over a matter. And merely the use of the preposition changed the meaning: in the first "ʿanhu" ("away from him"), and in the other "ʿalayhi" ("around him"). And this belongs to the beauties of Arabic.
(61) In the manuscript: "shadūdat al-zilzāl", and that is a scribe's error.
(62) In the manuscript: "lā yuẓlamu bi-arḍihi" ("with whom no one is wronged in his land"), and the editor corrected it, and his correction agrees with what is in the Taʾrīkh.
(63) The addition between brackets is from the Taʾrīkh of al-Ṭabarī.
(64) His word "wa-masākin li-tujjārihim" ("and dwellings for their merchants") does not stand in the Taʾrīkh, and in the printed edition: "li-tijāratihim" ("for their trade"), and that is an error; the correct reading is from the manuscript and from Ibn Kathīr.
(65) In the printed edition: "ritāʿan min al-rizq", differing from the manuscript, because it is unpointed, and it agrees with what is in the Taʾrīkh. And "al-rifāgh" is the verbal noun of "rafugha" (with fatḥa then ḍamma), and that is the rule of Arabic, and what is in the dictionaries is "rafāgha". One says: "innahu la-fī rafāghatin min al-ʿaysh", and "rafāghiya" (on the pattern of: thamāniya): ampleness of livelihood and pleasantness and fertility. And "ʿayshun rāfighun" ("an abundant life").
(66) In the printed edition and the manuscript: "wa-khāfū ʿalayhim al-fitan" ("and they feared the trials for them"), and the best is what I have adopted from the Taʾrīkh.
(67) In the Taʾrīkh: "fa-makatha bi-dhālika sanawāt" ("so he remained in that condition for years"), and that is better.
(68) Up to this place ends what Abū Jaʿfar narrated in his Taʾrīkh, 2:220, 221, except that at the close of the sentence he did not mention "wa-manaʿatuhum" ("and their men of might").
And his word "wa-manaʿatuhum" (with fatḥas) is the plural of "māniʿ", like "kāfir" and "kafara", and they are those who prevent anyone from intending to strike them with harm.
And see the sourcing of the narration at the end of this narration.
(69) "Al-istirkhāʾ" is ampleness and easing. "Istarkhaw ʿanhum" means: they eased for them the severity of the punishment and the trial.
(70) In the printed edition: "tuḥuddith bi-hādhā al-istirkhāʾ ʿanhum", and in the manuscript thus: "taḥaddadū istirkhāʾihim ʿanhum", and I have adopted the correct reading from the tafsīr of Ibn Kathīr.
(71) From the beginning of his word: "fa-lammā raʾaw dhālika istarkhaw…" ("when they saw that, they relaxed…") to this place Abū Jaʿfar did not mention it in his Taʾrīkh; thereafter he narrates what comes after it, as I will clarify later in the note.
(72) In the printed edition and the manuscript: "tawāmarat ʿalā an yaftinūhum", and I have adopted what is in the Taʾrīkh. As for Ibn Kathīr in his tafsīr, he cited: "tawāmarū ʿalā an yaftinūhum". And in the printed edition only: "wa-yashuddū ʿalayhim", and I have adopted what is in the Taʾrīkh and Ibn Kathīr.
And "tadhāmara al-qawm" means: they urged one another and incited one another to fighting or something else. And "dhammara ḥizbahu tadhmīran" means: he encouraged him and incited him, with rebuke and the reproach of sluggishness.
(73) In the printed edition: "sabʿūna nafsan" ("seventy persons"), and in the manuscript: "sabʿīna nafsan", unpointed, and the correct reading is what I have adopted from the Taʾrīkh of al-Ṭabarī and the tafsīr of Ibn Kathīr.
(74) In the printed edition and the manuscript: "wa-aʿṭawhu ʿalā annā minka…", in which "ʿuhūdahum" ("their pledges") has fallen away from the text; I have adopted it from the Taʾrīkh, and in the tafsīr of Ibn Kathīr: "wa-aʿṭawhu ʿuhūdahum wa-mawāthīqahum" ("and they gave him their pledges and their covenants").
(75) The narration 16083 - "Abān al-ʿAṭṭār" is "Abān ibn Yazīd al-ʿAṭṭār", and the explanation of this isnād has already occurred: 15719, 15821, and elsewhere; it is a sound (ṣaḥīḥ) isnād.
And the letter of ʿUrwa to ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān, Abū Jaʿfar narrated in scattered form in his tafsīr and in his Taʾrīkh. What he narrated in his tafsīr is just above under number 15719, 15821. As for his Taʾrīkh, he narrated it scattered in various places, namely these: 2:220, 221, 240, 241, 245, 267-269, then 3:117, 125, 132, and perhaps I will be able to bring together the scattered parts of this letter from the tafsīr and the Taʾrīkh, so that I may extract from them the letter of ʿUrwa to ʿAbd al-Malik in full, for it is one of the earliest writings composed on the life history (sīra) of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
And this narration itself is scattered in two places in the Taʾrīkh, 2:220, 221 as I referred to it on page 443, note 1, then 2:240, 241.
And Ibn Kathīr cited it from this place of the tafsīr in his tafsīr, 4:61, 62.
See then the note on the following narration.
(76) The narration 16084 - "ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī al-Zinād" is "ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dhakwān", already occurring under number 1695, 9225, and my brother al-Sayyid Aḥmad said that he is trustworthy (thiqa), although some imams have spoken about him. Then he said: and al-Tirmidhī declared him trustworthy and recognized a number of his narrations as sound (ṣaḥīḥ); indeed, he said in the Sunan 3:59: "he is a trustworthy, retentive narrator (thiqa ḥāfiẓ)".
And among those who declared "ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī al-Zinād" weak is Ibn Maʿīn, who said: "he is not one upon whom the ḥadīth scholars rely, he is nothing". And Aḥmad said: "confused in his narration (muḍṭarib al-ḥadīth)", and Ibn al-Madīnī said: "he was weak with our companions", and Ibn al-Madīnī said: "what he narrated in Medina is sound, and what he narrated in Baghdad the Baghdadis spoiled". And Ibn Saʿd said: "he was abundant in narration, and he was deemed weak on account of his narration on the authority of his father".
And his father, "ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dhakwān", Abū al-Zinād, is trustworthy (thiqa); the collective narrators have narrated from him.
And "ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī al-Zinād" narrated that the one to whom ʿUrwa wrote was "al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān", whereas the preceding isnād is more correct and more reliable, namely that he wrote to "ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān"; and I fear that this narration belongs to that in which the narration of "Ibn Abī al-Zinād" on the authority of his father has become confused.
(77) "Isāf" (with kasra on the alif and with fatḥa) and "Yasāf" (with kasra on the yāʾ and with fatḥa) are one and the same. That has already occurred in the narration 10433, and the note on it 9:208, note 1.
And in the manuscript there stood here: "Sāf and Nāfila", and that is a pure error.
(78) See the explanation of "al-intihāʾ" in what has preceded, page 536, note 1, and the references there.
(79) See the explanation of "baṣīr" in what has preceded in the linguistic indexes (b-ṣ-r).
(80) In the printed edition: "yubṣirukum" ("He sees you"), and the correct reading is from the manuscript.
