Tafseer of The Spoils of War · Al-Anfaal · 8:58
If you [have reason to] fear from a people betrayal, throw [their treaty] back to them, [putting you] on equal terms. Indeed, Allah does not like traitors.
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: وَإِمَّا تَخَافَنَّ مِنْ قَوْمٍ خِيَانَةً فَانْبِذْ إِلَيْهِمْ عَلَى سَوَاءٍ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يُحِبُّ الْخَائِنِينَ (58) (And if you fear treachery from a people, then throw [the treaty] back to them on equal terms. Verily, Allah does not love the treacherous) (58).
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted is His mention — says: and if you fear, O Muḥammad, from an enemy of yours between whom and you there exists a treaty and a covenant, that he will break the treaty and violate the covenant and deal treacherously with you = and that is "treachery" (al-khiyāna) and betrayal (13) = then throw it back to them on equal terms, He says: then proceed to open warfare with them, and inform them, before you fight them, that you have annulled the treaty between you and them, on account of what has come from them of the signs of treachery and faithlessness (14), until you and they come to stand on equal footing in the knowledge that you are their warring enemy, so that they take up the weapons for the war, and you are free of treachery = verily, Allah does not love the treacherous, the faithless toward the one with whom one is in a state of security and a covenant between him and him, that he should deal with him treacherously and fight him, before he has let him know that he is his warring enemy and that he has annulled the agreement with him.
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If someone were to say: And how is it permissible to break the treaty on the grounds of the fear of treachery, while "fear" is a supposition = not a certainty? (15)
Then it is said: The matter is other than what you have concluded. Its meaning is only: when the signs of treachery from your enemy manifest themselves (16) and you fear that they will fall upon you, then throw to them the keys of peace and announce war to them (17). That is like what happened with the Banū Qurayẓa, when they responded to Abū Sufyān and the polytheists (mushrikīn) who were with him in supporting them against the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him, and in fighting him together with them (18), after the treaty which they had concluded with the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him, for peace, and that they would not fight the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him (19). Thus their responding to this became a ground for the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him, to fear treachery from them toward him and his companions. So likewise is the ruling concerning every people who have a truce with the believers, and with whom there manifest to the leader (imām) of the Muslims signs of treachery equal to what manifested to the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him, and his companions from the Qurayẓa: then it is the duty of the leader (imām) of the Muslims to throw it back to them on equal terms and to announce war to them.
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The meaning of His statement: on equal terms (ʿalā sawāʾ) is: until your knowledge and their knowledge stand equal, that each of you is the warring enemy of his opponent and not at peace (20).
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It has been said: the verse was revealed concerning the Qurayẓa.
* Mention of who said that:
16221 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: then throw it back to them on equal terms, he said: the Qurayẓa.
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And some used to say: "al-sawāʾ" means in this place: deferment (al-mahal) (21).
* Mention of who said that:
16222 - ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to me, he said: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, he said: It is among that which became clear to us concerning His statement: then throw it back to them on equal terms, that it means: with deferment = as Bukayr related to us, on the authority of Muqātil ibn Ḥayyān concerning the statement of Allah: بَرَاءَةٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ إِلَى الَّذِينَ عَاهَدْتُمْ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ * فَسِيحُوا فِي الأَرْضِ أَرْبَعَةَ أَشْهُرٍ (A disavowal from Allah and His Messenger to the polytheists with whom you have concluded a treaty * So travel freely about the land for four months), [Al-Tawba: 1-2].
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As for the people who have knowledge of the language of the Arabs, they differ among themselves concerning its meaning.
Some of them used to say: its meaning is: then throw it back to them in a manner of justice (ʿadl) = that is to say: until your knowledge and their knowledge are in balance regarding the mutual state of war that prevails between you. And they cited as witness for that statement of theirs the words of the rajaz-poet (22):
"And strike the faces of the treacherous enemies Until they give you an answer toward the sawāʾ" (23)
that is to say: toward justice.
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And others used to say: its meaning is: the middle (al-wasaṭ), according to the words of Ḥassān:
"O woe for the helpers of the Messenger and his kinsfolk After the vanishing into the middle of the grave-niche" (24)
in the meaning of: into the middle of the grave-cavity.
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Thus these meanings are akin to one another, for "justice" is a middle that does not rise above the truth nor fall short of it, and likewise "the middle" is justice, and the equal standing of the knowledge of the two parties regarding their mutual state after the truce (25) is justice in conduct and a middle. As for what al-Walīd ibn Muslim said, namely that its meaning is "deferment" (al-mahal), for that I know no ground in the language of the Arabs.
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Footnotes:
(13) See the explanation of "al-khiyāna" in what has already preceded, 13: 480, note 1, and the references there.
(14) See the explanation of "al-nabdh" in what has already preceded, 2: 401, 402; 7: 459. In the printed edition it reads: "āthār al-ghadr" (traces of treachery), and I have established what is in the manuscript. "Al-amār" and "al-amāra" mean the sign, and one says: "amār" is the plural of "amāra".
(15) See the explanation of "al-khawf" in what has already preceded, 11: 373, note 5, and the references there.
(16) In the printed edition it reads: "āthār al-khiyāna" (traces of treachery), and I have established what is in the manuscript; see the preceding note number 2.
(17) In the manuscript it reads: "wa-ad" and then a blank; the correct reading is what is in the printed edition.
(18) In the printed edition it reads: "wa-muḥārabatihim maʿahu" (and fighting him together with him), and I have established what is in the manuscript.
(19) In the manuscript it reads: "wa-lam yuqātilū" (and they did not fight), and what is in the printed edition resembles the correct reading.
(20) See the explanation of "al-sawāʾ" in what has already preceded, 10: 488, note 2, and the references there.
(21) In the printed edition it reads: "wa-qad qāla baʿḍuhum" (and some have said), whereby the whole sentence has been altered without reason.
(22) I have not been able to ascertain who said it.
(23) In the printed edition it read: "al-ghudur lil-aʿdāʾ", and that is an error; the correct reading comes from the manuscript, and "al-ghudur" (with two ḍammas) is the plural of "ghadūr", like "ṣabūr", and it means the treacherous one who has become accustomed to treachery.
(24) The verse and the mention of its source and the explanation of it have already preceded, 2: 496, note 2.
(25) In the printed edition it reads: "wa-stiwāʾ al-farīqayn" (the equal standing of the two parties), and in the manuscript "wa-stiwāʾ ʿalā al-farīqayn"; its correct reading is what has been established, and that is the true meaning.
