Tafseer of The Spoils of War · Al-Anfaal · 8:61
And if they incline to peace, then incline to it [also] and rely upon Allah. Indeed, it is He who is the Hearing, the Knowing.
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 explanation of His saying: وَإِنْ جَنَحُوا لِلسَّلْمِ فَاجْنَحْ لَهَا وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ إِنَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ (And if they incline toward peace, then incline to it [also] and put your trust in Allah; indeed, He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing) (61).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: And if you fear treachery and deceit from a people, then cast back their covenant to them on equal terms and declare war upon them. And if they incline toward peace, then incline to it [also], that is to say: and if they incline toward concluding peace with you and toward ceasing the war with you — whether by entering into Islam, or by paying the poll-tax for non-Muslims (jizyah), or by a truce and similar matters of peace and reconciliation — then incline to it [also], that is to say: then incline toward it, and grant them that toward which they inclined and what they requested of you.
Concerning this one says: "janaḥa al-rajulu ilā kadhā yajnaḥu ilayhi junūḥan" (the man inclined toward something, he inclines toward it, an inclining). The tribes of Tamīm and Qays, according to what is transmitted from them, say "yajnuḥ" with a ḍamma (the vowel -u-) on the nūn, while others say "yajniḥ" with a kasra (the vowel -i-) on the nūn; and that is when he inclines. From this also comes the saying of Nābigha of the Banū Dhubyān:
"Inclining ones (jawāniḥ), who were certain that their tribe, when the two armies meet, is the foremost of the victors."
"Jawāniḥ" means: inclining, leaning over.
And in the sense of what we have said, the exegetes (of the Qurʾān) have spoken.
Mention of those who said that:
16245 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: And if they incline toward peace, he said: toward reconciliation; and it is abrogated by His saying: Then kill the polytheists (mushrikīn) wherever you find them [Surah Al-Tawbah: 5].
16246 — Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: And if they incline toward peace, toward reconciliation, then incline to it [also], he said: and this was before "Barāʾa" (Surah Al-Tawbah), and the Prophet of Allah ﷺ used to conclude with a people a truce for a fixed term: they would either become Muslim, or he would fight them. Then that was abrogated in "Barāʾa", where He said: Then kill the polytheists wherever you find them, and He said: And fight the polytheists all together [Surah Al-Tawbah: 36], and He cast back the covenant of everyone who had a covenant, and He commanded him to fight them until they would say "There is no god but Allah" and submit (become Muslim), and that nothing else would be accepted from them but that. And every covenant that occurred in this surah and in others, and every reconciliation by which the Muslims reconciled with the polytheists and made mutual peace — verily, "Barāʾa" came with the abrogation of it, and He commanded them to fight under all circumstances until they would say: "There is no god but Allah".
16247 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, on the authority of Yazīd, on the authority of ʿIkrima and al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, who both said: And if they incline toward peace, then incline to it [also] — it was abrogated by the verse that is in "Barāʾa", His saying: Fight those who do not believe in Allah and do not believe in the Last Day, up to His saying: while they are humbled [Surah Al-Tawbah: 29].
16248 — 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: And if they incline toward peace, then incline to it [also], he says: and if they desire reconciliation, then desire it too.
16249 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: And if they incline toward peace, then incline to it [also], that is to say: if they call you to peace — to Islam — then make reconciliation with them on that footing.
16250 — Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: And if they incline toward peace, then incline to it [also], he said: then make reconciliation with them. He said: and this is abrogated by the jihād.
Abū Jaʿfar said: As for what Qatāda said, and those who said the same as he did, namely that this verse is abrogated — that is a statement for which there exists no indication from the Book, nor from the Sunna, nor from innate reason.
And we have demonstrated in more than one place in this book of ours and elsewhere that the abrogating (text) can be nothing other than that which lifts the ruling of the abrogated (text) in every respect. Whatever differs from that is not an abrogating text.
And the saying of Allah in Barāʾa: Then kill the polytheists wherever you find them does not lift the ruling of His saying And if they incline toward peace, then incline to it [also], because by His saying And if they incline toward peace only the Banū Qurayẓa were intended, and they were Jews, People of the Book; and Allah, exalted is His praise, permitted the believers to make reconciliation with the People of the Book and to cease the war with them in exchange for collecting the poll-tax (jizyah) from them.
As for His saying Then kill the polytheists wherever you find them — by it only the polytheists of the Arabs were intended, the idol-worshippers, from whom it is not permissible to accept the poll-tax (jizyah). So in neither of the two verses lies the lifting of the ruling of the other; rather, each of the two is binding (muḥkam) in that concerning which it was revealed.
16251 — 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: And if they incline toward peace, he said: (the tribe) Qurayẓa.
As for His saying and put your trust in Allah, he says: entrust your affair to Allah, O Muḥammad, and ask Him to suffice you, trusting in Him that He is enough for you — as in the following:
16252 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: and put your trust in Allah, verily, Allah is enough for you.
And His saying indeed, He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing means by it: verily, Allah, upon whom you put your trust, is "All-Hearing" of what you say and what the one with whom you make peace and cease the war says, of the enemies of Allah and your enemies, at the time of concluding the peace between you and him, and (of) the conditions that each party of you imposes upon the other; "All-Knowing" of what each party of you conceals toward the other party regarding the fidelity to that which he has agreed upon with him, and (of) who among you keeps that hidden in his heart and who harbors the opposite of it toward his companion.
