Al-Anfal  · Seventy-Five Verses

Ta'awwudh · Seeking Refuge

أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ

A'udhu billahi min ash-shaytani ar-rajim. I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed.

The Name · Bismillah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Bismillahi ar-Rahmani ar-Rahim. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

✦

The Surah · In Two Parts

Al-Anfal came down after Badr, the first battle, fought by three hundred and some against a force three times its size, and won.

The chapter opens with a question about how to divide what was captured. The answer does not divide anything. It says the spoils belong to Allah and the Messenger, then tells them to be conscious of Allah and set right what is between them. A dispute over property is answered by relocating the ownership and repairing the relationship, in that order.

What follows is the most careful account of a victory in the Quran, and almost none of the credit stays with the men who fought. Sleep sent as security. Rain sent to steady the ground. Angels sent as reassurance rather than as the cause. And then verse 17, which takes the throw out of the thrower’s hands at the exact moment he would be entitled to claim it.

The second half turns to what a community does after it wins. The fifth set aside, prisoners, treaties, alliances, and a warning about the wealth that just arrived.

Two parts, in order.

Part One

Verses 1 to 40

You Did Not Throw When You Threw.

A question about captured property answered by relocating the ownership and repairing the relationship. Then Badr described as sleep, rain, and reassurance, and a throw taken out of the thrower's hands.

آمِين

Prepared with discipline · Ameen