8:62 Al-Anfaal (The Spoils of War)

تفسير الآيتين 61 و62 :ـ يقول تعالى‏:‏ ‏{‏وَإِنْ جَنَحُوا‏}‏ أي‏:‏ الكفار المحاربون، أي‏:‏ مالوا ‏{‏لِلسَّلْمِ‏}‏ أي‏:‏ الصلح وترك القتال‏.‏ ‏{‏فَاجْنَحْ لَهَا وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ‏}‏ أي‏:‏ أجبهم إلى ما طلبوا متوكلًا على ربك، فإن في ذلك فوائد كثيرة‏.‏ منها‏:‏ أن طلب العافية مطلوب كل وقت، فإذا كانوا هم المبتدئين في ذلك، كان أولى لإجابتهم‏.‏ ومنها‏:‏ أن في ذلك إجمامًا لقواكم، واستعدادا منكم لقتالهم في وقت آخر، إن احتيج لذلك‏.‏ ومنها‏:‏ أنكم إذا أصلحتم وأمن بعضكم بعضًا، وتمكن كل من معرفة ما عليه الآخر، فإن الإسلام يعلو ولا يعلى عليه،‏.‏فكل من له عقل وبصيرة إذا كان معه إنصاف فلا بد أن يؤثره على غيره من الأديان، لحسنه في أوامره ونواهيه، وحسنه في معاملته للخلق والعدل فيهم، وأنه لا جور فيه ولا ظلم بوجه، فحينئذ يكثر الراغبون فيه والمتبعون له‏.‏ فصار هذا السلم عونا للمسلمين على الكافرين‏.‏ ولا يخاف من السلم إلا خصلة واحدة، وهي أن يكون الكفار قصدهم بذلك خدع المسلمين، وانتهاز الفرصة فيهم،‏.‏فأخبرهم اللّه أنه حسبهم وكافيهم خداعهم، وأن ذلك يعود عليهم ضرره، فقال‏:‏ ‏{‏وَإِنْ يُرِيدُوا أَنْ يَخْدَعُوكَ فَإِنَّ حَسْبَكَ اللَّهُ‏}‏ أي‏:‏ كافيك ما يؤذيك، وهو القائم بمصالحك ومهماتك، فقد سبق ‏[‏لك‏]‏ من كفايته لك ونصره ما يطمئن به قلبك‏.‏ فل ـ ‏{‏هُوَ الَّذِي أَيَّدَكَ بِنَصْرِهِ وَبِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ‏}‏ أي‏:‏ أعانك بمعونة سماوية، وهو النصر منه الذي لا يقاومه شيء، ومعونة بالمؤمنين بأن قيضهم لنصرك‏.‏

ولو كانوا يريدون بالصلح خديعة ليتقوا ويستعدوا "فإن حسبك الله" أي كافيك وحده ثم ذكر نعمته عليه مما أيده به من المؤمنين المهاجرين والأنصار فقال "هو الذي أيدك بنصره وبالمؤمنين وألف بين قلوبهم" أي جمعها على الإيمان بك وعلى طاعتك ومناصرتك ومؤازرتك.

The Command to Facilitate Peace when the Enemy seeks a Peaceful Resolution

Allah says, if you fear betrayal from a clan of people, then sever the peace treaty with them, so that you both are on equal terms. If they continue being hostile and opposing you, then fight them,

وَإِن جَنَحُواْ

(But if they incline), and seek,

لِلسَّلْمِ

(to peace), if they resort to reconciliation, and seek a treaty of non-hostility,

فَاجْنَحْ لَهَا

(you also incline to it), and accept offers of peace from them. This is why when the pagans inclined to peace in the year of Hudaybiyah and sought cessation of hostilities for nine years, between them and the Messenger of Allah he accepted this from them, as well as, accepting other terms of peace they brought forth. `Abdullah bin Al-Imam Ahmad recorded that `Ali bin Abi Talib said that the Messenger of Allah said,

«إِنَّهُ سَيَكُونُ بَعْدِي اخْتِلَافٌ أَوْ أَمْرٌ فَإِنِ اسْتَطَعْتَ أَنْ يَكُونَ السِّلْمَ فَافْعَل»

(There will be disputes after me, so if you have a way to end them in peace, then do so.)

Allah said next,

وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ

(and trust in Allah. ) Allah says, conduct a peace treaty with those who incline to peace, and trust in Allah. Verily, Allah will suffice for you and aid you even if they resort to peace as a trick, so that they gather and reorganize their forces,

فَإِنَّ حَسْبَكَ اللَّهُ

(then verily, Allah is All-Sufficient for you).

Reminding the Believers of Allah's Favor of uniting Them

Allah mentioned His favor on the Prophet , in that He aided him with believers, the Muhajirin and the Ansar,

هُوَ الَّذِى أَيَّدَكَ بِنَصْرِهِ وَبِالْمُؤْمِنِينَوَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِهِمْ

(He it is Who has supported you with His help and with the believers. And He has united their hearts.)

The Ayah says, `it is Allah who gathered the believers' hearts, believing, obeying, aiding and supporting you -- O Muhammad,'

لَوْ أَنفَقْتَ مَا فِى الاٌّرْضِ جَمِيعاً مَّآ أَلَّفْتَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِهِمْ

(If you had spent all that is in the earth, you could not have united their hearts.) because of the enmity and hatred that existed between them. Before Islam, there were many wars between the Ansar tribes of Aws and Khazraj, and there were many causes to stir unrest between them. However, Allah ended all that evil with the light of faith,

وَاذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنتُم أَعْدَآءً فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُم بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْوَاناً وَكُنتُمْ عَلَى شَفَا حُفْرَةٍ مِّنَ النَّارِ فَأَنقَذَكُمْ مِّنْهَا كَذلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ ءَايَـتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ

(And remember Allah's favor on you, for you were enemies one to another, but He united your hearts, so that, by His grace, you became brethren, and you were on the brink of a pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus Allah makes His Ayat clear to you, that you may be guided.) 3:103

In the Two Sahihs, it is recorded that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave a speech to the Ansar about the division of war booty collected in the battle of Hunayn, he said to them,

«يَا مَعْشَرَ الْأَنْصَارِ أَلَمْ أَجِدْكُمْ ضُلَّالًا فَهَدَاكُمُ اللهُ بِي، وَعَالَةً فَأَغْنَاكُمُ اللهُ بِي، وَكُنْتُمْ مُتَفَرِّقِينَ فَأَلَّفَكُمُ اللهُ بِي»

(O Ansar! Did I not find you misguided and Allah guided you by me, poor and Allah enriched you by me, and divided and Allah united you by me) Every question the Prophet asked them, they said, "Truly, the favor is from Allah and His Messenger." Allah said,

وَلَـكِنَّ اللَّهَ أَلَّفَ بَيْنَهُمْ إِنَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ

(But Allah has united them. Certainly He is All-Mighty, All-Wise.)

He is the Most Formidable, and the hopes of those who have trust in Him, never end unanswered; Allah is All-Wise in all of His decisions and actions.

And if they desire to trick you by making a peace settlement in order to make preparations for war against you then God is sufficient for you. He it is Who strengthened you with His help and with the believers;

After that, in the fourth verse (62), the same subject has been taken up with added clarity where it was said:

وَإِن يُرِ‌يدُوا أَن يَخْدَعُوكَ فَإِنَّ حَسْبَكَ اللَّـهُ ۚ هُوَ الَّذِي أَيَّدَكَ بِنَصْرِ‌هِ وَبِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿62﴾

And if they intend to deceive you, then, Allah is all-sufficient for you. He is the One who supported you with His help and with the believers.

It means that should this very probability turn out to be the reality on the ground - that their intention is bad and they stop at nothing short of a deceptive strike against you - even then, you do not have to bother about it because Allah is sufficient as your supporter. This has been true earlier too. Things have worked for the Holy Prophet ﷺ with nothing but the help and support of Allah Ta` ala. He was always there behind him, a fact which is the very basis of his victory and success. Then, it was for everyone to witness that He made a group of Muslims rise around him who became his helping hands in the mission. All these arrangements were the outward causes of the phenomena. The thing to believe is that the real and absolute Master who fused together all causes of victory and success in a visible form shall never leave him alone to be deceived by the enemy even today. It was under this Divine promise when, after the revelation of this verse, it never happened throughout the entire span of his life that any deceit or ambush from his enemies brought any harm to him. Therefore, the scholars of Tafsir have said that this promise for the Holy Prophet ﷺ very much like the promise made in: وَاللَّـهُ يَعْصِمُكَ مِنَ النَّاسِ (and Allah shall keep you protected from the people - 5:67) when, after the revelation of this verse, the Holy Prophet ﷺ had asked his noble Companions ؓ who guarded him against any such dangers that they should now feel relieved and forget about their security concerns regarding his person. This tells us that this promise was special to the Holy Prophet ﷺ . (Bayern al-Qur'an) As for others, they should do things in terms of formal arrangements after assessing prevailing conditions.