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Chapter 8

The Spoilsal-Anfāl ( الأنفال )

75 verses • revealed at Medinan

»The surah that answers the question that the believers put to the Prophet regarding how God and His Messenger would have them distribute The spoils, after the believers had differed among themselves about its disbursement. It takes its name from the term “spoils” (al-anfāl) mentioned in verse 1. The main part of this surah is a comment on the Battle of Badr (year 2/624), the first fought between the Muslims and their Meccan opponents. The Muslims, some of whom were at first reluctant to fight, won in spite of being vastly outnumbered, and began to question the distribution of the gains (spoils of war). The surah reminds them that it was God who brought about the victory. verse 41 shows how the gains were to be distributed. It advises Muslims and comments on the role of the hypocrites and on those who always break their treaties (verse 56), ending with a statement about loyalties and alliances.«

The surah is also known as Battle Gains, Booty, The Spoils of War

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ

Ali Quli Qarai: In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful.

1
يَسأَلونَكَ عَنِ الأَنفالِ ۖ قُلِ الأَنفالُ لِلَّهِ وَالرَّسولِ ۖ فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَأَصلِحوا ذاتَ بَينِكُم ۖ وَأَطيعُوا اللَّهَ وَرَسولَهُ إِن كُنتُم مُؤمِنينَ

Ali Quli Qarai

They ask you concerning the anfāl.1 Say, ‘The anfāl belong to Allah and the Apostle.’ So be wary of Allah and settle your differences, and obey Allah and His Apostle, should you be faithful.
  • Or, ‘They ask you for the anfāl,’ according to an alternate reading (yasʾalūnaka al-anfāl). In the present Qurʿānic context, the term anfāl refers to the spoils of war.