Surah Muhammad (47) — Ayah 4

(Ayah 4) ➊ The connection of the "fa" in { فَاِذَا لَقِيْتُمُ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوْا فَضَرْبَ الرِّقَابِ: ’’ فَاِذَا ‘‘} is with the previous statement: since the disbelievers are followers of falsehood and the believers are followers of truth, it necessitates that the followers of truth should not give the followers of falsehood the opportunity to spread corruption in the land. Therefore, when you meet those who have disbelieved (on the battlefield), then strike their necks forcefully.

➋ The literal meaning of {’’ فَاِذَا لَقِيْتُمْ‘‘} is "when you meet," but what is meant is when you confront them. It does not mean that whenever a disbeliever appears before you, you should kill him, because in the Qur'an and in Arabic speech, "meeting the enemy" refers to confronting the enemy, as He said: « يٰۤاَيُّهَا الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْۤا اِذَا لَقِيْتُمْ فِئَةً فَاثْبُتُوْا وَ اذْكُرُوا اللّٰهَ كَثِيْرًا لَّعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُوْنَ » [ الأنفال : ۴۵ ] "O you who have believed! When you meet a group (in battle), stand firm and remember Allah much, so that you may succeed."

➌ {’’ فَضَرْبَ الرِّقَابِ ‘‘} is originally {’’فَاضْرِبُوا الرِّقَابَ ضَرْبًا‘‘}; the imperative verb {’’فَاضْرِبُوْا‘‘} has been omitted and the absolute object {’’ضَرْبًا‘‘} has been made its substitute, and it has been annexed to the object {’’ الرِّقَابِ ‘‘}. Besides brevity, this also adds awe and force to the speech, that in the case of confrontation with the disbelievers, there is only one task: to strike necks. The word "daraba" in Arabic is used for the strike of a sword, "ta'n" for a spear, and "ramy" for an arrow. Of these, the greatest display of strength, bravery, and awe is in face-to-face sword fighting, especially when the sword strikes the neck; that is why {’’ فَضَرْبَ الرِّقَابِ ‘‘} is mentioned, because the force of expression in this word is not found in any other. Otherwise, what is meant is to kill by any means, whether by sword, arrow, spear, or any modern weapon, and whether the blow of the weapon falls on the neck or any other part of the body. Or even without a weapon, the enemy is killed, whether by strangling, punching, or striking a sensitive part of the body; in short, the objective is to kill the enemy by any means.

➍ {حَتّٰۤى اِذَاۤ اَثْخَنْتُمُوْهُمْ فَشُدُّوا الْوَثَاقَ: ’’ أَثْخَنَ يُثْخِنُ إِثْخَانًا‘‘} (af'al) means to be excessive in killing and bloodshed. {’’شَدَّ يَشُدُّ شَدًّا‘‘ (ن) ’’اَلشَّيْءَ‘‘ } means to bind something. {’’شَدَّ الْعُقْدَةَ أَوِ الْوَثَاقَ‘‘} means to tie a knot or rope firmly. {’’ الْوَثَاقَ ‘‘} means the rope or such with which something is tied. That is, the main objective of war is to break the enemy's military strength, so at the very beginning of the battle, one should not be busy capturing the enemy's men, but after as much bloodshed and killing as possible, when they are thoroughly routed and the battle has ended, then the remaining people should be taken as prisoners, so that they have no strength left to fight again. In the Battle of Badr, the Muslims took prisoners before thoroughly defeating the enemy, so Allah expressed displeasure at this, saying: « مَا كَانَ لِنَبِيٍّ اَنْ يَّكُوْنَ لَهٗۤ اَسْرٰى حَتّٰى يُثْخِنَ فِي الْاَرْضِ تُرِيْدُوْنَ عَرَضَ الدُّنْيَا وَ اللّٰهُ يُرِيْدُ الْاٰخِرَةَ وَ اللّٰهُ عَزِيْزٌ حَكِيْمٌ » [ الأنفال:۶۷] "It is not for a prophet to have captives until he has thoroughly slaughtered in the land. You desire the commodities of this world, but Allah desires the Hereafter, and Allah is Exalted in Might, Wise."

➎ {فَاِمَّا مَنًّۢا بَعْدُ وَ اِمَّا فِدَآءً: ’’ مَنًّا ‘‘} and {’’ فِدَآءً ‘‘} are absolute objects whose verbs have been omitted, and the tanween is for indefiniteness: {’’ أَيْ إِمَّا تَمُنُّوْنَ عَلَيْهِمْ مَنًّا بَعْدَ ذٰلِكَ وَ إِمَّا تُفَادُوْنَهُمْ فِدَاءً ‘‘} "That is, after that, either show favor to them in some way, or take ransom from them in some way."

One way of showing favor is not to kill them, but to spare their lives and make them slaves and hand them over to Muslim individuals. In reality, compared to permanent imprisonment or killing, making them slaves is no small favor, especially since Islam has emphasized good treatment of slaves and bondwomen; with this, compared to permanent imprisonment or killing, this is a great blessing, because there are opportunities for their freedom in the form of expiation for many acts and in the form of mukatabah (writing a contract to earn and pay their price). It is established by continuous transmission from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and the Rightly Guided Caliphs (may Allah be pleased with them) that conquered people were made slaves and bondwomen, and in the Qur'an, slaves and bondwomen are mentioned at many places. See Surah Nisa (3, 24, 36), Muminoon (5, 6), Ahzab (50), Nahl (71), Rum (28), Nur (31 to 33, 58), and many other verses. With these verses, hadiths, and the practice of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, only an atheist or an ignorant person who has no knowledge of the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace be upon him) can deny slavery in Islam.

One way of showing favor to prisoners is to release them without compensation. This happens when it is in the interest to do so, for example, there is hope that they will become Muslim, or they will desist from activities against Islam and Muslims, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) released the chief of Najd, Thumamah bin Uthal (may Allah be pleased with him), without compensation. (See Bukhari: 4372) Several thousand prisoners of the Battle of Hunayn were released as a favor. (See Bukhari: 4318, 4319) On the occasion of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, eighty (80) men came from the direction of Taneem and intended to attack the Prophet (peace be upon him) near the time of Fajr prayer, but all of them were captured, then the Prophet released them all so that this matter would not become a cause for fighting. On this occasion, this verse was revealed: «وَ هُوَ الَّذِيْ كَفَّ اَيْدِيَهُمْ عَنْكُمْ وَ اَيْدِيَكُمْ عَنْهُمْ بِبَطْنِ مَكَّةَ مِنْۢ بَعْدِ اَنْ اَظْفَرَكُمْ عَلَيْهِمْ » [الفتح : ۲۴ ] "And He is the One who withheld their hands from you and your hands from them in the valley of Makkah after He had given you victory over them." [ دیکھیے مسلم، الجہاد، باب قول اللہ تعالٰی : { وھو الذی کف أیدیہم عنکم }: ۱۸۰۸ ] On the occasion of the conquest of Makkah, the Prophet (peace be upon him) forgave all the people of Makkah as a favor, except for a few individuals. After the Battle of Banu Mustaliq, when the prisoners of this tribe were brought and distributed among the people, at that time Juwayriyyah (may Allah be pleased with her) came into the share of a certain person; the Prophet (peace be upon him) paid her price, bought her, freed her, and married her. Upon this, all the Muslims released their share of prisoners, saying that they had now become relatives of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). [ دیکھیے مسند أحمد : 277/6، ح : ۲۶۴۱۹ ]

One way of showing favor to prisoners is to impose jizyah on them and make them dhimmis (protected non-Muslims) under the Muslims, as He said: «حَتّٰى يُعْطُوا الْجِزْيَةَ عَنْ يَّدٍ وَّ هُمْ صٰغِرُوْنَ» [ التوبۃ : ۲۹ ] "Until they pay the jizyah with their own hands while they are humbled."

Showing favor to prisoners also includes treating them well as long as they remain in captivity, taking care of their food, drink, clothing, and health, etc. Allah has greatly emphasized this. See the commentary of Surah Dahr, verse (8): «وَ يُطْعِمُوْنَ الطَّعَامَ عَلٰى حُبِّهٖ مِسْكِيْنًا وَّ يَتِيْمًا وَّ اَسِيْرًا ».

{’’ وَ اِمَّا فِدَآءً ‘‘} One way of taking ransom is to free them in exchange for some wealth, as ransom was taken from the prisoners of Badr. For details, see the commentary of Surah Anfal (70). Another way of ransom is to release them after taking a specific service as a condition for their release, for example, they teach reading and writing to those assigned to them. Another way of ransom is to release them in exchange for the release of a Muslim prisoner captured by the disbelievers, as Salamah bin Akwa' (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that in the raid on Banu Fazarah, among the prisoners, the commander Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) gave him a very beautiful bondwoman as an extra gift. When he came to Madinah, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) insisted on taking that bondwoman as a gift, and he gave her to the Prophet (peace be upon him), so: [ فَبَعَثَ بِهَا رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِلٰی أَهْلِ مَكَّةَ فَفَدٰی بِهَا نَاسًا مِّنَ الْمُسْلِمِيْنَ كَانُوْا أُسِرُوْا بِمَكَّةَ ] [مسلم، الجہاد و السیر، باب التنفیل و فداء المسلمین بالأسارٰی : ۱۷۵۵ ] "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) sent that bondwoman to the people of Makkah as ransom for some Muslims who were imprisoned in Makkah."

➏ The words of this verse apparently indicate that after taking the disbelievers as prisoners, only one of the two options—favor or ransom—will be chosen, and they will not be killed. But in reality, the Muslim leader also has the option to kill them, as is mentioned in hadith and books of biography, that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) killed Nadr bin Harith and Uqbah bin Abi Mu'ayt from among the prisoners of Badr. The prisoners of Banu Qurayzah, who came down from their forts on the decision of Sa'd bin Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him), were killed. On the day of the conquest of Makkah, Ibn Khatal and Muqis bin Subabah were killed, and after Uhud, Abu 'Azza the poet was killed. After the established practice of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), no one has the right to say that after taking a disbeliever prisoner, he cannot be killed under any circumstances, because no one understands the meaning of the Qur'an better than the Prophet (peace be upon him). If someone reflects on the words of the verse, the option to kill prisoners is present in it, because after commanding to bind the prisoners firmly, Allah said: « فَاِمَّا مَنًّۢا بَعْدُ وَ اِمَّا فِدَآءً » The meaning of { ’’ مَنًّا ‘‘} is favor and kindness, as one of the beautiful names of Allah is {’’اَلْمَنَّانُ‘‘}, and everyone knows that it is not obligatory for the benefactor to show favor. The favors Allah has bestowed upon His servants were neither obligatory upon Him nor were they the right of the servants, which Allah was bound to fulfill. From this word {’’ مَنًّا ‘‘} (favor and kindness), it is proven that keeping prisoners alive is a favor from the Muslims to the prisoners. If they did not have the option to kill them, but were obliged to keep them alive in all circumstances, then releasing them would not be a favor or kindness, but rather fulfilling their right which was obligatory upon the Muslims. Therefore, in the two words {’’ مَنًّا ‘‘} and {’’ فِدَآءً ‘‘}, all four options are included which the Muslim leader has: to kill, to enslave, to release without compensation, or to release for ransom. (Biqai) In Sahih Bukhari, it is also proven from the statement of Thumamah bin Uthal (may Allah be pleased with him) that releasing a prisoner is not his right, but a favor upon him. Thus, he said: [ إِنْ تَقْتُلْنِيْ تَقْتُلْ ذَا دَمٍ، وَإِنْ تُنْعِمْ تُنْعِمْ عَلٰی شَاكِرٍ، وَإِنْ كُنْتَ تُرِيْدُ الْمَالَ فَسَلْ مِنْهُ مَا شِئْتَ ] [ بخاري، المغازي، باب وفد بني حنیفۃ… : ۴۳۷۲۔ مسلم : ۱۷۶۴ ] "(O Muhammad!) If you kill me, you will kill one with blood , and if you show favor, you show favor to one who is grateful, and if you want wealth, ask for whatever you wish."

➐ {حَتّٰى تَضَعَ الْحَرْبُ اَوْزَارَهَا: ’’ اَوْزَارَهَا ‘‘ ’’وِزْرٌ‘‘} is the plural of which means burden; what is meant is weapons of war, because as long as the battle continues, weapons have to be carried, which are a burden for those who carry them. That is, keep striking the necks of the disbelievers and continue fighting them until the battle ends and no disbeliever has the courage or strength to fight the Muslims. This can only happen when the Muslims are dominant over the entire earth and the disbelievers have no courage or strength left to confront them or turn away from their command, as He said: «وَ قَاتِلُوْهُمْ حَتّٰى لَا تَكُوْنَ فِتْنَةٌ وَّ يَكُوْنَ الدِّيْنُ كُلُّهٗ لِلّٰهِ » [ الأنفال : ۳۹] "And fight them until there is no more fitnah and the religion is entirely for Allah." According to the statement of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), this battle between disbelief and Islam will continue until the Day of Judgment. Jabir bin Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: [ لَنْ يَبْرَحَ هٰذَا الدِّيْنُ قَائِمًا، يُقَاتِلُ عَلَيْهِ عِصَابَةٌ مِّنَ الْمُسْلِمِيْنَ حَتّٰي تَقُوْمَ السَّاعَةُ ] [ مسلم، الإمارۃ، باب قولہ صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم : ’’ لا تزال طائفۃ من أمتي ظاھرین علی الحق… ‘‘ : ۱۹۲۲ ] "This religion will always remain established, and a group of Muslims will continue to fight for it until the Hour is established."

➑ {ذٰلِكَ:} This is the predicate of an omitted subject: {’’ أَيْ اَلْأَمْرُ ذٰلِكَ‘‘} That is, this is the matter which has been explained in detail regarding striking necks, taking prisoners, showing favor, and taking ransom; or it is the object of an omitted verb: {’’ أَيْ اِفْعَلُوْا ذٰلِكَ‘‘} That is, do this. This brief word is brought to firmly establish and emphasize the entire preceding detail in the mind.

➒ {وَ لَوْ يَشَآءُ اللّٰهُ لَانْتَصَرَ مِنْهُمْ:} This is the answer to the question: if the disbelievers are so evil, why does Allah not punish them Himself? That is, Allah has commanded you to strike necks and do other things, although if Allah wills, He can Himself take revenge on the disbelievers. For this, a single jolt of an earthquake, a clap of thunder, a flood, or a gust of wind from Him is enough, as He did with many previous disbelieving nations. (See Ankabut: 40) But if He did so, then all people would believe to save themselves from destruction, which would be forced and compelled, not out of their own will and choice, and thus the purpose of trial and test would be lost.

➓ { وَ لٰكِنْ لِّيَبْلُوَاْ بَعْضَكُمْ بِبَعْضٍ: ’’ لِيَبْلُوَاْ‘‘} is related to an omitted verb: {’’ أَيْ وَلٰكِنَّهُ أَمَرَكُمْ بِالْجِهَادِ لِيَبْلُوَ بَعْضَكُمْ بِبَعْضٍ‘‘} "That is, but He has commanded you to engage in jihad so that He may test some of you by means of others," and it may become clear who is a sincere believer and who is a hypocrite, as He said: « اَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ اَنْ تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ وَ لَمَّا يَعْلَمِ اللّٰهُ الَّذِيْنَ جٰهَدُوْا مِنْكُمْ وَ يَعْلَمَ الصّٰبِرِيْنَ » [ آل عمران : ۱۴۲ ] "Or did you think that you would enter Paradise while Allah has not yet made evident those of you who strive and made evident the steadfast?" Among the countless wisdoms of Allah in commanding the believers to engage in jihad, a few are mentioned in this verse, as He said: «قَاتِلُوْهُمْ يُعَذِّبْهُمُ اللّٰهُ بِاَيْدِيْكُمْ وَ يُخْزِهِمْ وَ يَنْصُرْكُمْ عَلَيْهِمْ وَ يَشْفِ صُدُوْرَ قَوْمٍ مُؤْمِنِيْنَ (14) وَ يُذْهِبْ غَيْظَ قُلُوْبِهِمْ وَ يَتُوْبُ اللّٰهُ عَلٰى مَنْ يَّشَآءُ وَ اللّٰهُ عَلِيْمٌ حَكِيْمٌ » [ التوبۃ : ۱۴،۱۵ ] "Fight them; Allah will punish them by your hands and will disgrace them and give you victory over them and heal the breasts of a believing people. And remove the anger of their hearts. And Allah accepts repentance from whom He wills; and Allah is Knowing, Wise." For details, see the aforementioned verses of Surah Tawbah.

⓫ {وَ الَّذِيْنَ قُتِلُوْا فِيْ سَبِيْلِ اللّٰهِ فَلَنْ يُّضِلَّ اَعْمَالَهُمْ:} That is, the fact that the martyrs are killed in the way of Allah does not mean that they lost their lives, gained nothing, and their sacrifice benefited only those who remained alive in this world. He said: this is never the case; Allah will never let their deeds go to waste, rather the real profit of this bargain will be obtained by them themselves. For more, see the commentary of Surah Tawbah (111). Some of the blessings received by the martyrs are mentioned in the verses immediately following this verse.