Surah Al-Anfaal (8) — Ayah 1

{سورة الانفال}
(Ayah 1) ➊ {يَسْـَٔلُوْنَكَ عَنِ الْاَنْفَالِ: ’’ الْاَنْفَالِ ‘‘} is the plural of {’’ نَفَلٌ‘‘ } (with fathah on noon and fa), just as {’’فَرَسٌ‘‘} is the plural of {’’ اَفْرَاسٌ‘‘}. Its meaning is "something extra," as He said: «{ وَ مِنَ الَّيْلِ فَتَهَجَّدْ بِهٖ نَافِلَةً لَّكَ}» [ بنی إسرائیل : ۷۹ ] "And during a part of the night, keep awake with it as an extra for you." That is, standing in prayer at night is extra beyond the obligatory prayers. This word comes in several meanings: (1) Spoils of war, because the real purpose of jihad is reward and attaining Paradise; spoils are an extra thing. Perhaps for this reason, spoils were not lawful for previous nations, but for this Ummah, in addition to reward, spoils were also made lawful. (2) If the leader announces or wishes to give an extra reward from the spoils for a particular achievement, this too is nafl (extra). (3) Whatever weapons, mounts, etc., are found with the slain, are given to the killer; this is called "salb," and it is also nafl. (4) Apart from general battle, if some detachments are sent for an attack on a settlement while going or returning from war and they bring back spoils, then it will be for the whole army, but that detachment will be given an extra share from the total spoils, which the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) used to give as a fourth when going and a third when returning. (5) Before the distribution of spoils, if the leader selects something for himself, such as a weapon, mount, or slave girl, it is also called "safiy."
In the time of ignorance, it was customary that whatever a person looted in war became his. In Islam, the first great battle was Badr, and the method of distributing the spoils taken from the disbelievers had not yet been determined. When a lot of spoils were obtained at Badr, this issue arose. Thus, Ubadah bin Samit (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We set out with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and I participated with him in Badr. The people confronted each other, Allah defeated the enemy, so one group pursued them, killing and driving them away; another group turned to the camp, guarding it and collecting the spoils; and another group surrounded the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) so that the enemy would not take advantage of any negligence regarding him. Eventually, everyone gathered back, and those who had collected the spoils said, "We collected these, no one else has any share in them." Those who had pursued the enemy said, "You are not more entitled than us; we drove the enemy away and defeated them." Those who had surrounded the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "We surrounded the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and feared that the enemy might harm you in any negligence, so we were engaged in this task." At that time, these verses were revealed: «{ يَسْـَٔلُوْنَكَ عَنِ الْاَنْفَالِ قُلِ الْاَنْفَالُ لِلّٰهِ وَ الرَّسُوْلِ فَاتَّقُوا اللّٰهَ وَ اَصْلِحُوْا ذَاتَ بَيْنِكُمْ }» So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) distributed them among the Muslims, and when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would go to attack enemy territory, he would give a fourth as nafl (extra), and when returning, as people were tired, he would give a third as nafl, and he particularly did not like to give extra shares and used to say: "The strong among the believers returns the spoils to their weak." [ أحمد : 323/5، ۳۲۴، ح ۲۲۷۶۲، وقال شعیب الأرنؤوط حسن لغیرہ ] Some parts of this hadith are also narrated in Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Ibn Hibban, and Mustadrak Hakim.
➋ {قُلِ الْاَنْفَالُ لِلّٰهِ وَ الرَّسُوْلِ …:} He said, they ask you about the spoils, whose right are they, how will they be distributed? Say: The spoils are in reality not the property of any of you; they belong to Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him); you have no say in them, because victory was not by your strength but by Allah's help. This point is explained further ahead, that victory is only by Allah's help, so fear Allah and correct the discord that has arisen among you because of these properties, and if you are believers, obey whatever Allah and His Messenger command, and be content with whatever is given or not given to you, and your mutual relations should never be spoiled because of this wealth. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Beware of spoiling mutual relations, for this thing shaves (the religion)." [ ترمذی، صفۃ القیامۃ، باب فی فضل صلاح ذات البین : ۲۵۰۸، عن أبی ھریرۃ رضی اللہ عنہ ] In Tafsir Ibn Kathir, here, a hadith is narrated from Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) via Musnad Abi Ya'la, in which it is mentioned that the one who forgives his brother will take his brother's hand and enter Paradise; this narration is also in Mustadrak, which Imam Hakim declared Sahih, but Dhahabi considered one of its narrators, 'Abbad, weak, and his sheikh as {’’لَا يُعْرَفُ‘‘}.
➌ { اِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُّؤْمِنِيْنَ:} In this verse, obedience to Allah along with obedience to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is made a condition of faith, and by obedience to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is meant (as is apparent) following his Sunnah. Therefore, whoever turns away from his Sunnah and wants to obey only the Qur'an (while acting on the Qur'an without hadith is not possible in any way), according to the clear statement of the Qur'an, is outside the fold of faith.