Texts of Islam

The Meaning of the Glorious Qur'ân,: 8. al-Anfal: T...

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This is Surah Al-Anfal ("The Spoils of War"), the eighth chapter of the Quran, presented in M.M. Pickthall's English translation — a landmark early 20th-century rendering notable for its archaic King James-style prose and its aim at fidelity to the Arabic without paraphrase. The chapter was revealed in the context of the Battle of Badr (624 CE), the first major military engagement of the early Muslim community, and addresses practical and theological questions arising from that victory. Its central concerns are the proper distribution of war spoils (one-fifth to God, the Prophet, and the needy), the obligations of believers in battle, and the conditions for making or breaking treaties with enemies. A recurring theological argument is that Muslim victory at Badr was not achieved by human effort alone but was directly willed and executed by God — "Ye slew them not, but Allah slew them" — framing military success as divine proof of Islam's truth. The chapter also sets out rules of conduct: believers must not flee battle, must not betray trusts, and should offer peace if the enemy inclines toward it. Distinctive among Quranic war chapters, Al-Anfal balances martial exhortation with explicit restraint clauses, instructing that fighting should cease if persecution ends and that captive-taking is only legitimate after the enemy has been decisively defeated.

The Meaning of the Glorious Qur'ân,: 8. al-Anfal: T...

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