The Spoils of War (Al-Anfal)
Verses 31-35 GROUP_312 8.31-35
31
وَإِذَا تُتْلَى عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُنَا قَالُواْ قَدْ سَمِعْنَا لَوْ نَشَاء لَقُلْنَا مِثْلَ هَـذَا إِنْ هَـذَا إِلاَّ أَسَاطِيرُ الأوَّلِينَ
Whenever Our revelations are recited to them, they say, ‘We have heard them. If we wished, we could produce the like. They are nothing but the fables of the ancients.’
32
وَإِذْ قَالُواْ اللَّهُمَّ إِن كَانَ هَـذَا هُوَ الْحَقَّ مِنْ عِندِكَ فَأَمْطِرْ عَلَيْنَا حِجَارَةً مِّنَ السَّمَاء أَوِ ائْتِنَا بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ
They also said, ‘God, if this really is the truth from You, then rain down upon us stones from heaven, or send us some other painful punishment.’
33
وَمَا كَانَ اللّهُ لِيُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَأَنتَ فِيهِمْ وَمَا كَانَ اللّهُ مُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَهُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ
But God would not punish them while you [Prophet] were in their midst, nor would He punish them so long as they sought forgiveness.
34
وَمَا لَهُمْ أَلاَّ يُعَذِّبَهُمُ اللّهُ وَهُمْ يَصُدُّونَ عَنِ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ وَمَا كَانُواْ أَوْلِيَاءهُ إِنْ أَوْلِيَآؤُهُ إِلاَّ الْمُتَّقُونَ وَلَـكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ
Yet why should God not punish them when they debar people from the Sacred Mosque, although they are not its guardians? Its rightful guardians are those who fear God, though most of them do not realize it.
35
وَمَا كَانَ صَلاَتُهُمْ عِندَ الْبَيْتِ إِلاَّ مُكَاء وَتَصْدِيَةً فَذُوقُواْ الْعَذَابَ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَكْفُرُونَ
Their prayers at the Sacred House are nothing but whistling and clapping of hands. ‘So taste the punishment because of your denial.’
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
Commentary
(a) Literally, ‘We can also produce such a discourse. If we speak untruths why do stones not rain down upon us?’ All such talk arises from haughtiness. When a man finds himself in a safe position in this world; when he observes that he has lost nothing by denying the Truth or by ignoring it, a certain false self-confidence is created in him. He thinks that whatever he has been doing is perfectly right. This feeling makes him utter such words as are not uttered by anyone in normal circumstances. This daring on the part of such people can manifest itself only because of God’s law of respite. God certainly punishes the guilty, but He follows the principle of seizing a man only when the work of clarifying to him Truth and falsehood has been fully performed. Before the completion of this task, nobody is struck down. Furthermore, if during the process of the missionary call, even one or two people at a time are influenced and start reforming themselves, God withholds His retribution so that all those who wish to respond positively to the call of truth may have the time and opportunity to do so. (a) It does not happen that when communities are diverted from the true path, all forms of religion disappear from among them. It always happens during such a period that when religion based on the fear of God is submerged, its place is taken by a false, ostentatious religion. Now, the community relates not to the religion per se but to the hallowed personalities of the past. By attaching themselves to these personalities and by occupying their revered seats, they think that they have attained the greatness which those personalities enjoyed on historical grounds. Such people are hollow inside, but by performing showy deeds on the strength of big names, they think that they are undertaking tremendous religious feats. The people of Makkah were suffering from this psychological affliction. They were proud that they were the inheritors of the House of God; that they were the descendants of the great Prophets, Abraham and Ishmael; they had the honour of being the servants of the Kabah. So, they thought that when they had such religious honours and performed such ‘religious’ deeds, it was not possible that God would cast them into hell.