The Spoils [1] (Arabic: ٱلْأَنْفَال, al-ʾanfāl, aka "Earnings, Savings, Profits")[2] is the eighth chapter (sūrah) of the Quran, with 75 verses. Regarding the timing and contextual background of the revelation (Asbāb al-nuzūl), it is a "Medinan surah", completed after the Battle of Badr. It forms a pair with the next surah, At-Tawba.
Name
The Surah is named Al-Anfal (The Bounties) from the 1st ayat. The word utilized in the ayat is الْأَنفَالِ. The word نفل alludes to what is given as an extra sum past what is required.[4] A very subtle perspective is covered in employing this word: the reward of undertaking jihad for God is permanently saved with God. Other than this prize, the spoils of war that are picked up from the Unbelievers are an extra offer for such individuals; before the Day of Judgment, the Almighty awards these to the participants of the war.
The Period of Revelation
This surah was most probably revealed in 2 A. H. after the Battle of Badr, the first fight among Islam and kufr. As it contains a point by point and extensive survey of the Battle, it gives the idea that most presumably it was uncovered at very much the same time. Yet, it is additionally conceievable that a portion of the ayaat concerning the issues emerging because of this Battle may have been uncovered later and joined at the best possible spots to make it a consistent entirety.[5]
Verse 8:17
Muhammad al-Baqir narrates in hadith that:
Know that whatever property you may gain, one fifth belongs to God, the Messenger, for near relatives and the orphans, the needy, and the [stranded] traveler
which refers to the relatives of the Messenger of Allah. "Al-Khums (one fifth) belongs to Allah, the Messenger and to us (his Ahl al-Bayt)".[8] One source states that Ubay ibn Khalaf was ransomed after Badr, but was killed by Muslims with a spear in the Battle of Uhud (625 CE). Verse [Quran 8:17] was revealed in this occasion.[9]
view more