Surah 8
The Spoils of War
1. They ask you about the spoils, say: “the spoils are to God and the messenger, take refuge in God and reform between yourselves, and do obey God if you are believers”,
[Here again is an example of teaching that seems to be so misinterpreted by Islamic legislators, that one wonders if they can read Arabic at all,
It is clearly saying to them: “no, you should not take spoils”, worded in a way so as not to offend them, and in the hope that at a future time somebody will read it and say to his people: looting is not legitimate,
And again, this is teaching basic human decency to a people who obviously seem to lack it …
The tradition of looting defeated people’s homes after raiding them is a very old one, and goes across all cultures and nations, one would imagine,
Barbaric as it is, people have practised it openly and boasted about it in recent wars in the Middle East.
But again, the pre-Islamic poetry of Antarah bin Shaddad sets a totally different example, when he boasts about shunning looting altogether and being proud not to engage in it …
Worse still is when in the middle of peace time: possessions and homes of people who are judged to be non-believers are believed to be a legitimate target of theft, under the pretext that there’s a constant state of war with non-believers which justifies looting their homes, institutes and governments …
The next verses continue on to praise the true believers’ character, completely disregarding looting as a criterion of religiousness and piety in anyway, for those who have ears that can hear, as this Surah will declare later.]
2. That so, the believers are those who, if God was remembered, their hearts are awed, and if His verses were recited to them they increase their faith, and upon their Lord they do rely,
3. Those who uphold their prayers, and of what We’ve provided them they utilise,
4. Those are the truly believers, they have grades in their Lord, and forgiveness and esteemed providence,
5. As your Lord took you out of your home by the Law, and a group of the believers were spiteful,
6. They argue with you about the Law after it became lucid, as if they are being driven to death while looking,
7. And as God promised you one of the two sects would be yours, and you want that the one without a thorn/weapon be yours, and God wants to actualise the right by His Word, and cut off the non-believers radically,
8. So He actualises the right and discredits the wrong, despite the criminals’ spite,
[The events to which those verses refer are unknown in any degree of vagueness. One has to compare news reports regarding the events of the present, to conclude from their inconsistencies that the scattered mentions of these events in books written a few hundred years after their occurrence: do not constitute a reliable historic document which sheds light on the cause of those verses.]
[Like a few of the verses of this Surah, the following are purely esoteric.]
9. When you cry out to your Lord for help, He responded to you I am enforcing you by an Alpha of the angels backing you up,
10. God made him only a glad tiding, and so your hearts are content in him, and victory is only from God, God is Exalted Sovereign,
11. As sleepiness renders your visions hazy in safety in him, and Water descends from the heaven emancipating you with it, to expel from you the filth of Satan, and to surround your hearts and affirm your footholds,
12. As your Lord inspires to the angels I am with you, do affirm those who have believed, I shall instill panic in the hearts of those who disbelieved, do strike over their necks/chiefs, and strike of them all the stink,
13. This, because they antagonised God and His messenger, whoever antagonises God and His messenger, God’s consequence is severe,
14. This and all, do experience it, to the non-believers is the suffering of hell,
15. O you who believe, if you come across those who disbelieved while walking/advancing: turn not your backs to them,
16. Who, hence, turn his back to them, except edging a fight, or siding with one party: has settled with wrath from God, his shelter is the low world and the worst becoming,
17. You have not killed them but God Killed them, you throw not when you throw but it is God Who throws, to try the believers by a good try from it, God is All Hearing Knowing,
[The expression “you throw not when you throw, but it is God Who throws”: came in the Ghita, and recently in the Hikmah.
It is pointing to a pantheistic state of awareness, when the doer feels they are one with the Cosmic manifestation, as the verse continues on to allude.
Hence, the fighting is that of the psyche, struggling to free itself from the illusion of oppositeness, which incurs activity, including combat.]
18. This and all, and indeed God is weakening the disbelievers’ intrigue,
19. If you have opened: the Revelation/Opener has come to you, and if you refrain it is better for you, and if you reverse We reverse, your sects won’t suffice you in anything, however numerous, God is with the believers,
20. O you who believe, obey God and His messenger, turn not away from him while you’re listening,
21. Be not like those who say we have heard while you hear none,
22. The worst walkers in God are the deaf the mute who discern none,
23. If God found good in them He would make them hear, and if he makes them hear they would decline and turn away,
[The apparent arbitrariness and capriciousness of god in all the Books of Abrahamic religions can be overcome by a pantheistic (tawheedic) vision. Such a state of awareness is not an easy call, and is in grades, as this very Book declares.]
24. O you who believe, respond to God and His messenger when He calls you to what enlivens you, do know that God is around between the person and their heart, and that to Him you are gathered/retrieved,
25. Take shelter from disorder, it strikes only those of you who have done wrong especially, do know that God has a severe consequence,
26. Remember when you were a few meek in the earth, afraid that people might capture and disperse you, he sheltered you and supported you by His Triumph, and bestowed He the good on you, may you be thankful,
[Alluding to the early people of Israel.]
27. O you who believe, betray not God and the messenger, thus betraying your trusts, while you know,
28. Know that your fortunes and your offspring are a dazzlement, and God has a great reward,
29. O you who believe, if you refuge in God, makes He separation for you and erases He your ills, forgives He you, God has the great elevation,
30. As those who disbelieved plot to retain you or kill you, or to make you quit, they plot and God plots, God is the Best of all the plotters,
31. And when Our verses are read to them they say; “we’ve heard, if we want we could say similar to this, it is but the tales of the early ones”,
32. And when they say; “Allahum, if this is the truth from You, make the sky rain stones on us, or bring upon us painful suffering”,
33. And God was not to make them suffer while you’re amongst them, and God is not to make them suffer while they beg forgiveness,
34. What they have: is that God makes them not suffer when they bar from the forbidden prostration, and they are not masters of Him, His masters are only those who refuge [in Him], but most of them know not,
35. And their prayer at the house is none but a hoot and repulse, do experience the suffering of what you’ve been disbelieving,
36. Those who have disbelieved spend their money to bar from the Way of God, they will spend it, then it will be pity on them, then they will be defeated, those who disbelieved: to hell they will be driven,
[Hard it is to convince Muslims in all their sects and branches, the old and the new, that prostration to stones and circulation around them is not worship. In fact, the Qur’an was delivered to put an end to all pagan practices, including the ones which were taking place around the Cube,
The verses which have warned people not to bow to the forbidden house are too many in the Qur’an. All worded in a way that has two layers of opposing meanings. The Muslims have been too quick to take the layer which is an easy read and an affirmation of a pre-Islamic pagan practice, albeit with new decorations: grand verses from the Grand Book calligraphed beautifully, ironically barring them from pagan practices, and witnessing their disbelief!
If it is so difficult to convince Muslims and Jews not to worship stones and places now: you can imagine how hard it was back in those days, hence the subtlety of those commandments.]
37. So God distinguish the ill from the good, and make he the ill some of it upon some of it, pile he it all up, and render He it in hell, those are the losers,
38. Say to those who disbelieved that should they refrain, forgiven will be their past, and should they reverse: the law of the early ones has passed,
[Hinting to the transient nature of all laws. Once their time is out: they are ineffective, nay destructive.]
39. And fight them so that there is no lure, and so the Religion is all to God, if they refrain: God is All Seer of what they do,
40. And if they turn away: know that God is your Master, the Provident Master the Provident Supporter,
[Such verses urging fight are used as a fuel by both Muslims and anti-Muslims to wage wars against one another. Hence what has been said many times on this Circle, that both camps have settled on the same intellectual and moral platform.
And as the religious wars rage on in the Middle East, the “ideological war” has become as relevant.
When vulnerable people, whose lives have been torn apart, or who have lived in constant fear of governments and gods: are lured by false promises to surrender their destinies to the warmongers or to the stone and human gods: the ideological war is ever more relevant. And as this very Book has said: dazzlement is stronger/worse than a kill (ألفتنة أشد من القتل)].
41. And know that what you gain: to God is the summing/the fifth of it, and to the messenger, and to the ones of nearness and the detached/orphan ones (who have left their families), and the poor and those on the Way: if you believed in God and in what We descended on the abider in Us: the day of separation: when the two crowds meet, and God is Capable of all things,
[This is not referring to spoils of war, as interpreters have assumed. The gain is any gain, and to remain on their heathen tradition of looting is therefore their choice.
Moreover, if Islamic interpreters don’t want any gain other than money and material objects: they got that, and their destinies have been reduced to war and trade.
The Creator of the world is not needing of any offering. Even if you say: we’ll give it to the poor, as the rest of the verse is interpreted, to make God happy.
Poverty and inequality are a result that political and economic injustice created by corrupt rulers and bad systems. People are created equal and people create inequalities.
The best way to be charitable, in all Abrahamic religions, is to have a fair system so that poverty and excessive wealth and monopoly of wealth are all abolished, so that charity is not necessary and is not a tool for advertising religions and luring people to the traps of heathen beliefs and practices.
As for the “fifth”, yes, I must admit that this has been an ambiguous term then. Especially that the Greek philosophy had not yet been known to the people of the Levant, especially after Paul had banned it to Christians and declared it evil.
Little did he know, that the Messiah, John, Matthew, Mark and Luke were no one else but the Greek philosophers in a previous life. Surah 18 (al-kahf) has told their story. But this is not an argument that I can prove. It remains for Time to disclose the facts with tangible evidence, so that false beliefs are shattered, in the hope that humanity lives a more virtuous life the next time, because the Cycles of Existence never run out.
So, the “fifth” will always refer to the Fifth Element, that is the Essence, or the Quintessence, as Aristotle named it. So, the verse is saying that all the knowledge that you acquire: its essence is in God and His messenger, for those who discern, and should be given to all who strive to know it, who abandon the distractions of life and set themselves on the road of knowledge.
The Hikmah tried to elucidate this philosophic issue after the Qur’an, again this one seems to have fallen on deaf ears.]
42. When you are in the area the near one, and they are in the area the far one, and the convoy is below you, had you set an appointment you would’ve missed the appointment, but so that God terminates/judges an Aim that has been carried out, so those who vanquished do vanquish visibly, and those who have life have it visibly, and God is Hearer Knower,
43. As God shows them to you in your dreams a little, if He showed you a lot you [all] would fail and quarrel about the Aim, but God has surrendered: is He the Knower of the emerging/originating Identity.
[The visions of the End of Time and the start of a new one are seen in glimpses, by people who have a very thin veil, if any is left. Not much of such vision is allowed to them: because linear time and Time cannot be reconciled in the waking consciousness. The intellect can’t cope with it, and neither can the emotions. It best be kept hidden, for one’s own comfort of mind.]
44. And as He shows them to you a few as you meet in your eyes, so God terminates/judges an aim that has been carried out, and to God all the aims are returned,
[Essentially, all beliefs are represented by people in place and time, making eye contact with one another.]
45. O you who believe, if you come across a sect, be firm, remember God a lot, may you achieve,
46. Obey God and His messenger, do not quarrel or you’ll fail, and your spirit is lost, be forbearing, God is with those who forbear,
47. Be not like those who came out of their homes/circles extravagantly and in exhibition to the people, and they bar from the Way of God, and God is all around what they do,
48. And when Satan embellished their deeds for them and said: “no one of the people conquers you today, and I am leading/near you”, so when the two sects saw one another he retreated and said: “I am free from you, I see what you see not, I fear God, God has the severe consequence”,
49. As the hypocrites and those who have an illness in their hearts say: “those have been deluded by their religion”, and who relies on God: God is Exalted Sovereign,
50. If you could see when the angels redeem those who disbelieved, they hit their faces and their backs, do experience the suffering of hell,
[Qur’anic interpreters unanimously say that the angels are beating the dead souls of the disbelievers. The subject of the verb is not articulated in this sentence, and grammatically it can be either the disbelievers or the angels.
Our reading of it is that in the early moments of death, the conscious soul becomes aware of the dark nature of the low world and its illusions, and starts to hit itself of regret. This is something we all do when in shock of a sudden awakening.
People who have had near death experiences tell similar feelings, of being overwhelmed by peace and being shocked by the realisation that life’s passions and causes are petty and unreal.
If Muslims, and indeed all Abrahamic religions, want a god who tortures people: it is their choice, they bear the consequences of such beliefs, as the next verse elucidates.]
51. This is by what your hands have forwarded, God wrongs no one of the creation,
52. Like the pursuit of the house of the Pharaohs and those before them, they disbelieved God’s Paragons, God took them by their wrongs, indeed God has a severe consequence,
53. In that God would not alter providence that He provided to a people, until they have altered themselves, and God is All Hearing Knowing,
[Do hear, those of you who hear]
54. Like the pursuit of the house of the Pharaohs and the ones before them, they falsified their God’s verses, so We vanquished them by their wrong, We made the house of the Pharaoh sink, all and all were darkened,
[It’s hinting to that the Pharaohs were descendants of an earlier civilisation that was sunk.]
55. The worst of the walkers in God are the distanced ones, for they believe not,
[The word “كفر" in Arabic which translates to "to disbelieve": its Arabic root points to “to go far in the land”, and often I translated it to “to distance”.]
56. Those from whom you’ve taken a vow, then they repudiated their vow every time, they take not a refuge,
57. That all of what you recognise of them be in war, so you disperse them by their descendants/backup, may they remember,
58. And what you fear of betrayal from people, do advance to them straight/equally, God likes not traitors,
[So the call to faith must be offered to all, regardless of an anticipated betrayal and disbelief.]
59. Let those who have disbelieved think not that they are ahead, they are not unconquerable,
60. Equip for them all capabilities, of power and control of deception (we read “حيل"), you frighten by it God’s enemy and yours, and others below them, you know not them, God knows them, and whatever you dispense in God’s Way will be returned to you and you won’t be wronged,
61. And if they edge towards peace, do edge to it, and rely on God, it is He the Hearer the knower,
62. And if they want to deceive you, it is God who backed you up by His Triumph and by the believers,
63. He bonded their hearts, if you utilised all that is in the earth you wouldn’t bond their hearts, but it is God Who bonds them, is He Exalted Sovereign,
[If Islamic scholars want to read those verses as a rudimentary war strategy, it is their choice.
What their understanding can achieve is what they’ve got, and it cannot be taken any further.
The state of anarchy and constant war is what they all want. If peace offers a chance to them, they’ll turn it down and embark on war again. There will never be a shortage of causes for war.
War is thus seen their major purpose of life, it gives them an opportunity to martyr and go to a paradise of sensual pleasures, bypassing judgment.
This is a very bad predicament of their own making.
Hence the ideological war that those verses are urging: is ever more important, as the present time is proving again.]
64. O prophet, God and those of the believers who follow you suffice you,
65. O prophet, do urge the believers to fight, if there were twenty forbearing ones of you, they defeat two hundred, and if there were a hundred they defeat a thousand of those who disbelieved: by that they are a people who do not reason/understand,
[To turn any “fight” into a war is a choice. Reason is the mightiest sword.
The military victory one might enjoy temporarily works against one: it encourages one to stick to one's guns, thus bringing upon oneself more war, and eventually total annihilation.
This is the sad predicament of all warring religions of the Middle East, which they are trying to export to the whole world.]
66. So, as God has lightened [the burden] for you, and knows He that there is a double (we read “ضِعف") of you: so, if there are a hundred forbearing: they would overcome two hundred, and if there were a thousand they would overcome two thousand by God’s Leave, and God is with the forbearing ones,
[This is not overriding the previous verse, and god doesn’t change his mind. It is explaining another fact about the ratios of believing and non-believing people, being roughly one to two.
When I say believing and non-believing: it is not for any group of people to claim representation of the former group.
But the verse seems to be hinting that there are roughly twice as many who believe they are an accident of nature or the favoured people of a god: as those who believe that there is more to human existence than just a chemical accident on earth, or the arbitrary will of a god.]
67. It is not for any prophet to have captives in order to fatten in the earth, you want the incidents/projection of the low one, and God wants the hereafter, God is Exalted Sovereign,
[Again, another verse which is taken by its opposite. The words can clearly point to the virtuous exegesis, but Islamic, and indeed Western Orientalists, have taken the meaning which affirms pre-Islamic, pre-Christian and pre-Jewish traditions, thus keeping Arab nations in the heathenry of their early ancestors.]
68. Was it not for a Book forthcoming from God, great suffering, from what you’ve taken, would have touched you,
69. So, eat from what you’ve gained, legitimate and pure/good, take refuge in God, God is Forgiving Compassionate,
[Thus, the ethical standards of people are put to the test and exposed. What is a gain that is legitimate and good? Is it something that you’ve earned by your good labour, which benefited others, or is it the belongings of the enemies that you’ve conquered in war?
If the purpose of war is to “gain”, the purpose of the war remains heathen, for those who have ears that can hear.]
70. O prophet, say to those who are captives in your hands: if God knows good in your hearts He would bring forth better than what was taken from you, and would forgive you, God is Forgiving Compassionate,
[This is clearly offering the captives the option of embracing the new message, after their old beliefs have been defeated, physically and essentially. No forced adoption of religion is mentioned, and certainly no decapitation for being non-believers.]
71. And if they want to betray you they have betrayed God before, so God was Capable over them, God is Knower Sovereign,
[No decapitation in anticipation of betrayal is prescribed.]
72. Those who believed and forsook/abandoned and strove by their money and their selves on the Way of God, and those who sheltered and supported those: some are masters of some; and those who believed and did not forsake, you have not anything of their mastery, until they forsake; and if they incur your victory in religion: it is duty upon you to conquer, unless over people between whom and you is a binding agreement, God sees what you do,
[The “هجرة" that is mentioned frequently in the Qur’an is not a reference to migration from one city to another as a result of war, and those verses are not meant to be rulings regarding circumstantial incidents.
The word points to “to forsake” or to “abandon”: the passions and pursuits of the low life. How this was carried out in those days was to embark on learning to read, so that education in the Books: the Hebrew and the Aramaic, and now the Qur’an: became possible.
This requires dedication, and an abandonment of worldly affairs and distractions. The undertakers become “masters”, as in being able to provide guidance and advice to the people.]
73. And those who disbelieved: some are masters of some, if you don’t do it [the previous commandments]: disorder will be in the earth, and great corruption,
[The knowledgeable people are meant to be the beacon to their communities and their supporters in trying times, and the pacifiers of passions and grudges.
Unfortunately, the frocked men and women, and the wearers of all religious attires: are totally detached from the world today, and have been for a long time. Their role has been reduced to ritualistic practices. They numb peoples’ minds with false promises, they affirm irrational thinking, they spread fear from a draconian god, they flare up nationalistic ideologies, they exacerbate religious divisions and animosities … and they are very proud of what they do. And as the world dwindles in the abys of anarchy … it has come ever closer to a total breakdown …]
74. And those who believed and forsook and strove in the Way of God, and those who shelter and support these, those are the believing ones truly, to them is forgiveness and esteemed providence,
75. And those who believed later and forsook and strove with you: those are of you, also the assistants of the Compassionate ones, some are in charge/masters over some, by God’s Book, God is of all things a Knower
[The word “أرحام" doesn’t mean “wombs” only. It is also a plural of “a compassionate one”. It refers to the prophets, messengers and their assistants: the men who have the intellectual power and authority to spread the Word to the world.
People who have basic virtue in their minds know that they should support their relatives and friends, and their fellow tribesmen.
If this layer of this verse is taken exclusively, the verse is reduced to a tribal law, that is thought to be god’s only prescription for a harmonious and virtuous human society.]
