8. Surah Al Anfal

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ اسْتَجِيبُواْ لِلّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ إِذَا دَعَاكُم لِمَا يُحْيِيكُمْ...   

8: 24.  O ye who believe!

give your response to Allah and His Messenger, when He calleth you to that which will give you life;

C1196. There are two points to note.

1.     Note that after Allah and His Messenger are mentioned, the pronoun and verb in the next clause are singular:

everything that Allah's Messenger put forward as an injunction came by inspiration from Allah:

the Messenger made his will coincide completely with Allah's will.

2.     We are asked actively to give our response in deed and life to the call of duty and conscience, for that call leads to real life, the life eternal, even though it may apparently mean in this world the loss of things that make life dear or the loss of life itself.

If we refer this to Jihad, i.e., fighting in and for the Cause, both literally and metaphorically, the meaning becomes quite clear.

...وَاعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ اللّهَ يَحُولُ بَيْنَ الْمَرْءِ وَقَلْبِهِ...

and know that Allah cometh in between a man and his heart,

C1197. If the human heart is refractory and refuses to obey the call of Allah, that is not the end of the matter. Allah has to be reckoned with. The refusal may be because there was some pet human scheme which the heart of man was not willing to give up for Allah's Cause.

Will that scheme come to fruition by refusing to serve the higher Cause?

By no means. Man proposes, but God disposes.

If the scheme or motive was perfectly secret from men, it was not secret from Allah. The heart is the innermost seat of man's affections and desires: but Allah intervenes between man and his heart. (R).

...وَأَنَّهُ إِلَيْهِ تُحْشَرُونَ ﴿٢٤﴾  

and that it is He to whom ye shall (all) be gathered.

Other versions:

8: 24

Asad …….and know that God intervenes between man and [the desires of] his heart, [note 24] and that unto Him you shall be gathered.

Pickthall O ye who believe; Obey Allah, and the messenger when He calleth you to that which quickeneth you, and know that Allah cometh in between the man and his own heart, and that He it is unto Whom ye will be gathered.

Transliteration Ya_ ayyuhal lazina a_manustajibu_ lilla_hi wa lirrasu_li iza_ da'a_kum lima_ yuhyikum, wa'lamu_ annalla_ha yahu_lu bainal mar'i wa qalbihi wa annahu_ ilaihi tuhsyaru_n(a).

[[ Asad’s note 24 – I.e., between a man’s desires and the outward action that may result from those desires: indicating that God can turn man away from what his heart urges him to do (Raghib). In other words, it is God-consciousness alone that can prevent man from being misled by wrong desires and, thus, from becoming like “those deaf, those dumb ones who do not use their reason” (verse 22 above); and it is God-consciousness alone that can enable man to follow the call “unto that which gives life” – that is, spiritual awareness of right and wrong and the will to act accordingly.]]

[[ Ali’s notes - 1196 There are two points to note. (1) Note that after Allah and His Messenger are mentioned, the pronoun and verb in the next clause are singular: everything that Allah's Messenger put forward as an injunction came by inspiration from Allah: the Messenger made his will coincide completely with Allah's will. (2) We are asked actively to give our response in deed and life to the call of duty and conscience, for that call leads to real life, the life eternal, even though it may apparently mean in this world the loss of things that make life dear or the loss of life itself. If we refer this to Jihad, i.e., fighting in and for the Cause, both literally and metaphorically, the meaning becomes quite clear. (8.24)

1197 If the human heart is refractory and refuses to obey the call of Allah, that is not the end of the matter. Allah has to be reckoned with. The refusal may be because there was some pet human scheme which the heart of man was not willing to give up for Allah's Cause. Will that scheme come to fruition by refusing to serve the higher Cause? By no means. Man proposes, but God disposes. If the scheme or motive was perfectly secret from men, it was not secret from Allah. The heart is the innermost seat of man's affections and desires: but Allah intervenes between man and his heart. (8.24) ]]