59. Surah Al Hashr

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

مَا قَطَعْتُم مِّن لِّينَةٍ أَوْ تَرَكْتُمُوهَا قَائِمَةً عَلَى أُصُولِهَا فَبِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ ...

59: 5.     Whether ye cut down (o ye Muslims!) the tender palm-trees, or ye left them standing on their roots, it was by leave of Allah,

C5375. The unnecessary cutting down of fruit trees or destruction of crops, or any wanton destruction whatever in war, is forbidden by the law and practice of Islam. But some destruction may be necessary for putting pressure on the enemy, and to that extent it is allowed. But as far as possible, consistently with that objective of military operations, such trees should not be cut down.

Both these principles are in accordance with the Divine Will, and were followed by the Muslims in their expedition.

...وَلِيُخْزِيَ الْفَاسِقِينَ ﴿٥﴾

and in order that He might cover with shame the rebellious transgressors.

C5376. The arrogance of the Banu Nadir had to be humbled, and their power for mischief destroyed.

Asad’s Version:

59:5 Whatever [of their] palm trees you may have cut down, [O believers,] or left standing on their roots, was [done] by God's leave, 5 and in order that He might confound the iniquitous.

[[ Asad’s notes –

1 For this and the subsequent historical references, see the introductory note to this surah. The tribe of Banu 'n-Nadir - who, as Jews, are naturally termed ahl al-kitab ("followers of earlier revelation") - are characterized as "such as were bent on denying the truth" (alladhina kafaru, see note 6 on 2:6) because they treacherously turned against the Prophet despite their earlier admission that he was truly the bearer of God's message announced in their own holy scriptures (Deuteronomy xviii, 15 and

18).

2 Lit., "from whence they bad not thought [it possible]": an allusion to the last-minute, unexpected failure of 'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy to come to their aid.

3 As mentioned in the introductory note, the Banu 'n-Nadir had originally concluded a treaty of mutual non-interference with the Muslim community, and were to live at Medina as its friendly neighbours; and even later, when their hostility they were to be allowed to retain ownership of their plantations. Subsequently, however, they forfeited by their treachery both their citizenship and the rights to their landed property, and thus "destroyed their homes by their own hands".

4 For this condemnation of the Banu 'n-Nadir, see note 1 above. As regards my rendering of the verb shaqqa as "they cut themselves off", see note 16 on 8:13.

5 I.e., to facilitate the military operations against the strongholds of the Banu 'n-Nadir (Abd Allah ibn Masud, as quoted by Zamakhshari et al.). It should, however, be noted that apart from such stringent military exigencies, all destruction of enemy property - and, in particular, of trees and crops - had been and continued to be prohibited by the Prophet (Tabari, Baghawi, Zamakhshari, Razi, Ibn Kathir), and has thus become an integral part of Islamic Law. ]]