Sura-59 [Al-Hashr Medina 101]
The Quranic text and Ali’s version
وَمَا
أَفَاء اللَّهُ
عَلَى رَسُولِهِ
مِنْهُمْ فَمَا
أَوْجَفْتُمْ
عَلَيْهِ مِنْ
خَيْلٍ وَلَا
رِكَابٍ ...
59: 6. What Allah has bestowed on His Messenger (and taken away) from them -- for this ye made no expedition with either cavalry or camelry:
C5377. Neither cavalry nor troops mounted on camels were employed in the siege. In fact the enemy surrendered at the first onset.
...وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ يُسَلِّطُ رُسُلَهُ عَلَى مَن يَشَاء...
but Allah gives power to His messengers over any He pleases:
...وَاللَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ ﴿٦﴾
and Allah has power over all things.
C5378. Allah accomplishes His purpose in various ways, according to His wise Will and Plan. In some cases a fight is necessary. In some cases the godly attain their objective and overawe the forces of evil without actual fighting.
مَّا أَفَاء
اللَّهُ عَلَى
رَسُولِهِ ...
59:7. What Allah has bestowed on His Messenger...
C5379. The Jews had originally come from outside Arabia, and seized on the land near Madinah. They refused to adapt themselves to the people of Arabia, and were in fact a thorn in the side of the genuine Arabs of Madinah. Their dispossession is therefore a restoration of the land to its original people.
But the word "Fai" is here understood in a technical sense, as meaning property abandoned by the enemy or taken from him without a formal war. In that sense it is distinguished from "Anfal, or spoils, taken after actual fighting, about which see 8:1 and 41.
... مِنْ أَهْلِ الْقُرَى ...
(and taken away) from the people of the townships,
C5380. "The people of the townships":
the townships were the Jewish settlements round Madinah, of the Banu Nadir, and possibly of other tribes.
Cf. the -townships- mentioned in 59:14 below.
The reference cannot be to the Wadi-ul-Qura (Valley of Towns), now Madain Salih, which was subjugated after Khaybar and Fadak in A.H. 7, unless this verse is later than the rest of the Surah.
... فَلِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ وَلِذِي الْقُرْبَى وَالْيَتَامَى وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ...
belongs to Allah, to His Messenger and to kindred and orphans, the needy and the wayfarer;
C5381. "Belongs to Allah": ie., to Allah's Cause; and the beneficiaries are further detailed.
No shares are fixed; they depend upon circumstances, and are left to the Judgement of the Leader.
Compare a similar list of those entitled to Charity, in 2:177, but the two lists refer to different circumstances and have different beneficiaries in addition to the portion common to both.
...كَيْ لَا يَكُونَ دُولَةً بَيْنَ الْأَغْنِيَاء مِنكُمْ ...
in order that it may not (Merely) make a circuit between the wealth among you.
...وَمَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانتَهُوا ...
So take what the Messenger assigns to you, and deny yourselves that which he withholds from you.
C5381a. alternately these words may be translated: "So take what the Messenger gives you, and refrains from what he prohibits you". [Eds.]
وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ ﴿٧﴾
And fear Allah; for Allah is strict in Punishment.
لِلْفُقَرَاء
الْمُهَاجِرِينَ
الَّذِينَ
أُخْرِجُوا
مِن دِيارِهِمْ
وَأَمْوَالِهِمْ ...
59:8. (Some part is due) to the indigent Muhajirs, those who were expelled from their homes and their property,
C5382. The Muhajir are those who forsook their homes and property in Makkah in order to assist the holy Prophet in his migration to Madinah (Hijrah). Their devotion and sincerity were proved beyond doubt by their self-denial, and they were now to be rewarded.
...يَبْتَغُونَ فَضْلًا مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانًا وَيَنصُرُونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ ...
while seeking Grace from Allah and (His) Good pleasure, and aiding Allah and His Messenger:
...أُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الصَّادِقُونَ ﴿٨﴾
such are indeed the sincere ones --
وَالَّذِينَ
تَبَوَّؤُوا
الدَّارَ
وَالْإِيمَانَ
مِن قَبْلِهِمْ ...
59:9. But those who, before them, had homes (in Madinah) and had adopted the Faith,
C5383. This refers to the Ansar (the Helpers), the people of Madinah who accepted Islam when it was persecuted in Makkah, and who invited the holy Prophet to join them and become their Leader in Madinah.
The Hijrah was possible because of their goodwill and their generous hospitality. They entertained the Prophet and all the refugees (Muhajirs) who came with him. The most remarkable ties of full brotherhood were established between individual members of the one group and the other. Until the Ummah got its own resources, the Helpers regularly gave and the Refugees regularly received.
The Helpers counted it a privilege to entertain the Refugees, and even the poor vied with the rich in their spirit of self-sacrifice. When the confiscated land and property of the Banu Nadir was divided, and the major portion was assigned to the refugees, there was not the least jealousy on the part of the Helpers. They rejoiced in the good fortune of their brethren. And incidentally they were themselves relieved of anxiety and responsibility on their behalf.
... يُحِبُّونَ مَنْ هَاجَرَ إِلَيْهِمْ وَلَا يَجِدُونَ فِي صُدُورِهِمْ حَاجَةً مِّمَّا أُوتُوا...
show their affection to such as came to them for refuge, and entertain no desire, in their hearts for things given to the (latter),
... وَيُؤْثِرُونَ عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ وَلَوْ كَانَ بِهِمْ خَصَاصَةٌ ...
but give them preference over themselves, even though poverty was their (own lot).
... وَمَن يُوقَ شُحَّ نَفْسِهِ فَأُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ ﴿٩﴾
And those saved from the covetousness of their own souls, they are the ones that achieve prosperity.
Asad’s version
(59:6) Yet [remember:] whatever [spoils taken] from the enemy 6 God has turned over to His Apostle, you did not have to spur horse or riding-camel for its sake: 7 but God gives His apostles mastery over whomever He wills - for God has the power to will anything.
59:7 Whatever [spoils taken] from the people of those villages God has turned over to His Apostle - [all of it] belongs to God and the Apostle, 8 and the near of kin (of deceased believers], and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer,' so that it may not be [a benefit) going round and round among such of you as may [already] be rich. Hence, accept [willingly] whatever the Apostle 10 gives you [thereof], and refrain from [demanding] anything that he withholds from you; and remain conscious of God: for, verily, God is severe in retribution.
59:8 [Thus, part of such war-gains shall be given] to the poor among those who have forsaken the domain of evil:" those who have been driven from their homelands and their possessions, seeking favour with God and [His) goodly acceptance, and who aid [the cause of] God and His Apostle: it is they, they who are true to their word!
59:9 And [it shall be offered, too, unto the poor from among] those who, before them, 12 had their abode in this realm and in faith - [those] who love all that come to them in search of refuge, and who harbour in their hearts no grudge for whatever the others may have been given, but rather give them preference over themselves, even though poverty be their own lot: a for, such as from their own covetousness are saved - it is they, they that shall attain to a happy state!"
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[[ Asad’s notes - 6 Lit., "from them": i.e., from the Banu 'n-Nadir.
7 I.e., "you did not have to fight for it, since the enemy surrendered without giving battle". The term fay' (a noun derived from the verb fa'a, "he returned [something]" or "turned [it] over") is applied in the Qur'an and the Traditions exclusively to war-gains - whether consisting of lands, or tribute, or indemnities - which are obtained, as a condition of peace, from an enemy who has laid down arms before actual fighting has taken place (Taj al-'Arus).
8 Sc, and not to individual Muslim warriors. As so often in the Qur'an, the expression "God and the Apostle" is here a metonym for the Islamic cause, resp. for a government that rules in accordance with the laws of the Qur'an and the teachings of the Prophet.
9 Cf 8:41, which relates to booty acquired in actual welfare, out of which only one- fifth is to be reserved for the above five categories (see note 41 on 8:41). In distinction from all such booty, the gains obtained through fay' are to be utilized in their entirety under these five headings. As regards the term ibn as-sabil ("wayfarer-'), see surah 2, note 145.
10 Respectively, in later times, the head of an Islamic state, who has to decide - in the light of the exigencies - how the share of "God and His Apostle" is to be utilized for the common weal. ]]