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Ayah
Word by Word
وَمَآ
And what
أَفَآءَ
(was) restored
ٱللَّهُ
(by) Allah
عَلَىٰ
to
رَسُولِهِۦ
His Messenger
مِنۡهُمۡ
from them
فَمَآ
then not
أَوۡجَفۡتُمۡ
you made expedition
عَلَيۡهِ
for it
مِنۡ
of
خَيۡلٖ
horses
وَلَا
and not
رِكَابٖ
camels
وَلَٰكِنَّ
but
ٱللَّهَ
Allah
يُسَلِّطُ
gives power
رُسُلَهُۥ
(to) His Messengers
عَلَىٰ
over
مَن
whom
يَشَآءُۚ
He wills
وَٱللَّهُ
And Allah
عَلَىٰ
(is) on
كُلِّ
every
شَيۡءٖ
thing
قَدِيرٞ
All-Powerful
وَمَآ
And what
أَفَآءَ
(was) restored
ٱللَّهُ
(by) Allah
عَلَىٰ
to
رَسُولِهِۦ
His Messenger
مِنۡهُمۡ
from them
فَمَآ
then not
أَوۡجَفۡتُمۡ
you made expedition
عَلَيۡهِ
for it
مِنۡ
of
خَيۡلٖ
horses
وَلَا
and not
رِكَابٖ
camels
وَلَٰكِنَّ
but
ٱللَّهَ
Allah
يُسَلِّطُ
gives power
رُسُلَهُۥ
(to) His Messengers
عَلَىٰ
over
مَن
whom
يَشَآءُۚ
He wills
وَٱللَّهُ
And Allah
عَلَىٰ
(is) on
كُلِّ
every
شَيۡءٖ
thing
قَدِيرٞ
All-Powerful
Translation
And what Allāh restored [of property] to His Messenger from them - you did not spur for it [in an expedition] any horses or camels,1 but Allāh gives His messengers power over whom He wills, and Allāh is over all things competent.
Footnotes
1 - Meaning that they went through no hardship (i.e., war) to obtain it.
Tafsir
And whatever spoils God has given to His Messenger from these, you did not, O Muslims, spur for it any (min is extra) horses or camels, that is to say, you did not suffer any hardship in [securing] it, but God gives His messengers sway over whomever He will, and God has power over all things: hence you have no right to any of this [booty], rather it is exclusively for the Prophet may peace and salutation be upon him and those of the four categories mentioned with him in the next verse, [to be dispensed] in accordance with the way in which he used to divide it up, such that each would receive a fifth of the fifth and the rest being the Prophet's may peace and salutation be upon him, for him to do with as he pleases - thus he gave of it to the Emigrants and three from among the Helpers, on account of their poverty.
The Prophet Cut down the Date Trees of the Jews by the Leave of Allah
Allah said,
مَا قَطَعْتُم مِّن لِّينَةٍ أَوْ تَرَكْتُمُوهَا قَايِمَةً عَلَى أُصُولِهَا فَبِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ
وَلِيُخْزِيَ الْفَاسِقِينَ
What you cut down of the Linah, or you left them standing on their stems, it was by leave of Allah, and in order that He might disgrace the rebellious.
Linah is an especially good type of date tree.
Abu Ubaydah said that Linah is a different kind of dates than Ajwah and Barni.
Several others said that Linah refers to every type of date fruits, except for the Ajwah (ripen dates), while Ibn Jarir said that it refers to all kinds of date trees.
Ibn Jarir quoted Mujahid saying that it also includes the Buwayrah type.
When the Messenger of Allah laid siege to Bani An-Nadir, to humiliate them and bring fear and terror to their hearts, he ordered their date trees to be cut down.
Muhammad bin Ishaq narrated that Yazid bin Ruman, Qatadah and Muqatil bin Hayyan said,
Bani An-Nadir sent a message to the Messenger, saying that he used to outlaw mischief in the earth, so why did he order that their trees be cut down? Allah sent down this honorable Ayah stating that whatever Linah was felled or left intact by the Muslims, has been done by His permission, will, leave and pleasure to humiliate and disgrace the enemy and degrade them.
Mujahid said,
Some of the emigrants discouraged others from chopping down the date trees of Jews, saying that they were war spoils for Muslims. The Qur'an approved of the actions of those who discouraged and those who approved of cutting these trees, stating that those who cut them or did not, did so only by Allah's leave.
There is also a Hadith narrated from the Prophet with this meaning.
An-Nasa'i recorded that Ibn `Abbas said about Allah's statement,
مَا قَطَعْتُم مِّن لِّينَةٍ أَوْ تَرَكْتُمُوهَا قَايِمَةً عَلَى أُصُولِهَا فَبِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ
وَلِيُخْزِيَ الْفَاسِقِينَ
What you cut down of the Linah, or you left them standing on their stems, it was by leave of Allah, and in order that He might disgrace the rebellious.
They forced them to come down from their forts and were ordered to cut their trees cut down. So the Muslims hesitated, and some of them said, `We cut down some and left some. We must ask Allah's Messenger if we will earn a reward for what we cut and if we will be burdened for what we left intact.' Allah sent down this Ayah,
مَا قَطَعْتُم مِّن لِّينَةٍ أَوْ تَرَكْتُمُوهَا قَايِمَةً عَلَى أُصُولِهَا فَبِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ
What you cut down of the Linah, or you left them standing on their stems, it was by leave of Allah.
Imam Ahmad recorded that Ibn Umar said;
the Messenger of Allah ordered that the date trees of Bani An-Nadir be cut down and burned.
The Two Sahihs collected a similar narration.
Al-Bukhari recorded that Abdullah bin Umar said,
Bani An-Nadir and Bani Qurayzah fought (against the Prophet), and the Prophet exiled Bani An-Nadir and allowed Bani Qurayzah to remain in their area until later, when the Prophet fought against Qurayzah. Their men were executed and their women, children and wealth were confiscated and divided among Muslims. Some of them, however, were saved because they returned to the Prophet's side, who granted them asylum, and they embraced Islam. All of the Jews of Al-Madinah, Bani Qaynuqa`, the tribe of Abdullah bin Salam, Bani Harithah and the rest of the Jewish tribes in Al-Madinah were exiled.
The Two Sahihs also recorded from Ibn Umar;
the Messenger of Allah burned down the date trees of Bani An-Nadir and had them cut down the date palms of Al-Buwayrah. Allah the Exalted and Most Honored revealed this Ayah,
مَا قَطَعْتُم مِّن لِّينَةٍ أَوْ تَرَكْتُمُوهَا قَايِمَةً عَلَى أُصُولِهَا فَبِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ
وَلِيُخْزِيَ الْفَاسِقِينَ
What you cut down of the Linah, or you left them standing on their stems, it was by leave of Allah, and in order that He might disgrace the rebellious.
Muhammad bin Ishaq reported that the battle of Bani An-Nadir occurred after the battles of Uhud and Bi'r Ma`unah
The Fai' and how it is spent
Allah the Exalted explains the regulations for Fai', the booty that the Muslims acquire from the disbelievers, without fighting them or using cavalry and camelry in war against them.
For instance, the booty collected from Bani An-Nadir was not acquired because of fighting them using horses and camels. The Muslims did not fight Bani An-Nadir in battle, but Allah forced them out of their forts on account of the fear that He placed in their hearts for Allah's Messenger Therefore, it was Fai' that Allah awarded His Messenger, with his discretion to spend it however he sees fit.
Indeed, the Prophet spent the Fai' on righteous causes and for the benefit of Muslims in the areas that Allah mentioned in this Ayat,
وَمَا أَفَاء اللَّهُ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ مِنْهُمْ
And what Allah gave as booty (Fai') to His Messenger from them.
meaning, from Bani An-Nadir,
فَمَا أَوْجَفْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ خَيْلٍ وَلَا رِكَابٍ
for this you made no expedition with either cavalry or camelry.
refering to using camels,
وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ يُسَلِّطُ رُسُلَهُ عَلَى مَن يَشَاء
وَاللَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
But Allah gives power to His Messengers over whomsoever He wills. And Allah is Able to do all things.
mean, Allah is powerful and cannot be resisted or opposed; He is the Compeller over all things.
Allah the Exalted said
مَّا أَفَاء اللَّهُ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْقُرَى
What Allah gave as booty (Fai') to His Messenger from the people of the townships,
meaning, from all the villages and areas that are conquered in this manner;
the booty collected from them falls under the same ruling as the booty acquired from Bani An-Nadir.
This is why Allah the Exalted said,
فَلِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ
وَلِذِي الْقُرْبَى وَالْيَتَامَى وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ
it is for Allah, His Messenger, the kindred, the orphans, the poor, and the wayfarer,
until its end and the following Ayah. mentioning the ways the Fai' should be spent.
Imam Ahmad recorded that Umar said,
The wealth of Bani An-Nadir was of the Fai'type that Allah awarded His Messenger and for which the Muslims did not have to use cavalry or camelry. Therefore, it was for the Messenger of Allah, and he used it for the needs of his family for a year at a time, and the rest was used to buy armors and weapons used in the cause of Allah the Exalted and Most Honored.
Ahmad collected the short form of this story.
The Group, with the exception of Ibn Majah, collected this Hadith.
Abu Dawud recorded that Malik bin `Aws said,
While I was at home, the sun rose high and it got hot. Suddenly the messenger of Umar bin Al-Khattab came to me and I went along with him and entered the place where Umar was sitting on a bedstead made of date-palm leaves and without a mattress. He said when I went in,
`O Malik! Some of your people's families came to me due to their famine, and I have ordered that relief aid should be given to them, so take it and distribute it among them.'
I said, `I wish that you ordered someone else to do it.'
He said, `Take it.'
Then Yarfa (the servant of Umar) came saying, `O Commander of the faithful! May I admit `Uthman bin `Affan, `Abdur-Rahman bin `Awf, Az-Zubayr bin Al-`Awwam and Sa`d bin Abi Waqqas?'
Umar said, `Yes,' and they came in.
After a while Yarfa came again and said, `O Commander of the faithful! May I admit Al-Abbas and Ali'?
Umar said, `Yes.'
So, they were admitted and Al-Abbas said, `O Chief of the believers! Judge between me and this one (i.e., Ali).'
The group (being `Uthman and his companions) said, `O Chief of the believers! Judge between them and relieve both of them from each other.'
I (Malik bin Aws) thought that they asked the four men to come in before them for this purpose.
Umar said, `Be patient!'
He then asked the group (Uthman and his companions), `I ask you by Allah by Whose permission the heaven and the earth exist, do you know that Allah's Messenger said,
لَاا نُورَثُ مَا تَرَكْنَا صَدَقَة
Our (the Prophet's) property will not be inherited. Whatever we leave, is charity.
The group said, `He said so.'
Umar then turned to Ali and Al-Abbas and said,
`I beseech you by Allah by Whose permission the heaven and the earth exist, do you know both that Allah's Messenger said,
لَاا نُورَثُ مَا تَرَكْنَا صَدَقَة
Our (the Prophets) property will not be inherited. Whatever we leave, is charity.
They replied, `He said so.'
Umar then said,
`Allah bestowed on His Messenger a special favor unlike what he gave all other people. Allah the Exalted said,
وَمَا أَفَاء اللَّهُ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ مِنْهُمْ فَمَا أَوْجَفْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ خَيْلٍ وَلَا رِكَابٍ
وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ يُسَلِّطُ رُسُلَهُ عَلَى مَن يَشَاء
وَاللَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
(And what Allah gave as booty (Fai') to His Messenger from them -- for this you made no expedition with either cavalry or camelry. But Allah gives power to His Messengers over whomsoever He wills. And Allah is Able to do all things.
Therefore, this property, the booty collected from Bani An-Nadir, was especially given to Allah's Messenger. However, by Allah, neither did he take possession of it and leave you, nor did he favor himself with it to your exclusion. Allah's Messenger took the yearly expenses from it for himself and his family and left the rest in the Muslim Treasury.'
He then asked the group, `I ask you by Allah with Whose permission the heavens and earth exist, do you know this'
They replied, `Yes.'
Umar then said to Ali and Al-Abbas, `I ask you by Allah, with Whose permission that heavens and earth exist, do you know this'
They said, `Yes.'
Umar added,
`When Allah took His Prophet unto Him, Abu Bakr said:I am the successor of Allah's Messenger! Then you both came to Abu Bakr asking for your (Al-Abbas') share of inheritance from your nephew, and he (Ali) asked for his wife's share from her father's inheritance. Abu Bakr said:Allah's Messenger said,
لَاا نُورَثُ مَا تَرَكْنَا صَدَقَة
Our (the Prophets') property will not be inherited. Whatever we leave, is charity.
Allah knows that Abu Bakr was true, pious, rightly guided and a follower of what was right. So, Abu Bakr assumed the responsibility of that property. When Abu Bakr died, I said:I am the successor of Allah's Messenger and the successor of Abu Bakr. So I managed it as long as Allah allowed me to manage it. Then you both (`Ali and Al-`Abbas) came to talk to me, bearing the same claim and presenting the same case, asking for that property. I said to you:I am ready to hand over this property to you if you wish. I will do so on the condition that you will take a pledge before Allah's that you will manage it in the same way as Allah's Messenger used to. So, both of you agreed and on that condition I handed it over to you. Now you come to me to render a different judgement over the property than the one I made before. By Allah, I will never give any decision other than what I have already given, until the Last Hour begins. If you are unable to manage it, then return it to me, and I will do the job on your behalf,
They recorded this from the Hadith of Az-Zuhri.
Allah said,
كَيْ لَا يَكُونَ دُولَةً بَيْنَ الاَْغْنِيَاء مِنكُمْ
in order that it may not become a fortune used by the rich among you.
means, `We made the expenditures for the Fai' like this, so that the wealth does not remain among the wealthy, who would spend it as they wish and desire and give none of it to the poor.'
Ordering Obedience of the Messenger in All Commands and Prohibitions
Allah the Exalted said,
وَمَا اتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانتَهُوا
And whatsoever the Messenger gives you, take it; and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it).
meaning, `whatever the Messenger commands you, then do it and whatever he forbids you, then avoid it. Surely, He only commands righteousness and forbids evil.'
Imam Ahmad recorded that Abdullah bin Mas`ud said,
Allah curses women who practice tattooing and those who get themselves tattooed, and the women who remove the hair from their eyebrows and faces and those who make artificial spaces between their teeth in order to look more beautiful, whereby changing Allah's creation.
His statement reached a woman from Bani Asad called, Umm Ya`qub, who came to Abdullah and said, I have come to know that you have cursed such and such
He replied, Why should I not curse those whom Allah's Messenger has cursed and who are cursed in Allah's Book!
Umm Ya`qub said, I have read the whole Qur'an, but did not find in it what you say.
He said, Verily, if you have read the Qur'an, you have found it. Didn't you read,
وَمَا اتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانتَهُوا
(And whatsoever the Messenger gives you take it and whatsoever he forbids you, you abstain (from it)).
She replied, Yes, I did.
He said, Verily, Allah's Messenger forbade such things.
She said, But I think that your wife does these things
He said, Go and look at her.
She went and watched her, but could not see anything in support of her claim. She went back to Abdullah bin Mas`ud and said that she did not notice anything on his wife. On that he said,
If my wife was as you thought, I would not keep her with me.
The Two Sahihs recorded this from the Hadith of Sufyan Ath-Thawri. As well as a Hadith of Abu Hurayrah, who said that the Messenger of Allah said,
إِذَا أَمَرْتُكُمْ بِأَمْرٍ فَايْتُوا مِنْهُ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ وَمَا نَهَيْتُكُمْ عَنْهُ فَاجْتَنِبُوه
When I order you to do something, then do as much as you can of it. If I forbid something for you, then shun it.
Allah's statement,
وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ
Have Taqwa of Allah; verily, Allah is Severe in punishment.
means, fear Allah by obeying His orders and refraining from His prohibitions. Surely, Allah is severe in punishment for those who defy Him and reject and disobey His commands as well as, those who commit what He forbids and prohibits.
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