Tafsir of Al-Anfal 8:60

(And prepare for them): This is an address to all believers, as the matter commanded pertains to the duties of all. It means: prepare for the battle against those with whom you have broken the treaty, and make ready for their warfare as the context dictates; or, prepare for the battle against the disbelievers in general, which is more preferable as the subsequent verses dictate.

(What you are able of power): That is, everything that provides strength in war, whatever it may be. It is referred to as "power" as an intensive expression. This was mentioned because there was not a complete preparation at Badr, so they were alerted that victory without preparation is not attainable in every age. Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) interpreted "power" as types of weaponry. Ikrimah said: It refers to fortresses and strongholds, and in another narration from him, that it is purebred horses.

Ahmad, Muslim, and a large group narrated from Uqbah ibn Amir al-Juhani, saying: I heard the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) say while he was on the pulpit: "And prepare for them what you are able of power," then he said: "Indeed, the power is archery," repeating it three times. The literal meaning is general, but the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) specified archery by mention because it is the most potent means of strengthening; this is in the category of his saying: "The Hajj is Arafat."

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) praised archery and commanded that it be learned in more than one hadith. It is narrated from him (peace and blessings be upon him): "Everything that is worldly play is vain except for three: your training with your bow, your disciplining of your horse, and your playing with your wife; for these are of the truth." It also came in a narration produced by an-Nasa'i and others: "Everything that is not the remembrance of Allah is idle talk and forgetfulness, except for four traits: a man walking between two targets, disciplining his horse, playing with his wife, and teaching swimming." It also came: "Practice archery and ride; and that you practice archery is more beloved to me. Indeed, Allah (the Exalted) brings three people into Paradise through a single arrow: the one who makes it while seeking reward, the one who assists with it, and the one who shoots it in the way of Allah."

You know that archery with arrows today does not hit the intended target of the enemy because they have adopted archery with rifles and cannons; what is done with arrows barely avails against them. If they are not met with the same, the malignant disease becomes widespread, the calamity and affliction intensify, and the people of disbelief and misguidance possess the earth. Therefore, the opinion I hold—and Allah knows best—is the necessity of this confrontation for the leaders of the Muslims and the defenders of the religion. Perhaps the merit of that [traditional] archery is established for this [modern] archery because it stands in its place in defending the core of Islam. I do not see the fire contained within it—due to the necessity calling for it—as anything but a cause for attaining Paradise, if Allah wills. It is not far-fetched to include such archery in the generality of His saying (the Almighty): "And prepare for them what you are able of power."

(And of the tethering of horses): "Al-Ribat" is said to be a name for the horses tethered in the way of Allah, given that the form fa‘āl is in the sense of the passive participle or a verbal noun from which it is named. It is said: rabata rabtan wa ribatan and rabata murabatan wa ribatan. It was objected that this requires the addition of a thing to itself. It was refuted that the intended meaning is "the tethered" in general, but it was used for horses and specified for them, so the addition is in consideration of the original concept. Al-Qutb answered that al-ribat is a word shared between the meanings of horses, waiting for prayer after prayer, and steadfastness in the struggle against the enemy, and it is the verbal noun of rabata, i.e., "I remained steadfast," so it was added to one of its meanings for clarification, as one says: "the eye of the sun" and "the eye of the scale." It is said: From this, it is known that it is permissible to add a thing to itself if it is shared/homonymous. If the addition is of the absolute to the restricted, it is in the sense of the partitive "of." It is also permitted that it is the plural of rabit (like fasil and fasal), or the plural of rabt (like ka’b and ki’ab, and kalb and kilab). From Ikrimah, it is interpreted as female horses, and just as his interpretation of "power" was previously mentioned, this is distant. Ibn al-Munir mentioned that what corresponds to archery is that "ribat" should be on its literal path as a verbal noun. Upon interpreting "power" as fortresses, the proportion between it and the tethering of horses is established because the Arabs called horses fortresses; they are the fortresses that do not require besieging, as in the saying: "I have known, despite my avoiding the destruction, that the fortresses of the horses are [better than] the mud of the villages." And it is said: "My fort against the vicissitudes [of time] is my horse's back."

Their praise has come in countless reports, and it is authentic: "Horses have goodness tied to their forelocks until the Day of Resurrection."

Ahmad narrated from Ma'qil ibn Yasar, and an-Nasa'i from Anas: There was nothing more beloved to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) after women than horses. He (peace and blessings be upon him) distinguished some of their types over others. Abu Ubaidah narrated from al-Sha'bi in a hadith he attributed to the Prophet: "Seek your needs on the dark-red horse, with a white muzzle, with three legs white, and the right foreleg free [of white markings]."

Abu Dawud and at-Tirmidhi (who classified it as hasan) narrated from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "The good fortune of horses is in their light-red ones." Muslim and others narrated from Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) disliked the shikāl among horses. Scholars differed in its interpretation. In al-Nihayah, the shikāl in horses is that three limbs are marked with white and one is free, by analogy to the shikāl (shackle) with which a horse is shackled, as it is usually on three limbs. It is said: It is that one limb is marked and three are free. It is also said: It is that one of its forelegs and one of its hindlegs from opposite sides are marked. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) disliked it out of optimism, because it looks shackled in form. It is possible that he had tested that breed and found it lacking in excellence. It is said: If it is also star-marked (on the forehead), the dislike is removed because the resemblance to the shackle is removed. This is the end of the quote.

It is not hidden from you that al-Sha'bi's hadith conflicts with the first opinion, unless one says that it specifies its generality, and that the hadith of optimism is not apparent; rather, what is apparent is pessimism. It has come: "Bad omens are only in three: the horse, the woman, and the house." al-Tibi interpreted this as a dislike caused by the violation of Sharia or nature contained in these things, as it is said: The bad omen of a house is its narrowness and bad neighbors; the bad omen of a woman is her barrenness and sharp tongue; the bad omen of a horse is not going on raids with it. However, Jalal al-Suyuti said in Fath al-Matlab al-Mabrur: Scholars have differed regarding the hadith of pessimism concerning the woman, the house, and the horse—whether it is upon its literal meaning or interpreted metaphorically. The preferred view is that it is upon its literal meaning, and this is the apparent view of Malik. This is not contradicted by what is authentically reported from Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) who said: A bad omen was mentioned in the presence of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he said: "If a bad omen were in anything, it would be in the house, the woman, and the horse." This is not a negation that necessitates the exception of the opposite of the premise. Even if Ayyad interpreted it that way due to the possibility that it is in the vein of his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): "There were among the nations before you people inspired; if there is any one of them in my nation, it is Umar ibn al-Khattab." They mentioned there that the conditional suspension is for the sake of emphasis and exclusivity. Similar to this is: "If I have a friend, it is Zayd," for the speaker does not intend doubt in the friendship of Zayd, but rather emphasis that friendship is exclusive to him and does not extend to others. There is no danger in believing this after believing that the aforementioned things are signs and that the Agent is Allah (Blessed and Exalted be He). Al-Hasan read (wa min ribti al-khayl) with the ba vocalized with a damma and a sukūn, the plural of ribat. He coordinated what was mentioned with "power" based on its first meaning, to signal its superiority over its other members, like coordinating Gabriel and Michael with the angels (peace be upon them).

(You strike terror with it): That is, you frighten with it. It is reported from al-Raghib that al-rahbah and al-rahb is fear accompanied by caution and agitation. From Ya'qub, it is reported that he read (turhibūna) with the shadda. Ibn Abbas and Mujahid read (takhzūna). The pronominal suffix refers to "what you are able" or "the preparation," which is more appropriate. The sentence is in the position of the state (hal) from the subject of "prepare," i.e., "prepare while striking terror with it," or from the relative pronoun, as Abu al-Baqa' said, or from its deleted antecedent, i.e., "prepare what you are able [to be] terrifying with it." There is an indication in the verse that fighting is not definitively fixed, for it may be for the imposition of jizya or similar things that follow from the Muslims' terrorizing with that.

(The enemy of Allah): Those who oppose His command (the Exalted).

(And your enemy): Those who lie in wait for you for calamities. The intended meaning, according to what a group mentioned, is the people of Mecca, and they are at the extreme end of enmity. It is said: The meaning is them and the rest of the disbelievers of the Arabs.

(And others besides them): That is, other than them from the disbelievers. Mujahid said: They are the Banu Qurayza. Muqatil and Ibn Zayd said: They are the hypocrites. Al-Suddi said: They are the Persians. Al-Tabarani, Abu al-Shaykh, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Marduwayh, Ibn 'Asakir, and a group narrated from Yazid ibn Abdullah ibn Gharib, from his father, from his grandfather, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: "They are the Jinn, and no Satan haunts a person in his house who has a thoroughbred horse." This was also narrated from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), and al-Tabari chose it. If the hadith is authentic, one should not turn away from it.

His saying (the Almighty): (You do not know them): That is, you do not recognize them by their identities; Allah knows them and none other—this is at the peak of clarity, and it has an aspect other than that. The application of "knowledge" to "recognition" is common, and it is what is intended here, as you have known, which is why it takes one object. The application of knowledge in the sense of recognition to Allah (the Exalted) does not cause harm. Yes, the majority forbade the application of "recognition" (ma'rifa) to Him (the Exalted), while some permitted it based on the application of "the Knower" (al-'arif) to Him (the Exalted) in Nahj al-Balagha, though there is a debate about it. In short, there is no need to say that the application here is for the sake of parallelism with what preceded it. It is permitted that "knowledge" is in its original sense and its second object is deleted, i.e., "you do not know them [as] hostile or at war with you, but Allah (the Exalted) knows them as such." This is an affectation. Some chose that the meaning is "you do not know them as they are in their enmity," and said: It is more appropriate for what the second sentence indicates of exclusivity, in view of the fact that "recognition" is attached to identities, for their identities are known to others besides Him (the Exalted) as well. This is granted in view of its interpretation, but as for the necessity of it in the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) interpretation, there is hesitation.

(And whatever you spend of anything): Whether great or small.

(In the way of Allah): Which is the avenues of good and obedience; the expenditure on the aforementioned preparation and the Jihad enters into this as a primary entry. Some have restricted it in consideration of the context.

(Will be repaid to you): That is, it will be paid in full. The intended meaning is that its reward will be paid to you; thus, the speech is based on the assumption of an added word or a figurative use in attribution.

(And you will not be wronged): By the omission of reward or by the reduction of the reward. Expressing this as "wrong" (zulm), even though He (the Exalted) has the right to do what He wills, is for the sake of intensity, as mentioned before.