Tafsir of Al-Anfal 8:69

"So eat of what you have taken as spoils of war..."

Muhiy al-Sunnah stated: It is narrated that the first verse [regarding the captives] descended, causing the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) to withhold their hands from what they had taken as ransom. Then, this verse was revealed. Thus, the meaning of "what you have taken as spoils" refers either to the ransom or to spoils of war in general. The intent is to clarify the ruling of the ransom included within it; otherwise, the permissibility of spoils other than that was already known previously from His (Glorified be He) saying: "And know that whatever spoils you take..." and so on. In fact, some have said: its permissibility was known even before that, based on what is in the Kitab al-Ahkam (Book of Rulings), that the first spoils in Islam occurred when the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) sent Abdullah ibn Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with him) to the first Badr with eight men of the Emigrants. They captured a caravan of the Quraysh, brought it to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and he divided it among them and approved of their action.

The view that this verse legalizes the ransom is supported by what Ibn Marduyah recorded from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), which is explicit regarding this. It is also said that "what you have taken as spoils" refers to the spoils of war without the inclusion of the ransom, because when the first verse was revealed, the people refrained from eating or disposing of them out of asceticism, not out of a belief in their prohibition—as the assumption that they believed it was prohibited is far-fetched, given that the permissibility was already known to them from what has passed. This is not unlikely, and the claim that the first view is rejected by the context and sequence of the noble arrangement is denied, and proving it is as difficult as reaching the "red death."

The Fa (in fakulu) is for conjunction to an implied cause, meaning: "I have permitted the spoils for you, so eat," for instance. It is also said that one may dispense with conjoining it to an implied cause by conjoining it to what precedes it, because it holds the same meaning, i.e., "I will not punish you for what you took as ransom, so eat it." Some have argued that the most apparent interpretation is to assume the words "abandon/leave" and to conjoin it to that, meaning: "Leave what you have taken [if you wish to be pious], or eat of what you have taken as spoils." This is based on what they held regarding the asceticism [of the Companions].

By way of this verse, those who claim that a command following a prohibition indicates permissibility have sought evidence. This is weakened by the fact that permissibility here was established by the context, in that they were only commanded to eat for their own benefit, so it should not be established in a way that causes harm or hardship. His (Exalted be He) saying "lawful" (halalan) is a circumstantial qualifier (hal) for the conjunctive "what" (ma) or for its omitted pronoun, or it is an adjective for an implied verbal noun, meaning: "an eating that is lawful." The benefit of mentioning it, as well as mentioning His (Exalted be He) saying "good" (tayyiban), is to emphasize the permissibility due to the severity contained in the [previous] rebuke. "And fear Allah" in opposing Him. "Indeed, Allah is Forgiving, Merciful"—and for this reason, He forgave your sin and permitted for you what you had taken. It is also said: He will forgive you for what you committed by way of treating the ransom as permissible before the arrival of permission, and He will show you mercy and accept your repentance if you fear Him.