Tafsir of Al-Anfal 8:9

This is a substitute for (id ya‘idukum [when He promises you]). Even if the time of the promise differs from the time of the seeking of aid, it is based on the interpretation that both the promise and the seeking of aid occurred within a broad timeframe, as al-Tayyibi stated. It is said: It may be a substitution of the whole (if both are considered broad) or a substitution of the part (if the first is broad and the second is a specific standard). It has also been permitted that it is connected to His saying, the Exalted: (li-yuḥiqq al-ḥaqq [that He might establish the truth]). This has been objected to on the grounds that li-yuḥiqq is in the future tense, requiring a construction that makes it valid, whereas idh (when) pertains to the past time, so how can it function as a verb for it? The answer given is that this is based on the position of some grammarians, such as Ibn Malik, who hold that idh can have the meaning of idha (when/if) for the future, as in His saying, the Exalted: (فسوف يعلمون إذ الأغلال في أعناقهم) [“...but they will know when the shackles are upon their necks”].

It may also be considered an expression of the future through the past to signify its certainty. Some scholars of verification have responded: The fact that the establishment of the truth is in the future is only relative to the time that constitutes the purpose of the implied verb, not relative to the time of seeking aid, so it is not inactive; rather, they are at the same time. The reason the time of the aid was expressed with idh is in consideration of the time of the revelation, and the use of the future tense form in (tastaghithun [you seek aid]) is to recount the past event in order to bring its remarkable image to presence. Others say it is connected to an implied, independent verb, meaning: "Remember." Others say it is connected to (tawudduna [you were wishing]), but that is without merit.

Seeking aid (istighatha), as many have stated, is the request for help (ghawth), which is deliverance from hardship and calamity, and assistance (‘awn). It is transitive by itself, and it has not occurred in the Holy Qur’an except in that manner. It may also take a preposition, as in the saying: "Until he sought aid through water, which has no guidance..." and it is used by Sibawayh in such a way, though he claimed it was an error.

The appearance of the text is that those seeking aid are the believers. It is said: When they knew there was no escape from battle, they began to say: "O Lord, grant us victory over Your enemy; grant us aid, O Helper of those who seek aid!" Al-Zuhri said: It is the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and the Muslims with him. The appearance of some reports indicates that it is the Messenger (upon him be peace and prayer). Ahmad, Muslim, Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, and others narrated from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) who said: 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) told me: When it was the day of Badr, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) looked at his companions, who were three hundred and ten odd men, and he looked at the polytheists, and they were a thousand or more. The Prophet of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) faced the Qibla, stretched out his hands, and began to call upon his Lord: "O Allah, fulfill for me what You have promised me! O Allah, if this group of the people of Islam is destroyed, You will not be worshipped on earth!" He kept calling upon his Lord, stretching out his hands, facing the Qibla, until his cloak fell. Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) came to him, took his cloak, and placed it on his shoulders. Then he hugged him from behind and said: "O Prophet of Allah, your imploring your Lord is sufficient for you, for He will surely fulfill for you what He has promised you." Then the verse was revealed concerning that. In this case, the plural form is for magnification.

(fastajaba lakum [So He answered you]) means: He answered your prayer immediately following your seeking of aid from Him, the Exalted, in the most perfect manner. (anni mumiddukum [that I am reinforcing you]) means: "with the fact that I am reinforcing you," so the preposition is omitted. There is disagreement over whether the derived meaning after the omission is in the accusative or genitive case. Abu 'Amr read it with the kasra (inni), based on the assumption of a verbal prefix ("saying") or by treating istajaba (He answered) as the equivalent of qala (He said), because answering is of the same genus as speaking. The emphasis is for the concern regarding the news, and treating the non-denier as if he were a denier is—in my view—for emphasis.

The meaning of mumiddukum is: "Assisting you and helping you." (bi-alf min al-mala'ikah murdifin [with a thousand of the angels, following one another]) means: behind every angel there is another angel, as Ibn Jarir and others narrated from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both). Radafa and ardafa carry the meaning of "followed" (tabi‘a) and "caused to follow" (atba‘a) according to one opinion. Al-Zajjaj held there is a difference: radaftu the man means I rode behind him, and ardaftuhu means I caused him to ride behind me. Others said: radafa and ardafa are the same if you do that yourself, but if you do it to another, you use ardafa and nothing else. Ardafa has also come in the sense of "followed" with a shadda, and it takes one object; and in the sense of "caused to follow" without shadda, it takes two objects according to the well-known view. Both were interpreted here, and they estimated the object(s) according to what makes the meaning valid and requires it. They established five possibilities:

Two possibilities for the first meaning:

1. The descriptor is the totality of the angels, and the estimated object is the believers; the meaning is: following the believers, i.e., coming behind them.
2. The descriptor is some of the angels, and the object is others; the meaning is: following one another, like their messengers (upon them be peace).

Three possibilities for the second meaning:

1. The descriptor is all the angels, and the two objects are some of them following others; meaning they were made to follow one another.
2. Likewise, except the first object is "some of them" and the second is "the believers," meaning they followed the believers, so some of them were placed behind them.
3. Likewise, except the two objects are "themselves" and "the believers," meaning they followed themselves and their totality to the believers, so they placed themselves behind them.

Nafi' and Ya'qub read (murdafin) with a fatha on the dal. This has two possibilities: it means "following" with shadda, meaning others followed them; or it means "followers" without shadda, meaning they made themselves follow others. In both cases, "others" refers to the believers, so the angels were either the vanguard of the army or the rear guard. It may also be said that "others" refers to other angels, and there are traditions that support this. Ibn Jarir narrated from 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with his countenance) who said: Gabriel (upon him be peace) descended with a thousand angels on the right side of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was among them; and Michael (upon him be peace) descended with a thousand angels on the left side of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and I was among them. However, in al-Kashshaf, the number in both places is five hundred.

It was read (murdifin) with a kasra on the ra' and with a damma. The root of this reading is murtadifin (meaning "riding one behind another"), where the ta' was replaced by a dal due to the proximity of their points of articulation, and it was assimilated into its likeness, so two quiescent letters met; the ra' was then vocalized with a kasra based on the root, or to follow the dal, or with a damma to follow the mim. Al-Zajjaj said that a fatha is also permissible on the ra' for ease or to transfer the vowel of the ta'. This is the reading reported by al-Khalil from some Meccans. Abu al-Baqa' mentioned that it was read with a kasra on the mim and the ra'. It is reported from some that murdafan with a fatha on the ra' and shadda on the dal comes from radafa by doubling the 'ayn, or that the shadda is a substitute for the hamza.

Some people interpreted the "riding behind" (irtidaf) as one person riding behind another, which Abu 'Ubayda denied, though some supported it. From al-Suddi, it is reported that it was read (bi-alafin) as a plural, which aligns with what occurred in another sura ("with three thousand," and "with five thousand"). It is said: The way to reconcile this with the well-known reading is that the "thousand" refers to those who were in the vanguard, the rear guard, their leaders, or those who fought among them.

Ibn Abi Hatim narrated from al-Sha'bi that he said: "There were a thousand murdifin (following) and three thousand munzilin (sent down)," which is a pluralization that is not good. Ibn Jarir and 'Abd ibn Humayd narrated from Qatada that they were reinforced first by a thousand, then by three thousand, and then Allah, the Exalted, completed them to five thousand. You know that the apparent meaning of what is narrated from the scholar (Ibn Abbas) implies that what is in the verse is two thousand in reality, and some explicitly stated that what is in the verse is a summary statement of what is in that (other) sura, based on the fact that the meaning of murdifin is "making others from the angels radif (a rear-rider) to themselves." This is apparent in that the "thousand" refers to the leaders who were followed by others. The majority hold that the angels fought on the day of Badr, and there are reports that indicate this. They mentioned that they did not fight on the day of the Confederates (al-Ahzab) or the day of Hunayn. The details of that are in the Siyar (biographies), and some discussion related to this position has already passed, so remember it.