The Spoils of War — Verse 20

The Command to obey Allah and His Messenger Allah commands His believing servants to obey Him and His Messenger and warns them against defying him and imitating the disbelievers who reject him. Allah said, وَلاَ تَوَلَّوْاْ عَنْهُ (and turn not away from him...), neither refrain from obeying him or following his commands nor indulge in what he forbade, وَأَنتُمْ تَسْمَعُونَ (while you are hearing.) after you gained knowledge of his Message, وَلاَ تَكُونُواْ كَالَّذِينَ قَالُواْ سَمِعْنَا وَهُمْ لاَ يَسْمَعُونَ (And be not like those who say: "We have heard," but they hear not.) Ibn Ishaq said that this Ayah refers to the hypocrites, who pretend to hear and obey, while in fact they do neither. Allah declares that these are the most wicked creatures among the Children of Adam, إِنَّ شَرَّ الدَّوَابِّ عِندَ اللَّهِ الصُّمُّ (Verily, the worst of living creatures with Allah are the deaf) who do not hear the truth, الْبُكْمُ (and the dumb) who cannot comprehend it, الَّذِينَ لاَ يَعْقِلُونَ (who understand not. ) These indeed are the most wicked creatures, for every creature except them abide by the way that Allah created in them. These people were created to worship Allah, but instead disbelieved. This is why Allah equated them to animals, when He said, وَمَثَلُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ كَمَثَلِ الَّذِى يَنْعِقُ بِمَا لاَ يَسْمَعُ إِلاَّ دُعَآءً وَنِدَآءً (And the example of those who disbelieve is as that of him who shouts to those that hear nothing but calls and cries.) 2:171, and, أُوْلَـئِكَ كَالأَنْعَـمِ بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ أُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْغَـفِلُونَ (They are like cattle, nay even more astray; those! They are the heedless ones.) 7:179 It was also said that the Ayah (8:22) refers to some of the pagans of Quraysh from the tribe of Bani `Abd Ad-Dar, according to Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid and Ibn Jarir. Muhammad bin Ishaq said that this Ayah refers to hypocrites, as we stated. There is no contradiction here, because both disbelievers and hypocrites are devoid of sound comprehension, in addition to having lost the intention to do good. Allah states here that such are those who neither have sound understanding nor good intentions, even if they have some type of reason, وَلَوْ عَلِمَ اللَّهُ فِيهِمْ خَيْرًا لأَسْمَعَهُمْ (Had Allah known of any good in them, He would indeed have made them listen.) He would have helped them understand. However, this did not happen because there is no goodness in such people, for Allah knows that, وَلَوْ أَسْمَعَهُمْ (even if He had made them listen...) and allowed them to understand, لَتَوَلَّواْ (they would but have turned...), intentionally and out of stubbornness, even after they comprehend, وَهُم مُّعْرِضُونَ (with aversion.), to the truth.

O you who believe obey God and His Messenger and do not turn away from Him by contravening His command while you are listening to the Qur’ān and the admonitions.

and do not turn away from Him while you are listening, that is, do not turn away from Him even as you listen, since the effect of listening is understanding and believing in the truth [of what is being said], and the effect of understanding is volition and the effect of volition is obedience, and so it cannot be right to claim to be listening while [simultaneously] turning away, as the two cannot be combined. Therefore, adhere to obedience through volition if you are being truthful about your claims to be listening.

and do not turn away from Him while you are listening, that is, do not turn away from Him even as you listen, since the effect of listening is understanding and believing in the truth [of what is being said], and the effect of understanding is volition and the effect of volition is obedience, and so it cannot be right to claim to be listening while [simultaneously] turning away, as the two cannot be combined. Therefore, adhere to obedience through volition if you are being truthful about your claims to be listening.

يا أيها الذين صدَّقوا الله ورسوله أطيعوا الله ورسوله فيما أمركم به ونهاكم عنه، ولا تتركوا طاعة الله وطاعة رسوله، وأنتم تسمعون ما يتلى عليكم في القرآن من الحجج والبراهين.

يأمر تعالى عباده المؤمنين بطاعته وطاعة رسوله ويزجرهم عن مخالفته والتشبه بالكافرين به المعاندين له ولهذا قال "ولا تولوا عنه" أي تتركوا طاعته وامتثال أوامره وترك زواجره "وأنتم تسمعون" أي بعد ما علمتم ما دعاكم إليه.

ثم وجهت السورة الكريمة نداء ثانياً إلى المؤمنين ، أمرتهم بطاعة الله ورسوله ، ونهتهم عن التشبه بالكافرين وأمثالهم من المنافقين .فقال - تعالى - : ( ياأيها الذين . . . وَّهُمْ مُّعْرِضُونَ ) .والمعنى : يأيها الذين آمنوا حق الإِيمان ، أطيعوا الله ورسوله فى كل أحوالكم ، ( وَلاَ تَوَلَّوْا عَنْهُ ) أى ولا تعرضوا عنه ، فإن فى إعراضكم عنه خسارة عظيمة لكم فى دنياكم وآخرتكم .قال الآلوسى : " وأعيد الضمير إليه - صلى الله عليه وسلم - ، لأن المقصود طاعته ، وذكر طاعة الله - تعالى - توطئة لطاعته ، وهى مستلزمة لطاعة الله - تعالى - ، لأنه مبلغ عنه ، فكان الراجع إليه - صلى الله عليه وسلم - كالراجع إلى الله - تعالى - " .وقوله : ( وَأَنْتُمْ تَسْمَعُونَ ) جملة حالية مسوقة لتأكيد وجوب الانتهاء عن التولى مطلقا ، لا لتقييد النهى عنه بحال السماع .

القول في تأويل قوله : يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَلا تَوَلَّوْا عَنْهُ وَأَنْتُمْ تَسْمَعُونَ (20)قال أبو جعفر: يقول تعالى ذكره: يا أيها الذين صدقوا الله ورسوله=(أطيعوا الله ورسوله)، فيما أمركم به وفيما نهاكم عنه=(ولا تولوا عنه)، يقول: ولا تدبروا عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم مخالفين أمره ونهيه (34) = " وأنتم تسمعون " أمرَه إياكم ونهيه, وأنتم به مؤمنون، كما:-15852- حدثنا ابن حميد قال، حدثنا سلمة, عن ابن إسحاق: (يا أيها الذين آمنوا أطيعوا الله ورسوله ولا تولوا عنه وأنتم تسمعون)، أي: لا تخالفوا أمره، وأنتم تسمعون لقوله, وتزعمون أنكم منه. (35)--------------------الهوامش :(34) انظر تفسير " التولي " فيما سلف من فارس اللغة ( ولي ) .(35) الأثر : 15852 - سيرة ابن هشام 2 : 324 ، وهو تابع الأثر السالف رقم : 15850.وكان في المطبوعة هنا " وتزعمون أنكم مؤمنون " ، وأثبت ما في المخطوطة ، وهو المطابق لما في سيرة ابن هشام .

قوله تعالى ( يا أيها الذين آمنوا أطيعوا الله ورسوله ولا تولوا عنه ) أي : لا تعرضوا عنه ، ( وأنتم تسمعون ) القرآن ومواعظه .

لما أراهم الله آيات لطفه وعنايته بهم ، ورأوا فوائِد امتثال أمر الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم بالخروج إلى بدر ، وقد كانوا كارهين الخروج ، أعقب ذلك بأنْ أمَرَهم بطاعة الله ورسوله شكراً على نعمة النصر ، واعتباراً بأن ما يأمرهم به خيرٌ عواقبه ، وحذرهم من مخالفة أمر الله ورسول صلى الله عليه وسلموفي هذا رجوع إلى الأمر بالطاعة الذي افتتحت به السورة في قوله : { وأطيعوا الله ورسوله إن كنتم مؤمنين } [ الأنفال : 1 ] رجوع الخطيب إلى مقدمة كلامه ودليلهِ ليأخذها بعد الاستدلال في صورة نتيجة أسفر عنها احتجاجُه ، لأن مطلوب القياس هو عين النتيجة ، فإنه لما ابتدأ فأمرهم بطاعة الله ورسوله بقوله : { وأطيعوا الله ورسوله إن كنتم مؤمنين } [ الأنفال : 1 ] في سياق ترجيح ما أمرهم به الرسول عليه الصلاة والسلام على ما تهواه أنفسهم ، وضرب لهم مثلاً لذلك بحادثة كراهتهم الخروج إلى بدر في بدء الأمر ومجادلتهم للرغبة في عدمه ، ثم حادثة اختيارهم لقاء العير دون لقاء النفير خشية الهزيمة ، وما نجم عن طاعتهم الرسول عليه الصلاة والسلام ومخالفتهم هواهم ذلك من النصر العظيم والغُنم الوفير لهم مع نزارة الرزء ، ومن التأييد المبين للرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم والتأسيسسِ لإقرار دينه { ويريد الله أن يحق الحق بكلماته ويقطع دابر الكافرين ليحق الحق ويبطل الباطل } [ الأنفال : 7 ، 8 ] وكيف أمدهم الله بالنصر العجيب لمّا أطاعوه وانخلعوا عن هواهم ، وكيف هزَم المشركين؛ لأنهم شاقوا الله ورسوله ، والمشاقة ضد الطاعة تعريضاً للمسلمين بوجوب التبرؤ مما فيه شائبة عصيان الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم ثم أمرهم بأمر شديد على النفوس ألا وهو { إِذَا لقيتم الذين كفروا زحْفاً فلا تولوهم الأدبار } [ الأنفال : 15 ] وأظهر لهم ما كان من عجيب النصر لما ثبتوا كما أمرهم الله { فلَمْ تقتلوهم ولكن الله قتلهم } [ الأنفال : 17 ] ، وضمن لهم النصر إن هم أطاعوا الله ورسوله وطلبوا من الله النصر ، أعقب ذلك بإعادة أمرهم بأن يطيعوا الله ورسوله ولا يتولوا عنه ، فذلكة للمقصود من الموعظة الواقعة بطولها عقب قوله : { وأطيعوا الله ورسوله إن كنتم مؤمنين } [ الأنفال : 1 ] وذلك كله يقتضي فصل الجملة عما قبلها ، ولذلك افتتحت ب { يا أيها الذين آمنوا }.وافتتاح الخطاب بالنداء للاهتمام بما سيُلقى إلى المخاطبين قصداً لإحضار الذهن لوعي ما سيقال لهم ، فنزّل الحاضر منزلة البعيد ، فطلب حضوره بحرف النداء الموضوع لطلب الإقبال .والتعريف بالموصولية في قوله : { يا أيها الذين آمنوا } للتنبيه على أن الموصوفين بهذه الصلة من شأنهم أن يتقبلوا ما سيؤمرون به ، وأنه كما كان الشرك مسبباً لمشاقة لله ورسوله في قوله : { ذلك بأنهم شاقوا الله ورسوله } [ الأنفال : 13 ] ، فخليق بالإيمان أن يكون باعثاً على طاعة الله ورسوله ، فقوله هنا : { يأيها الذين آمنوا } يساوي قوله في الآية المردود إليها :{ إن كنتم مؤمنين } [ الأنفال : 1 ] ، مع الإشارة هنا إلى تحقق وصف الإيمان فيهم وأن إفراغه في صورة الشرط في الآية السابقة ما قصد منه إلاّ شحذ العزائم ، وبذلك انتظم هذا الأسلوب البديع في المحاورة من أول السورة إلى هنا انتظاماً بديعاً معجزاً .والطاعة امتثال الأمر والنهي . والتولي الانصراف ، وتقدم آنفاً ، وهو مستعار هنا للمخالفة والعصيان .وإفرادُ الضمير المجرور ب ( عن ) لأنه راجع إلى الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم إذ هذا المناسب للتولي بحسب الحقيقة . فإفراد الضمير هنا يشبه ترشيح الاستعارة ، وقد علم أن النهي عن التولي عن الرسول نهي عن الإعراض عن أمر الله لقوله : { من يطع الرسول فقد أطاع الله } [ الأعراف : 80 ] وأصل { تَولوا } تَتَولوا بتاءين حذفت إحداهما تخفيفاً .وجملة : { وأنتم تسمعون } في موضع الحال من ضمير { تولوا } والمقصود من هذه الحال تشويه التولي المنهي عنه ، فإن العصيان مع توفر أسباب الطاعة أشد منه في حين انخرَام بعضها . فالمراد بالسمع هنا حقيقته أي في حال لا يعوزكم ترك التولي بمعنى الإعراض وذلك لأن فائدة السمع العمل بالمسموع ، فمن سمع الحق ولم يعمل به فهو الذي لا يسمع سواء في عدم الانتفاع بذلك المسموع ، ولما كان الأمر بالطاعة كلام يطاع ظهر موقع { وأنتم تسمعون } فلما كان الكلام الصادر من الله ورسوله من شأنه أن يقبله أهل العقول كان مجرد سماعه مقتضياً عدم التولي عنه ، ضمن تولى عنه بعد أن سمعه فأمر عجب ثم زاد في تشويه التولي عن الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم بالتحذير من التشبه بفئة ذميمة يقولون للرسول عليه الصلاة والسلام : سمعنا ، وهم لا يصدقونه ولا يعملون بما يأمرهم وينهاهم .

لما أخبر تعالى أنه مع المؤمنين، أمرهم أن يقوموا بمقتضى الإيمان الذي يدركون به معيته، فقال‏:‏ ‏{‏يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ‏}‏ بامتثال أمرهما واجتناب نهيهما‏.‏ ‏{‏وَلا تَوَلَّوْا عَنْهُ‏}‏ أي‏:‏ عن هذا الأمر الذي هو طاعة اللّه، وطاعة رسوله‏.‏ ‏{‏وَأَنْتُمْ تَسْمَعُونَ‏}‏ ما يتلى عليكم من كتاب اللّه، وأوامره، ووصاياه، ونصائحه، فتوليكم في هذه الحال من أقبح الأحوال‏.‏

قوله تعالى ياأيها الذين آمنوا أطيعوا الله ورسوله ولا تولوا عنه وأنتم تسمعونقوله تعالى ياأيها الذين آمنوا أطيعوا الله ورسوله الخطاب للمؤمنين المصدقين . أفردهم بالخطاب دون المنافقين إجلالا لهم . جدد الله عليهم الأمر بطاعة الله والرسول ، ونهاهم عن التولي عنه . هذا قول الجمهور . وقالت فرقة : الخطاب بهذه الآية إنما هو للمنافقين . والمعنى : يا أيها الذين آمنوا بألسنتهم فقط . قال ابن عطية : وهذا وإن كان محتملا على بعد فهو ضعيف جدا ; لأن الله تعالى وصف من خاطب في هذه الآية بالإيمان . والإيمان التصديق ، والمنافقون لا يتصفون من التصديق بشيء . وأبعد من هذا من قال : إن الخطاب لبني إسرائيل ، فإنه أجنبي من الآية .قوله تعالى ولا تولوا عنه التولي الإعراض . وقال عنه ولم يقل عنهما لأن طاعة الرسول طاعته ; وهو كقوله تعالى : والله ورسوله أحق أن يرضوه .وأنتم تسمعون [ ص: 347 ] ابتداء وخبر في موضع الحال . والمعنى : وأنتم تسمعون ما يتلى عليكم من الحجج والبراهين في القرآن .

When a Truth is presented before a man, ideally he apprehends it with all the human faculties granted to him by God. He gives his full attention to it, he feels the weight of its veracity and then he utters that correct response which a man’s nature should present in the face of Truth. One who behaves in this way has been receptive to the presented matter in the manner of a true human being. However, there is the type of individual who listens as if he has no ears to hear with. His mind fails to grasp the veracity of what he hears. And so he is unable to give the requisite response in view of the facts. One who behaves in this way has heard the presented matter as if he were an animal. The truth becomes clear only to one who hears it with a receptive mind. By contrast, one whose temperament is flawed by jealousy, haughtiness, self-interest and love of outward show will not regard the issue of Truth as worth considering and will not pay serious attention to it. So, he will certainly fail to discover its veracity. Faith on the face of it, is a statement of trust in God. But in reality it is a human decision. Faith is not merely repetition of words of testimony, but the verbal expression of one’s inner feeling. If a man’s condition is really the same as that declared by his words, he is a real believer in the eyes of God. A believer is the most serious human being and as such can never, by his words, show himself to be something other than what his inner condition actually is. A man whose faith reflects his inner reality, will, as soon as he admits his faith, make God his object of worship and will be a follower of His commands in all aspects of his life. For him oral acceptance of faith will be not just a verbal profession, but an indicator of the direction of his journey. Just the opposite is the condition of one who heard the voice of Truth, but did not let it enter his soul and did not let it become part of his heart-beats, even though he had no answer for its arguments. Outwardly he may have uttered the words, ‘Yes, it is true,’ but, his real life, even after that, remained the same as it had been earlier. This second attitude is hypocritical, and before God such a hypocritical ‘faith’ has no value.

Commentary The event of the battle of Badr which has been described in a somewhat detailed manner in the previous verses contains many lessons in hard advice and wisdom both for those who adhere to Islam and those who stick to disbelief. These appear intermittently during the course of relevant narrations and serve as warning signals. For example, in the previous verses, after having recounted the defeat and disgrace of the disbelievers of Makkah, it was said: ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ شَاقُّوا اللَّـهَ وَرَ‌سُولَہ (That is because they were hostile to Allah and His Messenger - 13). It means that the disbelievers of Makkah were defeated despite their numerical and logistic strength and the real reason behind it was that they had elected to act hostile to Allah and His Messenger. In this, there lies a chastening lesson for people who bypass the most perfect power of the Creator and Master of the heavens and the earth - the power that is visible and the power that is invisible - and who opt for placing their reliance on material strengths only, or just choose to cheat their own selves by hoping and praying that the help and support of Allah will be by their side despite all their acts of disobedience to Him. In the present verse, the other side of this very problem has been taken up by addressing Muslims. Stated briefly, the truth of the matter is that Muslims were blessed with this great victory despite their low numbers and ill-equipped fighting force only through the help and support of Allah Almighty - and this Divine help and support is the outcome of their obedience to Allah. This obedience is what Muslims have been obligated with and to this they have to adhere firmly: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّـهَ وَرَ‌سُولَهُ ( O those who believe, obey Allah and His Messenger). In the sentence which follows, the same subject has been further emphasized by saying: وَلَا تَوَلَّوْا عَنْهُ وَأَنتُمْ تَسْمَعُونَ (and do not turn away from him while you are listening). The sense is that once you have listened to the Qur'an, the true word of Allah, do not go about doing things against the norms of genuine obedience. Listening denotes listening to what is the truth and it has four degrees in terms of effective response. (1) The hearer with ears simply heard some voice but neither tried to understand it, nor understood it, nor believed in or relied upon it, nor did he act accordingly. (2) He heard it through his ears all right, even understood it, but did neither believe in it nor acted accordingly. (3) He heard, he understood, even believed and trusted, but did not act accordingly. (4) He heard, he understood, he believed, he trusted - and acted accordingly as well. It is obvious that the real purpose of listening is fully realized only through the fourth degree - which is the station of perfect believers. As for the earlier three degrees, the act of listening described there is imperfect and incomplete which, in a manner of saying, could be set aside as just not listening - as readily pointed to in the verses appearing next. The third degree mentioned above has the ingredients of hearing the truth, understanding it and believing in it, but lacks corresponding deeds. Here, the real purpose of listening is though not realized as it should be, yet belief has its own importance and cannot be rejected as useless. This degree pertains to sinning Muslims. Then there is the second degree where we find only listening and under-standing but no belief and no corresponding deed. This degree is that of the munafiqin (hypocrites) for they do listen to the Qur'an, understand it too, even have a feigned claim to desired belief and deed, but the reality is that they do not believe and do what is right and due. Finally, the first degree is that of polytheists and disbelievers who listened to the message of truth and the 'ayat of the Qur'an with their own ears but were never motivated enough to understand and think about that. In the verse cited above (20), the address is to Muslims who have been told that they do listen to the message of truth after all, that is, the initial requirement of listening, understanding and believing is present in their attitude as it is, but they have to do more than that. They must act, do what must be done and do it fully and faithfully. They have been asked not to do anything which would take them away from the path of obedience so that the real purpose of listening to the word of truth stands realized fully.

(O ye who believe! Obey Allah and His messenger) in the matter of reconciliation, (and turn not away from him) do not turn away from the command of Allah and His Messenger (when ye hear) the admonition of the Qur'an and the matter of reconciliation.