Smite ye above their
necks (8:12)?
A common verse which polemics and the critics will
throw against Muslims is:
Surah Anfal 8:12:
"Remember
thy Lord inspired the angels (with the message): "I am with you: give firmness
to the Believers: I will instil terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers: smite
ye above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them."
However, the very next verse says:
Surah Anfal 8:13:
"This because they
contended against Allah and His Messenger: If any contend against Allah
and His Messenger, Allah is strict in punishment."
A similar verse which relates to verse 12:
Surah Anfal 8:39:
"And fight them on until there is no more tumult or
oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah altogether and
everywhere; but if they cease, verily Allah doth see all that they do."
These verses refer to a specific battle, and isn't
a command to kill anyone and everyone. The battle it is referring to is
the battle of Badr. We need to analyze the historical context, to understand the
background to this battle:
Maududi's introduction - Surah Anfal 8:
"During the first decade or so of the Prophethood at
Makkah, the Message had proved its firmness, and stability. This was the result
of two things. First, the Messenger, who possessed the highest qualities of
character, was performing his Mission with wisdom, foresight and magnanimity. He
had shown by his conduct that he had made up his mind to carry the movement to a
successful end and, therefore, was ready to face all sorts of dangers and
obstacles in the way. Secondly, the Message was so charming that it attracted
the minds and hearts of the people irresistibly towards itself. So much so that
all obstacles of ignorance, superstition and petty prejudices failed to check,
its advance. That is why the Arab upholders of the ways of "ignorance,' who
looked down upon it in its initial stages,
had' begun to reckon it as a serious menace
during the last period of the stay of the Holy Prophet at Makkah, and were bent
on crushing it with all the force at their command."
Islam had yet no home (at that time) of its own and had not established itself
firmly anywhere in the land where it could consolidate its power and make it a
base for further action. For the Muslims were scattered all over the country and
were living among the unbelievers as aliens whom their bloodthirsty enemies
wanted to uproot from their own homes."
Maulana Muhammad Taqi Usmani - Ma'ariful Quran -
Volume 4 - Page 177:
"In the third verse (13), it was
said that the reason for whatever happened during this confrontation between
kufr and Islam was that those disbelievers were hostile to Allah and His
Messenger and whoever becomes hostile to Allah and His Messenger, then,
for him the punishment of Allah is customarily severe. This tells us that, on
the one hand, Muslims were the blessed ones in the battle of Badr for victory
became theirs. On the other hand, by sending punishment on disbelievers through
Muslims, they were chastised a little for their evil doings -
while, the much heavier punishment awaits them in the Hereafter - both of which
have been described in the fourth verse (14) by saying: (That is what you have
to taste, and for the disbelievers there is the punishment of the Fire)."
Also:
Surah Anfal 8:30:
"Remember how the Unbelievers plotted against thee,
to keep thee in bonds, or slay thee, or get thee out (of thy home). They
plot and plan, and Allah too plans; but the best of planners is Allah."
"It refers to those conspiracies of the Qurush which they were hatching in
Makkah against the Prophet (SallalLahuAlaihi Wa sallam). In the meeting that the
held in Darun Nadwah, different proposals were considered. Some one had
suggested that he should be taken as captive, another had suggested that he
should be banished from Makkah. Finally, it was decided unanimously to
kill him. The modus operandi for this heinous act was decided to be:
that a youth be selected from every tribe, and all these youths should attack
him simultaneously and kill him. In this way the charge of killing him will be
distributed over all the tribes, and the tribe of the Prophet, Bani Hashin,
would not be able to take revenge from all, therefore, they would be compelled
to take blood money (compensation). This was the proposal of Abu Jahl, and
according to this proposal all the youths surrounded the Prophet's house one
night. But Allah had informed him earlier, and therefore, he had left his house
before they could do anything , and thus their conspiracy failed. He left his
house quietly. He took shelter in a cave, called 'Thaur' for three days.
Thereafter he migrated to Medina."
(Ibn Hisham's Sirah -
Volume 2 - Page 92 - cited in:
Dr F Ajmeri - Dawat-Ul Quran - Volume 1 - Page 569).
"In this battle,
approximately 300 Muslims met 1,000 Meccans on the plains of Badr in 627 A.D..
The Meccans were determined to crush Muhammad and his followers
once and for all to ensure access routes to the north." (Youssef H.
Aboul-Enein Sherifa Zuhur - Islamic Rulings On Warfare - DIANE Publishing -
Pages 16-17).
"Badr was the first major battle when the Muslims
inflicted a very heavy defeat ontheir idolater enemies. But the Muslims did not
leave their homes for this purpose or with this intention. They only marched to
intercept a trade caravan belonging to the Quraysh, the tribe that
confiscated all their homes and property. They wanted to regain some of their
losses, but God wanted something else. He wanted the caravan to escape and the
Muslims to meet in battle their most hardened enemies who were able to place
Islam under siege in Makkah. They further plotted to kill God's Messenger
[peace be upon him] after they had mounted an uncompromising campaign of
persecution against his companions." (Sayyid Qutb - In The
Shade Of The Qur'an - The Islamic Foundation - Volume 7 - Page 51-52).
A similar thing is mentioned in: Ibn Kathir - Stories Of The Prophets - Darul
Ishaat, 2009 - Page 369.
Yusuf Ali's commentary - Surah Anfal 8:42:
"The
little Islamic force from Madinah went out to meet the big Makkan army, and they
met on the two sides of a valley at Badr, while the Quraish caravan was on lower
ground towards the sea, about 3 miles from Badr.
* They were all at cross purposes. The caravan was making for Makkah, but
scarcely thought it could get there. The Quraish force was trying to save the
caravan and then annihilate the Muslims. The Muslims had decided
to attack the Quraish army from Makkah which turned out to be big, more than
three times their number. Yet the two forces met, precisely at the spot and at
the time when a decisive battle should take place and the Muslims dispose of the
pretensions of the Makkans. If they had carefully planned a mutual appointment,
they could not have carried it out more precisely. On the Muslim side the few
martyrs knew that the victory was theirs and those who survived the battle
enjoyed the fruits of the victory. On the pagan side, both those who died and
those who lived knew fully the issue joined. Even psychologically both sides
went in with full determination to decide the issue."
Commentating on verse 12, we read:
"Smite [them] on their necks and chop all their fingers
off." These words, addressed here to the Angels, are often mentioned by
the enemies of Islam as a proof of its belligerence and intolerance.
However, they referred to internecine discords among the Arabs when there
were several attempts at killing the Prophet. They were an answer to the
"terrorists" of that time." (Nicolas Starkovsky - The Koran Handbook:
An Annotated Translation - Algora Publishing, 2005 - Page 465).
The forgoing is similarly mentioned in
Tafsir Al-Qurtubi,
Tafsir At-Tabarani &
Tafsir Ibn Kathir where narrations are cited.
A hadith in Musnad Ahmad confirms to us that they
were not many Muslima in number at Badr (Musnad
Ahmad, #346 - Declared Hasan By Sheikh Arna'oot, #344 -
Source &
Sahih By Ibn Kathir In His Tafsir, 2/92 -
Source). A narration in Tirmidhi says there were a mere 313 Muslims at
battle (Sunan At-Tirmidhi, #1598 - Declared Sahih By Tirmidhi & Albani -
Source).
The number is not really that important alone to
refute the critic. It is who instigated the battle to occur is what is
important. The enemies the the Muslims instigated the battle, as shown above. In
self defense, there was nothing wrong in fighting back. What's also important is
that this verse doesn't give someone the green light to go and kill anyone they
please, when looking at the historical background given in hadiths. For who not
to kill in battle, go
here. More on how the disbelievers instigated the battle can be read
here.
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