Translation
Let it be known that whatever gains are secured in a battle [ghanama—spoils of battle], twenty percent of that goes for social welfare and community support [for God and His messenger], the orphans, the needy and those who are travelers. This is a recognition that you believe in God, the guidance that has been revealed to Our Servant [the Messenger] and this day of differentiation when the two parties met (in armed conflict). God is ever powerful over all things and all affairs. 409
(Recall how you ended up) on the nearer side of the valley (of Badr—place of the first battle) while their army was on the further side and the caravan drifted to a lower position (near the coast away from you). Had you intended to make a direct contact (with the army), you would have found ways to break away, but God intended to settle a matter that needed to be done—that those who fail the rational guidance (from God) might perish whereas those who follow the rational guidance, might be free to live by it. Surely God knows, and He hears.
God displayed them in your dream as a small army; had he shown them as many, you would have lost courage to fight and would have contended among yourself regarding the decision at hand (to fight or not to fight). But God gave you peace of mind; surely, He knows what happens in a man’s heart (at times of difficulty). And when you were drawn to each other, He made them appear few in your eyes and He made you appear as few in their eyes so that God can close out a matter that needed to be resolved. All matters come back to God for resolution. 410
Interpretation
409 A clear directional guidance is given to put armed conflicts in perspective. While any act of unwarranted aggression is strongly discouraged, any act of justifiable battle or war should still not be driven by desire to secure personal gain but to restore common good, human freedom to pursue goodness, and the dignity of those who are vulnerable. By allocating 20 percent of the spoils of war to God, to His Messenger, and to those who are in need, a declaration was made to define the higher purpose for such unavoidable armed conflicts and to restrain human passion (by greedy leaders and tribal lords) to fill their personal coffers at the expense of ordinary combatants and societal priorities. God and His messenger were not in need of such gains. The inclusion of God and His messenger was meant to disarm any opposition to such allocation and to make the broader case for the common good that benefits everyone in society while making special cases for the needy and vulnerable.
This is a permanent shift away from the greed and anarchy of war to purposeful avoidance and restoration of social balance in the aftermath of an unavoidable conflict. While the Qur’an started the movement for such war spoils to be allocated for the public good at 20 percent, the goal should be the avoidance of such wars and conflicts and total elimination of any private gains from such conflicts in the form of profit to individuals, tribes, political parties, corporations, or leaders of a nation-state.
410 The subtlety of the series of events that transformed the battle of Badr, the first battle between the emerging state of the Prophet Mohammad in Madinah and his own tribesman from Makkah, reveals the way God’s active presence manifests itself in the lives of individuals and societies and how He shapes human pursuits, outcomes, and lessons to be learned. While the Prophet and his associates were persecuted and forced to abandon their homes, property, and relationships with family and fellow tribesmen, they aspired for revenge in opportune moments, not to even the score but to establish the norm that goodness should prevail over evil in a just world. They wished to intervene a lightly armed trade caravan that was going to pass by Madinah on their way from Yemen to Makkah so that they could confiscate goods and recoup some of their material losses, as they were forced out of their homes in an unjust and evil way, and to win back some human dignity that they were denied.
They thought it would be an easy win but did not realize that God had a different plan, and they were, in effect, moving headlong to face a much stronger and well-armed force. The leader of the caravan, suspecting an assault from the Prophet, informed their tribesmen in Makkah and asked for help, and the Makkan assembled a force of one thousand strong men, well armed with horses, camels, and the weapons of the day, ready to wipe out this band of renegades from their midst. The prophet had a loosely grouped people of three hundred, a few horses and camels, and limited weaponry and found themselves face to face with this army before they could engage the caravan, which had shifted its route and taken a detour away from Madinah.
This unexpected face-up with the Makkan army must have been very difficult for the Prophet’s followers who foresaw death and destruction, except FOR a few brave ones who were also confident in their faith, in their causes, and in God’s favor to those who struggle for justice. God’s help and aid came in a number of ways, which become clear only after due reflection and which are described in the Qur’an as lessons to be learned and to understand how God operates in favor of faith and goodness:
· First, given to the prevailing condition, the Prophet and his followers would be reluctant to engage in such a disproportionate combat situation but had to follow through, as they did not have a choice but to defend themselves, given the situation.
· To ease their minds and spirits, God sent rain, which gave them comfort from the desert heat, a sign of calm and tranquil sleep that made them refreshed in the morning so they could think more rationally about how to assess and face the situation.
· The rain also made the desert sand soft and rendered horses and camels less efficient for rapid movement, an overwhelming advantage that the Makkan were very confident of.
· In the way the two armies positioned themselves, and in their respective dreams, God made each party appear smaller to the other party (in their scouting of each other) so that Prophet and his associates felt they could win and were ready to engage, while the Makkan became overconfident and did not even consider contingencies in the event of an unfavorable outcome.
The rest is history. This small group of faithful fought and won against enormous odds and powerful armies like the Byzantines and Persians, and it unleashed expansions in world order, social norms, and advancement of human sciences that were sustained from the seventh century to the seventeenth century. Such demonstrated success is perhaps the reason why Michael Hart, in his book The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History, named Prophet Mohammad to be that person whose tireless advocacy for faith and goodness transformed lives and societies forever, and one who inspired 1.8 billion Muslims to follow his life and teachings to this day, even in difficult life situations such as war, terrorism, ethnic cleansing, autocratic rulers, oppressive regimes, widespread poverty, lack of education, and lack of freedom of choice in many parts of the world, not to mention even in many Muslim countries as well.
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REFLECTION
A sense of purposefulness has to dominate every act of every individual and every group, even acts of war, which can only be pursued in a defensive posture. Even in the event of success, the material benefits need to be distributed for greater common good rather than to further individual greed, anarchy, and oppression.
ACTION
Every act that we choose to do or not do, and every act we are subjected to, even against our wills, is to be reflected on and actively pursued to understand the underlying root causes and deeper meanings so that each of our success—and more importantly, each of our failures—becomes a stepping-stone for a greater understanding of our human condition, expanding our relationship with each other and with our Creator and reshaping the contour of our presence on this planet with a singular purpose of aligning ourselves with God, to Whom is our eventual return. Such alignment happens when we are aligned with our souls, aligned with fellow human beings, and aligned with the natural world we are part of.
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Key Arabic Term
121. ghanama (spoils of war) (8:41)