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Qur'an 8:16

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Qur'an 8:16
Verse's Information
Suraal-Anfal
Verse16
Juz'9
Content Information
Place of
Revelation		Medina
TopicFleeing of a Muslim warrior from the battlefield
Related VersesVerse 15 of Sura al-Anfal


Verse 16 of Sura al-Anfal (Arabic: آیة ۱۶ من سورة الأنفال) (Qur'an 8:16) refers to the fate of those who flee from the battlefield against the disbelievers and its exceptions. In Shi'a narrations, fleeing from the battlefield is counted among the Major Sins. However, it is said that if the enemies are several times the number of Muslims, this ruling does not apply.

Ayatollah Khamenei, a Shi'a jurist and exegete, citing this verse, has generalized the ruling and considers non-tactical retreat against the enemy's military, propaganda, and economic invasions as a cause of divine wrath. A group of exegetes generalize the ruling mentioned in this verse to all wars; in contrast, another group believes this verse is exclusive to the Battle of Badr.

Al-Shaykh al-Tusi, a Shi'a jurist and exegete, has argued using this verse that a creditor, as well as the parents of a person present on the battlefield, are not allowed to demand his return or express dissatisfaction with his presence in the war.

Fate of Fleeing from the Battlefield of Jihad

In verse 16 of Sura al-Anfal, fleeing from war with disbelievers is considered a cause of God's wrath and the punishment of Hell;[1] just as in the previous verse, Muslims were forbidden from fleeing from Jihad against disbelievers,[2] and in Shi'a narrations, fleeing from the battlefield is introduced as one of the Major Sins.[3]

Qutb al-Din al-Rawandi, a Shi'a jurist and exegete in the 6th/12th century, considered the flight of a warrior against one or two enemies as a sin and haram, while permitting flight in a conflict with more than two people.[4] Al-Shaykh al-Tusi also introduced the person fleeing from war, except in the two exceptions mentioned in this verse, as a Fasiq (transgressor) and committer of a major sin.[5] Ayatollah Khamenei, a Shi'a jurist and exegete, citing this verse, considers non-tactical retreat against the enemy's military, propaganda, and economic invasion as a cause of divine wrath as well.[6]

Exceptions

Verse 16 of Anfal has excepted two cases of tactical retreat in the form of a war stratagem and fleeing to join another friendly group or to obtain war equipment from the ruling of fleeing.[7] Fadil Miqdad, regarding fleeing to join a group, has also conditioned it on the group's ability to provide assistance.[8] In contrast, some reject this condition citing the generality of the verse.[9]

In Tafsir 'Ali b. Ibrahim, the phrase "mutahayyizan ila fi'a" (joining another company) is interpreted as a mujahid who returns from the battlefield to his authority, i.e., the Prophet or the Imam. It is also stated that whoever turns his back on the enemy and flees has committed Kufr.[10]

Examples of Tactical Retreat

According to Muhammad Hasan al-Najafi, a 13th/19th-century jurist, a group of Shi'a exegetes and jurists have discussed examples of tactical retreat in the military field. Fleeing to adjust armor, relieve thirst and hunger, change position to avoid facing the sun or wind, moving from a narrow battlefield to a wide one or vice versa, moving to dominate the enemy from high ground or a mountain, and the like are among these cases. He also considers the expression "turning back on the enemy" as an allusion to fleeing.[11]

Is the Ruling of Fleeing Exclusive to the Battle of Badr?

According to al-Shaykh al-Tusi, hadiths from Imam al-Baqir (a) and Imam al-Sadiq (a) are consistent with the theory that the threat of Hell in the verse includes all wars and every warrior who flees in battle against the army of disbelievers.[12] 'Allama Tabataba'i[13], al-Jubba'i (a Mu'tazili exegete), and Abu Muslim[14] have also accepted this theory. In contrast, according to al-Tabrisi, some exegetes have restricted the verse only to those fleeing from the Battle of Badr.[15]

Jurisprudential Citation

In the view of al-Shaykh al-Tusi, a Shi'a jurist, after the confrontation of the two sides in the war of Muslims against enemies and the start of the war, a creditor and the parents of a Muslim warrior do not have the right to demand his return or express dissatisfaction with his presence in the war. He has cited the generality of the prohibition of fleeing and turning back on the enemy in verse 16 of Anfal as the reason for this ruling.[16]

Notes

  1. ↑ Javādī Āmulī, Tafsīr-i Tasnīm, 1401 Sh, vol. 32, pp. 192-193; Ṭabarsī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, 1367 Sh, vol. 4, pp. 813-814; Mudarrisī, Min hudā l-Qurʾān, 1419 AH, vol. 4, p. 28.
  2. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i namūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 7, p. 111.
  3. ↑ For example see: Kulaynī, Al-Kāfī, 1407 AH, vol. 2, pp. 276-278, 280.
  4. ↑ Quṭb al-Rāwandī, Fiqh al-Qurʾān, 1405 AH, vol. 1, p. 340.
  5. ↑ Ṭūsī, Al-Mabsūṭ, 1387 AH, vol. 2, p. 10.
  6. ↑ Khāmenei, «Bayānāt dar dīdār-i dast-andarkārān-i Kungira-yi Millī-yi Shuhadā-yi Ostān-i Kohgiluyeh va Boyer-Ahmad», Daftar-i Ḥifẓ wa Nashr-i Āthār-i Āyatullāh Khāmeneʾī.
  7. ↑ Javādī Āmulī, Tafsīr-i Tasnīm, 1401 Sh, vol. 32, pp. 192-193; Ṭabarsī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, 1367 Sh, vol. 4, pp. 813-814; Mudarrisī, Min hudā l-Qurʾān, 1419 AH, vol. 4, p. 28.
  8. ↑ Ḥillī, Kanz al-ʿirfān, 1425 AH, vol. 1, p. 357.
  9. ↑ Fāḍil Kāẓimī, Masālik al-afhām, vol. 2, p. 333.
  10. ↑ Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, 1363 Sh, vol. 1, p. 270.
  11. ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, 1404 AH, vol. 21, pp. 58-59.
  12. ↑ Ṭūsī, Al-Tibyān, vol. 5, p. 92.
  13. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, 1352 Sh, vol. 9, p. 37.
  14. ↑ Ṭabarsī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, 1367 Sh, vol. 4, p. 814.
  15. ↑ Ṭabarsī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, 1367 Sh, vol. 4, p. 814.
  16. ↑ Ṭūsī, Al-Mabsūṭ, 1387 AH, vol. 2, pp. 6-7.

References

  • Fāḍil Kāẓimī, Muḥammad. Masālik al-afhām ilā āyāt al-aḥkām. Intro by Āyatullāh Marʿashī Najafī. Tehran, Murtaḍawī, n.d.
  • Ḥillī, Miqdād b. ʿAbd Allāh. Kanz al-ʿirfān fī fiqh al-Qurʾān. Qom, Intishārāt-i Murtaḍawī, 1st ed., 1425 AH.
  • Javādī Āmulī, ʿAbd Allāh. Tafsīr-i Tasnīm. Qom, Markaz-i Nashr-i Isrāʾ, 1401 Sh.
  • Khāmenei, Sayyid ʿAlī. «Bayānāt dar dīdār-i dast-andarkārān-i Kungira-yi Millī-yi Shuhadā-yi Ostān-i Kohgiluyeh va Boyer-Ahmad». Daftar-i Ḥifẓ wa Nashr-i Āthār-i Āyatullāh Khāmeneʾī. Posted: 24 Mordad 1403 Sh. Accessed: 30 Shahrivar 1404 Sh.
  • Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb. Al-Kāfī. Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 4th ed., 1407 AH.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i namūna. Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1374 Sh.
  • Mudarrisī, Muḥammad Taqī. Min hudā l-Qurʾān. Tehran, Dār Muḥibbī l-Ḥusayn, 1st ed., 1419 AH.
  • Najafī, Muḥammad Ḥasan. Jawāhir al-kalām fī sharāʾiʿ al-Islām. Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 7th ed., 1404 AH.
  • Qummī, ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm. Tafsīr al-Qummī. Qom, Dār al-Kitāb, 1363 Sh/1404 AH.
  • Quṭb al-Rāwandī, Saʿīd b. Hibat Allāh. Fiqh al-Qurʾān. Qom, Intishārāt-i Kitābkhāna-yi Āyatullāh Marʿashī Najafī, 2nd ed., 1405 AH.
  • Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Muʾassisa al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1352 Sh.
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  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. Al-Tibyān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, n.d.
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