(Revealed after Hijrah)
The Surah is also known as Qital (war) because it devotes a large portion of its text to the subject of war—its causes, ethics and consequences. Baidawi, Zamakhshari, Suyuti and others hold that the Surah was revealed after the Hijrah—a large part of it having been revealed probably before the Battle of Badr, in the early days of the Holy Prophet’s life at Medina. Towards the end of the last Surah it was unambiguously and emphatically stated that opposition to the Divine Message, however powerful, organized and persistent, can never succeed and that Truth must prevail in the long run. The subject assumes a certain definiteness in this Surah and disbelievers are told that the cause of Islam will, after overcoming all difficulties and impediments, triumph.
The Surah opens with the challenging statement that all the efforts of disbelievers to retard and arrest the progress of Islam will come to naught and the condition of the Prophet’s followers will improve day by day, and then proceeds to say that since disbelievers have drawn the sword against the Holy Prophet they shall perish by the sword. After holding out to Muslims a definite promise of success against their enemies, the Surah briefly lays down important rules of war, as, for instance, prisoners can be taken only after regular fighting in which the enemy is decisively beaten (v. 5), and that after the war is over, they are to be set free either as an act of favour, or, after taking proper ransom. Thus the Surah in a short verse, has struck most effectively at the evil practice of slavery. It is further stated that falsehood eventually must suffer defeat. This is a lesson writ large on the pages of history; and the evil fate of peoples nearer home such as ‘Ad, Thamud, Midian and the people of Lot should open the eyes of the Meccans. Next, the Surah says a few words of comfort and good cheer to the Holy Prophet telling him that though he is being driven out of his native place, friendless and apparently helpless, to seek refuge in a distant place among alien people, yet his cause will triumph. Then it briefly mentions the aims and objects of war according to Islam and closes with an exhortation to Muslims to be prepared to spend whatever they possess for the cause they hold so dear, because not to spend when the cause requires its votaries to spend with both hands, is calculated not only to injure the common cause but also the individual himself.