The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 639
of it. When Mecca fell and the aforesaid prophecy was fulfilled, the remaining portion of the Surah was revealed and it began with, "A declaration of complete absolution on the part of Allah and His Messenger from all obligations to the idolaters with whom you made promises. So go about in the land for four months and know that you cannot frustrate the plan of Allah and that Allah will humiliate the disbelievers. " Incidentally it may be noted here that some commentators have taken the above declaration to mean that a period of four months was granted to those idolaters with whom Muslims had treaty engagements and that it was intended as a notice, after which all treaties and agreements with them were to be considered as having terminated. This interpretation of the declaration is evidently wrong; because if only a notice for the denunciation of the treaties was meant, there was no sense in combining the declaration with the injunction that they should go about the land and see for themselves that God's purpose had prevailed. He, who is granted a limited respite, naturally makes hasty preparation to depart for a place of safety and does not go about the land seeing sights. Again, if the verse be understood to give notice of termination of existing treaties and to grant a limited respite to those idolatrous tribes who had these treaties of alliance with Muslims, how would the very next verse be explained which says that such people as have entered into treaties with Muslims are not to be expelled till the termination of their treaties. It is thus clear that the Quranic words as used in the first verse of chapter Taubah allude to no political treaty or agreement, but only to such declarations which Muslims and disbelievers had made against each other. On the side of Islam it was declared in chapter Anfal that the possession of the disbelievers would fall in the hands of Muslims, and the disbelievers on their side had declared that Islam would be exterminated and they would capture the belongings of the Muslims. It is these opposite declarations that have been metaphorically termed as or agreement, in the verse referred to above and the idolaters are told to go about in the country and see for themselves whether or not the declaration which was made in chapter Anfal about their eventual destruction had proved true. So truly speaking, chapter Bara'at constitutes only a declaration of the fulfilment of the great prophecy made in Anfal and is no separate Sūrah. In short, there exists a very real connection between these two Surahs which really constitute one chapter, for, as stated above, chapter Anfāl was revealed at the time of the first battle of Islam, i. e. the Battle of Badr and in this chapter a clear prophecy was made of the ultimate destruction of the disbelievers. Then after the last encounter with the idolaters of Mecca, chapter Bara'at was revealed to announce the fulfilment of that prophecy and the ushering in of a new era. 1079