Surah Al-Anfal, Ayah 62

The Command to Facilitate Peace when the Enemy seeks a Peaceful Resolution

Allah says, if you fear betrayal from a clan of people, then sever the peace treaty with them, so that you both are on equal terms. If they continue being hostile and opposing you, then fight them,

وَإِن جَنَحُواْ

(But if they incline), and seek,

لِلسَّلْمِ

(to peace), if they resort to reconciliation, and seek a treaty of non-hostility,

فَاجْنَحْ لَهَا

(you also incline to it), and accept offers of peace from them. This is why when the pagans inclined to peace in the year of Hudaybiyah and sought cessation of hostilities for nine years, between them and the Messenger of Allah he accepted this from them, as well as, accepting other terms of peace they brought forth. `Abdullah bin Al-Imam Ahmad recorded that `Ali bin Abi Talib said that the Messenger of Allah said,

After that, in the fourth verse (62), the same subject has been taken up with added clarity where it was said:

وَإِن يُرِ‌يدُوا أَن يَخْدَعُوكَ فَإِنَّ حَسْبَكَ اللَّـهُ ۚ هُوَ الَّذِي أَيَّدَكَ بِنَصْرِ‌هِ وَبِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿62﴾

And if they intend to deceive you, then, Allah is all-sufficient for you. He is the One who supported you with His help and with the believers.

It means that should this very probability turn out to be the reality on the ground - that their intention is bad and they stop at nothing short of a deceptive strike against you - even then, you do not have to bother about it because Allah is sufficient as your supporter. This has been true earlier too. Things have worked for the Holy Prophet ﷺ with nothing but the help and support of Allah Ta` ala. He was always there behind him, a fact which is the very basis of his victory and success. Then, it was for everyone to witness that He made a group of Muslims rise around him who became his helping hands in the mission. All these arrangements were the outward causes of the phenomena. The thing to believe is that the real and absolute Master who fused together all causes of victory and success in a visible form shall never leave him alone to be deceived by the enemy even today. It was under this Divine promise when, after the revelation of this verse, it never happened throughout the entire span of his life that any deceit or ambush from his enemies brought any harm to him. Therefore, the scholars of Tafsir have said that this promise for the Holy Prophet ﷺ very much like the promise made in: وَاللَّـهُ يَعْصِمُكَ مِنَ النَّاسِ (and Allah shall keep you protected from the people - 5:67) when, after the revelation of this verse, the Holy Prophet ﷺ had asked his noble Companions ؓ who guarded him against any such dangers that they should now feel relieved and forget about their security concerns regarding his person. This tells us that this promise was special to the Holy Prophet ﷺ . (Bayern al-Qur'an) As for others, they should do things in terms of formal arrangements after assessing prevailing conditions.

Islam relies not on the use of force but on the demonstration of force to inspire awe in the enemy. That is why the believers were commanded to equip themselves with power so that the enemy might be demoralized and refrain from aggression. Those who spend their resources in strengthening Islam intellectually and materially will be rewarded many times over by their Lord. The secret of success in Islam does not lie in military confrontation but in the preaching of its principles—hence the command that whenever there is an offer of peace by the other party, it should be accepted, setting aside every doubt or suspicion, because doubt or suspicion is in any case an uncertain thing, but the benefit of a cease-fire is certain: it permits the dawah work of Islam to start in a peaceful atmosphere. The stoppage of war thus facilitates the ideological expansion of Islam. Islam in itself is the greatest power. If the belief in God and the Hereafter is engendered in a group, then all those psychological drawbacks which cause differences and clashes are driven out of them. Thereafter, it necessarily happens that all of them join together and become one, and it is a fact that the greatest strength lies in unity. A united group, though small, will overcome a group larger than itself. Mutual integration is the most difficult task. The sign of a divinely—aided group is that its members are united; nothing succeeds in disuniting them.