Transliteration:( Wa mai yuwallihim yawma'izin duburahooo illaa mutaharrifal liqitaalin aw mutahaiyizan ilaa fi'atin faqad baaa'a bighadabim minal laahi wa ma'waahu Jahannamu wa bi'sal maseer )
"And whosoever turns his back to them that day, except as a war tactic or for joining his company, then he has certainly incurred the wrath [32] of Allah, and his abode is Hell, and wretched is the destination [33]."
This verse highlights that fleeing the battlefield without valid reason is a major sin and leads to Allah’s wrath. Even if the enemy is greater in number, believers are commanded to stand firm. For the believer, the worst that can occur is death—and that is martyrdom.
The verse implies three kinds of turning back:
Strategic withdrawal—temporarily retreating to launch a counterattack.
Rejoining one’s own army after being separated.
Cowardly flight from battle.
The first two are permissible, but the third is sinful unless driven by genuine hardship.
Notably, those who withdrew at Uhud or Hunayn were later forgiven by Allah, and criticizing them is deemed faithlessness. According to Tafsir Ruh al-Bayan, running from Jihad is among the seventy major sins in Islam.
The tafsir of Surah Al-Anfal verse 16 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Anfal ayat 15 which provides the complete commentary from verse 15 through 16.
(8:16) For he who turns his back on them on such ar occasion – except that it be for tactical reasons, or turning to join another company – he shall incur the wrath of Allah and Hell shall be his abode. It is an evil destination. [13]
13. The Qur’an does not forbid orderly retreat under strong pressure from the enemy provided it is resorted to as a stratagem of war, for example seeking reinforcements or joining another party in the rear. What the Qur’an does forbid is disorderly flight produced by sheer cowardice and defeatism. Such a retreat takes place because the deserter holds his life dearer than his cause. Such cowardice has been characterized as one of those three major sins which, if committed, can be atoned for by no other good deed whatsoever. These three sins are: ascription of divinity to anyone or anything other than God, violation of the rights of parents, and flight from the battlefield during fighting in the way of God. (See al-Mundhiri, ‘Kitab al-Jihad’, ‘Bab al-Tarhib min al-Firar min al-Zahf’- Ed.) In another tradition the Prophet (peace be on him) has mentioned seven deadly sins which totally ruin a man’s Next Life. One of these is flight from the battlefield in an encounter between Islam and Unbelief. (Muslim, ‘K. al-lman’, ‘Bab al-Kabi’ir wa Akbaruha’; Bukhari, ‘K. al-Wasaya’, ‘bab – fi Qawl Allah – Tala: inna al-ladhina Ya’kuluna Amwal al-Yatami Zulman’ – Ed.) This has been declared a deadly sin because in addition to being an act of sheer cowardice, it demoralizes others and can generate demoralization which can have disastrous consequences. An individual soldier’s desertion might cause a whole platoon, or even a whole regiment, and ultimately the whole army, to take flight. For once a soldier flees in panic, it is hard to control the others.
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