In this verse, the Holy Qur’an has turned to the rules of fighting, and this is an important issue to us, that is because the terrorists, extremists and (Takfiri) movements exploited, invested and misinterpreted the meanings of some Quranic verses. They introduced inaccurate and incomplete interpretation of these verses, hence, changed the meaning of what Allah (swt) revealed. This is an act of distorting the Book of Allah (swt).

Someone might ask, why the Holy Qur’an moved from one topic to another? The Holy Qur’an is the word of Allah (swt) and the virtue of Allah’s Speech over the speech of others is like the virtue of Allah (swt) over His creation., there is a big difference between considering the Qur’an a story book, or a human-made book written sequentially, and being a book of guidance, which is the source of provisions for man, from the Lord of man, who knows everything about him:

 {أَلَا يَعْلَمُ مَنْ خَلَقَ}

(Does He who created not know,)  (Al-Mulk:14)

This Book is concerned about every movement of man in life and after life, that is, in the world of the unseen. It is concerned with the fate of man, as well as, what brings him the goodness in this world and what is required from the slaves of Allah (swt) and that all the religions have come for the sake of man.

 {شَرَعَ لَكُم مِّنَ الدِّينِ مَا وَصَّىٰ بِهِ نُوحًا وَالَّذِي أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ وَمَا وَصَّيْنَا بِهِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمُوسَىٰ وَعِيسَىٰ ۖ أَنْ أَقِيمُوا الدِّينَ وَلَا تَتَفَرَّقُوا فِيهِ }

(He has ordained for you of religion what He enjoined upon Noah and that which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what We enjoined upon Abraham and Moses and Jesus – to establish the religion and not be divided therein.) (Ash-Sura:13)

So, after the verses talked about the provisions of fasting, of piety and the new moon … now the speech is about the fighting issue. All movements of Extremism, (Takfiiir), Terrorism and Enemies of Islam since the (Kharijites) till now, limited the biography of the Prophet (saws) , his Sunnah, his behavior and the Holy Qur’an only to invasions and fighting. The fighting represents one aspect of life in every time and across people’s lives. Attacks and quarrels may anytime take place between people which cause fighting.  Verify, we cannot refer to this verse without taking into consideration the one hundred and twenty verses related to dialogue and peace. It is not reasonable to take one verse and separate it from the reasons of the revelation, the atmosphere of the Surah, the legislation, the way the Prophet (saws) has applied, and the understanding of the Arabic language. All these considerations were neglected by the terrorists and the (Takfiris), as they exploited these verses and brought intellectual confusion into the minds of Muslims through the illusion that Islam is just jihad and fighting, whereas, all the verses that related to fighting are few and limited to one aspect of life that what are the ruling of fighting when Muslims are attacked. 

This is the first verse in the Book of Allah (swt) speaks about fighting. Before interpreting this verse, we must clarify that Allah (swt) has not allowed Muslims in Mecca to fight, because fighting has nothing to do with the Islamic (da’wa) call, which has a way and a method. The Islamic call is:

{ادْعُ إِلَىٰ سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِالْحِكْمَةِ وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ الْحَسَنَةِ ۖ وَجَادِلْهُم بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ}

(Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best.) (An-Nahl:125)

Why? Because religion relates to the doctrine of humans, and the faith cannot come be coerced by compulsion, so if you want to force the body, what about the heart!! The body can be forced, but the heart cannot be obliged to Faith:

{لَا إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ}

(There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion.) (Al-Baqara:256)

The way of preaching is defined in the text of the Book of Allah (swt). You cannot eliminate the specific verses that talk about the way of calling to Allah (swt), and refer to other verses to claim that we must spread Islam by force and pretend that those who do not say (there is no God, except Allah) are to be killed, you cannot choose the hadiths and explain them according to your own understanding:

( وَقَاتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ الَّذِينَ يُقَاتِلُونَكُمْ وَلَا تَعْتَدُوا ۚ) (Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress.): Considering the rulings of fighting in Islam, Allah says:

{أُذِنَ لِلَّذِينَ يُقَاتَلُونَ بِأَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوا ۚ وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ نَصْرِهِمْ لَقَدِيرٌ % الَّذِينَ أُخْرِجُوا مِن دِيَارِهِم بِغَيْرِ حَقٍّ إِلَّا أَن يَقُولُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ ۗ}

(Permission [to fight] has been given to those who are being fought, because they were wronged. And indeed, Allah is competent to give them victory%  [They are] those who have been evicted from their homes without right – only because they say, “Our Lord is Allah.”  (Al-Hajj:39-40)

Hence, when there is an oppression against the humans and the homeland, there is fighting. On the other what does :

(فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ… …) (….way of Allah…): What does it mean?

This order does not refer to the way of calling to Allah (swt). The Prophet (saws) clarified this fact by saying:

“He who dies while defending his property is a martyr; he who dies in defense of his own life is a martyr; and he who dies on defense of his faith is a martyr, he who dies in defense of his family is a martyr.”^[1]

So defending the land and the homeland against the aggressors and greedy is the authorized, allowed and ordered fighting in Islam.

( وَلَا تَعْتَدُوا ۚ… …) (….but do not transgress…): Hence, starting the fighting is forbidden, aggression is absolutely forbidden against any human being, animal, tree or stone is forbidden.

(إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِينَ …) (….Indeed. Allah does not like transgressors): So, Fight in the way of Allah (swt) those who are fighting you.

What do we conclude from this verse? First, those who want to spread the violence instead of kindness through these verses, planned and wanted to distort words from their proper usages. We were commanded by Allah (swt) to repel aggression, not to begin the aggression. We were commanded to fight people not because they are polytheists but because they are aggressive. You do not fight the polytheists unless they fight you and this verse is the clear evidence.

Then, this is clear and it shows unequivocally that Islam did not legislate the fighting to force People on faith, so when the Prophet (saws) said:

“I have been ordered to fight against the people until they testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and until they establish the salah and pay the zakat. And if they do that then they will have gained protection from me for their lives and property, unless [they commit acts that are punishable] in Islam, and their reckoning will be with Allah.” ^[2]

When the Prophet (saws) mentioned, ‘People’ he did not mean all the people, he was pointing to the polytheists who broke the covenant of (Hudaybiyyah) after being signed. So, we must understand here that it is not meant to be people in general, because Allah (swt) says:

{إِذَا جَاءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ % وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا }

(When the victory of Allah has come and the conquest, % And you see the people entering into the religion of Allah in multitudes.)  (An-Nasr:1-2)

Have you seen all people entering the religion of God in multitudes? Of course not, only a group has entered. This is because sometimes the general meaning refers to a specific one. Consequently, he who does not understand the secrets of the Arabic language misrepresents the meanings of the Holy Qur’an and the Hadiths of the Prophet (saws) as well. He who interprets the Holy Qur’an should comprehend the reasons of revelation, the Arabic language, the wisdom behind the texts of the Qur’an, and the events that accompanied the sequence of these verses. Additionally, we must refer to the Holy Qur’an as being connected, meaning, you cannot refer to a verse and take it out of its general context then consider it a reference and say: This is jihad and we must fight all the disbelievers.

We have clarified that the word (Kurf) when mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, it means to conceal something, and it relates to doctrine, not to practices. Hence, it is a legitimate right for all peoples, even in the worldly laws, that if someone assaults you, you should respond to it and defend yourself. Whereas, to start fighting or an aggression, this is not allowed for a Muslim, and It did not come in our book at all. As long as Islam says: “There is no compulsion in religion”, and as long as you are calling to Allah (swt), so why do you fight? Otherwise, you are not right, so that you compel others. The one who is convinced that he is right try to convince others through thoughts and behaviors. Verify, Islam did not spread by sword, and those who claimed that Islam was spread by force wanted to alter the facts and truths. Islam came to protect people’s freedom of choice and then:

 {فَمَن شَاءَ فَلْيُؤْمِن وَمَن شَاءَ فَلْيَكْفُرْ  }

(so whoever wills – let him believe; and whoever wills – let him disbelieve( (Al-Kahf: 29)

If you prevent people from the freedom of choice, then that is the compulsion to religion. Whereas, as long as man can choose, so he may select whatever he wants. These verses are clear and we shall not adopt any concept that contradict the verses of the Holy Qur’an and say this is the verse’s interpretation. Actually, there is not any conflict in the Quranic verses, rather the defect lies in the wrong interpretation of the Book of Allah (swt).

  {إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِينَ }

(Indeed. Allah does not like transgressors) (Al-Baqara:190)

{ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْخَائِنِينَ }

(Allah does not like the wrongdoers) (Al-Anfaal:58)

 {وَاللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الظَّالِمِينَ }

(Allah does not like the wrongdoers.) (Aal-i-Imraan: 57)

Allah (swt) likes the good doers, the reformers, and the righteous, does not like the oppressors, and does not like the aggressors. Note these verses and this relationship that binds us to our Lord (swt). Therefore, the fighting is only because they are aggressors and this is a justice. However, even when fighting is permissible, it is governed by regulations, which are the legitimate authority that exists in the country, the rules cannot be decided by any group or crowd.

[1] Sunan At- Tirmidhi, The Book on Blood Money, Hadith No. 1421.

[2] Sahih Al-Bukhari, Book of Faith, Hadith No. (25)