Transliteration:( Wa qaatiloohum hattaa laa takoona fitnatunw wa yakoonaddeenu kulluhoo lillaah; fainin tahaw fa innallaaha bimaa ya'maloona Baseer )
79. From this we learn that the purpose of Holy War is not to compel the infidels to accept Islam but to break the power of infidelity so that it is no longer an obstacle for Islam.
80. Remember, that mischief here does not mean infidelity itself, but the power of infidelity, because Holy War is not for obliterating infidelity but to crush the power of infidelity.
In another place Allah Almighty says "Until they pay the poll tax with their own hands heing brought low." (S9 V29) The same thought is expounded by this verse. because when the infidels accepted to pay the poll tax (Jizyah) it broke their powerÂ
The Holy Prophet says: "I have heen commanded to wage war so that people would declare the Oneness of Allah." Hence the conjunction "HATTA" means 'so that' and not 'until' viz. the Messenger of Allah says that he has been commanded to wage war against the infidels so that they accept Islam.
This means that war is not declared with the intention of obtaining spoils of war but with the intention of propagating Islam Thus there is no inconsistency in the verse of the Holy QUR'AAN and the Hadith. The purpose of war thus is to enable Islam to flourish so that no infidel may forcefully stop a believer from practising pious deeds. The sword clears the way for the QUR'AAN, and the QUR'AAN is there to stop the misuse of the sword.
Â
The tafsir of Surah Al-Anfal verse 39 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Anfal ayat 38 which provides the complete commentary from verse 38 through 40.
31. This is a reiteration of the purpose, mentioned earlier in al-Baqarah 2: 193, for which Muslims are required to wage war. The purpose is two-fold. Negatively speaking, the purpose is to eradicate ‘mischief’. The positive purpose consists of establishing a state of affairs wherein all obedience is rendered to God alone. This alone is the purpose for which the believers may, rather should, fight. Fighting for any other purpose is not lawful. Nor does it behove men of faith to take part in wars for worldly purposes. For further explanation see Towards Understanding the Qur’an, vol. 1, (Surah Al-Baqarah, ayat 193) note 204-205.
Related Ayat(Verses)/Topics