The Censuring Verse, and the Call to Fight

Another matter to note before the summary is the verse mentioned in the previous chapter, in which Allah (swt) censured the Prophet (peace be upon him) for having taken the decision not to put them to death but to let them go for a ransom. That verse proves two things. It is plainly a censure of the Prophet (peace be upon him). First: had he been the author of the Qur'an, he would have omitted it. Why set down something that rebukes you, that censures you? And there are other verses of the kind. Second, it is proof that this is from Allah (swt), and that the Prophet (peace be upon him) was a truthful man. He said it as it was: however it was revealed, so Allah (swt) — so the Prophet (peace be upon him) — conveyed it to us.

And now the final points, briefly. One more verse to note is verse 14 of Sūrat at-Tawbah — or rather, before that, verse 13, which is very plain. Allah tells the people there, by way of encouragement, much encouragement being needed: will you not fight a people who have broken their treaties and their oaths, and who purposed to drive the Prophet (peace be upon him) out and be rid of him? So the Muslims were not attacking anyone without cause. These were defensive actions. There was a reason; there was always an impending danger in those days. It was they who began their aggression against you in the first place. This makes it plain that these were not offensive campaigns but defensive ones. Nearly every single one was defensive.

So Allah says: do you fear them? Allah has more right to be feared, if you are true believers. And then He says: if you would fight for the true cause, then go and fight them. Wage war against them, and Allah will punish them by your hands. You will be the instruments. You will be there doing what you ought to do, but it is Allah who will punish them by your hands, and Allah will humiliate them. He will help you against them, and will bring about that opening in the hearts of the believers. And Allah will remove the anger from their hearts; and Allah forgives whom He wills.