Through Force or Faith? — Page 140
?— A Reply to Pope Benedict XVI 140 started the war against Muslims. It cannot be objectionable at all to continue the fight against such people. The emphasis in ْ ْث ُ ثَقِفْتُمُوهُم ی َ ح is to fight them wherever you encounter them in a bat- tle. It is not implied that you should kill them when you encoun- ter them individually. Instead, your fight should only be with reg- ular army. It goes on to say: ِنِاَف اْوَهَتْنا َّنِاَف َهّٰللا ٌرْوُفَغ ٌمْيِحَّر But if they desist, then surely, Allah is Most Forgiving, Merciful ( S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:193). It implies that even for those who raised the sword against Muslims, Allah, the Exalted, says that if they stop terrorism and persecution, God guarantees them unconditional amnesty and forgiveness. َو ْمُهْوُلِتٰق ىّٰتَح اَل َنْوُكَت ٌةَنْتِف َّو َنْوُكَي ُنْيِّدلا ِهّٰلِل١ؕ ِنِاَف اْوَهَتْنا اَلَف َناَوْدُع اَّلِا ىَلَع َنْيِمِلّٰظلا And fight them until there is no persecution, and religion is freely professed for Allah. But if they desist, then remem- ber that no hostility is allowed except against the aggres- sors ( S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:194). It is quite evident from these quotations that disorder is perni- cious for any society or system. That is why it is commanded that it should be crushed. But along with it, He commands that as the fear of being compelled to renounce the faith is eliminated and such conditions prevail where everyone is able to follow any faith that he desires on his own volition without any fear or coercion and as instigators abandon coercion and are no longer able to