The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page 309
PT. 2 AL-BAQARAH CH. 2 وَقَاتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ الَّذِينَ يُقَاتِلُونَكُمْ And fight in the cause of. 191 وَلَا تَعْتَدُوا إِنَّ اللهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِينَ not Allāh against those who fight against you, but do transgress. Surely, Allah loves not the transgressors. 197 "4:76; 8:40; 9:13; 22:40; 60:9, 10. attached an act of worship. Therefore the question, resulting from the over- eagerness of the Faithful, that, like fasting, there may be prescribed other acts of worship relating to other months also, was like approaching a house not through its door but by "the back thereof". The primary thing was worship and time was only secondary, but those who put the question wanted to make time primary and worship merely secondary. This was like putting the cart before the horse. The clause also means that one should adopt the right course to attain an object. Every end can be attained by having recourse to certain means. Similarly, certain ways have been prescribed by God for winning His pleasure and attaining His nearness. People should faithfully stick to these and not devise ways of their own. By doing so, they will only suffer trouble, and gain nothing. It is also on record that it was the practice among the idolaters of Arabia that when they left their homes and started on Pilgrimage to Mecca, then if for some purpose or object they had to come back to their houses, they did not enter them by their doors, but climbed into them by their back walls (Bukhārī, ch. on Tafsir). Islam does not approve of such meaningless practices. 309 197. Important Words: the cause of Allah) literally) سبيل الله means, "the way of Allah". Anything done to remove the obstacles hindering people from approaching God or accepting His religion is termed i. e. in the cause of Allah; also anything done to further the cause of Allah or any act performed in compliance with God's commandment. Thus holy wars, missionary campaigns, Pilgrimage, search of knowledge, etc. in fact anything done to further the cause of goodness and virtue as commanded by God is a Commentary: The subject relating to the attainment of virtue and piety and the incidental mention of Pilgrimage naturally diverts one's attention to the obstacles that were being placed in the way of Muslims by disbelievers who were making them victims of all sorts of wrongs and even prevented them from approaching their Qiblah in Mecca. The Quran, therefore, fittingly turns here to the subject of religious wars. The verse contains the gist of the conditions which should regulate a religious war and which were made binding on Muslims. The conditions mentioned in this verse are four in number: