فَقَٰتِلْ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ لَا تُكَلَّفُ إِلَّا نَفْسَكَ ۚ وَحَرِّضِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ۖ عَسَى ٱللَّهُ أَن يَكُفَّ بَأْسَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ أَشَدُّ بَأْسًۭا وَأَشَدُّ تَنكِيلًۭا
Faqaatil fee sabeelil laahi laa tukallafu illa nafsaka wa harridil mu'mineena 'asallaahu ai yakuffa baasallazeena kafaroo; wallaahu ashaddu baasanw wa ashaaddu tanakeelaa
So fight, [O Muhammad], in the cause of Allah; you are not held responsible except for yourself. And encourage the believers [to join you] that perhaps Allah will restrain the [military] might of those who disbelieve. And Allah is greater in might and stronger in [exemplary] punishment.
Themes in this ayah
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4:84Ayah 1176
15 ayahs in An-Nisaa are strongly about striving in Allah's way. This is one of them.
← Previous on Striving in Allah's way4:77Have you not seen those who were told, "Restrain your hands [from fighting] and establish prayer and give zakah"? But then when fighting was ordained for them,Next on Striving in Allah's way →4:89They wish you would disbelieve as they disbelieved so you would be alike. So do not take from among them allies until they emigrate for the cause of Allah.
Tafsir
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So fight O Muhammad (s) in the way of God; you are charged only with yourself so do not be concerned with their failing to join you the meaning being fight even if you are on your own for you have been promised victory. And urge on the believers incite them to fight and make them desire it; maybe God will restrain the might the war of the disbelievers; God is mightier than them and more severe in castigation in punishment than them. And so the Messenger of God s said ‘By Him in Whose Hand is my soul I shall sally forth to fight even if I go alone’. Thereupon he sallied forth with seventy cavalrymen to the first battle at Badr where God restrained the might of the disbelievers by casting terror into their hearts and preventing Abū Sufyān from sallying forth as has already been mentioned in sūrat Āl ‘Imrān Q. 3151.
Related Hadiths
“Whenever he
appointed a man to lead a military detachment, the Messenger of Allah
(ﷺ) would advise him especially to fear Allah and treat the Muslims
with him well. He (ﷺ) said: ‘Fight in the Name of Allah and in
the
cause of Allah. Fight those how disbelieve in Allah. Fight but do
not
be treacherous, do not steal from the spoils of war, do not
mutilate
and do not kill children. When you meet your enemy from
among the
polytheists, call them to one of three things. Whichever of
them they
respond to, accept it from them and refrain from fighting
them. Invite
them to accept Islam, and if they respond then accept it
from them and
refrain from fighting them. Then invite them to leave
their land and
move to the land of the polytheists. Tell them that if
they do that,
then they will have the same rights and duties as the
polytheists. If
they refuse, then tell them that they will be like
the Muslim Bedouins
(who live in the desert), subject to the same
rulings of Allah as the
believers. But they will have no share of
Fay’* or war spoils, unless
they fight alongside the Muslims. If
they refuse to enter Islam, then
ask them to pay the Poll-tax. If
they do that, then accept it from
them and refrain from fighting
them. But if they refuse, then seek the
help of Allah against them
and fight them. If you lay siege to them
and they want you to give
them the protection of Allah and your
Prophet, do not give them the
protection of Allah and your Prophet,
rather give them your
protection and the protection of your father and
your Companions, for
if you violate your protection and the protection
of your fathers,
that is easier than violating the protection of Allah
and the
protection of His Messenger. If you lay siege to them and they
want
you to let them come out with a promise of the judgement of Allah
and
His Messenger (ﷺ), do not offer them a promise of the judgement
of
Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ), rather offer them your judgement,
because you do not know if you will actually pass (the same as)
Allah’s judgement regarding them or not.’”
Another chain reports a similar hadith.
Sulaiman bin Buraidah reported on his father’s authority The Prophet(ﷺ) said “Fight in the name of Allaah and in the path of Allaah and with him who disbelieves in Allaah fight and do not be treacherous and do not be dishonest about boot yand do not deface (in killing) and do not kill a child.”
Messenger of Allah, one man fights fgr the spoils of war; another fights that he may be remembered, and another fights that he may see his (high) position (achieved as a result of his valour in fighting). Which of these is fighting in the cause of God? The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Who fights so that the word of Allah is exalted is fighting in the way of Allah.
“The Messenger of Allah
(ﷺ) sent us in a military detachment and said: ‘Go in the Name of
Allah, and in the cause of Allah. Fight those who disbelieve in
Allah.
Do not mutilate, do not be treacherous, do not steal from the
spoils
of war, and do not kill children.’”
“The Prophet (ﷺ) was asked
about a
man who fights to prove his courage, or out of pride and
honour for
his close relatives, or to show off. The Messenger of Allah
(ﷺ)
said: ‘Whoever fights so that the Word of Allah may be supreme
is
the one who (is fighting) in the cause of Allah.’”
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