101 – Furthermore, when Allah is with them1 He grants them victory and strengthens them against their enemy; fulfilling the command thus becomes easier, and the very aim of jihad is thereby realized.
102 – Moreover, at the beginning of the verse He says, “Spend in the way of Allah,” while at its end He says, “and do good, for Allah loves the doers of good” (Al-Baqarah 2:195).
Withholding wealth and miserliness constitute ruin
103 – This is confirmed by the report of Abu Ayyub, who said that refraining from spending one’s wealth in Allah’s cause and becoming preoccupied with it is what the verse means by “casting oneself into destruction.”
104 – Abu Ayyub also informed us that the verse was revealed about this matter; he did not speak from personal opinion. This is one of his two narrations from the Prophet ﷺ, and it is evidence that must be followed.
Among the causes of ruin and destruction
105 – Likewise, ruin and destruction come about only by abandoning what Allah has commanded or by committing what He has forbidden.
(1) Reflect on Shaykh al-Islam’s forceful warning against overstepping the limits in jihad: human souls may fail to stop at the boundaries laid down by God, and this contradicts taqwa (God-fearing piety). Such excess is enough to forfeit God’s support. How far this is from the conduct of those who traffic in blood, attacking peaceful people under the banner of jihad fi sabil Allah, thereby disfiguring the image of Islam and the Muslims! Allah is sufficient for us, and He is the best guardian.
Ibn Abbas commented on the divine statement, “Do not transgress” (Q 2:190): “Do not kill women, children, or the very old.” This is exactly what the Prophet ﷺ emphasized in his instructions to military commanders. Ibn Taymiyya writes: “Anyone who is not among those capable of resistance or combat—such as women, children, monks, the elderly, the infirm, and the like—may not be killed according to the majority of scholars, unless he fights by deed or by word” (al-Siyasah al-sharʿiyyah, pp. 127–128). See also al-Mubdiʿ by Ibn Muflih, 3:322–323.