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He was only commanded to kill them, seize them, and lay siege to them because they were polytheists who belonged to the ranks of those who fight; and had they found the means to corrupt the religion and its followers, they would certainly have done so.
—and the narrative continues until the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
“= and they shall be humbled.” He also says in the same passage (8/516): “Concerning the divine words: fa-idha insalakha al-ashhur al-hurum fa-qtulu al-mushrikin haythu wajadtumuhum wakhudhuhum wahsuruhum waqʿudu lahum kulla marsad (When the sacred months have elapsed, slay the polytheists wherever you find them, seize them, besiege them and lie in wait for them at every ambush). Then God says: fa-in tabu (but if they repent), and He does not say: qatiluhum hatta yatubu (fight them until they repent).” He further states in al-Safadiyya (2/321): “In the year of Hudaybiyya they were instructed to fight only those who fought them or violated a pact. Later they were commanded to fight those who fought them or accepted Islam. Yet He did not add ‘or accept Islam’, for that would make the sense ‘until they accept Islam’, and fighting is not obligatory up to that point.”
وَإِنَّمَا أَمَرَ بِقَتْلِهِمْ وَأَخْذِهِمْ وَحَصرِهِمْ؛ لأَنَّهُمْ مُشْرِكُونَ مِنْ أَهْلِ القِتَال، وَلَو قَدِرُوا عَلَى فَسَادِ الدِّينِ وَأَهْلِهِ لَفَعَلُوا ذَلِكَ.
إلى أن قال ﵀:
= صاغرون)، وقال أيضًا في الموضع السابق (٨/ ٥١٦): (وقوله تعالى: ﴿فَإِذَا انْسَلَخَ الْأَشْهُرُ الْحُرُمُ فَاقْتُلُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ حَيثُ وَجَدْتُمُوهُمْ وَخُذُوهُمْ وَاحْصُرُوهُمْ وَاقْعُدُوا لَهُمْ كُلَّ مَرْصَدٍ﴾. وقال: (فإن تابوا)، ولم يقل: قاتلوهم حتى يتوبوا). وقال أيضًا في الصفدية (٢/ ٣٢١): (وكانوا قد دعوا عام الحديبية إلى قتال من يقاتل أو يعاهد، وبعد ذلك يدعون إلى قتال من يقاتلون أو يسلمون، ولم يقل أو يسلموا، فإنه كان يكون المعنى حتى يسلموا، وقتالهم لا يجب إلى هذه الغاية).