did not have the strength to fight all the unbelievers. When Allah opened up Mecca, hostilities with Quraysh—the leading power among the Arabs—came to an end, and the Arab delegations began arriving to pledge their Islam; at that point Allah commanded him to fight all the disbelievers.

Thus the Prophet’s fighting—peace and blessings be upon him—and that of his Companions was directed only against those who fought them while they were striving to spread Allah’s religion, so that persecution might cease and the religion be wholly for Allah.

Shaykh al-Islam (1), may Allah have mercy on him, said: “Then his successors—Abu Bakr and ʿUmar, together with the Emigrants and the Helpers who are known to have been the most devoted to him, the most obedient to his command, and the most faithful to his covenant—set out against the Romans just as they had against the Persians, and they fought the People of the Book just as they fought the Magians. They fought those who fought them and imposed the jizyah on any who paid it, subdued and compliant.”