Then He said, “And do not transgress.” Transgression is to overstep the limits; therefore, fighting those who do not fight us is transgression (1), and this is further confirmed by His subsequent words, which show that no excess is permissible.
After that He says, “And slay them wherever you come upon them.” He did not say “fight them,” but rather commanded the killing of any individual from the people of combat wherever he is found, even if he is not part of a resisting faction.
Then He said, “And fight them until there is no fitnah,” and fitnah here means that a Muslim is put to trial concerning his religion.
(1) Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah says in Al-Sarim al-Maslul, 2:513: “Allah declares in His Book: ‘Fight in the path of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress; Allah does not love the transgressors’ (Quran 2:190). He thus enjoined fighting only against those who fight; hence the condition for armed combat is that the opponent be actively engaged in fighting.” He also writes in Al-Siyasah al-Sharʿiyyah, p. 104: “Combat is directed solely at those who fight us when we seek to make Allah’s religion prevail, as He says: ‘Fight in the path of Allah those who fight you, and do not transgress; Allah does not love the transgressors.’”}
ثُمَّ قَالَ: ﴿وَلَا تَعْتَدُوا﴾، والعُدْوَانُ: مُجَاوَزَةُ الحدِّ، فَدَلَّ عَلَى أَنَّ قِتَالَ مَنْ لَمْ يُقَاتِلْنَا عُدْوَانٌ (١)، ويدُلُّ عَلَيهِ قَوْلُهُ بَعْدَ هَذَا، فَدَلَّ عَلَى أنَّه لا يحوز الزِّيَادَة.
وَقُوْلُهُ بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ: ﴿وَاقْتُلُوهُمْ حَيثُ ثَقِفْتُمُوهُمْ﴾، وَلم يَقُلْ: قَاتِلُوْهُمْ، أَمْرٌ بِقَتْلِ مَنْ وُجِدَ مِنْ أَهْلِ القِتَالِ حَيثُ وُجِدَ، وَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ مِنْ طَائِفَةٍ مُمتنِعَةٍ.
ثُمَّ قَالَ: ﴿وَقَاتِلُوهُمْ حَتَّى لَا تَكُونَ فِتْنَةٌ﴾، وَالْفِتنَةُ: أَنْ يُفْتَنَ المُسْلمُ
(١) قال شيخ الإسلام في الصارم المسلول (٢/ ٥١٣): (إن الله ﵎ يقول في كتابه: ﴿وَقَاتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ الَّذِينَ يُقَاتِلُونَكُمْ وَلَا تَعْتَدُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِينَ﴾، فأمر بقتال الذين يقاتلون، فعلم أن شرط القتال كون المقاتل مقاتلًا) وقال في السياسة الشرعية ص (١٠٤): (لأن القتال هو لمن يقاتلنا إذا أردنا إظهار دين الله، كما قال الله تعالى: ﴿وَقَاتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ الَّذِينَ يُقَاتِلُونَكُمْ وَلَا تَعْتَدُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِينَ﴾).