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and did not say, “Fight them until they embrace Islam.”(1)
As for His words, “so that the religion will be Allah’s alone,” this is achieved when the word of Islam prevails and the judgment of Allah and His Messenger holds sway; at that point the religion truly belongs to Allah.
The evidence for this is that when we fight the People of the Book, we fight them so that there will be no persecution and so that all religion belongs to Allah. This objective is realized once they have paid
(1) Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyya writes in his Minhaj (8/509–510): “With regard to these people, one of two things actually occurs: either they engage in combat or they accept Islam. The Almighty did not say: ‘You will fight them or they submit—until they become Muslims,’ nor did He say: ‘Fight them until they accept Islam.’ Instead, He described them as either fighting or embracing Islam. When they are fought, they must be fought in the manner God has prescribed until they pay the jizya in person, humbled.”
He also says in the same work (8/516): “The Exalted One says: ‘When the sacred months are over, kill the idolaters wherever you find them, capture them, besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every vantage point. But if they repent…’ (Q 9:5). He did not say: ‘Fight them until they repent.’”
And in Al-Safadiyya (2/321) he states: “In the year of Hudaybiyya they were commanded to fight those who fought them or to make a treaty with them; later they were commanded to fight those who fought them or who embraced Islam. He did not say ‘or until they accept Islam,’ for that would imply fighting them until they submit, whereas such fighting was not obligatory.”
يَقُلْ: وَقَاتِلُوْهُمْ حَتَّى يُسْلِمُوْا (١).
وقوله: ﴿وَيَكُونَ الدِّينُ لِلَّهِ﴾، وَهَذَا يَحْصُلُ إِذا ظهَرَتْ كَلِمَة الإِسلامِ، وَكَانَ حُكْمُ الله وَرَسوْلِهِ غَالِبًا، فَإِنَّه قَدْ صَارَ الدِّينُ للهِ.
وَيَدُلُّ عَلَى ذَلِكَ: أنَّا إِذَا قَاتَلْنَا أَهْلَ الكِتَاب، فَإِنَّا نُقَاتِلُهُمْ حَتَّى لا تَكُوْنَ فِتْنَةٌ، ويكُوْنَ الدِّينُ كُلُّهُ لله، وَهَذَا المَقْصُوْدُ يَحْصُلُ إَذَا أَدَّوا
(١) قال شيخ الإسلام في منهاجه (٨/ ٥٠٩ - ٥١٠): (وهؤلاء وجد فيهم أحد الأمرين القتال أو الإسلام، وهو سبحانه لم يقل: (تقاتلونهم أو يسلمون) إلى أن يسلموا، ولا قال: (قاتلوهم حتى يسلموا)؛ بل وصفهم بأنهم يقاتلون أو يسلمون، ثم إذا قوتلوا فإنهم يقاتلون كما أمر الله حتى يعطوا الجزية عن يد وهم 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: ﴿فَإِنْ تَابُوا﴾، 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).