[Clarifying the meaning of “transgression” and showing that it is not abrogated]

The second sub-opinion is that what was abrogated from the verse is the phrase, “and do not transgress.”

Those who hold this view explain the “transgression” in two ways:

1. That it means killing those who do not fight.
2. That it means initiating combat against the polytheists; and, they claim, this was later abrogated by the Verse of the Sword.

He said (1): The second position is that the verse remains in force. According to the proponents of this view, its meaning is, “Fight in the path of Allah those who fight you,” namely, those who have readied themselves for battle.

As for people who have not prepared themselves for fighting—such as monks, very elderly men, the chronically infirm, the blind, and the insane—they are not to be fought. This ruling endures and has not been abrogated.