193. " and fight with them until there is no (more) persecution,
and the religion is only for allah. but when they desist,
there should be no hostility save against the (willful) aggressors."

commentary:

in this verse, the purpose of the holy war in islam (jihad) is
stated. it says that fighting is not for the sake of ordinary aims that
humankind usually follow in their battles, nor for the sovereignty over
the earth and conquest, nor for earning so much spoils, nor for
preparing some selling markets and obtaining sufficient food stuff, nor
for giving superiority to a group or a race over another group or
race.

the aim of holy struggle is one and only one thing, and that is
the attraction of allah's pleasure which lies in the settlement of social
justice, supporting the persons who have encountered with deceit and
aberration, wiping out the environment of human societies from
infidelity and idolatry, and, finally and particularly, setting the
instructions of allah up in action.

therefore, as it is realized, fighting is for eradication of
persecution among humankind and settling the creed of monotheism in
them throughout the world.

" and fight with them until there is no (more) persecution, and the
religion is only for allah. ..."

and, at the end of the verse, it adds that if they return and leave
out infidelity, corruption and idolatry, muslims should not bother them
to revenge the past. they must ignore the past because opposition and
reciprocal fighting is used only against oppressors when the
circumstances require.

islamic holy war (jihad), in fact, can be divided into three
categories:

1- the preliminary holy wars for freedom
allah has designed some commands and programs for the sake
of happiness, freedom, development, prosperity, and tranquility of man.
he has commissioned his prophets (a.s.) to communicate these
commands to people. now, if a person or a group of people imagine
that this communication is against their personal mean benefits so that
they produce some barriers on the way of prophets' invitation, the
prophets are rightful to remove those barriers from their way and
acquire the freedom of delivering propagation, at first, through a
peaceful way and, if it is not possible, then with the use of violence.

in other words, people of all societies have the right to hearken to
the heralds of truth and be free to accept their invitations. now, if
some persons decide to deprive them of their lawful right and do not let
the call of the heralds of truth reach the ears of their spirits and, as a
result, become free from the bounds of mental and social slavery, the
adherents of these agenda are rightful to employ any means in order to
obtain that freedom. hence, the necessity of preliminary holy wars
(jihad) in islam, as well as other heavenly religions, is made manifest.

also, if some persons bear pressure upon some muslim believers
to invert them to their previous religion, they can apply any means to
remove that pressure.

2- a defensive holy war
it sometimes happens that war is posed to a person or a group of
people, viz, they are unexpectedly invaded or unawarely transgressed by
an enemy. here, all the heavenly laws and human rules consider the
attacked person or group of persons rightful to rise and defend
themselves. alongside this defense, they can use all their potentialities
powerfully and do their best to protect their entity. this kind of
struggle is called defensive holy war. wars such as the battles of ahzab,
'uhud, mutah, tabuk, hunain and some other battles at the advent of
islam are counted among this kind of holy war, which have had
defensive forms.

3- holy war against infidelity & idolatry
at the same time that islam invites the people of the world unto
its call, which is the last and highest godly creed, it respects ` freedom of
belief '. for this reason, it gives the nations who have the heavenly book
an enough respite to study and contemplate over islam and willingly
accept it. if they do not accept it, they will be treated as ` a confederate
minority ', in a peaceful life under some particular conditions, of course,
which are neither complicated nor difficult.

but infidelity and idolatry is neither a religion nor a creed nor is
counted respectful. it is but a kind of superstition, a deviation, and
stupidity. in fact, it is a kind of mental and ethical disease which should
be, with any possible means, rooted out.

the terms ` honour ' and ` respecting others' opinions ' are used in
the cases that those opinions have a safe and sound foundation. but,
sickness, deviation, superstition, and aberration are not some things that
can be counted respectable. that is why islam orders that idolatry be
rooted out from the human societies, however much costly it may be,
even at the cost of fighting. idol-temples and the signs of idolatry, if
not possible peacefully, should be destroyed by force.

why was holy war legislated in medina ?
we know that holy war was enjoined for muslims in the second
year a.h. while it was not compulsory before that.

the reason of this subject is clear because, on one hand, the
number of muslims in mecca was so small that rising practically meant
suicide.

on the other hand, the enemy was quite powerful in mecca, and,
indeed, mecca was counted the main center of anti-islamic powers.
the opponents of islam were so strong there that it was impossible to
fight them inside mecca.

but, when the prophet (p.b.u.h.) entered medina, a great deal of
people believed him, so many that he was able to spread his invitation
clearly inside and outside of medina. he (p.b.u.h.) could form a simple
government and prepare the necessary means for fighting with his
enemies, and since mecca was a rather far distance from medina, he
succeeded to do it with tranquility and peace of mind, and the
revolutionary muslim troops could prepare themselves for fight and
defense against enemies.