DAY 481: Baqarah 190-195

•  Fight in the cause of Allah ˹only˺ against those who wage war against you, but do not exceed the limits. Allah does not like transgressors. Kill them wherever you come upon them and drive them out of the places from which they have driven you out. For persecution is far worse than killing. And do not fight them at the Sacred Mosque unless they attack you there. If they do so, then fight them—that is the reward of the disbelievers. But if they cease, then surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful. Fight against them ˹if they persecute you˺ until there is no more persecution, and ˹your˺ devotion will be to Allah ˹alone˺. If they stop ˹persecuting you˺, let there be no hostility except against the aggressors. ˹There will be retaliation in˺ a sacred month for ˹an offence in˺ a sacred month, and all violations will bring about retaliation. So, if anyone attacks you, retaliate in the same manner. ˹But˺ be mindful of Allah, and know that Allah is with those mindful ˹of Him˺. Spend in the cause of Allah and do not let your own hands throw you into destruction ˹by withholding˺. And do good, for Allah certainly loves the good-doers.
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  After all the foundational teachings — belief, prayer, charity, fasting, patience, righteousness — Allah now addresses the reality of conflict. The early Muslim community in Medina was under constant threat from the Quraysh of Mecca. These verses give clear rules of engagement: fight those who fight you, but do not transgress. They also emphasize that oppression is worse than killing, and that fighting in the sacred months is serious — but preventing people from the path of Allah is even more serious.
  
  The permission to fight is limited and conditional. You are allowed to defend yourself, but you are not allowed to become the aggressor. Even in war, there are lines you cannot cross. The moment you cross them, you are no longer fighting for justice — you are fighting for revenge. And God does not love that.
  
  This verse establishes a hierarchy of evil. Killing is evil. But oppression — forcing people to abandon their conscience, torturing them, driving them from their homes — is worse. Sometimes you have to fight to stop a greater evil. But you do it with limits.
  
  Fight only those who fight you, never transgress, stop when they stop, and know that oppression is worse than killing — the goal is freedom from persecution, not endless war, and in everything, spend generously, do not destroy yourselves, and do good, for God loves those who do good.
  
  
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