Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 190 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:190

وَقَـٰتِلُوا۟ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلَّذِينَ يُقَـٰتِلُونَكُمْ وَلَا تَعْتَدُوٓا۟ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُعْتَدِينَ

“Fight in the way of Allāh those who fight against you but do not transgress. Indeed, Allāh does not like transgressors.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The first permission to fight came with its brake attached: fight those who fight you, and do not transgress, for Allah does not love transgressors.

A reflection

The brake in the same breath

A self-defence instructor begins every new class with the same sentence. 'The aim is to stop the threat and get away, not to punish anyone. The moment he stops, you stop.' Only then does she teach the first move.

The ayah is built the same way. 'Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you, and do not transgress. Allah does not love transgressors'. The permission and the limit arrive in a single sentence. There is no gap between them for anger to fill.

The word for transgress, taʿtadū, has a picture in its root. The lexicons describe a horse at full stretch, running past every marker it should have stopped at. Transgression is not fighting itself. It is the run that does not stop.

The commentators spell out what that run looks like. Mutilating the dead. Stealing from the spoils. Killing women, children, the old who take no part, and monks in their cells. Burning trees and killing animals for no purpose. Starting the fighting. Attacking those with whom you have a treaty.

The Prophet's ﷺ own words to his armies match the list. Sahih Muslim records his instructions: do not steal from the spoils, do not betray, do not mutilate, do not kill a child. Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim report that a woman was once found killed after a battle. He condemned the killing of women and children.

The ayah closes with the strongest deterrent a believer can hear. Not 'you will be punished', but 'Allah does not love'. Even in a just cause, the one who runs past the markers loses the very love he was fighting for.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.