Misinterpretation of 9:123
O you who believe, fight the disbelievers who are around you and let them
find toughness in you, and know that God is with the reverent.
9:123
9:123
This verse has often been misinterpreted so as to promote war against all non Muslims, for the simple reason that they are not Muslims! Besides the fact that the Quran allows war only in the case of self defence (see 4:90, 8:61 and 2:190), this verse does not speak of war or killing whatsoever. A key word used in 9:123 is "qatilu" (fight). This word is different from the word 'iqtulu' (kill). The word "qatilu" means to oppose, fight and strive against. For example, we read in 63:4, where the subject is those who claimed that God has a son, the words "qatalahum Allah" which mean: God opposes them and not that God holds a weapon and wages war on them!
Fighting can be in numerous way, these include peaceful means as well as military war.
The word "qatilu" is the same as the word "fight" in English.
We can say for example:
The players in my team fight to win every match.
or,
I am fighting against his corrupt ideas.
Neither of the words "fight" in the examples above mean war or killing.
Equally, we can also say:
The army is fighting a bitter war.
In this case it means military fighting
When we look at 9:123 in particular, we find that the word "qatilu" cannot mean war or killing, or else it would immediately violate a number of Quranic verses.
The words in 9:123 say, "qatilu the disbelievers who are around you"
The verse does not give any exceptions of which disbelievers, thus it is talking about all disbelievers who happen to be around us.
To interpret the word "qatilu" in 9:123 to mean kill would directly clash with many verses in which God forbids all aggression against people who have not attacked us. In other words, physical fighting is only allowed in self-defence. The following are some of those verses:
If they should incline to peace, so shall you be inclined, and put your trust in God. He is the Hearer, the Knowledgeable. 8:61
...................... Therefore, if they leave you alone, refrain from fighting you, and offer you peace, then God gives you no claim against them. 4:89-90
You shall fight in the cause of God those who fight you, but do not aggress. God does not like the aggressors. 2:190
The words in 9:123 cannot mean "kill" but only to oppose them and strive against them in non-aggressive ways.