How should we understand verse 89 (…slay them wherever ye find them…) of the chapter of an-Nisa?
A Brief Description of the Question:
How should we understand verse 89 (…slay them wherever ye find them…) of the chapter of an-Nisa?
The Answer:
"They but wish that ye should reject Faith as they do, and thus be on the same footing (as they): so take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah (from what is forbidden). But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or helpers from their ranks."(an-Nisa, 4/89)
The hypocrites (munafiqs) came to Madinah from Makkah and stayed with the Prophet (pbuh) for a few days. Then, they repented for coming and said to one another, «Let us ask permission from Muhammad, return to Makkah and follow our ancestors' religion.» They said to the Prophet, «O Messenger of Allah! The climate of Madinah is not good for us. Allow us to go to Makkah and we will practice our religion there.» The Prophet (pbuh) accepted their request and gave them permission.
Those munafiqs, who left the Prophet in Madinah, went to Makkah, united with the polytheists and declared that they became unbelievers. Then, they started to do business with the polytheists. Once, those munafiqs set off to go to Damascus for business. The Muslims found out about the situation and waylaid them. They grabbed the property of the munafiqs and wanted to kill them because they were unbelievers. However, some of the Muslims wanted to prevent them from being killed. They did not know that those munafiqs had exited Islam and had become unbelievers; therefore, they defended those munafiqs. However, the other Muslims had learned that they had exited Islam. Therefore, they wanted to grab their property and kill them.
Thus, the Muslims were divided into two about what to do to the munafiqs. Allah sent down the following verse in order to inform the Muslims about their hypocrisy and unbelief:
"Why should ye be divided into two parties about the Hypocrites? Allah hath upset them for their (evil) deeds. Would ye guide those whom Allah hath thrown out of the Way? For those whom Allah hath thrown out of the Way, never shalt thou find the Way."(an-Nisa, 4/88)
Nobody can guide those whom Allah has thrown out of the way. Only Allah can guide them. It is stated in the verse that those who insist on unbelief cannot find guidance but that those who abandon unbelief and accept the truth will attain guidance.
Look at the verse regarding the issue and see what Allah says:
"They but wish that ye should reject Faith as they do, and thus be on the same footing (as they): so take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah (from what is forbidden). But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or helpers from their ranks."
Unbelievers want Muslims to go astray and become unbelievers like them. Unbelievers never want people to become Muslims. They want them to remain in unbelief like them and they do their best to keep them as unbelievers. A poor person wants others to be poor like himself; similarly, unbelievers want Muslims to be poor in terms of deed like themselves. Allah forbids believers from being friends with unbelievers in this verse along with several other verses. He orders believers to fight unbelievers and not to be friends with them until they abandon unbelief and accept the belief of oneness. The order not to be friends with unbeliever is clear. Allah forbids friendship with unbelievers because it is of no use to Muslims. For, unbelievers have always harmed Muslims. There are a lot of examples of it in history.
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