threat to its security: a view which has been shared by that great Islamic thinker, Muhammad Abduh. Commenting on this verse, he declared:
القتال الواجب في الإسلام إنما شرع للدفاع عن الحق وأهله… إن غزوات النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم كانت كلها دفاعا وكذلك حروب الصحابة في الصدر الأول
“Fighting has been made obligatory in Islam only for the sake of defending the truth and its followers… All the campaigns of the Prophet were defensive in character and so were the wars undertaken by the companions in the earliest period of Islam.”
Source: Message of the Quran 9:29
We conclude that verse 9:29 does not permit aggression against peaceful nations. Rather, it must be read within the context in which it was revealed and in combination with the Quran and authentic traditions as a whole.
