وَإِنْ عَاقَبْتُمْ فَعَاقِبُوا۟ بِمِثْلِ مَا عُوقِبْتُم بِهِۦ ۖ وَلَئِن صَبَرْتُمْ لَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لِّلصَّٰبِرِينَ
42:41.
42:44.
Commentary:
In this verse Muslims are told that when they preach Islam to other nations, the latter, instead of listening to them, will persecute and wage war against them. In such a contingency Muslims will have to take up arms in self-defence. But even when fighting in self-defence, they are not to exceed legitimate bounds, but punish the enemy only to the extent to which he has oppressed them. The word used here which implies the permission to fight and retaliate in self-defence is عاقبوا (punish). The root-meaning of this word is "to follow". The use of this word thus shows that Muslims can only fight in self-defence. jihad connotes fighting only in self-defence i.e. only after Muslims have been wantonly attacked. The Quran has taken care to explain the necessary conditions and limitations of jihad before permitting it.