فَلَا تُطِعِ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ وَجَٰهِدْهُم بِهِۦ جِهَادًا كَبِيرًا
Commentary:
This verse throws a flood of light on the Islamic conception of jihad which unfortunately has been much misunderstood, alike by the adversaries and the so-called followers of Islam. The great and real jihad, according to this verse, is to preach the Message of the Quran. Thus to strive for the propagation of Islam and the dissemination and diffusion of its teachings is the jihad which the Muslims are enjoined always to carry on with unabated zeal. The jihad with the sword which the Holy Prophet and early Muslims had to wage under their own peculiar circumstances was a passing phase. Those who sought to destroy Islam by the sword themselves perished by the sword. Unless a people wage war against Muslims in order to exterminate Islam, no fight in which Muslims are engaged is called jihad, but to fight in defence of one’s hearth and home is also a very sacred duty and those who are killed in such a fight also die the death of martyrs, according to a saying of the Holy Prophet, viz. من قتل دون ماله و عرضه فھو شھید i.e. he who is killed while defending his property and honour is a martyr (Bukhari Kitabu1-Mazalim wal-Ghasb).
It is worthy of note that this Surah was revealed at Mecca when only a few persons of no high social standing had accepted Islam and even those few individuals were being severely persecuted and the fate of the new Faith itself was hanging in the balance. It was then out of the question even remotely to refer to jihad with the sword. In fact, jihad with the sword was only a side issue of the Prophet’s activities. The Holy Prophet’s real jihad consisted in unceasing fight against the forces of darkness and he waged this jihad with unabated zeal and undiminished vigour as long as he lived and this jihad will continue to be relentlessly waged by his true followers till the end of time, not with the sword but with the Quran. It is to this jihad that the verse under comment refers and it is this jihad to which the Holy Prophet referred when on returning from an expedition he is reported to have said رجعنا من الجھاد الاصغر الی الجھاد الاکبر i.e. we have returned from the smaller jihad to the greater jihad (Raddul-Muhtar). See also 22:40.
The great and real Jihad, according to this verse, is to preach the Message of the Qur’an. Thus to strive for the propagation of Islam and the dissemination and diffusion of its teachings is the Jihad which the Muslims are enjoined always to carry on with unabated zeal. It is this Jihad to which the Holy Prophet referred when, on returning from an expedition, he is reported to have said: "We have returned from the smaller Jihad to the greater Jihad" (Raddul-Mukhtar). See also {1957} and {1958}.