﴿ فَإِنِ ٱنتَهَوْا۟ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۭ ﴾

“But if they desist-behold, God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.”

The Quranic exhortation to do battle against religious persecution (fitnah) has been explained by ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar, a senior companion of the Prophet. He said that this verse referred to the coercive religious system that prevailed in the ancient world. (Fathul Bari, vol. 8, p. 60). Temporary in nature, the war against fitnah was thus one of limited duration, meant to be engaged in only until its specific purpose had been served. In the wake of the Islamic revolution, religious persecution was replaced by intellectual freedom. As ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar said, they had already put an end to fitnah, therefore, except in cases where self-defence had become inevitable, the Quran did not give permission for violence.