﴿ وَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ فِى قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَضٌۭ فَزَادَتْهُمْ رِجْسًا إِلَىٰ رِجْسِهِمْ وَمَاتُوا۟ وَهُمْ كَٰفِرُونَ ﴾

“But as for those in whose hearts is disease, each new message but adds another [element of] disbelief to the disbelief which they already harbour, and they die while [still] refusing to acknowledge the truth.”

‘Fight against those deniers of the truth who are near you.’ These words indicate that the Islamic struggle is not an unplanned effort, but that order has to be kept in view in it. First, efforts would be made to overcome nearby obstacles and thereafter distant impediments would be tackled. From this, it is deduced that the very first struggle should be undertaken with a man’s own ‘self’, because the thing nearest to a man is his ‘self’; anything outside this focus would come later. Then, again, the foremost thing required in relation to the aggressors is firmness of a kind to instill a deterrent fear in the them: ‘If this happens it will create fear in their hearts.’ (Tafsir Jassas). Moreover, it is necessary that all action against aggressors should be carried out in fear of God (taqwa). It is only such action which guarantees God’s help to believers. The moment they lose their fear of God, they will be deprived of God’s help; they will be far away from God and God will be far away from them. Fear of God is a meeting point between God and His subject. When a man fears God, he brings himself to the point where God wants to see him; to which God had called him. Under these circumstances, it is only such fear which can take a man closer to God.