Title: Are Muslims directed to Fight and Kill non-Believers? - Al-Nisaa 4: 89 & Al-Taubah 9: 123 Question/Comments: One of the objections raised by Ibn Warraq ( http://www.secularhumanism.org/wtc.htm ) is that in Al-Taubah 9: 123, the Qur'an says that Muslims are directed to fight non-believers, and in Al-Nisaa 4: 89 the Qur'an directs Muslims to kill non-believers. Nexus Answer: Both the referred verses are a part of on-going directives relating to fighting the rejecters of the Messenger of God. As for Al-Taubah 9: 123, it is in continuation of the directives of fighting given in the initial parts of the Surah . I have already clarified in a few of my earlier responses that the directive of fighting entailed in Surah Al-Taubah relates only to the rejecters among the direct addresses of the Messenger of God [1] . This directive, as has been clarified in my earlier responses, is not a part of the Shari`ah (i.e. the Islamic Law), but is actually the implementation of God's law relating to the punishment of the rejecters after the ultimate manifestation of the Truth. These directives are, therefore, not general in their connotation and should not be interpreted as a directive of declaring a war on every non-Muslim. As far as Al-Nisaa 4: 88 - 89 is concerned, it is once again a part of the overall directive of fighting the rejecters of the Prophet (pbuh) and their allies. It was under these circumstances of a general war that was likely to take a vast area of the Arabian Peninsula under its fold that the Qur'an directed all the Muslims living out of Medinah to migrate to Medinah and informed them that only if they did migrate to Medinah, would the Muslim state of Medinah be responsible for their well being. It is, in fact, in this context that the referred verse is placed. It is quite clear that like many of the other verses, the referred verses are also not a general directive to fight the non-Muslims. On the contrary, they are a part of the directives of the Qur'an, relating to the rejecters of the Truth, even after its ultimate manifestation through the Messenger of God. I hope this helps. Regards, Moiz Amjad October 6, 2001 [1] For details, please refer to ' Determining the Addressees of the Qur'anic Verses ' and a subsequent discussion on this question.