This article is about the oft-quoted, or rather misquoted, Surah 9:5 verse of the Quran, which is claimed to call upon "all" Muslims to kill "all" non-Muslims or the so-called "Infidels".

Muslims are often questioned, "Did not Muhammad call on all Muslims to kill the infidels?" The answer is absolutely not!
 

Then, we are asked another question: "Why then does the Quran say, "fight and slay the pagans (or infidels or unbelievers) wherever you find them?" (9:5).

There are two interrelated answers to that question. The first is historical. The second is related to the nature of the Quran itself. 

by Dr. M. Amir Ali, Ph.D.

In the linguistic sense, the Arabic word "jihad" means struggling or striving and applies to any effort exerted by anyone. In this sense a student struggles and strives to get an education and pass course work; an employee strives to fulfill his/her job and maintain good relations with his/her employer; a politician strives to maintain or increase his popularity with his constituents and so on. The term strive or struggle may be used for/by Muslims as well non-Muslims; for example, Allah, One and Only True God says in the Qur'an:

"We have enjoined on people kindness to parents; but if they strive (jahadaka) to make you ascribe partners with Me that of which you have no knowledge, then obey them not..." 29:8, also see 31:15.

In the above two verses of the Qur'an, it is non-Muslim parents who strive (jahada) to convert their Muslim child back to their religion.

I would very briefly try to explain some of the important points that need to be considered while determining the nature of the directive entailed in the referred verses of the Quran. Please keep in mind that the referred verses are a part of Surah Al-Taubah, which in turn has its own particular placement in the Quran  being preceded by Surah Al-An`aam , Al-A`raaf and Al-Anfaal. A thorough understanding of Surah Al-Taubah will obviously require an in-depth understanding of the preceding Surahs as well, as they serve as the premises on which the directives in Surah Al-Taubah are given. However, to avoid extra-ordinarily lengthy details, I shall, presently, restrict the scope of my analysis only to the evidences that are internal to Surah Al-Taubah . In case any question remains unanswered, we can then take up the analysis of the whole group of Surahs , beginning from Al-An`aam and ending at Al-Taubah .

Among the erroneous notions aimed at stifling the spirit of Jihad in this Ummah is the idea of 'greater' and 'lesser' Jihads. According to this belief, striving against desires of the self is considered the Greater Jihad, which makes the Jihad of the battlefield the Lesser Jihad. This idea is based upon a story mentioned by Al-Khatib Al-Baghdadi in his book, The History of Baghdad, by way of Yahya ibn al 'Ala', who said,

This concept, despite the fact that it is based on a hadeeth, can be refuted from several aspects, of which we shall mention the following.