Fighting in the way of Allah: it is jihad to elevate the word of Allah and to honor the religion. Those who fight you are those who engage you in combat, not those who refrain. Based on this, it is abrogated by His saying: (And fight the polytheists all together). And from Al-Rabi' ibn Anas, may Allah be pleased with him: this is the first verse revealed concerning fighting in Medina. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, would fight those who fought and refrain from those who refrained.

Or those who oppose you in fighting, excluding those who are not of the opposing party, such as the elderly, children, monks, and women. Or all the disbelievers, because they are all opposed to the Muslims, intending to fight them. They are considered in the category of fighters, whether they fight or not. It was said that when the polytheists prevented the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, in the year of Hudaybiyyah and made a treaty with him to return the following year, allowing him to have Mecca for three days, he returned for the Umrah of Qada. The Muslims feared that Quraysh would not fulfill their promise and would prevent them and fight them in the sacred sanctuary and in the sacred month, which they disliked. This was revealed and it permitted them to fight those who fight them among them in the sacred sanctuary and in the sacred month, and lifted the burden from them in that. And do not transgress by initiating combat or by fighting those whom you were forbidden to fight, such as women, the elderly, children, and those with whom you have a covenant, or by mutilation or by surprise without invitation, wherever you find them, whether in a sacred or non-sacred place.

And 'thaqaf' means to seize and dominate. From it: a quick-witted man, one who swiftly grasps his peers. He said:

So if you catch me, then kill me... For whoever catches me is not destined for eternity. [The word 'if' here is the conditional 'an' with its noon assimilated into the extra 'ma' for emphasis on generality. 'Thaqaf' means to grasp and hold. From it is 'thaqaf,' which is the tool that grips spears to straighten them. He says: If you catch me at any time and overpower me, then kill me, for whoever among you catches me is not answered or destined for eternity, but must be killed. This indicates seriousness in fighting and cutting off hopes of reconciliation.]

From where they expelled you, meaning from Mecca. And the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, acted against those who did not accept Islam among them on the day of the conquest. And the trial is more severe than killing, meaning the affliction and calamity that befalls a person, which is more painful than killing. It was said to some wise men: What is worse than death? They said: That which one wishes for death. Being expelled from one’s homeland is one of the trials and tribulations that one wishes for death at. From it is the saying:

Killing by the edge of the sword is easier in occurrence... for the soul than killing by separation. [He says: By Allah, killing by the sword is easier on the soul than killing by separation. He likens it to the sword metaphorically, and attributing the edge to it is imaginative, and the beauty of the metaphor is akin to what preceded it.]

And it was said that (the trial) is the punishment of the Hereafter (Taste your trial). And it was said: Polytheism is greater than killing in the sacred sanctuary, for they used to consider killing in the sacred sanctuary a grave matter and reproach the Muslims for it. It was said: And the polytheism they are upon is more severe and greater than what they consider grave. It may be intended: And their trial of you by preventing you from the Sacred Mosque is more severe than your killing of them in the sacred sanctuary, or than their killing of you if they kill you, so do not be concerned about fighting them. And it was read: And do not kill them until they kill you, for if they kill you: the occurrence of killing among them is like its occurrence among you. It is said: You killed us, the sons of so-and-so. And he said: If you kill us, we will kill you. If they refrain from polytheism and fighting, as in His saying: (If they cease, they will be forgiven for what has passed).

So that there is no fitnah, meaning shirk, and the religion is for Allah alone, pure, with no share for the devil in it. If they cease from shirk, then there is no aggression except against the wrongdoers. So do not transgress against those who have ceased, for fighting those who have ceased is aggression and injustice. Thus, the phrase: 'except against the wrongdoers' is placed in the position of 'against those who have ceased.' Or do not wrong except the wrongdoers who have not ceased. The punishment of the wrongdoers is called injustice for the sake of similarity, as in the saying of Allah, the Most High: 'So whoever transgresses against you, then transgress against him.' Or it is intended that if you attack them after they have ceased, you would be wrongdoers, and He will unleash upon you one who transgresses against you.