سورة الأنفال

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn Muslim said: I said to Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): "What is the interpretation of this word of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: وَقَاتِلُوهُمْ حَتَّی لاَ تَکُونَ فِتْنَةٌ وَیَکُونَ الدِّینُ کُلُّهُ لِلهِ [And fight them until there is no persecution and religion is wholly for Allah]?" He said: "The interpretation (ta'wil) of this verse has not yet come. Indeed, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) granted them a concession because of his need and his companions' need; and if its interpretation had come, he would not have accepted it from them. But they will be killed until Allah the Mighty and Majestic is affirmed as One and until no polytheism remains."

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ قاتِلُوهُمْ حَتَّی لا تَکُونَ فِتْنَةٌ [And fight them until there is no persecution] — that is, until disbelief is uprooted; and this verse abrogates (removes the ruling of) the verse: "Withhold your hands from fighting" (al-Nisa/77), and the verse: "And pay no heed to their harms" (al-Ahzab/48).

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): The Master of this Affair will not accept jizyah as the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) accepted it, and this is the meaning of Allah's word: وَ قاتِلُوهُمْ حَتَّی لا تَکُونَ فِتْنَةٌ وَ یَکُونَ الدِّینُ کُلُّهُ لِلهِ [And fight them until there is no persecution and religion is wholly for Allah]. Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said: "By Allah! They will fight until the tawhid of Allah is established and none is associated with Him, and until a weak old woman who wishes to travel from the East of the world to the West of the world — no one will trouble her. Allah will bring forth from the earth its produce and will send down rain from the sky; and people will carry their tribute (kharaj) on their backs and bring it into the service of Imam Mahdi (may Allah hasten his noble relief)."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Mufaddal ibn Umar said: I asked my master Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): ... what is the interpretation of this verse: وَ قاتِلُوهُمْ حَتَّی لا تَکُونَ فِتْنَةٌ وَ یَکُونَ الدِّینُ کُلُّهُ لِلهِ [And fight them until there is no persecution and religion is wholly for Allah]? He said: O Mufaddal, by Allah! He will remove the differences from among nations and religions, and all religions will become one, as Allah has said: إِنَّ الدِّینَ عِنْدَ اللهِ الْإِسْلامُ [Indeed, the religion with Allah is Islam].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Mufaddal said: I asked my master Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): ... "O my master! What is the interpretation of the verse: تا آن را بر همه‌ی آیین‌ها غالب گرداند، هرچند مشرکان کراهت داشته باشند [that He may make it prevail over all religions, however much the polytheists may be averse] (Tawbah/33)? The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), at the time he was raised up, did not prevail over all the false religions [so how does Allah say: 'He will prevail over all religions at the time of the raj'a (return)']?" He said: "O Mufaddal! If the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) had prevailed over all religions after his being sent, there would no longer have been any Zoroastrian, nor Jew, nor Sabian, nor Christian, nor any division, disagreement, doubt, polytheism, idol-worship, worship of statues, of Lat and Uzza, nor worship of the sun, moon, stars, fire, or stones. So لِیُظْهِرَهُ عَلَی الدِّینِ کُلِّهِ [that He may make it prevail over all religions] — its interpretation is for this day. This is the Mahdi (may Allah hasten his noble relief) and this is the raj'a (return), which is [the meaning of] Allah's saying: وَ قاتِلُوهُمْ حَتَّی لا تَکُونَ فِتْنَةٌ وَ یَکُونَ الدِّینُ کُلُّهُ لِلهِ [And fight them until there is no fitna and the religion is wholly for Allah]."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): My father was asked about this saying of Allah, the Blessed and Exalted: ... وَ قاتِلُوهُمْ حَتَّی لا تَکُونَ فِتْنَةٌ وَ یَکُونَ الدِّینُ کُلُّهُ لِلهِ [And fight them until there is no fitna and the religion is wholly for Allah]. He said: "Indeed, the interpretation of this verse has not yet come. And when our Qaim (may Allah hasten his noble relief) rises after this, whoever lives to see his time will see in whom the interpretation of this verse will be realized. And the religion of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) will certainly reach as far as the night reaches [to the morning and the light], so that — just as Allah has said — no polytheism will remain upon the face of the earth."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Basir said: I heard Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) say: "All the ghaybat (occultations) of the prophets (peace be upon them) are running in the life of our Qaim (may Allah hasten his noble relief) from the Ahl al-Bayt, exactly matching, sandal to sandal and feather to feather." I said: "O son of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! Who is the Qaim from you, the Ahl al-Bayt?" He said: "O Abu Basir! He is the fifth from the descendants of my son Musa (Imam Kazim, peace be upon him), and he is the son of the mistress of the handmaidens of the world. His occultation will be so prolonged that the people of falsehood will fall into doubt. Then Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, will make him appear, and by his hands He will conquer the east and the west of the world, and Isa ibn Maryam (peace be upon him) will descend from the sky and pray behind him. The earth will be illuminated with the light of Allah, and no place will remain on the earth where anyone other than Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, is worshipped — all religions will vanish and only the religion of Allah will remain."

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): حَتَّی لا تَکُونَ فِتْنَةٌ [until there is no fitna]; that is, until polytheism and idol-worship are wiped out.