Al-Fath (The Victory)

16. Say unto the Bedouin who lagged behind: “You shall be called [soon] to fight against a people given to great warfare, then you shall fight them, or they shall convert to Islam. Then if you obey [and embrace the Prophetic Call], Allah will give you a fair reward; but if you turn away as you did turn away before, He will chastise you with a painful torment.”

We are supposed to leave the path of return open to defectors without depriving them of the same for good. Muslims are supposed to possess such military means and might that they be able to defeat their mighty enemies and make them surrender;

“You shall be called [soon] to fight against a people given to great warfare, then you shall fight them, or they shall convert to Islam.”

People reveal their inward secrets, sincerity, and hypocrisy in battleground.

In this blessed Verse, God Almighty says unto His Messenger (S):

“O Muhammad (S)! Say unto those Arabs who disobeyed the Messenger’s (S) command and failed to accompany believers at Hudaybiyya and then offered their apologies and intended to participate at the battle of Khaybar with believers in order to have a share of spoils. “You shall be called [soon] to fight against a mighty and bold. You need to confront them in battle so that they convert to the Islamic faith or surrender. If you Arabs obey Divine Commands and fight for Allah’s cause, He will grant you fair reward, but if you turn away from departing for Mecca, as you did earlier, you will be chastised by God Almighty with excruciating torment. Now, who were these mighty warriors referred to in the blessed Verse in question?”

The sentence:

“You shall fight them or they shall convert to Islam”

demonstrates that they were not people of the Book, since they could not be required to embrace the Islamic faith as they are free to choose between conversion to the Islamic faith or recognition of the conditions of paying tribute to the Islamic state and living under the protection of Islamic rule through peaceful coexistence with Muslims.

Only polytheists and idolaters have to convert to the Islamic faith, since Islam does not recognize idolatry as a religion and it is permitted to force idolaters to forgo idolatry.