From X.

https://selar.com/5nm745

I’ve seen this image a thousand times.
A bunch of Quran verses thrown together… commands to kill, fight the disbelievers, slay the idolaters… all bold and scary.
It keeps making the rounds.

But let me tell you a simple secret:
If you really want to understand any verse in the Quran, especially the war ones, read the 2 verses before it and the 2 verses after it.
That’s how you get clarity. Not by plucking one line out and acting like it speaks for the whole religion.

Let me break this down simply:

1. Why did the Prophet (SAW) fight?
   Not for power, not for land. He fought because his people were tortured, kicked out of their homes, and killed for believing in One God. For 13 years in Makkah, they were patient. They didn’t lift a finger. War only came when they had no other choice. It wasn’t aggression, it was survival.
2. Why do these verses even exist?
   Because war was a reality. The Quran didn’t ignore it, it laid down rules for it. Fight those who fight you. Don’t go beyond limits. Don’t kill innocents. If the enemy wants peace, take it. These verses came in real situations, not as general orders to go kill anyone who doesn’t believe.
3. Always read what’s before and after.
   That so-called “Verse of the Sword” in Surah Tawbah (9:5)? Everyone loves to quote: *“Kill them wherever you find them.”
   But they never read from verse 1. Or verse 6. Or verse 7.
   Those verses were about specific groups who broke treaties and attacked the Muslims first. It wasn’t talking about all non-Muslims. It was war. Real war, not imaginary battles.
4. The war verses are not open instructions for all time.
   They were revealed during specific battles and events. But they teach timeless values, restraint, justice, mercy. The Prophet (SAW) forgave people who killed his family. That’s not someone driven by hate.
5. If Islam was spread by the sword, where’s the sword now?
   Indonesia, Nigeria, the U.S. no Muslim army went there. People accepted Islam through trade, truth, and character. Not by force.
6. And about Hadith, read this carefully.
   Hadith are the recorded sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW). But not every Hadith you see is authentic. Scholars spent centuries verifying them, checking who narrated them, how reliable the chain is, and whether anything sounded off. That’s why Hadith are graded: some are Sahih (authentic), some are Da’if (weak), and some are completely fabricated.
   So before you quote any Hadith, ask: Is it authentic? Who verified it? What do scholars say about it? Don’t just take anything you see in a WhatsApp message or some shady website and assume it’s truth.

So next time someone throws a verse or a Hadith at you and says,
“Look! Your religion is violent!”
Tell them to read properly. Context will kill every lie they’ve built.

Don’t quote the Quran if you’re not ready to read it properly.
And don’t quote Hadith if you don’t even know what it means.