[His saying, Exalted is He: "Then fight the leaders of disbelief"]

[The first aspect]

10020 - Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Maymun al-Iskandarani narrated to us, al-Walid ibn Muslim narrated to us, Safwan ibn 'Amr narrated to us from 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Jubayr ibn Nufayr, that during the reign of Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, when he directed the people toward al-Sham, he said: "You will find a people who have shaved their heads; strike the seats of Satan among them with swords. By Allah, that I should kill a man from among them is more beloved to me than that I should kill seventy from others; and that is because Allah says: 'Then fight the leaders of disbelief.'"

The second aspect:

10021 - Yunus ibn Habib narrated to us, Abu Dawud narrated to us, Shu'bah narrated to us from Abu Bishr, who heard Mujahid reporting from Ibn 'Umar regarding the saying of Allah: "Then fight the leaders of disbelief, for they have no oaths." He said: Abu Sufyan ibn Harb is one of them. Abu Muhammad said: Meaning before he embraced Islam. It was also narrated from Sa'id ibn Jubayr the same.

10022 - My father narrated to us, Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-A'la narrated to us, Muhammad ibn Thawr narrated to us from Ma'mar, who said: Qatadah said: "The leaders of disbelief are Abu Sufyan, Abu Jahl, Umayyah ibn Khalaf, Suhayl ibn 'Amr, and 'Utbah ibn Rabi'ah."

10023 - My father narrated to us, 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Munib narrated to us, Abu Mu'adh al-Nahwi narrated to us from 'Ali ibn Sulayman from al-Dahhak: "Then fight the leaders of disbelief," meaning: the heads of the polytheists from the people of Mecca.

The third aspect:

10024 - Ahmad ibn Sinan narrated to us, Abu Mu'awiyah narrated to us, al-A'mash narrated to us from Zayd ibn Wahb from Hudhayfah, who said: This verse was mentioned in his presence: "Then fight the leaders of disbelief." He said: "The people of this verse have not been fought yet."

The fourth aspect:

10025 - Muhammad ibn Sa'd al-'Awfi informed me—in what he wrote to me—, my father narrated to us, my uncle al-Husayn narrated to us from his father from his grandfather from Ibn 'Abbas: "Then fight the leaders of disbelief," meaning: the people of the treaty from among the polytheists; He named them the leaders of disbelief."