{ Oh Prophet! Wage jihad on the Disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be harsh to them; their dwelling is Hell, a miserable fate } Al-tawba 73

Here there are two points: the first is that the word of the Most High { Oh Prophet! Wage jihad on the Disbelievers } is addressed to the Prophet, but his ummah is included after him; the intended meaning is: Wage jihad, by way of the Believers, on the Disbelievers. Ibn ‘Abbas said: He ordered jihad on Disbelievers with the sword and on hypocrites with words, severe rebukes, and coarseness. It is narrated from Ibn Mas’ud, who said: Wage jihad on the hypocrites with your hands, and if you are unable, then with your tongue, and if you are still unable, then give them menacing looks. Al-Hasan said: Wage jihad on the hypocrites by carrying out the prescribed punishments on them, and with words – Qatada held this view – and they were the ones upon whom most punishments were brought. … The second point is the word of the Most High: { And be harsh to them } ; harshness is the opposite of compassion, and this means tightening one’s heart against lifting an order that applies to someone. This is not through words; indeed the Prophet (SAW) said: Whenever a servant girl of one of you adulterates, let him whip her as prescribed, not rebuke her. And along these lines is the word of the Most High: { If you had only had a coarse and harsh heart, they would have disbanded from around you } [Al ‘Imran 159].