{ Let not those who have disbelieved reckon that they have gotten away; indeed they can not frustrate. Prepare for them whatever you are able of force and tethers of steeds, so that you can terrify Allah’s enemy and your enemy with it, as well as others besides them that you do not know but that Allah knows; and anything you spend in the cause of Allah will be paid back to you, and you will not be oppressed. But if they incline to peace, then incline to it; and rely on Allah, indeed He is the one who hears, the one who knows } Al-anfal 59-61

Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) related that this verse is abrogated by the word of the Most High: { Fight those who do not believe in Allah } , and according to Mujahid, by His word: { Kill the Idolaters wherever you find them } . The correct view is that the issue depends on what the leader [imam] finds of benefit to Islam and its people between either war or peace; there is no obligation to either always fight or to always make a way towards peace.