61.4 – God loves those who fight in His way
The Quran contains twenty-two statements about the kinds of people whom Allah loves.
When the Quran describes Allah’s beloved as fighting “in his way ( sabīl ),” it makes a theological claim by associating Allah with human fighting – especially in this verse. This is a good example of a verse for which the generic “God” seems quite inadequate as an English translation for the quranic “Allah.” The New Testament strongly opposes the idea that human fighting is God’s way. See the analysis of the expression “to fight in Allah’s way” at 73.20.

61.4 – God loves those who fight in His way
The Quran contains twenty-two statements about the kinds of people whom Allah loves.
When the Quran describes Allah’s beloved as fighting “in his way (sabīl),” it makes a theological claim by associating Allah with human fighting – especially in this verse. This is a good example of a verse for which the generic “God” seems quite inadequate as an English translation for the quranic “Allah.” The New Testament strongly opposes the idea that human fighting is God’s way. See the analysis of the expression “to fight in Allah’s way” at 73.20.