The Quran

Preface

وَما لَكُم لا تُقاتِلونَ في سَبيلِ اللَّهِ وَالمُستَضعَفينَ مِنَ الرِّجالِ وَالنِّساءِ وَالوِلدانِ الَّذينَ يَقولونَ رَبَّنا أَخرِجنا مِن هٰذِهِ القَريَةِ الظّالِمِ أَهلُها وَاجعَل لَنا مِن لَدُنكَ وَلِيًّا وَاجعَل لَنا مِن لَدُنكَ نَصيرًا

Yusuf Ali

And why should ye not fight in the cause of God and of those who, being weak,¹ are ill-treated (and oppressed)?- Men, women, and children, whose cry is: “Our Lord! Rescue us from this town, whose people are oppressors; and raise for us from thee one who will protect; and raise for us from thee one who will help!”²

Mustad'af=one reckoned weak, and therefore ill-treated and oppressed. (Cf. 4:98, 4:127 and 7:150).
Even from the human point of view the cause of God is the cause of justice, the cause of the oppressed. In the great persecution, before Mecca was won again, what sorrows, threats, tortures, and oppressions, were suffered by those whose faith was unshaken? Muḥammad’s life and that of his adherents was threatened: they were mocked, assaulted, insulted and beaten; those within the power of the enemy were put into chains and cast into prison: others were boycotted, and shut out of trade, business, and social intercourse; they could not even buy the food they wanted, or perform their religious duties. The persecution was redoubled for the believing slaves, women, and children after the Hijrat. Their cry for a protector and helper from God was answered when Muḥammad, the Chosen One, brought freedom and peace to Mecca again.