22 Preface فَهَل عَسَيتُم إِن تَوَلَّيتُم أَن تُفسِدوا فِي الأَرضِ وَتُقَطِّعوا أَرحامَكُمYusuf AliThen, is it1 to be expected of you, if ye were put in authority, that ye will do mischief in the land, and break your ties of kith and kin?It is no use to say, as the Quraish said, that it is not seemly to fight against kith and kin. From one point of view the stand against sin brings “not peace, but a sword”. It is a case of either subduing evil or being subdued by evil. If evil gets the upper hand, it is not likely to respect ties of kith and kin. It did not in the case of the Prophet and his adherents, and had to be suppressed, to bring about the conditions necessary for peace.