Is this āyah abrogated?

Imām Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597/1201) summarized the scholars' opinions in his book "Zād al-Masīr" as follows:

1. It is definitive (muḥkam) and abrogates the command to refrain from fighting the polytheists.
2. It is abrogated because it mandated fighting for all, and this was later abrogated by the verse: "It is not for the believers to go forth [to battle] all at once." (Al-Tawbah: 122).
3. It is both abrogating in one aspect and abrogated in another. Those who said this explained that the rulings related to fighting passed through three stages:

• First: prohibition of fighting, as in the verse: "Have you not seen those who were told, 'Restrain your hands'?" (4:77).
• Second: the command for everyone to fight, as in the verse: "Go forth, whether light or heavy" (9:41), and this verse is an example of it.
• Third: making fighting an obligation only on some people (farḍ kifāyah), as in the verse: "It is not for the believers to go forth [to battle] all at once." (9:122). Thus, the verse abrogates the prohibition against fighting but it is abrogated in respect to the obligation upon all to fight.