The verses (2:191-194) were narrated at a time when Muhammad had just migrated to Medina, where the Quraish had no real interest in him. It was not until he began
raiding their caravans that hostilities resumed. The immediate historical context is that Muhammad was trying to justify his deadly raids during the "sacred months."
Muhammad said that "fitna is worse than killing" (thus distinguishing the two). If by
fitna, he meant ' killing', 'persecution' or 'oppression', then he would have used those words. Instead, he used a word that means 'sedition' and is tied to a lack of belief in Allah as a monotheistic god, since that is the only authority against which the Quraish were rebelling.
This is supported by the rest of the passage. In verse 193, Muhammad said that the fighting is to continue until all worship is for Allah:
And fight them until there is no more Fitnah and worship is for Allah. But if they cease, let there be no transgression except against Az-Zalimun (the polytheists, and wrong-doers, etc.)
A careful reading of verse 193 exposes something else that Discover the Truth is hiding. Even when the "persecution" has passed, believers are still justified in attacking
zalimuna. This word is translated as "wrong-doer" elsewhere in the Quran. It is associated with polytheism (2:92), disbelief (2:254, 9:23), not judging by what Allah revealed in the Quran (5:45) and even Christian worship (3:94, 10:68-69) . So, Muslims are to fight until outward religion is for Allah and even the very lack of belief is stamped out.
Beyond this, Muhammad was laying the groundwork for a conquest of Mecca. Rather than be content with life in Medina (
free of persecution), he ordered his people to "
kill them wherever you find them" (an incredibly reckless statement in any context) and to "
turn them out from where they have turned you" (meaning Mecca). This isn't about fighting in self-defense. It is about marching an army into another city and killing anyone who resists.
The historical progression is that the Muslims proceeded to do exactly that. Once they took charge of Mecca, they gave the residents three months to
convert to Islam or be killed. Freedom of religion has not existed in Arabia since... yet DTT tells us that verse 193 means that "
man is free to follow his religion without getting persecuted, oppressed for their beliefs by tyrants."
The straight-forward interpretation of an apparent command to fight unbelievers (partly on the basis of their unbelief) until religion is for Allah is consistent with the behavior of the Muslim community in the first century following Muhammad's death. Offensive Jihad was waged wherever it could against hapless populations for reasons having only to do with their non-Muslim status. Those who fought back were killed and those who accepted a subjugated state were (generally) allowed to live under Muslim rule until they converted under the burden of dhimmitude.