His saying, exalted and majestic is He, ﴿There is no compulsion in religion. The right course has become distinct from the wrong. So whoever renounces [the false gods] and believes in Allah has certainly grasped the firmest handhold, which will never break. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing.﴾

Religion in this verse means belief and creed, as indicated by His saying: ﴿The right course has become distinct from the wrong.﴾ The compulsion mentioned in rulings regarding oaths, sales, gifts, and other matters is not its place here. Rather, it will come in the interpretation of His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Except for one who is forced while his heart is secure in faith.﴾ [An-Nahl: 106] So if it is established that the negation of compulsion here pertains to the interpretation of belief from the sects and denominations, then people have differed in the meaning of the verse.

Az-Zuhri said: "I asked Zayd ibn Aslam about His saying, exalted is He: ﴿There is no compulsion in religion.﴾ He said: The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was in Makkah for ten years, not compelling anyone in religion. The polytheists insisted on fighting him, so Allah permitted him to fight them, and He granted him permission." Al-Tabari said: The verse is abrogated in this saying.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: It follows from this that the verse is Makki, and that it is from the verses of truce that were abrogated by the verse of the sword.

Qatadah and Al-Dahhak ibn Muzahim said: This verse is a definitive ruling specific to the People of the Book who pay the jizyah and give it willingly. They said: "The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was commanded to fight the Arabs, the people of idols, and he would accept from them nothing except 'There is no god but Allah' or the sword. Then he was commanded regarding others to accept the jizyah, and the verse ﴿There is no compulsion in religion.﴾ was revealed concerning them."

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: According to the school of Malik, the jizyah is accepted from every disbeliever except Quraysh, of any type. Thus, the verse applies specifically to those who give the jizyah from all people, and it does not stop at the People of the Book, as Qatadah and Al-Dahhak said.

Ibn Abbas and Sa'id ibn Jubair said: This verse was revealed concerning a group from the Aws and Khazraj. A woman would be barren, and she would make a vow upon herself - if she bore a child - to raise him as a Jew. There were some among the Banu Nadir who were like this. When the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, expelled the Banu Nadir, the Ansar said: What should we do about our children? We only did what we did while we believed that their religion was better than what we are upon. But now that Allah has brought Islam, should we force them to follow it? Then the verse was revealed: "There is no compulsion in religion." This saying was also supported by 'Amir al-Sha'bi, Mujahid, and al-Hasan, except that he said: The reason for their being with the Banu Nadir was due to suckling. Al-Suddi said: The verse was revealed concerning a man from the Ansar named Abu Hashin. He had two sons. Traders from Sham came to Medina carrying oil. When they wanted to return, the sons of Abu Hashin went to them and invited them to Christianity, and they converted and went with them to Sham. Their father came to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, complaining about them and desiring that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, send someone to bring them back. Then the verse was revealed: "There is no compulsion in religion," and he was not commanded on that day to fight the People of the Book. He said: May Allah distance them; they were the first to disbelieve. Abu Hashin found in himself against the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, when he did not send for their return. So Allah, glorified and exalted is He, revealed: "But no, by your Lord, they will not believe until they make you judge in that which they dispute among themselves" [An-Nisa: 65]. Then He abrogated: "There is no compulsion in religion," and commanded to fight the People of the Book in Surah At-Tawbah.

The correct reason for His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "But no, by your Lord, they will not believe" [An-Nisa: 65] is the hadith of al-Zubair with his Ansari neighbor in the hadith of watering.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "Indeed, the right path has become distinct from the wrong" means: by the establishment of evidence, the presence of the Messenger calling to Allah, and the illuminating verses. The right path is a noun derived from your saying: he was guided - with the 'sheen' being broken or pronounced with a dammah - he guides to guidance, rightness, and rectitude. The wrong is a noun derived from 'ghawa' which means to stray in belief or opinion, and the term 'wrong' is not used in the general sense of misguidance. Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami recited: "the rightness" with an alif. Al-Hasan, al-Sha'bi, and Mujahid recited: "the right path" with a fatha on the ra and sheen, and it was narrated from al-Hasan: "the rightness" with a dammah on the ra and sheen.

And the taghut: it is a noun of exaggeration from tughya, he tughya. Al-Tabari narrated: it tughya if it exceeds the limit by an increase upon it, and its weight is fa'luwt. The doctrine of Sibawayh is that it is a singular noun as if it is a generic name that applies to many and few. The doctrine of Abu Ali is that it is a source like rahbūt and jabrūt, and it is described by it for the singular and the plural. Its lam was changed to the position of the 'ayn and its 'ayn to the position of the lam, so it was said: taghut. Al-Mubarrid said: it is a plural, and that is rejected. The interpreters differed in the meaning of taghut - Umar ibn al-Khattab, Mujahid, al-Shabi, al-Dahhak, Qatadah, and al-Suddi said: the taghut is the devil. Ibn Sirin and Abu al-Aliya said: the taghut is the magician. And Said ibn Jubair, Rafi', Jabir ibn Abdullah, and Ibn Jurayj said: the taghut is the soothsayer.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: It is clear that these are examples of taghut, because each one of them has tyranny, and the devil is the origin of all of that. Some said: the taghut is the idols. Some scholars said: everything that is worshiped besides Allah is a taghut, and this naming is correct for every deity that is pleased with that, like Pharaoh and Nimrod and the like. As for one who does not accept that, like Uzair and Jesus, peace be upon them, and one who does not reason like the idols, they are called taghut in the right of the worshippers, and that is a metaphor, as it is because of the taghut that commands that and beautifies it, and he is the devil.

And Allah, the Exalted, preceded the mention of disbelief in taghut over belief in Allah to show the importance of the obligation of disbelief in taghut.

And the 'urwah in the limbs is the place of holding and tightening the hands, and 'istamsaka' means he seized and tightened his hands. And 'al-wuthqa' is a noun from al-wathaqah, and this verse is a comparison. The expressions of the interpreters differed regarding the thing compared to the 'urwah - Mujahid said: the 'urwah is faith. Al-Suddi said: Islam. Said ibn Jubair and al-Dahhak said: the 'urwah is there is no deity but Allah. And these expressions return to one meaning. And al-infisam is the breaking without separation, and if that is negated, there is no separation in any way. And al-fas'm is a break with separation, and al-fas'm may come with the fa in the meaning of separation, and from that is the saying of Dhī al-Rummah:

As if it were a bracelet of silver, bright In a playground of the maidens of the tribe, broken.

And when disbelief in taghut and belief in Allah is something that the tongue speaks and the heart believes, it is good in the attributes 'Hearing' for the sake of the utterance and 'Knowing' for the sake of the belief.