His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: "Follow what has been revealed to you from your Lord. There is no deity except Him, and turn away from the polytheists." "And if Allah had willed, they would not have associated anything with Him. And We have not made you a guardian over them, nor are you a manager over them." "And do not insult those whom they invoke besides Allah, lest they insult Allah in enmity without knowledge. Thus We have made the deeds of every nation pleasing to them. Then to their Lord is their return, and He will inform them of what they used to do." These are two matters for the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - which imply the restriction to following the revelation and the avoidance of the disbelievers. This was in the early days of Islam; then the avoidance of them was abrogated by fighting and compelling them to the religion willingly or unwillingly. And His saying - exalted is He -: "And if Allah had willed, they would not have associated anything with Him"; in its apparent meaning is a refutation of the Mu'tazilites who say: There is no kindness from Allah - exalted is He - by which the disbeliever believes; and that the disbeliever and man, in general, create their actions. This implies that their associating partners with Allah and other acts are contingent upon the will of Allah - glorified and exalted is He. And His saying - exalted is He -: "And We have not made you a guardian over them"; this was in the early days of Islam; and likewise: "nor are you a manager over them." And His saying - exalted is He -: "And do not insult those whom they invoke besides Allah"; this verse addresses the believers and the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him -; and Ibn Abbas said: "The reason for it is that the disbelievers of Quraysh said to Abu Talib: Either Muhammad and his companions stop insulting our gods and belittling them, or we will insult his God and revile him; so the verse was revealed." Its ruling remains applicable to the ummah; whenever a disbeliever is in a position of protection, and there is fear that he may insult Islam or the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - or Allah - glorified and exalted is He - it is not permissible for a Muslim to insult their religion or their crosses, nor to engage in anything that leads to that or similar. And He referred to the idols - which do not reason - as "those"; and this is based on the belief of the disbelievers in them; and in this verse is a form of avoidance. And the majority of people read: "in enmity" with an open 'ayn and a silent dal, which is in the accusative case indicating the source. And Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan, Abu Rajaa, Qatadah, Ya'qub, Salam, and Abdullah ibn Zayd read: "in enmity" with a closed 'ayn and a dal with a shadda, and this is also in the accusative case indicating the source, and it is from "al-i'tidaa". And some of the Kufans read: "in enmity" with an open 'ayn and a closed dal, which is in the accusative case indicating the state, meaning in a state of enmity towards Allah - exalted is He -; and it is a singular term indicating plurality. And His saying - exalted is He -: "without knowledge"; is an explanation of the meaning of the previous enmity. And His saying - exalted is He -: "Thus We have made pleasing to every nation"; is a reference to what Allah - exalted is He - has made pleasing to these idol worshippers, in their clinging to them and defending them. The pleasing of Allah - exalted is He - regarding the deeds of nations is what He creates and invents in the souls of people, whether love for good or evil, and following their paths. And the pleasing of Satan is what he casts into the souls of people from whisperings and evil thoughts.

And His saying: ﴿Then to their Lord is their return, and He will inform them﴾; it contains a beautiful promise for the doers of good, and a heavy warning for the wrongdoers.