His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿That Allah may distinguish the evil from the good and place the evil, one upon another, and heap it all together, and put it into Hell. Those are the losers.﴾ ﴿Say to those who have disbelieved, 'If they cease, what has passed will be forgiven for them, and if they return, then the precedent of the former peoples has already taken place.'﴾ ﴿And fight them until there is no fitnah and the religion is all for Allah. But if they cease, then indeed Allah is Seeing of what they do.﴾ ﴿And if they turn away, then know that Allah is your protector. Excellent is the protector and excellent is the helper.﴾

Ibn Kathir, Nafi, Asim, Abu Amr, and Ibn Amer read: "That Allah may distinguish" with a fatha on the ya and a kasra on the meem. This is the reading of Al-A'raj, Abu Ja'far, Shaiba ibn Nasah, Shibl, Abu Abd al-Rahman, Al-Hasan, Ikrimah, and Malik ibn Dinar, who say: I distinguished the thing, and the Arabs say: I distinguished it, so it did not become distinguished for me, as narrated by Ya'qub. And in a rare reading: "And they distinguished themselves today." Abu Zayd recited:

When Allah turned away from me the evil of my enemy, And I distinguished myself, neither creating fear nor being afraid.

And it is from the root: maza.

Hamzah and Al-Kisai read: "That He may distinguish" with a damma on the ya, a fatha on the meem, and a shadda on the ya. This is the reading of Qatadah, Talhah ibn Musarif, Al-A'mash, Al-Hasan as well, and Isa al-Basri, who say: I distinguished, I distinguish if you separate between two things, and in the Quran: ﴿Distinguished by rage﴾ [Al-Mulk: 8]. So it is from the root of distinguished, and its meaning is: to separate. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, and Al-Suddi said: The meaning of the evil is the disbelievers, and the good is the believers.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And the lam - according to this interpretation - of His saying: ﴿That Allah may distinguish﴾ is related to ﴿They will be gathered﴾ [Al-Anfal: 36], and the meaning is that Allah gathers the disbelievers to Hell to distinguish the disbelievers from the believers by gathering all the disbelievers and throwing them into Hell.

Then He informed about them that they are the losers, meaning: those whose efforts have failed and their hands have perished and they have gone to the Fire. Ibn Salam and Al-Zajjaj said: The meaning of the evil is the wealth that the polytheists spent in hindering from the path of Allah, and the good is what the believers spent in the path of Allah.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And the لام - on this interpretation - from His saying: ﴿لِيَمِيزَ﴾ is related to ﴿يُغْلَبُونَ﴾ [Al-Anfal: 36]. The meaning is that the disbelievers spend their wealth, and it becomes a regret for them, then they are defeated along with their spending. This is so that Allah may distinguish between the foul and the good, and He forsakes the people of the foul and supports the people of the good. And His saying, glorified and exalted is He - on this interpretation -: ﴿وَيَجْعَلَ الخَبِيثَ بَعْضَهُ عَلى بَعْضٍ﴾ up to His saying, glorified is He: ﴿فِي جَهَنَّمَ﴾ is a consequence of what has been narrated from the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him: "Indeed, Allah, glorified and exalted is He, will bring forth from the wealth what was charity or a means of drawing closer on the Day of Resurrection, then He will command that all of it be thrown into the fire." And Al-Zahrawi narrated from Al-Hasan that the disbelievers are punished with that wealth. It is like His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿فَتُكْوى بِها جِباهُهُمْ وَجُنُوبُهُمْ وَظُهُورُهُمْ﴾ [At-Tawbah: 35]. And this was said by Al-Zajjaj. And on both interpretations, His saying, glorified is He: ﴿وَيَجْعَلَ الخَبِيثَ بَعْضَهُ عَلى بَعْضٍ فَيَرْكُمَهُ جَمِيعًا﴾ is merely an expression of gathering that and uniting it and composing its diverse parts and its accumulation through coming together. And "يَرْكُمُهُ" in the speech of the Arabs means to thicken it, and from it is: ﴿سَحابٌ مَرْكُومٌ﴾ [At-Tur: 44] and رُكامٌ. And from it is the saying of Dhī al-Rummah:

................... ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ Grab the reins and the night’s journey is thickened.

And His saying, glorified is He: ﴿وَيَجْعَلَ الخَبِيثَ﴾ means to cast, as said by Abu Ali. And ﴿أُولَئِكَ هُمُ الخاسِرُونَ﴾ - on this interpretation - refers to the hypocrites among the disbelievers. The term خسارة is fitting for them in terms of wealth and other aspects.

And His saying, glorified is He: ﴿قُلْ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا﴾ is a command from Allah, exalted and majestic, to His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, to say to the disbelievers this meaning that is contained in the words of His saying: ﴿إنْ يَنْتَهُوا يُغْفَرْ لَهم ما قَدْ سَلَفَ﴾. It is the same whether the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said it in this expression or otherwise. And if the speech were as Al-Kisai mentioned that it is in the Mus'haf of Ibn Mas'ud: "Say to those who disbelieved, if they cease, they will be forgiven," the message would not have been conveyed except with those exact words, according to what the words necessitate. And His saying: ﴿إنْ يَنْتَهُوا﴾ means: from disbelief, and it must be so. The basis for this is the response to the condition with ﴿يُغْفَرْ لَهم ما قَدْ سَلَفَ﴾. And the forgiveness of what has passed can only be for one who has ceased from disbelief. And His saying: (إنْ يَعُودُوا) means: to fighting, because the term "عادَ يَعُودُ" when it comes unrestrictedly implies returning to a state that a person was in, then moved away from it. And we do not find in this verse for these disbelievers a state that resembles what we mentioned, except for fighting. And it is not correct to interpret: "And if they return to disbelief" because they have not separated from it; rather, we said in "عادَ": "If it is unrestricted" because it may come in the speech of the Arabs as an entry on the beginning and the news like "صَارَ," and that is as you say: "Zayd became a king," meaning: he became. And from it is the saying of Abu al-Salt:

And this does not include returning to a state that the one returning had been in before. However, it is restricted by its report, and it is not permissible to limit it without it. So its ruling is the ruling of "became."

And His saying, the Exalted: "So the tradition of the former ones has already passed," gathers the warning, the threat, and the example of those who perished from the nations in the past due to the punishment of Allah when they opposed His Prophet, and of those who perished on the Day of Badr by the sword of Islam and the Shari'ah. The meaning is: You have seen and heard about the nations what has befallen them.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And the intimidation of them with the story of Badr is more severe, as it is closer to them and witnessed by them. And upon this, Ibn Ishaq and Al-Suddi have reported.

And His saying, the Exalted: "And fight them until there is no fitnah," is a command from Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, that is obligatory upon the believers to fight the disbelievers. And the fitnah: Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them and others said: Its meaning is: polytheism. And Ibn Ishaq said: Its meaning is: until no one is tempted away from his religion, as Quraysh used to do in Mecca with those who embraced Islam, like Bilal and others. This is implied by the words of Urwah ibn Al-Zubair in his response to Abdul Malik ibn Marwan when he asked him about the migration of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, from Mecca.

And His saying, the Exalted: "And the religion will be entirely for Allah," means: no idol or statue is to be associated with Him, nor is anyone else to be worshipped. And Qatadah said: Until the word of sincerity, "There is no deity but Allah," is firmly established.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And these meanings are all interconnected. And Al-Hasan said: Until there is no trial. And this necessitates fighting against the rebellious faction in the trials of the Muslims. Based on all that we have mentioned from the sayings, the one who remains neutral will be in a safe space. And upon this, the saying of Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with both of them, came: "As for us, we fought until there was no fitnah. And as for you and your companions, you want us to fight until there is fitnah."

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

So the position of Umar is that fitnah is polytheism in this verse, and this is evident. And the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, explained this verse by saying: "I have been commanded to fight the people until they say, 'There is no deity but Allah.' When they say it, they are protected from me regarding their blood and their wealth, except by its right, and their reckoning is with Allah." And whoever says that the meaning is: until there is no polytheism, then for him the verse intends the specific case of those from whom a tribute is not accepted. Ibn Salam said: It is regarding the polytheists of the Arabs.

Then Allah, the Exalted, said: "But if they cease," meaning: from disbelief, then indeed Allah is All-Seer of their deeds and will recompense them. With Him is their reward and beautiful recompense. And Ya'qub ibn Ishaq and Salam ibn Sulaiman read: "By what you do" with a 'taa,' meaning: in your fighting and your striving and your struggle for His religion.

And His saying, the Exalted: "And if they turn away," the verse is equivalent to His saying: "But if they cease." The meaning is: If they cease from disbelief, then Allah will recompense them - or He will recompense you according to the reading of "you do" - and if they turn away, then know that Allah will support you against them. And this is a pure promise of victory and success, so strive.

And the term 'mawla' here refers to the protector and helper. The term 'mawla' in the language has meanings, and this is the one that is appropriate for this context. The mawla who is the master associated with the servant encompasses both the believers and the polytheists.