Say to those who disbelieved, from Abu Sufyan and his companions. That is, say this saying for their sake, which is: 'If they cease.' If it were meant to address them directly, it would have been said: 'If you cease, you will be forgiven,' and this is the reading of Ibn Mas'ud. And similarly:

And the disbelievers said to the believers, 'If it were good, they would not have preceded us to it.' They addressed others for their sake so that they would hear it. That is, if they cease from their enmity towards the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and their fighting by entering into Islam, their past enmity will be forgiven. And if they return to fighting him, then the way of the earlier ones among them who were ensnared by their deceit on the Day of Badr has already passed. Or it has passed the way of those who conspired against their prophets from the nations and were destroyed. So they should expect something similar if they do not cease.

It was said: Its meaning is that if the disbelievers cease from disbelief and embrace Islam, what has passed of their disbelief and sins will be forgiven for them, and they will emerge from it as a hair emerges from dough. And from this is his saying, blessings and peace be upon him: 'Islam wipes out what came before it.' [It was narrated by Muslim from the narration of Abdur Rahman ibn Asim from Amr ibn al-As in a story. In it, this is mentioned but with the wording 'destroys what came before it.' Al-Nawawi said: Many jurists mistakenly mentioned it with the wording 'wipes out what came before it.' It is also narrated 'erases' with the unmarked and marked letters. And Al-Tabari narrated it from this angle, with the wording 'Indeed, Islam wipes out what was before it.' And Ibn Ishaq narrated it in Al-Maghazi from the route of Habib ibn Abi Owais Al-Thaqafi, who narrated from Amr ibn al-As from his mouth to his mouth, saying: 'When I came intending to embrace Islam, he mentioned the story. In it, he said: O Amr, indeed, Islam wipes out what came before it. And migration wipes out what was before it.' And from this angle, Ahmad, Ishaq, and Al-Bayhaqi narrated it in Al-Dalail. And Ibn Sa'd narrated it regarding Khalid ibn al-Walid from the route of Al-Mughira ibn Abdur Rahman ibn Al-Harith ibn Hisham, who said: Khalid ibn al-Walid... and he mentioned the story of his Islam, and in it, he said: 'Indeed, Islam wipes out what came before it.' And in the biography of Al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba from the narration of Ya'qub ibn 'Ataba about Al-Mughira, he mentioned the story of his Islam. And in it, that was mentioned. And in the biography of Habar ibn Al-Aswad from the hadith of Jubayr ibn Mut'im in the story of Habar's Islam, it is mentioned: 'And Islam wipes out what came before it.' And in the chains of the three, Al-Waqidi.]

And they said: The one who is at war, if he embraces Islam, there is no obligation left upon him at all. As for the one who does not, he is not required to make up for the rights of Allah, and the rights of human beings remain upon him.

And with this, Abu Hanifa, may Allah have mercy on him, argued that the apostate, if he embraces Islam, is not obliged to make up for the missed acts of worship during the time of apostasy. And before that, and he interpreted 'And if they return' as returning to apostasy. And it was read 'they will be forgiven' with the pronoun referring to Allah, the Exalted.