'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī
تفسير : (there is no compulsion in religion) no one from among the people of the book and the magians should be coerced to believe in the divine oneness of allah after the arabs' embrace of islam. (the right direction is henceforth distinct from error) faith from disbelief and truth from falsehood. the following was revealed about mundhir ibn sawi al-tamimi: (and he who rejecteth false deities) the command of the devil and the worship of idols (and believeth in allah) and in what has come forth from him (hath grasped a firm handhold) has taken in trust “there is no god save allah” (which will never break) will never cease, vanish or perish; it is also said that this means: for him who believes in it, the bliss of paradise will never cease and he will never be taken out of paradise, nor will he perish by staying in the fire. (allah is hearer) of this speech, (knower) of its reward and bliss.
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī
تفسير : there is no compulsion in, entering into, religion. rectitude has become clear from error, that is say, through clear proofs it has become manifest that faith is rectitude and disbelief is error: this was revealed concerning the ansār [of medina] who tried to compel their sons to enter into islam; so whoever disbelieves in the false deity, namely, satan or idols (tāghūt, ‘false deity’, is used in a singular and plural sense), and believes in god, has laid hold of the most firm handle, the tight knot, unbreaking, that cannot be severed; god is hearing, of what is said, knowing, of what is done.
Ali ibn Ahmad al-Wahidi
تفسير : (there is no compulsion in religion…) [2:256].
muhammad ibn ahmad ibn ja'far al-muzakki informed us> zahir ibn ahmad> al-husayn ibn muhammad ibn mus'ab> yahya ibn hakim> ibn abi 'adiyy> shu'bah> abu bishr> sa'id ibn jubayr> ibn 'abbas who said: “the women of the helpers whose boys always died in infancy used to vow to bring up their boys as jews if they were to live. when the banu'l-nadir were driven out, they had among them children of the helpers. the helpers said: 'we will not leave our children!' upon which allah, exalted is he, revealed (there is no compulsion in religion. the right direction is henceforth distinct from error …)”.
muhammad ibn musa ibn al-fadl informed us> muhammad ibn ya'qub> ibrahim ibn marzuq> wahb ibn jarir> shu'bah> abu bishr> sa'id ibn jubayr> ibn 'abbas who said regarding the saying of allah, exalted is he, (there is no compulsion in religion…): “the woman of the helpers whose boys never survived used to vow that if a boy of hers survived, she would raise him as a jew. when the banu'l-nadir were driven out of medina they had among them children of the helpers. the helpers said: 'o messenger of allah! our children!' allah, exalted is he, therefore revealed (there is no compulsion in religion…)”. sa'id ibn jubayr said: “those who wished to leave with the jews did leave, and those who wished to embrace islam embraced islam”.
said mujahid: “this verse was revealed about a man of the helpers who had a black boy called subayh whom he used to coerce to become muslim”.
al-suddi said: “this verse was revealed about a man from the helpers called abu'l-husayn. this man had two sons. it happened that some traders from syria came to medina to sell oil. when the traders were about to leave medina, the two sons of abu'l-husayn called them to embrace christianity. these traders converted to christianity and then left medina. abu'l-husayn informed the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, of what had happened. he asked him to summon his two sons. but then allah, exalted is he, revealed (there is no compulsion in religion…). the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'may allah banish both of them. they are the first to disbelieve'. this was before the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, was commanded to fight the people of the book. but then allah's saying (there is no compulsion in religion…) was abrogated and the prophet was commanded to fight the people of the book in surah repentance”.
masruq said: “a man from the helpers, from amongst the banu salim banu 'awf, had two sons who had converted to christianity before the advent of the prophet, allah bless him and give him peace. [after the migration of the prophet, allah bless him and give him peace, to medina,] these two sons came to medina along a group of christians to trade in food. their father went to them and refused to leave them, saying: 'by allah! i will not leave you until you become muslim'. they refused to become muslim and they all went to the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, to settle their dispute. the father said: 'o messenger of allah! how can i leave a part of me enter hell fire while i just sit and look?' allah, glorious and majestic is he, then revealed (there is no compulsion in religion…) after which he let them go”.
abu ishaq ibn ibrahim al-muqri' informed us> abu bakr ibn muhammad ibn ahmad ibn 'abdus> abu'l-hasan 'ali ibn ahmad ibn mahfuz> 'abd allah ibn hashim> 'abd al-rahman ibn mahdi> sufyan> khusayf> mujahid who said: “there were some people who were nurse-wetted among the jews, the banu qurayzah and banu'l-nadir. when the prophet, allah bless him and give him peace, commanded that the banu'l-nadir be driven out of medina, those sons of the aws who were nurse-wetted by the jews said: 'we will leave with them and follow their religion'. their families stopped them and wanted them to coerce them to embrace islam. then the verse (there is no compulsion in religion…) was revealed”.
