His statement, “and they”: the pronoun refers to the adherents of the various religions.

His statement, “diverse religious communities”: that is, separate ones. The Jews are one religious community, the Christians another, the Magians another, the Communists another, the Buddhists another, and so on. This is the preponderant view.

Some scholars have said that disbelief is one religious community, but this is a weak view, for the Jews say that the Christians have no basis, and the Christians say that the Jews have no basis. So how can they be one community?! Yes, in relation to Islam they are one category; but in relation to one another, they differ. For example, when we speak of Ahl al-Sunnah in contrast to the Rafidah, this designation can include the Muʿtazilah, the Ashʿaris, and every innovating sect that has not fallen into disbelief. But when we wish to identify Ahl al-Sunnah themselves, we say that Ahl al-Sunnah, in the true sense, are the righteous predecessors who were united upon the sunnah and adhered to it. In that case, the Ashʿaris, the Muʿtazilah, the Jahmiyyah, and those like them are not among Ahl al-Sunnah in this sense.

His statement, “The apostate does not inherit from anyone”: this is because—may Allah protect us—he has no religion, nor is he permitted to remain upon his religion. That is, if we had a disbeliever who was utterly atheistic, we would permit him to remain upon his religion; but if someone apostatized to Judaism or Christianity, we would not permit him to remain so, because of the Prophet’s ﷺ statement: “Whoever changes his religion, kill him” (1)—meaning, whoever leaves the religion of Islam. Thus, we kill him. Therefore, the apostate does not inherit from anyone—not from his father, his mother, or his son—because he is an apostate, at variance with the religion and not upon any recognized religion, since he is not permitted to remain upon that religion.