Allah’s revelations for a paltry price. They will have their reward with their Lord. Indeed, Allah is swift in reckoning.” [Āl ‘Imrān: 199].

Alternatively, it may be said that he meant scholars of the People of the Book before the Prophet’s mission—peace and blessings be upon him—and that by Islam he meant Islam in its general sense, which is the religion of all the messengers.

Some of them concealed their faith out of fear and called others to Islam with tact and gentleness. Allah tells us this about the believer from Pharaoh’s household: he concealed his faith in Moses, peace be upon him, yet called his people to monotheism and belief in the Last Day.

On this understanding, what prompted them to prostrate before the idol was fear of their people.

The second difficulty: his statement, “They did not openly express their opposition to them at the outset,” suggests that they prostrated before the idol to win the people over so that they could call them to Islam, not out of fear of them.

The answer: when this statement is read in light of what precedes it, it follows that the person who did not openly express his opposition refrained from doing so out of fear of them. He chose to avail himself of the concession, refraining from an open declaration that would alienate them, so that he could call them to Islam, as the believer from Pharaoh’s household did.

Accordingly, the words of the Shaykh ~ do not indicate