16
Ibn al-Anbārī said: The meaning of the verse is that religion is not what you display outwardly under compulsion, while the heart neither bears witness to it nor do the inmost consciences accept it; true religion is that which is established in the heart.
He added (1): A group maintained that it has been abrogated, asserting that this verse was revealed before the command to fight and is therefore annulled by the “Verse of the Sword.” This was the view of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, al-Suddī, and Ibn Zayd.
It was also said (2): The vast majority of the early and later scholars hold that it is neither particularized nor abrogated (3); rather, they declare, “We do not force anyone to embrace Islam; we fight only…"
(1) That is, Ibn al-Jawzi.
(2) The printed edition reads “qala,” but the manuscript’s wording is the correct one, for this is Shaykh al-Islam’s answer to the preceding objection.
(3) Ibn Kathir says in his Tafsir (1/312): “Many scholars maintain that this applies to the People of the Book and to those who adopted their religion before it was abrogated and altered, provided they pay the jizya (poll tax).”
وَقَالَ ابنُ الأَنْبَارِيِّ: مَعْنَى الآَيَةِ: لَيسَ الدِّين مَا تَدِينُ بِهِ مِنَ الظَّاهِرِ عَلَى جِهَةِ الإِكْرَاهِ عَلَيه، وَلَمْ يَشْهَدْ بِهِ القَلْبُ، وَتَنْطَوِي عَلَيهِ الضَّمَائِرُ، إِنَّمَا الدَّينُ هُوَ المُنْعَقِدُ بِالقَلْبِ.
قَالَ (١): وَذَهَبَ قَوْمٌ إِلَى أَنَّها مَنْسُوْخَةٌ، وَقَالُوْا: هَذِهِ الآَيَةُ نَزَلَتْ قَبْل الأَمْرِ بِالقِتَال، فَعَلى قَوْلِهمْ يَكُوْنُ مَنْسُوْخًا بِآيَةِ السَّيف، وَهَذَا مَذْهَبُ الضَّحَّاك، والسِّدِّيّ، وَابْنِ زَيدٍ).
قِيلَ (٢): جُمْهُوْرُ السَّلَفِ وَالخَلَفِ عَلَى أَنَّهَا لَيسَتْ مَخْصُوْصَةً وَلَا مَنْسُوخَةً (٣)، بَلْ يَقُوْلُوْنَ: إِنَّا لَا نُكْرِهُ أَحَدًا عَلَى الإِسْلَام، وَإِنَّمَا نُقَاتِلُ
(١) يعني ابن الجوزي.
(٢) في المطبوعة: (قال)، والصواب كما في الأصل؛ لأن هذا هو جواب شيخ الإسلام على الاعتراض السابق.
(٣) قال ابن كثير في تفسيره (١/ ٣١٢): (وقد ذهب طائفة كثيرة من العلماء أن هذه محمولة على أهل الكتاب ومن دخل في دينهم قبل النسخ والتبديل إذا بذلوا الجزية).