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ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Zayd b. Aslam said about the verse, “Do not dispute with the People of the Scripture except in the way that is best” (Al-ʿAnkabūt 29:46): “It has not been abrogated.”
By contrast, Qatādah held that it was abrogated by the verse: “Then kill the polytheists wherever you find them” (At-Tawbah 9:5), remarking, “No form of disputation is more decisive than the sword.”
The first view is the sounder one, for those people fall under the category of “those who have done wrong,” so
قَالَ عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ زَيْدِ بْنِ أَسْلَمَ:
{وَلَا تُجَادِلُوا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ إِلَّا بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ}
[العنكبوت: ٤٦]
،
قَالَ:
لَيْسَتْ مَنْسُوخَةً،
وَلَكِنْ عَنْ قَتَادَةَ قَالَ:
نَسَخَتْهَا
{فَاقْتُلُوا الْمُشْرِكِينَ حَيْثُ وَجَدْتُمُوهُمْ}
[التوبة: ٥]
، وَلَا مُجَادَلَةَ أَشَدُّ مِنَ السَّيْفِ.
وَالْأَوَّلُ أَصَحُّ ; لِأَنَّ هَؤُلَاءِ مِنَ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا فَلَا