Mujahid said: “A way out in this world and the Hereafter.”
Muqatil ibn Hayyan said: “A way out in religion from doubts.”
Ikrimah said: “Salvation—that is, He will separate you from what you fear.”
Al-Dahhak said: “Clarification.” Ibn Ishaq said: “A distinction between truth and falsehood, by which Allah makes your truth manifest and extinguishes the falsehood of those who oppose you.” The term furqan (“criterion”) is a verbal noun, like rujhan (“preponderance”) and nuqsan (“deficiency”).
“And He will remove from you your misdeeds”: He will erase your past sins from you. “And forgive you; and Allah is the Possessor of tremendous bounty.”
“And remember when those who disbelieved plotted against you, seeking to restrain you, kill you, or expel you. They plot, and Allah plans; and Allah is the best of planners. (30)”
His words, Exalted is He: “And remember when those who disbelieved plotted against you.” This verse is connected to His saying (1), “And remember when you were few.” Thus: Remember when those who disbelieved plotted against you, and when they said, “O Allah...” This surah is Madinan, whereas this plot and statement took place in Makkah; yet Allah reminded them of them in Madinah, just as He says: “If you do not support him, Allah has already supported him” (Surah al-Tawbah, verse 40).
The nature of this plot, according to what Ibn Abbas and other scholars of Quranic exegesis related, was that Quraysh became alarmed when the Ansar embraced Islam, fearing that the affair of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, would grow in strength. A group of their leading men therefore gathered in the Council House to deliberate concerning the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. Their chiefs were Utbah and Shaybah, the sons of Rabiah; Abu Jahl ibn Hisham; Abu Sufyan; Tuaymah ibn Adi; Shaybah ibn Rabiah; al-Nadr ibn al-Harith; Abu al-Bakhtari ibn Hisham; Zam'ah ibn al-Aswad; Hakim ibn Hizam; Nabih and Munabbih, the sons of al-Hajjaj; and Umayyah ibn Khalaf.
Iblis confronted them in the form of an old man. When they saw him, they asked, “Who are you?” He replied, “An old man from Najd. I heard of your gathering and wished to attend. You will not be without counsel and advice from me.” They said, “Enter,” so he entered.
Abu al-Bakhtari said: “My opinion is that you should take Muhammad and imprison him in a house, bind him securely, seal its door except for a small opening through which you can give him his food and drink, and wait for death to overtake him there, until he perishes, just as the poets before him perished.”
The enemy of Allah—the old man from Najd—then cried out and said: “What an evil opinion you have proposed! By Allah, if you imprison him in a house, his cause will spread beyond the door you have shut against him to his companions. Before long, they will rise against you, fight you, and seize him from your hands.” They said, “The old man has spoken the truth.”
Then Hisham ibn Amr, of Banu Amir ibn Luayy, said: “My opinion is that you should place him upon a camel and drive him out from your midst, so that it will not