“They wish you to disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you may all become alike. Therefore, do not take any of them as allies until they emigrate in the cause of Allah. But if they turn away, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them, and do not take any of them as an ally or helper (89)—except those who join a people with whom you have a treaty, or those who come to you, their hearts distressed at the prospect of fighting you or fighting their own people. Had Allah willed, He would have given them power over you, and they would have fought you. So if they withdraw from you, do not fight you, and offer you peace, then Allah has given you no way against them (90).”
His saying, Exalted is He, “They wish”: that is, they desired. Those who had turned back from the religion wished “that you would disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you may all become alike” in disbelief. The phrase “so that you may all become” is not intended as the apodosis of the wish, since the apodosis of a wish introduced with fa would be in the subjunctive. Rather, it is coordinated in meaning; that is: they wished that you would disbelieve, and they wished that you would become alike. This is like His saying: “They wish that you would compromise, so they too would compromise” (al-Qalam 9)—that is, they wished that you would compromise, and they wished that they would compromise. “Therefore, do not take any of them as allies”: He prohibited forming alliances with them, “until they emigrate in the cause of Allah”—along with you.
Ikrimah said: This is another kind of emigration. Emigration is of three kinds: the emigration of the believers in the earliest period of Islam, as in His saying, “For the poor emigrants” (al-Hashr 8), and His saying, “Whoever leaves his home, emigrating to Allah and His Messenger” (al-Nisa 100), and similar verses; the emigration of the hypocrites, which is to go forth in the cause of Allah with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, patiently seeking reward [as related here] (1). He prohibited forming alliances with them until they emigrated in the cause of Allah. The emigration of the rest of the believers is that mentioned by the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: “The emigrant is the one who abandons what Allah has forbidden” (2).
His saying, Exalted is He, “But if they turn away”: that is, if they turn away from monotheism and emigration. “Then seize them”: that is, take them prisoner; hence a captive is called an akhidh, meaning one who has been taken. “And kill them wherever you find them”: whether within or outside the Sacred Precinct. “And do not take any of them as an ally or helper.” He then exempted a group among them, saying:
“Except those who join a people”: this exception pertains to killing, not to alliance, for alliance with disbelievers and hypocrites is not permissible under any circumstances. The meaning of “join” is that they affiliate themselves with them, connect with them, and enter under their protection through alliance and grants of protection. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: They seek refuge with a people “with whom you have a treaty”—that is, a covenant. They were the tribe of Aslam. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, had concluded a truce with Hilal ibn Uwaymir al-Aslami before setting out for Mecca, on the condition that Hilal would neither support him nor support anyone against him. Whoever from Hilal’s people or others joined Hilal and sought his protection was to be granted the same protection as Hilal.