And his statement in “the other report” that this is not permissible, following ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib—may Allah be pleased with him—was not based on lineage. Rather, it was because they had adopted nothing of the religion of the People of the Book except what suited their desires, such as drinking wine and the like. Some of the Successors, however, thought that this was because of lineage, as is reported from ‘Atā’. Al-Shāfi‘ī and those of Ahmad’s followers who agreed with him adopted this view. They derived further rulings from it, concerning, for example, someone with one parent belonging to the People of the Book and the other not, and similar cases. Indeed, some works by Ahmad’s followers contain no other view. Yet this misrepresents his school and contradicts his explicit statements: the ruling in such cases was never made contingent on lineage, as has been explained at length elsewhere.

The term “polytheists” also occurs on its own, as in His words:

“Do not marry polytheistic women until they believe.”

Does it include the People of the Book? There are two well-known views on this among the early and later generations.

Among those who hold that it includes them, some say that the verse remains in force, such as Ibn ‘Umar and the majority who permit marriage to women of the People of the Book, as Allah mentions in the verse in Sūrat al-Mā’idah, which was revealed later than this verse. Others say that its prohibition of marriage to women of the People of the Book was abrogated. Still others say that, rather, they are excluded from its scope and were not intended by the general wording.

After the Treaty of al-Hudaybiyyah, Allah Most High revealed His words:

“And do not hold on to marriage bonds with disbelieving women.”

Regarding this, it may be said that He only forbade those married to disbelieving women from maintaining their marriage bonds. At that time, they were married only to women who were idol-worshipping polytheists, so women of the People of the Book were not included.