Likewise, these believers are still counted among them. Hence Allah Most High said:
“But most of them are defiantly disobedient.”
[Surah Āl Imrān: 110]
Before this, He had said:
“Had the People of the Book believed, it would have been better for them.”
[Surah Āl Imrān: 110]
He then said:
“Some of them are believers, but most of them are defiantly disobedient.”
[Surah Āl Imrān: 110]
He then said:
“They will never harm you except for some annoyance.”
[Surah Āl Imrān: 111]
This refers to all of them, not merely to most of them. Hence He said:
“If they fight you, they will turn their backs; then they will not be helped.”
[Surah Āl Imrān: 111]
They may fight while a believer who conceals his faith is among them. He is present at the battle with them, is unable to emigrate, and is compelled to fight; yet on the Day of Resurrection, he will be raised according to his intention.
It is reported in the Sahih that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:
“An army will march against this House. While they are on an open plain, the earth will suddenly swallow them.”
He was asked, “O Messenger of Allah, even though someone compelled to accompany them is among them?”
He replied, “They will be raised according to their intentions.” (1).
(1) This hadith is narrated in abridged form from Ā’isha, may Allah be pleased with her, in al-Bukhārī, 2/149, Book of Hajj, chapter “The Demolition of the Kaaba.” A longer version is narrated from her in al-Bukhārī, 3/65–66, Book of Sales, chapter “What Has Been Mentioned Concerning Markets.” Its wording is: “An army will attack the Kaaba. When they reach a desert plain, they will be swallowed up by the earth, from first to last.” She said: “I asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, how will they all, from first to last, be swallowed up when among them are people from their marketplaces and others who are not part of the army?’ He replied: ‘They will be swallowed up, from first to last, and then resurrected according to their intentions.’” Al-Nasā’ī also narrates the hadith in his Sunan, 5/162–63, Book of the Rites of Pilgrimage, chapter “The Sanctity of the Sacred Precinct”: in abridged form from Abū Hurayra, may Allah be pleased with him, through two chains of transmission, and from Hafsa, may Allah be pleased with her, through two chains with variations in wording. Ibn Mājah devoted a chapter to these hadiths in his Sunan, 2/1350–51, Book of Tribulations, chapter “The Army of al-Baidā’.” There he narrates the hadith, with variations in wording, from Hafsa, Safiyya, and Umm Salama, may Allah be pleased with them. In the last hadith, Umm Salama asked, “Perhaps some of them will have been coerced?” He replied, “They will be resurrected according to their intentions.” Her narration is also found in al-Musnad, al-Halabī edition, 6/318.