Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:256
There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong. So whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold with no break in it. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of His statement: لا إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ قَدْ تَبَيَّنَ الرُّشْدُ مِنَ الْغَيِّ (There is no compulsion in religion; the right way has been made distinct from error.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning the meaning of this.
Some of them said: This verse was revealed concerning a group of the Anṣār — or concerning one man among them — who had children whom they had made convert to Judaism or Christianity. When Allah brought Islam, they wished to compel them to it, but Allah forbade them that, so that the children themselves might choose to accept Islam.
* Mention of who said that:
5812 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: A woman used to be a woman whose children did not survive (miqlāt), and so she would impose upon herself the vow that, if a child of hers survived, she would make it convert to Judaism. When the Banū al-Naḍīr were expelled, among them were sons of the Anṣār. They said: "We will not leave our sons behind!" Then Allah, exalted is His mention, revealed: "There is no compulsion in religion; the right way has been made distinct from error."
5813 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: A woman used to be a woman whose children died and did not survive (miqlā) — Shuʿba said: it is actually miqlāt — and so she would impose upon herself that, if a child of hers survived, she would surely make it convert to Judaism. He said: When the Banū al-Naḍīr were expelled, among them were some of them, and the Anṣār said: "How are we to deal with our sons?" Then this verse was revealed: "There is no compulsion in religion; the right way has been made distinct from error." He said: Whoever wished to remain, remained, and whoever wished to go, went.
5814 — Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Bishr ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Dāwūd related to us — and Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd — on the authority of ʿĀmir, who said: A woman of the Anṣār used to be a woman whose children did not survive (miqlāt), and so she would make the vow that, if her child survived, she would place it with the People of the Book upon their religion. Then Islam came, while groups of the sons of the Anṣār were upon their [i.e. the Jews'] religion. They said: "We placed them upon their religion only when we thought that their religion was more excellent than ours! But now that Allah has brought Islam, we will surely compel them to it!" Then was revealed: "There is no compulsion in religion." Thus the distinction was made between whoever chose Judaism and whoever chose Islam: whoever joined them [the Jews] chose Judaism, and whoever remained chose Islam. The wording of the report is that of Ḥumayd.
5815 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard Dāwūd, on the authority of ʿĀmir, with approximately the same meaning — except that he said: And the distinction between them was the expulsion of the Banū al-Naḍīr by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Whoever among them was a Jew and did not accept Islam joined them, and whoever accepted Islam remained behind.
5816 — Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of ʿĀmir, with approximately the same — except that he said: The expulsion of the Naḍīr to Khaybar; whoever chose Islam remained, and whoever was averse to it joined Khaybar.
5817 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to me, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad al-Ḥarashī, the freedman of Zayd ibn Thābit, on the authority of ʿIkrima, or on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: "There is no compulsion in religion; the right way has been made distinct from error." He said: It was revealed concerning a man of the Anṣār of the Banū Sālim ibn ʿAwf, named al-Ḥuṣayn. He had two Christian sons, while he himself was a Muslim man. He said to the Prophet ﷺ: "Shall I not compel them, for they have refused anything but Christianity?" Then Allah revealed concerning that this.
5818 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ḥajjāj ibn al-Minhāl related to us, saying: Abū ʿAwāna related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, who said: I asked Saʿīd ibn Jubayr about His statement: "There is no compulsion in religion; the right way has been made distinct from error." He said: This was revealed concerning the Anṣār. I said: "Specifically for them?" He said: "Specifically!" He said: A woman in the time of pre-Islamic ignorance (jāhiliyya) used to make the vow that, if she bore a child, she would place it with the Jews, seeking thereby its long survival. He said: Then Islam came, while among them [the Jews] were some of them [the Anṣār children]. When the Naḍīr were expelled, they said: "O Messenger of Allah, our sons and our brothers are among them." He said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ remained silent concerning them, and then Allah, exalted is His mention, revealed: "There is no compulsion in religion; the right way has been made distinct from error." He said: Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Your companions [kinsfolk] have been given the choice; if they choose you, then they belong to you, and if they choose them, then they belong to them." He said: So they expelled them along with them.
5819 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning His statement: "There is no compulsion in religion; the right way has been made distinct from error," up to: "that does not break." He said: It was revealed concerning a man of the Anṣār, named Abū al-Ḥuṣayn. He had two sons. Then there came merchants from Syria to Medina who were transporting oil. When they had sold and wished to return, the two sons of Abū al-Ḥuṣayn came to them. They called them to Christianity, and they became Christians and returned with them to Syria. Then their father came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said: "My two sons have become Christians and gone away; shall I go after them?" He said: "There is no compulsion in religion."
At that time the command had not yet been given to fight the People of the Book. And he [the Prophet] said: "May Allah keep them far removed! They are the first to become disbelievers!" Then Abū al-Ḥuṣayn felt rancor within himself toward the Prophet ﷺ, because he had not sent anyone after them. Then was revealed: فَلا وَرَبِّكَ لا يُؤْمِنُونَ حَتَّى يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ لا يَجِدُوا فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ حَرَجًا مِمَّا قَضَيْتَ وَيُسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا (But no, by your Lord, they will not believe until they make you judge concerning what is in dispute between them, and then find within themselves no resistance against what you have decided, and submit in full submission.) [Surah al-Nisāʾ: 65]. Then "There is no compulsion in religion" was abrogated, and it was commanded to fight the People of the Book in "Surah Barāʾa."
5820 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the statement of Allah: "There is no compulsion in religion." He said: The Jews, the Jews of the Banū al-Naḍīr, had suckled men of the Aws. When the Prophet ﷺ commanded that they be expelled, their sons of the Aws said: "We will surely go with them and we will profess their religion!" But their kinsfolk restrained them and compelled them to Islam, and concerning them this verse was revealed.
5821 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān — and Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us — both on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Khuṣayf, on the authority of Mujāhid: "There is no compulsion in religion." He said: There were people of the Anṣār who as infants had been placed in fosterage with the Banū Qurayẓa, and they [the kinsfolk] wished to compel them to Islam. Then was revealed: "There is no compulsion in religion; the right way has been made distinct from error."
5822 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Al-Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Mujāhid said: The Naḍīr were Jews, and they suckled — then he mentioned approximately the report of Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of Abū ʿĀṣim. Ibn Jurayj said: And ʿAbd al-Karīm informed me, on the authority of Mujāhid: that the sons of the Aws had adopted their religion, professing the religion of the Naḍīr.
5823 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī: that a woman of the Anṣār used to make the vow that, if her child survived, she would place it with the People of the Book. When Islam came, the Anṣār said: "O Messenger of Allah, shall we not compel our children who are among the Jews to Islam? For we placed them there only when we thought that Judaism was the most excellent of religions. Now that Allah has brought Islam,
shall we not compel them to Islam?" Then Allah, exalted is His mention, revealed: "There is no compulsion in religion; the right way has been made distinct from error."
5824 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Dāwūd, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī the like — and he added: He said: The distinction between whoever among them chose Judaism and whoever chose Islam was the expulsion of the Banū al-Naḍīr. Whoever went out with the Banū al-Naḍīr belonged to them, and whoever left them behind chose Islam.
5825 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: "There is no compulsion in religion," up to His statement: "the firmest handhold." He said: It is abrogated.
5826 — Saʿīd ibn al-Rabīʿ al-Rāzī related to me, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, and Wāʾil, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: that some people of the Anṣār as infants had been placed in fosterage with the Banū al-Naḍīr. When they were expelled, their kinsfolk wished to make them enter their religion. Then was revealed: "There is no compulsion in religion."
* * *
And others said: No, the meaning of this is: the People of the Book are not compelled to the religion when they pay the poll-tax (jizyah), but they are confirmed in their religion. And they said: The verse concerns a particular category of the disbelievers, and nothing of it has been abrogated.
* Mention of who said that:
5827 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "There is no compulsion in religion; the right way has been made distinct from error." He said: This tribe of the Arabs was compelled to it, because they were an unlettered nation (umma ummiyya) who had no Book that they knew, and therefore nothing but Islam was accepted from them. But the People of the Book are not compelled to it when they acknowledge the jizyah or the land tax (kharāj) and are not turned away from their religion; then they are left alone.
5828 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Sulaymān related to us, saying: Abū Hilāl related to us, saying: Qatāda related to us concerning His statement: "There is no compulsion in religion." He said: It is this tribe of the Arabs; they were compelled to the religion, and nothing was accepted from them except death or Islam. And as for the People of the Book, the jizyah was accepted from them and they were not killed.
5829 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Al-Ḥakam ibn Bashīr related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Qays related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His statement: "There is no compulsion in religion." He said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was commanded to fight the idolaters of the Arabian Peninsula, and nothing was accepted from them but "There is no god but Allah," or else the sword. Then he was commanded concerning the rest that the jizyah be accepted from them, and he said: "There is no compulsion in religion; the right way has been made distinct from error."
5830 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: "There is no compulsion in religion." He said: The Arabs had no religion, and therefore they were compelled to the religion by the sword. He said: But the Jews, the Christians and the Magians (majūs) are not compelled, when they give the jizyah.
5831 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna informed us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, who said: I heard Mujāhid say to a Christian slave of his: "O Jarīr, become a Muslim." Then he said: "Thus it was spoken to them."
5832 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: My father related to me, saying: My uncle related to me, saying: My father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "There is no compulsion in religion; the right way has been made distinct from error." He said: That was when the people entered Islam and the People of the Book gave the jizyah.
* * *
And others said: This verse is abrogated; it was revealed only before fighting (qitāl) was made obligatory.
* Mention of who said that:
5833 — Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Yaʿqūb ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Zuhrī informed me, saying: I asked Zayd ibn Aslam about the statement of Allah, exalted is His mention: "There is no compulsion in religion." He said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ remained in Mecca ten years without compelling anyone to the religion, and the polytheists (mushrikīn) refused anything but to fight them. Then he asked Allah for permission to fight them, and He gave him permission.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct view among these statements is the view of him who said: This verse was revealed concerning a particular category of people — and he said: By His statement, exalted is His mention, "There is no compulsion in religion," are meant the adherents of the two Books [Jews and Christians] and the Magians (majūs) and everyone whose confirmation upon his religion, which differs from the religion of truth, is permitted and from whom the jizyah is levied; and they denied that anything of it had been abrogated.
We have said only that this view is the correct one, because of what we have demonstrated in our book (Kitāb al-laṭīf min al-bayān ʿan uṣūl al-aḥkām): namely that the abrogating is not abrogating unless it nullifies the ruling of the abrogated, so that combining the two is not possible. But as for that whose outward form is general — a command or a prohibition — while the inner meaning is particular, that is distinct from the abrogating and the abrogated.
And since that is so — and it is not absurd to say: there is for no one from whom the jizyah is levied any compulsion in religion, and there is in the verse no indication that its interpretation would be contrary to that, and the Muslim community has unanimously transmitted from its Prophet ﷺ that he compelled some people to Islam and refused to accept from them anything but Islam, and ruled that they should be killed if they refused — and that applies to the idolaters among the polytheists of the Arabs, and to the apostate (murtadd) who falls away from his religion, the religion of truth, to disbelief (kufr), and those who resemble them — and that he did not compel others to Islam, accepting from them the jizyah and confirming them upon their false religion — and that applies to the adherents of the two Books and those who resemble them — it has thereby become clear that the meaning of His statement "There is no compulsion in religion" is only: there is no compulsion in religion for him from whom the acceptance of the jizyah is permitted, through his payment of the jizyah and his consent to the ruling of Islam.
And the statement of him who claims that the verse is abrogated in its ruling by the permission to wage war has no basis.
* * *
If someone were to say: What then do you say concerning what has been transmitted from Ibn ʿAbbās and from those from whom it has been transmitted: that it was revealed concerning a group of the Anṣār who wished to compel their children to Islam?
We say: Its correctness is not to be rejected, but a verse may be revealed concerning a particular case, and then its ruling is general for everything that corresponds to the meaning for which it was revealed. Those concerning whom this verse was revealed — according to what Ibn ʿAbbās and others mentioned — were only a people who professed the religion of the adherents of the Torah before the bond of Islam had been established for them. Then Allah, exalted is His mention, forbade them to compel them to Islam, and He revealed with that prohibition a verse whose ruling applies generally to everyone who is in a similar situation, namely whoever belongs to one of the religions whose adherents it is permitted to levy the jizyah from and to confirm them upon it, in the manner which we have set forth concerning that.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The meaning of His statement "There is no compulsion in religion" is: no one is compelled to the religion of Islam. The definite article (alif-lām) is inserted in "al-dīn" (the religion) only to indicate the religion that Allah intended by His statement "there is no compulsion in it," namely that it is Islam.
It is also possible that the [alif-lām] are inserted to replace the implied "hāʾ" (the possessive pronoun) in "al-dīn." Then the meaning of the statement would be: and He is the Exalted, the Mighty; there is no compulsion in His religion, the right way has been made distinct from error. And in my opinion this view seems to correspond most closely with the interpretation of the verse.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: As for His statement "the right way has been made distinct" (qad tabayyana al-rushd): this is a verbal noun (maṣdar) of the speaker's expression: "rashadtu, fa-anā arshudu rushdan wa-rashadan wa-rashādan" (I followed the straight way, so I follow the straight way), and that is when one attains the truth and the right.
* * *
As for "al-ghayy" (error): this is a maṣdar of the speaker's expression: "qad ghawā fulān, fa-huwa yaghwā ghayyan wa-ghawāyatan" (so-and-so has strayed, and he strays). And some of the Arabs say: "ghawiya fulān yaghwā." And that upon which the reading of the Qurʾān reciters rests is: مَا ضَلَّ صَاحِبُكُمْ وَمَا غَوَى (your companion has not strayed nor has he erred) [Surah al-Najm: 2] with the fatḥa, and that is the most eloquent of the two linguistic forms; and that is when one passes the truth and exceeds it, and thus strays.
* * *
The interpretation of the statement is then: The truth has become distinct from falsehood, and for whoever seeks the truth and the straight way the path to his goal has become clear, so that it is distinguished from error and folly. Therefore compel no one of the adherents of the two Books — and of those from whom I have permitted you to levy the jizyah — [anyone] to your religion, the religion of truth. For whoever deviates from the straight way after it has become clear to him, his affair rests with his Lord, and He is the master of his punishment in his return [the Hereafter].
* * *
The explanation of His statement: فَمَنْ يَكْفُرْ بِالطَّاغُوتِ وَيُؤْمِنْ بِاللَّهِ (Whoever then rejects the ṭāghūt and believes in Allah.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The exegetes differed concerning the meaning of "al-ṭāghūt."
Some of them said: It is Satan.
* Mention of who said that:
5834 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Ḥassān ibn Fāʾid al-ʿAbsī, who said: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said: The ṭāghūt is Satan.
5835 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to me, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Ḥassān ibn Fāʾid, on the authority of ʿUmar, the like.
5836 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Malik informed us, on the authority of one who related it to him, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: The ṭāghūt is Satan.
5837 — Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Zakariyyā informed us, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, who said: The ṭāghūt is Satan.
5838 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Zuhayr related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His statement: "Whoever then rejects the ṭāghūt." He said: Satan.
5839 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: The ṭāghūt is Satan.
5840 — Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning His statement: "Whoever then rejects the ṭāghūt": [that is] Satan.
* * *
And others said: The ṭāghūt is the sorcerer (sāḥir).
* Mention of who said that:
5841 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, that he said: The ṭāghūt is the sorcerer.
* * *
ʿAbd al-Aʿlā has been contradicted in this report, and I shall mention the contradiction hereafter.
* * *
5842 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: ʿAwf related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad, who said: The ṭāghūt is the sorcerer.
* * *
And others said: No, "al-ṭāghūt" is the soothsayer (kāhin).
* Mention of who said that:
5843 — Ibn Bashshār related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: The ṭāghūt is the soothsayer.
5844 — Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, saying: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of Rufayʿ, who said: The ṭāghūt is the soothsayer.
5845 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: "Whoever then rejects the ṭāghūt." He said: Soothsayers upon whom satans descend, who suggest upon their tongues and in their hearts. Abū al-Zubayr informed me, on the authority of Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, that he heard him say — when he was asked about the ṭawāghīt to which they used to refer their disputes, he said —: In Juhayna there was one, and in Aslam there was one, and in every tribe there was one; and these were soothsayers upon whom Satan descended.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct view in my opinion concerning "al-ṭāghūt" is that it is everyone who is rebellious against Allah (dhū ṭughyān) and is worshipped besides Him, whether by compulsion on his part over whoever worships him, or by the obedience of whoever worships him — whether that worshipped one was a human, or a satan, or an idol-image (wathan), or an idol (ṣanam), or whatever it may be.
* * *
And I am of the view that the origin of "al-ṭāghūt" is "al-ṭaghawūt," from the speaker's expression: "ṭaghā fulān yaṭghū" (so-and-so has become rebellious), when one exceeds his measure and oversteps his limit — like "al-jabarūt" (from al-tajabbur, haughtiness) and "al-khalabūt" (from al-khalb, deception), and similar nouns that take the form of "faʿalūt" with the addition of the wāw and the tāʾ. Then its lām — I mean the lām of "al-ṭaghawūt" — was transposed and made an ʿayn, and its ʿayn shifted and placed in the position of the lām, as one says: "jadhaba and jabadha," and "jādhib and jābidh," and "ṣāʿiqa and ṣāqiʿa," and similar nouns that are upon this pattern.
* * *
The interpretation of the statement is then: Whoever denies the lordship (rubūbiyya) of every worshipped one besides Allah and thus rejects him — "and believes in Allah," that is: and believes in Allah that He is his God, his Lord and his Worshipped One — فَقَدِ اسْتَمْسَكَ بِالْعُرْوَةِ الْوُثْقَى (has grasped the firmest handhold), that is: has firmly grasped that which is firmest to hold fast to when seeking deliverance for oneself from the punishment of Allah and His chastisement — as:
5846 — Aḥmad ibn Saʿīd ibn Yaʿqūb al-Kindī related to me, saying: Baqiyya ibn al-Walīd related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Maryam related to us, on the authority of Ḥumayd ibn ʿUqba, on the authority of Abū al-Dardāʾ: that he visited a sick man of his neighbors, and found him in the throes of death (fī al-sawq) while he was rattling, and they did not understand what he wanted.
He asked them: "Does he wish to say something?" They said: "Yes, he wishes to say: 'I believe in Allah and I reject the ṭāghūt.'" Abū al-Dardāʾ said: "From what do you know that?" They said: "He kept repeating it until his tongue became powerless, so we know that he only wishes to utter that." Then Abū al-Dardāʾ said: "Your companion has succeeded! Indeed, Allah says: 'Whoever then rejects the ṭāghūt and believes in Allah has grasped the firmest handhold that does not break; and Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.'"
* * *
The explanation of His statement: فَقَدِ اسْتَمْسَكَ بِالْعُرْوَةِ الْوُثْقَى (Has grasped the firmest handhold.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: "Al-ʿurwa" (the handhold) is in this place a likeness for faith (īmān) to which the believer clings. He has likened him, in his holding fast to it and his grasping of it, to one who grasps the handle of a thing that has a handle to which he holds fast, since everyone who desires something with a handle holds fast only to its handle.
And Allah, exalted is His mention, has made the faith to which the believer in Allah — who rejects the ṭāghūt — holds fast, by His statement "al-wuthqā" (the firmest), one of the firmest handles of things.
* * *
And "al-wuthqā" is the "fuʿlā" form of "al-wathāqa" (firmness). For the masculine one says: "huwa al-awthaq" (he is the firmest), and for the feminine: "hiya al-wuthqā" (she is the firmest), as one says: "fulān al-afḍal and fulāna al-fuḍlā" (so-and-so the most excellent, masculine and feminine).
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said concerning that, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
5847 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement: "the firmest handhold." He said: Faith.
5848 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like.
5849 — Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: "The firmest handhold" is Islam.
5850 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū al-Sawdāʾ, on the authority of Jaʿfar — that is Ibn Abī al-Mughīra — on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning His statement: "has grasped the firmest handhold." He said: "There is no god but Allah."
5851 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū al-Sawdāʾ al-Nahdī, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, the like.
5852 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Zuhayr related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, [on the authority of] al-Ḍaḥḥāk: "has grasped the firmest handhold," the like.
* * *
The explanation of His statement: لا انْفِصَامَ لَهَا (That does not break.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah, exalted is His mention, means by His statement "lā infiṣāma lahā": that it does not break. And the "hāʾ and the alif" in His statement "lahā" refer back to "al-ʿurwa" (the handhold).
* * *
And the meaning of the statement is: Whoever rejects the ṭāghūt and believes in Allah has, with respect to obedience to Allah, grasped that whereby he, while holding fast to it, need not fear that He will forsake him or surrender him when he is in need of Him in the terrors of the Hereafter — like one who grasps the firmest of the handles of things, of which he need not fear that the handles will break.
* * *
And the original meaning of "al-faṣm" is breaking, and from it comes the saying of Aʿshā of the Banū Thaʿlaba:
And her smile, which [makes appear] gleaming separated teeth, neither short of upper jaw, nor broken.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said concerning that, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
5853 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement: "that does not break." He said: Allah changes nothing in a people until they change what is in themselves.
5854 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like.
5855 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "that does not break." He said: That is not cut off.
* * *
The explanation of His statement: وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ (256) (And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah, exalted is His mention, means: "And Allah is All-Hearing" — [He hears] the faith of the believer in Allah alone, who rejects the ṭāghūt, in his profession of the oneness of Allah and his disavowal of the partners and the idol-images that are worshipped besides Allah — "All-Knowing" of that to which he is resolved, namely the unification of Allah and the purifying of His lordship in his heart, and of that which his inner self bears within it of disavowal of the gods, the idols and the ṭawāghīt, and of all else that the soul of each of His creatures conceals. No secret remains hidden from Him, and no matter escapes Him, until He will requite each one on the Day of Resurrection for what his tongue has uttered and his soul has concealed: if good, then with good, and if evil, then with evil.
